Lines and lies

What good does it do to reduce life to insignificance? I suppose in some sense I'm comforted by the idea that the character of my life doesn’t necessitate a specific response. That simply living can be enough.

The consequences of this do not quell the very real observation that some suffer more than others though. I can classify such pain as arbitrary, but the experience of it is no less real to the experiencing body. For myself, it might be a useful framework, but if I’m to reject the totalitarian nature of grand narratives, I can’t allow myself to impose this view onto others.

But does a philosophy which compels one toward compassion—towards an alleviation of this observed suffering—require a belief in “the good life”? An idea that by its very nature devalues all life below its illusory standard. If I’m to revolt against the absurd as Camus calls us to do, does the embrace of illusion become a necessity? Are the oppressive costs of a belief, no, a lie that promotes the idea of this good life worth validating the position that some states of existence are unacceptable and thus require our action? Can we draw a line and say, “Below this line, your suffering is real and worthy of assistance. Anything here or above, you’re fine, be grateful for what you have”? Without that line, it seems difficult to differentiate between the woes of the depressed billionaire and the starving child whose body is consumed with disease. And this isn’t to say that the pain felt by the billionaire is not real, but their pain is not the product of destitution; it cannot be mended with a perception shift. Sadness will not kill them. It will kill the starving child.

What do you care about? What are you willing to do about it? Perhaps this is the role of philosophy, as the activist’s hammer. A tool used to dress our desires in the appearance of legitimacy and intellectualism. A Machiavellian exercise which proclaims its virtue while deceiving its adherents. This doesn’t need to be an insulting characterization. We get to make the rules. What do you want?