The Enslaving Power of Emotions

There is no possibility of true freedom without complete liberation from emotional burdens. Sometimes, we find ourselves in places we never wanted to be, with people we never wished to be around. If we indeed have the freedom to choose not to be there with them, why do we still opt for the undesired choice? Because, though we may appear to possess free will, our desires and logic clash with our emotional captivity—and in the end, we allow the invisible, transparent leash around our necks to drag us along. Given this, can we truly claim to be free?

We are all people raised on various forms of demagoguery. Think about it—who among us has not been subjected to emotional manipulation by parents or loved ones? Who has not, at some point, been whipped into fervor by the populist rhetoric of political or ideological groups they felt close to? The bitter truth is that behind all this lies not the pure and good emotions we assume, but a desire for control. Since childhood, we have been governed through our emotions. The Philistines (narrow-minded, ignorant individuals) absorbed these as doctrines and perpetuated them. The few who could think and act independently had their emotions ruthlessly shattered. In the midst of this chaos, unbeknownst to us, our will was castrated. Now, with our mutilated will and shattered emotions, we can dutifully serve as convenient tools.

What I speak of is not just manipulative rhetoric targeting emotions. Even when we act against the norms of our upbringing, our will remains imprisoned. The culture of "You must do this, it would be shameful otherwise, it’s your duty" has completely enslaved our consciousness and free will. Similarly, symbolic cultural values function as shackles. Worse yet, being aware of these chains does not make them easier to break—instead, the pain of knowing you are enslaved while still remaining so cuts even deeper.

True freedom is only possible by breaking free from the consciousness of emotional responsibility. A person is responsible solely for their own desires and wishes. Yet, this presents another dilemma: Suppose we escape being slaves to others—in the end, we face the problem of becoming slaves to our own desires. I intend to explore this in another piece. First, we must liberate ourselves from the state of being willful captives and usable instruments under emotional coercion.

To break free intellectually, we must first fully grasp the situation—that is, we must suffer deeply. I can say with absolute certainty that at least 80% of those who manipulate your emotions to control and use you are not doing so with strategic intent, but rather, like programmed robots, acting out what they "know" without realizing it. Here’s what we must consider: As one of the rare beings capable of true thought, will I become the tool and slave of these robots? Am I harming myself, or am I harming them? Who is more important—me, or them?

I despise motivational speakers and motivational speeches. But if it brings you comfort, let me say this: Every moment you place someone else’s will above your own, you shrink a little more. With each passing second, you lose more self-respect and dignity. Choosing your own preferences over others’ is not an act of malice toward them—but choosing theirs over yours is an act of malice toward yourself. And the greatest evil is the one you inflict upon yourself. Rest assured, every time you deem yourself less important than others, you will indeed become less significant. And be even more certain: Neither you nor they are truly important...

At first, I thought love and respect were the causes of this predicament. But I later realized that the culprits are not these concepts themselves, but the meanings we were taught and forced to accept. The truth is: You cannot love another without loving yourself; you cannot respect another without respecting yourself. This is not selfish—it is a liberated perspective. Because unless you do these things, you will not be loved or respected. Perhaps your self-sacrificial servitude is an attempt to be loved and respected more. But you will never reap the rewards of these sacrifices—instead, you will only enslave yourself further, becoming even less loved and respected. To prevent your fears from coming true, you must stop fearing. To avoid all this, you must mercilessly ask yourself: "Do I truly want this?"

Have I spoken before of how inherently wicked human nature is? To be unconsciously virtuous among these wicked people is to be a wretched slave. It is to be a sheep among a pack of wolves. Of course, there are good and virtuous wolves in this pack—but in the end, a wolf is a wolf. And a human is a human. Most act without realizing it, as I said before... Homo homini lupus.

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