A vicious cycle that tends to afflict dissidents is the white pill-black pill rollercoaster. You see this phenomenon when some news story seems to signal a reversal of–or at least a pause in–the West’s long cultural decline. The white-piller gets a dopamine rush that puts him on cloud nine.
When society resumes its tumble down the slippery slope, our white-pilled dissident’s bubble is burst. He takes to social media, ringing a bell and wearing a sandwich board proclaiming the end of days.
This emotional whipsawing from euphoria to despair based on the ebb and flow of the news cycle is another symptom of Late Modern male effeminacy. Too many men lack the temperance and fortitude to govern their own emotions, much less oppose government tyranny.
Exacerbating the effeminacy epidemic is the almost universal comorbidity of excessive attachment. We never tire of ragging on Gen Y’s nostalgia for plastic toys, sugary breakfast cereals, and TV series that amounted to commercials for both, but everyone has been subject to corporate culture for decades. And that culture broadcasts the nonstop message to attach yourself like a lamprey to your favorite brands.
Even BoomerCons online push a form of commercialist patriotism, demanding we maintain an attachment to ‘Murca for the freedom to buy Chinese junk at Wal-Mart, fight endless wars for corporate oil and weapons interests, and wolf down Big Macs.
Considering the money at stake, the global cultivation of attachment to created goods isn’t surprising. What’s shocking is that hardly anyone is sounding alarms about the spiritual dangers of such attachment and teaching people how to overcome it.
“What’s wrong with attachment to good things?” you may ask. “After all, we’re not Buddhists. Creation is good!”
The key to understanding the disorder lies in the second statement above. Creatures are good precisely because they are created by God, and they are good only to the extent that they participate in His infinite goodness. As such, no creature is to be loved for its own sake–that’s a soft form of idolatry. The spiritually mature attitude is one of love for created things for God’s sake. That’s the supreme virtue of charity in a nutshell.
When we divest ourselves of attachment to creatures and cultivate attachment to God, we attain serenity. Loving created things solely for their own good constantly invites anxiety and disappointment since created goods can always be destroyed. In contrast, God is the perfect, eternal, all-powerful, and Absolute Being from whom all being flows. He is impassible, unchangeable, and undefeated. That’s why He alone is trustworthy when all else fails.
Toys break. Boobs sag. People and even nations die. Only God is forever. Decide this day which you will serve, and rest easy under that yoke.
Once again, Fr. Chad Ripperger shows us the way. Watch here.
Get off the white pill-black pill rollercoaster. Stop paying people who hate you.
