16 Jan, 2025: On the topic of complacency

It is said that consistency and staying on course is a virtue. Cowards say this. One who subscribes to the sentiment of staying true might well retort that abandonment is the cowardly thing to do, but that is a coping mechanism, a way of rationalizing the irrational belief that no matter what, the best thing to do is stay on the worn, familiar path already carved and prepared for them. I tend not to fight with cowards as doing so, predictably, scares them, and I find that a scared man is more dangerous than a man who is coddled. But this cowardice is also dangerous and affects us all. There have been many times in my life that I've tricked myself into staying true because the reality is that deviation is scary. There is indeed security in consistency and safety in the familiar, but put another way, there is bravery in breaking from tradition and forging one's own path. Putting out feelers for new ways of doing things is innovation, and yes, sometimes a feeler gets hurt and yes, sometimes we will fail when fool's gold takes us down a bad trail, but is it not failing to accept that which is guaranteed but not earned?

Only institutions benefit from a cowardly population unwilling to question traditions and customary processes. It is easier to control a population that keeps each other in line and predictable. If the people are educated and have free thinking, they might question why those in charge are in charge and why they do what they do. The more the people deviate, the less institutions can predict their moves and squash rebellion. I don't envy the heads of state where the citizenry is well informed and curious, though the constant efforts of those heads to dumb and quiet their people must always be disavowed and ceased. Everywhere in the world where the people are too educated and too curious, you see Senators and holy men fighting to remove books from schools, dampen free speech and freedom of assembly, vilify educators and regress textbooks. Anything to make the people more predictable and less willing or able to question the way things are.

So yes, staying true is cowardly, and it kills us. It leads to complacency of thought, and in the valley between what is and what could be, many systems that could be improved to make us healthier and happier are instead kept together with duct tape and a dream. If you're thinking to yourself that the safety of the known is good enough, fine. But don't you dare try shutting me up with cries of deviance. Today's bravery is tomorrow's salvation, and if you do decide to get off course, understand that it will be scary but necessary.