Predestination

August 25th, 2023

What a fabulous concept! What a fantastic idea! What a convenient excuse! Of course, I used predestination as an excuse for many years — as you see, I am who I am and I do things I do because I had no choice of being born in a particular family, at a certain time in history, at a specific geographical location and under a specific political system — drowning in the pain of the past generations of my ancestors and the nationality and religion that was my predestination. And my psyche was shaped by those past events in a predestined mold to create me — I had no say in that matter.

No wonder that predestination is used (consciously and unconsciously) by religions and political and social movements to gain an advantage over suckers and useful idiots. That is why predestination is a prominent part of all despotic ideas and actions. How easy is it to say — it is not your fault if you are good or bad, you were born to be that way in a predestined way. The decision if you were to be saved or damned was made before you were born. So, don't fight it, accept your lot with dignity and play your part in this cosmic game. There is a fundamental inequality in life for all humankind. Deal with it.

And how easy is it to listen to (and accept) those words — especially when in the position of someone who is told that he/she was predestined for great things and wonderful life but a usurper that took the goods from him/her in violation of a god’s plan. And how tempting it might be to try to help destiny by taking steps (usually repressive and violent) to fix current affairs to the expected and predestined outcome as told by an authority who claims to speak for god or nation or history, showing easy answers and a predestined path to greatness for the chosen few.