Prometheus 6

When we started talking about the stresses of trying to meet the American ideal Con Permisso noticed when we slipped away “from what could be said, to who should be addressed.” It was a good observation. I want to try again, this time by describing the problem in as ideology-free way as I can.

We try to have this ideal life made of ideal parts. And of course we are none of those things. So much of what we have to do is the facade than makes us fit in. I think we have these idealizations we are trying to be, and we make plans as though we have succeeded.

Even if we can maintain the ideal shape we need to hold, the space in which we are to fit must conform as well, which means the people around us hold up their facades as well. Our happiness depends on them being as ideal as we must be.

Because of this we measure our deficits instead of our strengths, We concern ourselves with the myriad ways we exceed or come up short of the measure.