If we’re all special, then none of us are special

Originally published on Medium

As a society we’ve become so self-indulgent, entitled, with our egos going out of control without really having a legitimate reason. How did we get there?

Simply put, many of us were told that we’re special just the way we are. We’re told that we don’t have to do anything to earn accolades and esteem. We don’t need to change our mindsets or our attitudes. There’s no need to improve ourselves physically, spiritually and intellectually. We simply have “to be”. We’re amazing just the way we are.

So with meritocracy no longer in play, how do we distinguish ourselves from others to gain higher status? We simply make ourselves more “unique” than the next person by tacking on more and more descriptors to our definition of our own identities.

The more uniquely we decide to identify ourselves based on seemingly arbitrary criteria, the higher our self-worth.

Many of us are now being told that our opinions and thoughts should matter more than others’ simply because we can be visibly identified by different factors:

• skin colour
• gender identity (or lack thereof?)
• the deity (ies) we worship (or lack thereof)
• the type of people we find sexually attractive
• whether we actually prefer to have sex with people at all
• our ancestry
• our country(ies) of origin
• weight and body fat percentage
• our “handi-capabilities”, both physically and mentally
• our dietary choices

Or a combination of the above. That’s what makes everyone a special and unique snowflake.

The reality is as follows:

You are not special. You’re not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You’re the same decaying organic matter as everything else. We’re all part of the same compost heap. We’re all singing, all dancing crap of the world.

Even if we manage to end up building our “professional accomplishments”, and increase our ability to accumulate more and more expensive things, we can still fall in the trap of defining ourselves according to our successes. It’s a good idea to remember this:

You are not your job, you’re not how much money you have in the bank. You are not the car you drive. You’re not the contents of your wallet. You are not your fucking khakis. You are all singing, all dancing crap of the world.

So the next time that you are tempted to get into an argument because of your “unique” and “special” self-identification method, just remember that everyone else around you is also “unique” and “special”. So your opinions likely aren’t that valid to begin with. You just have access to platforms that make it easier for you to share them.

 

And in case you’re wondering if my opinion on this should even matter, dear reader, let me identify myself. I am a young(ish) millennial male immigrant from a historically colonially oppressed Southeast Asian country. I live as an ambiguously visible ethnic and linguistic minority in a North American country. I’m surrounded by privileged White people. While I am not medically obese, it’s easy to see by looking at me that I’m somewhat overweight. So if you criticize my opinions in this piece, or if you don’t like, share and subscribe to this blog, you are contributing to the oppression felt by my ancestors and fellow immigrants who are somewhat overweight.