Signs of Whom People Are

People reveal themselves in the narrative that they spin and seek to prop up. Mostly the narrative sustained is group think and group speak. The victories of their loved ones, friends and allies are given heightened attention. The setbacks suffered by and misdeeds committed  their favorite people are barely mentioned, if not outright lied about and suppressed.

The victories of their betters, their superiors, their rivals, and their enemies are downplayed, belittled, trivialized, ignored and mischaracterized until they come across as only modest accomplishments.

The misdeeds committed by their competitors and rivals receive heightened attention, and in-depth, constant, repetitive scrutiny and commentary. Small misdeeds are made to seem like felonies. Actual, serious misdeeds are exaggerated into atrocities or crimes of the century.

Setbacks of their enemies and rivaled are gossiped about and shared everywhere--the entire community is obliged to know about these downfalls.

Cultural narratives, it must be assumed, are propaganda fed to the community and the world. These official versions should be regarded as suspect by any intelligent self-actualizer and truth-seeker. Humans in society lie all the time to themselves and to others, about themselves and about others.

Add to this mess in terms of sorting out what is true and what is false, another framework of analysis that somewhat overlaps the first one. The second framework involves interpreting any narrative through the lens of social relations.

The first framework suggests that people spin a rosy scenario about the victories and pratfalls of their favorites, and put in the worst light possible, the victories and defeats of their enemies. These complex webs of lies are about acquiring power, protecting power gleaned, and weakening the social, political and economic power of rivals, if possible.

The second framework through which to analyze narratives fed to one is to figure out if the friends of the speakers that are lauded are joiners and good people or not. They likely are joiners and most of them are mediocre, underachievers, slightly evil, but only a few are outright vicious.

The enemies of the speaker likely are just members of an opposing group that mostly are mediocre and just slightly evil people, although a few of them may be rank scoundrels.

Here again the victories of friends are exalted to increase their social standing, and their faults are downplayed in order that they may be disgraced or humbled, losing social position, even besmirching the patina of their affiliated group members.

The victories of enemies are ignored or demonized so that they lose social standing, and their mistakes and screw ups are highlighted repeatedly to cause them shame, embarrasment and to lose face and influence.

Where the enemy is an individualist or individuator, usually they are  star achievers and good people whose victories are discredited, and whose failings are exaggerated.

The enemies of the individualist advancing the poisonous, false narrative are mostly mediocre, slightly evil joiners. When they go to the wall to pay any price to keep power over and control of the minority, defiant individualists who are loners, then the joiners are doing great evil and harm to the victims and to society.

Not enough studying of this issue, complex and frightening, describing the power of an imposed narrative upon a community, has been carried out, let alone published. Under Mavellonialist values and education, I would like each self-actualizer to command a deep appreciation of the narratives being spun around him and about him, for his very life--certainly his ability to function and succeed rely on a favorable narrative--depends upon him being informed, savvy and responsive. And he must get out there and spin the counter-narrative that is much closer to the truth, more impartial and fair to all parties involved.