[Teal_Avenger]

Originally posted by Loser:

Life is not cruel. Life is indifferent. Existence is unjust. Experience is inconsistent.

Very true, but experience is the lens (however scratched and out of focus) through which we each individually view the world. My view through my lens will be dramatically different than that of Bill Gates or anonymous villager in West Africa. Our lens and our interpretter (mind) are all we have to make sense of the world and most of the time there is no sense to be found. Then the mind starts to make its own "sense," impose its own overlay of order and normalcy on even the most surreal and absurd situations. It stops trying to discern the truth and creates its own "truth."

Why do people continue to live under capricious tyrants? They've convinced themselves that this is the best option available to them. Their distorted lens has overwhelmed their mind and the mind has been forced to rationalize.

Originally posted by Loser:

Letting go is the key to happiness.

Happiness is overrated. Seriously, this is giving up in a different way. By letting go, we are denying that our experience (however muddled) is valid. It is. Everyone's experience is just as valid as the next person's By putting these experiences together, we start to eliminate (see through) some the distortions of our individual experience and get closer to truth.

By letting go, by accepting our plight, we shirk any attempt at making a difference, an improvement in the world. I'm not saying that everyone has an inner Lincoln waiting to get out, but there are oppourtunities, some easy and almost passive (say, voting) all the way to the dangerous. Most are small and nearly imperceptable (a city council meeting, a mentoring program) but their cumalative effect can be dramatic.

Oops, this got a little heavy and long winded.