On figuring out motives
My friend told me several months ago, ”Adam, there’s always a motive, even if it’s buried deep within your subconscious.” At first, I thought the guy was exaggerating, but, turns out, he’s right. There’s always some sort of motive. Even when we pray, it’s mostly transactional – we pray to Hashem and expect to get something in return. A blessing or whatever. When I pray, I don’t expect anything in return. I believe that’s a real prayer and not a business transaction with God. Someone who truly loves God doesn’t expect prayers to be business transactions, he or she prays without wanting anything in return, but that’s just me.
Anyway, let’s see. When I was in high school, there was this tall and attractive girl. She started talking about having a brain tumor. Everyone believed her, including me. It turned out, there was no tumor. She’d made the whole thing up to – exactly, to what? What’s the motive? Well, sympathy, as you can imagine. Extra attention, definitely. Lenient treatment at school. They found out she’d been lying the whole time when she was leaving high school.
Well-played.
That’s why I’m so careful when people tell me about their mental conditions. With plumbing, you know if what you’re dealing with is real. It’s tangible. Either there’s a leak or there isn’t. If someone tells you they have borderline personality disorder, why be so forthcoming about it, right? What’s their game? Could be like with that tall girl above. All depends on the context. It could be a psychopath – they love telling people they have cancer, because you can’t prove they are lying, unless you have access to lab equipment and cancer is such a wasting disease almost all of us feel sorry for the victim. It could even be some kind of an intel operative. Why not? You never know. Same with being a religious zealot. Isn’t that a great cover? Who would suspect the zealot of being involved in spying or intel gathering? We all have mind maps and blind spots. I was invited to the wedding of one such zealot. Given his religious group’s ties to Nazi financing in the past and general genocide admiration (not expressed openly, of course) and lack of clarity as to who this guy actually is, I didn’t go. I’m not his friend and I don’t understand why invite me at all. My motive? I stay away from people I know little to nothing about, who clearly have an agenda, whatever it is. Alright, enough about that. Next.
Dexter Morgan masterfully used the ego stroke method on the Gemini Killer. He pretended to be the Gemini Killer’s fan. When the Gemini Killer let his guard down, he was drugged and killed by Morgan. The Gemini Killer obviously knew people manipulate, but his ego was so big, he wanted to believe Dexter was his fan. And that was the Gemini Killer’s undoing. So no, when someone tells me they are oh-so-religious or about their BPD or some other diagnosis, I don’t just buy it. Why are they so open about it all of a sudden, what’s their game? But most of the time, I couldn’t care less if they’re telling the truth or not. Random strangers, who cares? Out of sight, out of mind. I abandon the manipulators and move on.
Szon patrol. What’s that about, you ask? Well, it’s the latest Polish invention, apparently. Call it morality police light or an innocent fad, not sure yet. Szon is short for kurwiszon in Polish. It’s a deeply derogatory term for a promiscuous woman. Yep, you’re nodding, you see where this is going. You don’t want to write the bad word on your yellow jacket, so it’s just szon. It’s like promiscuous woman watch. You know which words I mean. Wearing the ”Szon patrol” yellow jackets, teenage boys patrol (if you want to call it that) malls and public spaces and look for women and girls who don’t adhere to, shall we say, womanly virtues. If they find one, they berate the girl, and upload her photo, maybe a movie with her, to social media where she gets humiliated and hated on. Now, some say it’s just a fad blown out of proportion while others see it as morality police light, a harbinger of fascism, among all the other things going on in the country and, indeed, the world. I don’t know. I haven’t come across ”Szon patrol,” yet but it bears a striking resemblance to Iranian morality police, minus the beatings and abductions. Hey, who knows what the future holds, huh? What’s their motive here? A power trip? Trying to be like their parents and idol politicians running around spraying everyone? Whatever the motive, there’s a distinct pre-1939 feel in the air, isn’t there? Slowly, but surely, we’re edging closer to the abyss. Social changes and geopolitics are aligning, the micro and macro scales are merging, and we know what’s likely next. German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller wrote in the haunting ending of his poem.
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me
When religious fanatics get governmental powers, you’ll find me in some prison, but most likely dead in a ditch somewhere. Even my mind is screaming, ”Nonsense,” but my sense of history knows where this is going. Extermination of life unworthy of life (non-fanatics). The saddest part? Polish secret services that are supposed to protect Polish citizens, are going to be helping the new regime pacify protesters.
