(no subject)

[stormdog]

In one unfortunate evening, I was reminded (inadvertently and without ill will) of my failure to complete my master's program, of my failure at pursing a career in academia, of my failure to look at Trump supporters from an anthropological perspective to try to understand them, of the ways that the political and social situation in my country has turned to utter shit, of the fact that I will likely never in my life be in a position to freely travel the country for extended lengths of time while other people take doing so for granted, and of the fact that I have never had the kind of social and romantic/sexual life that seemingly all my friends and partners have had and that I still have no real expectation that I ever will.

I got home. I felt anger and frustration and self-medicated with food and lied down on the couch and cried against Danae for a while and went to bed.

But today is a new day, right? Ad astra per aspera.

Comments

[cmcmck]

What is there to 'understand' about racist, misogynistic fascists?

[stormdog]

Nobody thinks that they are the bad guy. There is some worldview there that, maybe if I understood it, I could better engage with people and influence them.

But I can't. That's the entire focus of cultural anthropology, which is the subfield of the discipline that I focused on in my degree, but I still can't. There are some world views that are so abhorrent and so close to home that I just can't try to get inside their heads to see why they feel that way. Which makes me feel like a failure.

[cmcmck]

It shouldn't.

Some people are a waste of space and not worthy of your attention.