re: #187 Love-Child of Cassandra and Sisyphus

So I check out twitter and see that Charles Barkley is trending… and looked to see why.

It seems that Barkley gives the all-too-often refrain that it is the “system” that is making people hate each other.

Of course then some cheer him on.

But, I think it is a cop-out. “The system” is not some thing that an alien (to Earth) invade suddenly dropped on humanity.

“The system” is people.

Trying to put the blame on “the system” is just avoidance.

Avoiding confronting people. Avoiding holding people accountable. Avoiding accepting difficult truths about ourselves.

In religious circles, “the system” becomes Satan (or insert whatever supernatural evil figure or god.)

It’s a way to pass the buck.

Celebrities like Barkley who want to be see as “family friendly” or “a good role model” regurgitate that tripe because their jobs basically demand that they do so. They can’t speak their mind because then their marketability drops. So they serve up trite little pieces of “wisdom” that often as just a nice way of saying “People are assholes, but we gotta put up them.”