I don’t disagree. But I have a unique take on the fall of empires and the evil inherent in humans.

Imo, evil is a byproduct of human selfishness. Taking without empathy towards where it’s coming from. Money, power, property, and even life itself.

There are people that do this because of their isolated environment. (Raised to think anyone that doesn’t look like them isn’t human, and therefore it’s alright to exploited them for gain.)

And there are those that do it because they are sociopaths.

While Sociopathic diagnoses isn’t an easy thing we can pin down. In a world where our social behaviors can be dramatically affected by our genetics (autism) it’s not hard to assume sociopathy is just another manifestation of something like autism. Just a more extreme one - where a person literally is incapable of understanding others as human with emotions like them.

These people are born incapable of understanding that other people have feelings at all. So they don’t contribute to communities, they don’t help others, they just lie and pretend to be like others to exploit for their own gain. They lie to appear social and kind (towards some), as that attracts others in that group they can easily take from.

You know the uncanny valley? The unsettling feeling we get when we see CG that looks human, but doesn’t quite move or act like a real human?

imo that’s an evolutionary response to our habit of breeding sociopaths. They pretend VERY hard to be human, but lack the natural primate communal instinct everyone else is born with. They look human, but don’t act like it compared to the rest of the community.

In smaller groups, like towns or families, these people can be kicked out and otherwise ostracized to protect the smaller community from being exploited.

But in larger communities, it’s an all you can exploit buffet. In larger communities, sociopaths thrive because there is an endless amount of trusting people they can exploit. If they fail, they just move on to the next group of suckers.

If they manage to extract enough power, then all they have to do is keep lying to maintain it. But always, and eventually, at the cost of the larger community itself. There is a finite limit of exploitation that once reached, no longer serves to preserve the larger community, just the power of the sociopaths in it. The community collapses, as it’s support mechanisms have been diverted to the sociopaths, and the sociopaths are then unable to lie any longer and usually blamed / killed / ostracized for their bullshit now that it’s obvious.

So while sociopaths are thankfully not the norm when it comes to humans, just a few in a group can take down our largest efforts to civilize.

This is why smaller human cultural groups tend to have much longer histories than massive empires. (Bushido and martial arts still exist, but the Shogunate does not). We are always going to breed sociopaths, and in turn they will make sure we never get too big for our own good.

Problems arise when the world itself is now fairly united, and sociopaths have no where left to run and hide.

If we want our biggest countries and empires to persist longer than 250 years, then we needs laws that prevent sociopaths from doing their thing.

I’m a big fan of wealth caps. Because it’s non intrusive on a person’s genetics, and the only people that complain about having 800 mil to spend instead of 1 billion, are sociopaths.

Anyway. That’s my way of saying:

• We are not all evil, mostly it’s sociopaths (and the wealthy brought up inhumane bubbles.)

• Sociopaths are the reason every human empire has fallen.

• There’s a lot of powerful sociopaths running the world because we spent decades collecting all our best resources together in large shiny empires that called the worst of us like a moth to flame for their exploitation.

Can confirm. Boring is the way. Accounting, economics, etc.

For me, I worked my ass off to be a person that works on movies and TV etc. Got lucky, held some dream positions, and even got to make my own thing.

However, if I could do it all again, I’d stay in the boring office job I had and share twice as much time with my family and friends.

Instead, I worked 80 hour weeks, made some decent money in respected roles, and then Covid took everyone and everything close to me. Money and respect mean nothing if you can’t share it with those you love.

Boring is the way. Don’t worry about liking your job in 10-20 years, worry about liking your life.

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Here’s some advice from someone with a high nat charisma role on birth:

Gaining friends, lovers, or even acquaintances isn’t a goal to be worked towards - rather - the best kinds of these relationships are byproducts of mutual interest and experiences.

If your efforts are only going towards showing up at social events to participate in small talk, then no wonder it feels like you’re coming home from work. Because that’s the same behavior expected at work.

This “social script” we’re expected to follow at work is to maintain social standing to get work done, rather than grow and deepen connections.

Basically, work socialization and personal socialization should be approached differently, and taking the work approach to your private life will likely lead to the same kind of relationships you’re building at work: simple and makes your work easier. (Rather than relationships that are deep, and make your life more colorful.)

Here’s something to try the next time you find a group you want to be a part of:

• 1st: Don’t talk about work itself. Talk about the actions you take at work. Don’t say, “I work in sales” say “I sell shit to those that don’t need it.”

Talk about the specific actions you take, in work or anywhere else, and personalize them.

The fundamentals of any relationship are built on the aligned behaviors of individuals. The easiest way to determine if the way you behave is similar to others is to talk about how you act. And if you can add in your own opinion about those actions, even better. These small things communicate who you are much better than anything else. Actions speak louder than words, so try your best to speak about yourself as the actions you take - use verbs to describe yourself, not nouns.

• 2nd: Don’t talk about yourself unless asked. Instead, engage with others to learn about them. Specially, what actions they like.

If you know someone is interested in something like bikes. Don’t ask what bikes they like, ask if they “like the thrill of downhill mountain biking,” or “prefer a chill bike ride through the park.”

Do they watch movies? Don’t ask “did you like that Movie?” Rather, ask “did you like pacing of that Movie?”

Verbs should also be at the heart of your inquiries into others, as they describe the actions others have that might align with yours.

That is - good relationships are built on mutual action, not mutual interest.

So don’t ask, “How was work?” ask “What projects are you working on?” Then follow that inquiry up with more specifics on their behaviour through that project - “How hard was the project to complete? Who got in your way?”

Basically, socialize as if the people you want to hang around are all the main characters within their own show. They have adventures, villians, love interests, etc - and just spending time learning what those are, will make them feel closer to you. Once you know enough about them, you can begin asking them about the events in their own show. That is, in time, your small talk will grow from, “how was work?” to “did you get your evil manager fired over their bullshit harrasment?”

And that’s the difference between a friend, and someone you know at work.

Eventually, when you learn about these people more, you’ll discover the behaviour they have that aligns with yours. And eventually, you’ll begin doing stuff together with them.

They like casual bike rides? Cool, give it a shot with them! They like seeing matinees on Sunday? Cool join em!

The more you show an interest in how people behave, the more likely it is they will want to include you as part of that behaviour.

• 3rd. Encourage others. Be their hype man.

You know how they act? Great. Encourage it. Sometimes, even encourage it with you included.

They love bike riding? Great. Tell them about the park near your house they should try. Heck. You can even join em.

People often have goals tied to their favorite behaviours. If you know what those goals are, you can encourage them to pursue them. When they succeed, you will now be a part of it they’ll remember.

In time, you keep up the above, you’ll be surrounded by people you know well, and whom you’ve shared a lot of activities with.

And they will without question enjoy you in their lives for it.

At the heart of Fascism is ignorance. Ignorance can be readily defeated, we just haven’t figured out the best way to do so in the information age with social media creating BS faster than facts. Time keeps going, and beyond the coming tide of Fascism, is something else. As long as we can stay informed, and educated, Fascism can be overcome. It’s never taken hold permanantly because it’s built on unstable bullshit and populism. It will come, it will pass, and when it does, whoever left will want to move avawy from the ignorance that caused this rise of Fascism in the first place.

I’m surprised I had to scroll this far to see Jinjer! Seriously impressive vocals, and absolutley one of my favorite female metal vocalists.