The Emptiness of Self Help
I'm not a self help guy, never have been, but it still irks me to no end to stumble across it.
Self help, like so many things, is decent enough at identifying symptoms: you're burned out, you have money trouble, you're unhappy, you're lonely, etc etc. And like so much else, it is absolute shit at identifying the cause.
I saw a blurb floating around the internet, I don't remember exactly where now, that has been festering within me. It asked the reader to reflect how they spend their time, energy, and money, and if they could spend them more efficiently.
This self help wisdom, of course, entirely ignored the weight chaining down the momentum of society - wage labor.
Where are you spending your time and energy? Work! Obviously! Do you think we'd all be spending our time and energy on constant rest and recovery if that weren't the case?
Where are you spending your money? Necessities! Obviously! Oh sure we all have our little treats to keep us sane, but it's not like we're dropping the life savings on a video game or whatever. I don't know about people in your life, but I'm not seeing folks I know buying any luxury cars or going on European tours. I'm seeing them by cheap seats at a baseball game and the occasional mid-range Scotch. And that's the fortunate ones.
Why are you burned out? Because you constantly have to work to make money to pay bills.
Why do you have money trouble? Because of generations of economic rigging against your wallet.
Why are you unhappy? Because you don't have the resources to live. To truly live.
Why are you lonely? Because you're too tired from constantly working and too broke from paying ever increasing bills to actually go outside and meet anyone.
And herein lies my beef with the self help industry - it is a grift economy, a fool's errand. It's an attempt to wave a magic wand with one hand and hope the dopamine rush of pulling a rabbit from a hat is enough to make you oblivious to all the other hands pickpocketing you.
Should you mediate? Sure, maybe.
Should you take stock of your habits and expenses? Sure, sounds reasonable.
Should you take up a hobby and meet new people? Sounds good.
Will any of this solve anything? Fuck no!
The greatest self help is communal rage. Rage against the invisible chains holding us all in a circular trench of drudgery, misery, and self mutilation for the benefit of the Almighty Dollar. A benefit that we will never, ever, EVER see.
So fuck self help and the industry that perpetuates it.