Настроение:	contemplative
Entry tags:	russia, transitioning, ukraine, ww3

On the Industrial Redistribution of Outrage
It is a curious phenomenon of the human condition that those least capable of managing a household budget are the most certain they could manage a global civilization. We observe a segment of the population—let us call them the "intellectually stagnant"—who have discovered a marvelous labor-saving device: instead of the arduous task of self-improvement, they have opted for the effortless hobby of moral indignation.

The hierarchy of discourse is well-documented. Minds of quality occupy themselves with the structural integrity of ideas; the mediocre are obsessed with events; but the basement of the intellectual strata is reserved for those who discuss people. Specifically, they discuss the "Elite."

The Epstein Displacement

Consider the specimen with a string of DUI convictions, living in a state of self-induced squalor. This individual’s daughter may be currently navigating the grim realities of a fentanyl-fueled existence under the "tutelage" of a street-level pimp. Logic would dictate that this father’s primary concern should be the catastrophic failure of his own lineage.

Yet, he is remarkably preoccupied with Jeffrey Epstein.

By fixating on the depravity of a dead billionaire, the man in the trailer achieves a miraculous internal transformation. Through the lens of this obsession, he is no longer a negligent father or a societal drain; he is a "Truth Seeker." He transforms his own domestic wreckage into a byproduct of a "rigged system." He does not need to repent for his own vices because he has found a larger vice to point at. In his mind, being "against Epstein" is a moral achievement that grants him the status of a saint, absolving him of the need to be a functioning parent.

The Proxy Success of the Failure

This pathological need to attach oneself to things one did not build is seen most clearly in the "Sports Fan." Here we find an individual who has achieved nothing of note, yet screams "We won!" when eleven strangers move a ball across a line.

This is the same mechanism used by the conspiracy theorist. Just as the fan uses the team’s victory to mask his own lack of trophies, the "outrage addict" uses the billionaire’s scandal to mask his own lack of character. Both are seeking a **Locus of Control** that exists anywhere but within themselves.

Pride: The Great Anesthetic

The ancient wisdom of the Bible correctly identifies Pride as the "Root of All Sin." It is not merely a feeling of accomplishment; it is the arrogant refusal to see oneself clearly. The "trailer-trash" philosopher is blinded by a perverse form of pride. He is too proud to admit his life is a sequence of his own bad decisions, so he invents a grand drama where he is the victim of Bill Gates or a shadowy cabal.

Humility, by contrast, would require him to look at the fentanyl in his daughter’s veins and ask, "What did I do to allow this?" But humility is painful. Outrage is a drug far more potent than the ones his daughter is selling. It provides a warm, fuzzy feeling of righteousness that requires zero effort, zero discipline, and zero change.

The Rent-Free Occupancy

The tragedy is that these celebrities and villains live "rent-free" in these vacant minds. While a smart man is calculating his next investment or refining a proof, the dullard is scrolling through flight logs of a plane he will never board, belonging to a man he will never meet.

They have traded their agency for a spectator’s seat at a scandal. They bark at the moon because they lack the legs to climb the mountain. In the end, they remain exactly where they started: in the dirt, clutching a smartphone, feeling superior to the very people who actually bothered to do something with their lives—even if that "something" was villainous.