Power... INT-2024

I nervously looked around my surroundings, searching for what I missed the most. Integrity. I couldn't find it anywhere. It wasn't on the hood of the car, I didn't see it on the billboard, it wasn't hiding under the collapsed stairs. Some monster seemed to be constantly shaking the entire city. There was noise and smoke. There was no avenue of peace. Rudely designed advertisements that preyed on the lowest instincts echoed irregularly, floating in the space of haphazardly arranged chaos. My soul could not rest.

Why did I come to this world? I have already asked myself this question for the umpteenth time, unconsciously wandering through the gray alleys of shabby tenement houses and kitsch decorated shop windows. Grotesque. Soulless satire. Every thing was based on numerical gains. They interpreted the world only through numbers. They didn't care so much about the word. And I missed the beautiful language. I wasn't taught it at school. At school I learned how to follow the rules. While reading Polish poems between the piling up commands, I hid my astonishment. They contrasted so strongly with the reality I experienced every day.

Nature was once the basic inspiration for man. The outstretched branches of the tree were supposed to be a symbol of eternal wisdom, truth and spiritual harmony. I felt it myself. Today the tree was closely surrounded by gray paving stones. The place of the Tree of Life, a symbol common to all religions, was taken by advanced technology.

And with it came something even worse. Something I couldn't describe in words. Something that in my youth I knew perfectly well what it was called and decided to forget for my own peace of mind.

Obedience. As a whole person, I was judged by this measure.

It didn't matter how honest you were, how well-read you were, how smart, how fair, how unique and human you were. It didn't matter at all. The most important thing seemed to be that you were obedient.

Now I knew what was making me feel so bad. Being compared to a robot that has to fit into some canon, I was losing my mind on how to win and at the same time remain honest, how to please others while leaving room for being myself.

And I already knew I was a loser anyway. Leaving school meant outrage from my mother, and continuing to go over math rules as large as two philosophy textbooks placed vertically on top of each other was keeping me awake at night. The fraud was much more profitable. The exit from the building was honest. Fair to the prospect of using cheat sheets. The moral problem did not seem to affect my two rapacious colleagues who, thanks to their cunning, did not get a referral to a psychiatrist, as I was going through. And the pills and the show continues. Because that's what there are pills for. Because you can't go out. How dare you disobey! Dishonesty? Here you go!

Devastated by the terrible level of education in humanities, I began to explore these topics on my own. I learned about the unparalleled potential of German natural philosophy, which was rejected by a fallen society that was scientifically oriented and indifferent to spiritual values. The teachings composed in this way seemed to be a solution to the mounting inaccuracies resulting from ignorance of sublime values and moral principles. Unsuccessfully. I opened my eyes and fell asleep surrounded by the screen, piling up messages and advertisements for new offers.

The pursuit of self-gratification. This is what most people play. I was never satisfied enough with myself, this was the engine that fueled my development. Development? If development is only technological, social development is not placed on a pedestal. Unless economic development! Someone is interrupting my work! Is your child behaving badly? Give him the pills. Quickly and effectively. What do we sell? Ecological window cleaner, packed in an ecological plastic bag. Don't you feel the irony? I filled the swimming pool with Coca-Cola! Four hundred and seventy-six views! Prank on your aunt, prank on your sister, prank on your mom!

Mom! Do you understand what I mean when I say that Mateusz is not as good a man as they say he is? That he deceives parents and teachers by being extremely flattering? He cultivates his duplicity, but for God's sake, I can't have a friend like that! He is proud of himself and recognized by his surroundings.

People like him will never know true power. It seems to him that being popular and appreciated for things that he does not do himself makes him his own master, that he has freedom, independence and domination.

Not true. I know a completely different, subtle image of power emerging from integrity. But let it remain a secret for you too...

The End.

a reply to: Agleaya



Integrity is one of those things that only the owner can give up. But once gone ...

the unparalleled potential of German natural philosophy, which was rejected by a fallen society that was scientifically oriented and indifferent to spiritual values.

Very perceptive.

Be sure to include a link to this thread in the announcement thread for the story contest.

Cheers

a reply to: Agleaya

Excellent, Agleaya! Well written and profound; I feel like I tick many of the boxes presented in your story.



Oh, btw, you need to add "The End" to finish the post.

a reply to: F2d5thCavv2

Thank you so much, cheers!

a reply to: Encia22

Thank you Encia! I added it!

a reply to: Agleaya

Forever the outsider Agleaya!

S+F

a reply to: Agleaya

S/F

I must say, I love reading your stuff... I really do.