face saving – Dreamyoga

From time to time people can get very caught up in the brouhaha of a moment of confrontational politics. They can become polarised in thinking and very stubborn. They can entrench and vote against something just to spite others or to “prove” a point. The next day they may wake up and for just a fleeting instant have a realisation that they have been hasty and made a bad decision. Then before their eyes the long drawn out tedium of Brexit unfolds. The “wise, mature and measured” presidency of Trump clicks into gear. The thing which they voted for unfolds in ways which they had not ever considered, because calm thought was never a part of the process for them. It is too late to undo what has been set in motion.

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This sentiment of OMG what have I/we done is not restricted to politics it happens on the micro and nano scale in our daily lives. People stick with their “decisions” even if they are stupid in order to save “face”. They can be very stubborn and adamant in their near fervent justifications but deep down we all know when we are kidding ourselves.

I will place a bet; the Trump presidency will not increase world harmony as it is holistically measured.

It seems to me that we all have to endure this strange American psychodrama where everything is a “what is in it for me” deal. That a US president is even gobbing off about Greenland, Panama and Canada is a bit of a shocker. It may indeed be time for the USA to try its hand as being an overt imperial power as opposed to pseudo-covert.

If we can take any lessons from the invasion of Ukraine it is that the bogeyman Russian conventional army can be stopped in its tracks even when it has air superiority. The Russians can probably endure more loss and body bags than the softer western nations. Remember it was the USA which hyped the Russian and Chinese bogeymen to all and sundry.

Now it seems Trump is playing kissy-kissy with Vlad.

OMG what have we done? Is probably not yet a widespread sentiment in the US of A.

I remember watching a news interview with an African man about the January 6th Capitol attack. He said it was just like watching the goings on in his country. The USA was no more sophisticated than a country in turmoil between corrupt factions. Since Independence there had been many coups and changes of government. The rule or law had failed.

The division bell has sounded and the snowball of US isolationism has started rolling. If any sensible calculations were made, there may be an error. Will a man with six prior bankruptcies be the saviour which makes America great again?

There is a part of me which will be pleasantly surprised if it all works out well. That part is not holding its breath.

On a personal note, our residence rights expire in March next year. If the anti-immigration mantra continues to be harshly chanted, we too may have to sling our hooks.

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We reap what we sow…

Now Brits stand in line with their blue passports and wait, just like those from the kingdom of Lesotho, the DRC and Rwanda.

I know let us send our immigrants to Rwanda it is a stable country and safe…with nice backhanders…

What a cunning plan…

22 is the dark jewel egotism and it can create many catch 22 situations. People do not as a rule, in the common socio-political construct, like to lose face. This notion of “face” can be very expensive indeed.

One can cut off one’s nose to spite one’s face.

Face is the dreaming symbol for social self-image which belongs to the class of mayas and illusions. Despite what your social media tries to push, you are not the image imagined and advertised thereupon. That is just some stuff you made up.

People like to “win” arguments or battles in order to save “face”.

I have been in numerous situations where people have expected me to act in accordance with what they imagine face saving behaviour might be. They were fighting a “battle” on the assumption that the normal rules of society and “face” applied.

“He will come round, he will break. He will say sorry because of the guilt trip I laid upon him.”

When this does not happen a kind of catch 22 situation results. The protagonist does not want to lose face but starts to understand that holding breath and crossing fingers is not the answer. What to do? If one gives in, one loses faces. So, one cuts off one’s nose to spite one’s face and leaves a totally unnecessary bloody mess. Because the “he” here did not succumb to the manipulation a loss, perhaps profound has resulted. It was about something not real – face.

Face can be very expensive indeed.

Tens of thousands have people have died because people do not want to lose face.

Deterrence as it is often used / bandied about relies on this notion of face.

“They killed a few thousand in October. How dare they!!”

“We will destroy their country, kill fifty thousand, maim a hundred thousand more so as to save face because we were caught napping! Are we not heroes? That’ll show them!”

People can try to justify so many things with this emotive notion of face. It is cyclical and silly.

He offended me, I must offend him back or get him cancelled as punishment. My face got upset that he called me fat even though my BMI is 40. I must make him pay for offending my face. I’ll send the message on my way going to the pharmacy for my Ozempic.

Face it seems requires punishment as deterrence for questions or contradictory versions of reality. Face does not like to be challenged because it is the outer expression of egotism, self-importance and victim martyr tendency…

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Has face and the attempt at preserving thereof ever worked out very expensive for you?

Was it worth it in the final analysis?

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Tag: face saving

OMG What Have We Done?

The Price of Face