Reality is far away from our pretense
Summary: idiot reporter sees video, and finally realizes that "out of sight out of mind" isn't practical, and that murder occurs. Still doesn't realize it happens whether she sees it or not, and that no one cares about her emotional reaction except other people similarly isolated from reality. Modern people are neurotic and delusional.
Our whole society in denial of its own mortality cannot face the realities of life. And so when it rears its head, they retaliate with the kind of emotional drama you see above. What does it have to do with reality? Nothing. It's a shelter, shallow, delusional person bloviating.
Sadly, most people in our society think like this!
Sociopaths. But they exist. It's why our ancestors were more cynical about the worth of any human being, and kicked out all useless people, depriving sociopaths of a place to hide and a crowd of clueless, needy people they could manipulate in order to get in power.
Four weeks ago I saw a murder on the internet.
I have not really felt the same since I saw the murder, so I am not going to describe things in great detail - even though it is the details in watching someone die that are the most awful, and fascinating, and that rattle you the most.
The footage is nearly seven minutes long. I stopped watching after 1.47. I felt physically different - very very high, in a bad way, as if I were going to pass out. I was also, with sudden irrationality, worried that the footage might in some way damage my computer, which I turned off, then unplugged, then covered with a cloth.
I don't want to overstate the whole thing, or be too dramatic. I had two subsequent nights during which getting to sleep was quite difficult, and I had to climb into my youngest child's bed and wrap myself right round her while pints of anxiety sat, like bad alcohol, in my guts.
The Times
Our whole society in denial of its own mortality cannot face the realities of life. And so when it rears its head, they retaliate with the kind of emotional drama you see above. What does it have to do with reality? Nothing. It's a shelter, shallow, delusional person bloviating.
Sadly, most people in our society think like this!
At least one full video was leaked to the internet, showing the murder of 48-year-old Sergei Yatzenko. He is seen laying prostrate in a wooded area when he is repeatedly struck in the face with a hammer held inside a plastic bag. The murderers then poke out Yatzenko's eyes with a screwdriver, and stab him with the screwdriver elsewhere. Yatzenko is then repeatedly struck with the hammer to ensure he's dead. The brutal attack lasts over 4 minutes, during which the victim lapses in and out of consciousness. The murderers walk back to their car, showing that the crime took place just a few feet away from the side of the road, right next to their parked car. They calmly discuss the murder, expressing mild amazement that the victim was still breathing after a screwdriver was plunged into his exposed brain. The suspects then wash their hands and the hammer in a puddle and with a water bottle, and begin to laugh.
The Stupidity of Crowds
Sociopaths. But they exist. It's why our ancestors were more cynical about the worth of any human being, and kicked out all useless people, depriving sociopaths of a place to hide and a crowd of clueless, needy people they could manipulate in order to get in power.
I don't understand why you reacted so angrily to Moran's sincere response to what was a horrible event. She's a writer, and, man, writers write.
ReplyDeleteI saw the video. I'm not illusioned about the existence of evil in the world, and I'm not deceiving myself about the moral worth of human beings. But it was still utterly horrible, and I've been thinking on what I saw for days.
You don't have to be delusional to feel repulsed by evil. And you don't have to be neurotic to want to find some solace in sharing your feelings with others. It may be worse, in fact, if one watched the video and didn't have a reaction, or weren't able to grasp the reality of the event. The medium of a video surely affords us some distance from the visceral evil that took place, but what does it mean when someone watches it and doesn't feel somehow reduced?
If it makes you feel any better, an English language Google search for the victim's name brings your blog entry up at number four, which is higher than Caitlin Moran's piece.