I mentioned earlier about lecturing my parents on not worrying what their children were doing and butting in and nagging, which just creates aggravation for everyone. Whether they were good parents or bad parents is a matter of opinion, but their job is over. We're all adults now, responsible for our own decisions, and unless they could offer wisdom and not just nagging, we're likely not going to listen to them.

OK, I didn't mention anything about wisdom, as I know they have none to give. I told them to focus on their own happiness and do the things they want and enjoy, and truly enjoy them without getting worked up about what they perceive their children might be doing wrong.

At the time, I thought I may have gotten through to them. I thought maybe they had a moment of, "you know? that's right, that makes sense". But upon reflection a few weeks hence, I realize that's totally against character. The far more likely scenario is that they thought what I've thought about them my entire life. Which is, "who are these people and where did they come from?".

It's far more likely that they listened to me with incredulity, realizing they have no idea who this person is or the nonsense they were hearing. "Happiness? Just do what we enjoy? Who is this person, where did he come from?" People who can't give wisdom will also not hear it.

Their identity lies in part in controlling the complete micro situation around them. Enjoy the aurora borealis? Enjoy traveling to the pyramids in Egypt or Machu Picchu or the Antarctica? They don't do those things because they enjoy the experience and being fascinated by the macro wonders of the world. They do those things because it's a measure of their material success in life.

They travel the world on package tours, but I'm convinced they never feel awe or grandeur at what the world presents. They don't reflect on the world system the Egyptians created or the extreme environment of Antarctica or the grandeur of the civilization that built Machu Picchu which was wiped out by European blood-lust and greed (I know, I know, that civilization may have had its own blood-lust and greed. Who knows?).

I'm sure they don't contemplate that the auroras exist as a result of the magnetosphere protecting our planet from solar radiation, without which life on earth as we know it could not even exist. Instead, they laugh at the Muslims praying five times a day towards Mecca with their butts pointing high in the air.

What they really enjoy is feeling they have a measure of control over their lives, which is an illusion they constantly try to maintain. When I tell them to just be happy, it's the same as telling them to lose that control. And that's just absurd.

This makes far more sense.

WordsCharactersReading time