When you’re a child, your parents and teachers show you how to be a good human being: share your toys, talk instead of hitting somebody over the eye, help others whenever you can, don’t be greedy…
Keep this up into adulthood and there’s a big chance people will call you ‘naive’, a ‘Gutmensch’ (as if this is something bad), a radical liberal and/or a snowflake. Nice!
Somewhere along the way something went wrong and that something is modern day politics, with its focus on ‘the economy’, making money, ‘winning’ and the artificial division between ‘us’ (the winners) and ‘them’ (everybody else: the unemployed, immigrants, refugees, the disabled and sick, retired people…).
I find this disheartening and depressing: how can it be that the good-hearted people have suddenly become the ones to lose out on everything they love? Culture budgets are being scrapped, good education is only available for the rich, healthcare costs are going through the roof and if you want to buy a nice house on a regular budget- forget it.
Meanwhile rightwing politicians win more and more votes and splash their lunacies and laws over social media daily. And if it’s not them, it’s rich and spoiled ‘reality show’ stars, who show us what ‘the high life’ really looks like. And both those politicians and the stars are being admired for it.
I don’t get it and to be honest, I don’t want to get it. I want to live a nice life with my partner, family and cats, do work that I love (and not because it pays a lot), cook healthy meals, enjoy a concert every now and then, help other people whenever I can, enjoy nature, go on a short trip…
You know, enjoy life. And I guess that most people want this kind of thing as well. Preferably without being called naive snowflakes.
Let’s take that as a compliment for now. Because maybe it is.
Ninette, founder and creative director Beauty without Irony
