Could Your Self-Respect be Easily Bought?

Simply navigating a modern existence can be a difficult endeavour, we strive to make something of ourselves and build up a certain accumulated wallet full of self worth. Unfortunately in this modern world, this ravenous draining insatiable leech of a world, we are constantly tested as to what we would accept in exchange for our self respect.

Some lose portions of it through their work, I can tell you first hand that some jobs will absolutely lighten your load of some self respect. Others lose volumes of their moral values through circumstances that life throws at you through the universe's chaos.

What I am wrestling with, after realising that a pastime I truly enjoyed watching has been corrupted beyond what I can morally indulge, is that our self respect in the sense of standing up for what we believe is morally or ethically correct has become cheaper than ever.

Social media plays a huge role in this. 

How many people these days will spend hours upon hours mindlessly scrolling through the waves of attention destroying content on TikTok or Instagram? It's become a fixation, borderline addiction, for some to realise a level of small time fame through likes, clicks, followers and views in the online world.

The world that, if we are being honest, isn't real beyond the power we give it as a broken vanity obsessed current form of society.

If we can sell out our beliefs, what we know at our core self as true undisputed good moral standings, then what we can value within ourselves beyond the hours a company can rinse out of your ageing bones like a dirty old moistened dish towel.

Something worth thinking about.

Any decent human being wouldn't advocate for those identifying as gay/trans/non-binary or otherwise to be harmed, yet millions of us are happily watching events or attending festivities paid for and sponsored by nations (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Russia, China, South Africa etc) who have appalling records for human rights abuses.

Where do we draw the line?

Do you continue reaching for some unobtainable level of self gratification via TikTok knowing that you are endorsing a government invested Chinese spy tool?

Do you continue eating meat knowing that animals are suffering immeasurable pain because of the meat and dairy industry?

Do you continue to use sites like Temu, Alibaba and AliExpress knowing they employ borderline slave labour and flood the market with ineffective, cheap throwaway goods, destroy local industry and have a colossal carbon footprint?

And do we continue watching shows like football, wrestling, boxing and UFC knowing that our money, our eyes, our tickets are being used to aid in the sportswashing of a nation whose king murdered a journalist and allows persecution of innocent gay and trans humans?

Unfortunately the answer seems to be, what are they willing to pay to spin our personal moral compass? How much is my self respect worth?