The Power of Writing & The Weakness of Resentment

Writing is a very important trait of humanity. It is our greatest strength, and our greatest weakness. We have the ability to catalogue history— albeit flawed, and biased as accounts can be— we have the ability to tell stories, construct poems, write jokes, and sway people’s opinions when we do it right. Writing is the tool of the strong to outlive the weak. Writing, and the art of building something out of nothing but language is not something to be resented or dismissed. As Aristotle taught us, everyone contains different virtues, and while some thrive when putting words to the page, others are gifted at putting paint to canvas, playing a musical instrument, or even solving difficult or unusual equations. Being bad at something is no reason to resent others for their talent in that field. If you resent a sculptor’s ability to craft a facsimile of a person or animal, there’s a small chance they resent your understanding of color theory, or your writing skills.

Resentment is never the answer. It can explain much of what happens in the world, and not only in recent times, but throughout history. People often resent others, even when they won’t admit it, or don’t realize it. Usually what people resent is other people's happiness. It is an issue that is relatable to all. You see someone having a good day when you’re having a bad day, you want to get angry because “what the fuck? What’s so fucking good?” It is a feeling I get when I am having a rough day; it is a feeling people experience naturally, because it is our natural tendency to compare ourselves to others. It’s the classic ‘you vs. me’ and ‘us vs. them’ situation as explained in The Good Place, episode 3.04. We have a survivalistic, evolutionary trait built into us to be distrustful of anyone who isn’t us, but the cruel irony is, again, our desire to compare ourselves to one another.

So, in a country where some people in positions of power– that they should not be holding– are trying very actively to remove books based solely on their personal feelings and/or religious beliefs, one has to first take an active step forward towards stopping these aggressors, but we must also take a look at these people’s motivations. People who try to ban books with even hints of LGBTQIA+ material are doing it because they resent the queer community; most of the time their resentment is tied up in the idea that they feel for whatever reason like they cannot express their own sexuality openly, so they wish to take their frustrations out against those loud and proud people who have the confidence to do so.

One could argue that everything happening in our country right now is because Trump resents that Obama was not only a beloved president by a large majority of both this country, and the rest of the world— maybe except Palestine, and most middle eastern countries— but that he was very charming, witty, and could be both funny and smart, while exposing the flaws in the economic system within which Trump was thriving despite being a complete loser when it came to anything related to money. Others have argued that everything happening in our country is because Reagan resented being accused of being a Stalinist, and made it his life’s mission to fuck over any and everyone involved— expressing a level of righteous indignation so excessive, you have to wonder if he actually was. Other’s, including myself, believe that the building blocks of this country have led us to our current situation simply by design. The United States was built out of a collective of people, all resentful of a country in Europe for not letting them practice something, whether that practice were a certain religion, or fucking owning other humans!! Seriously, it boggles my brain whenever I think about the fact that England’s parliament had like one discussion about potentially banning slavery (something they didn’t accomplish til 1820) in like 1705, and a bunch of the most depraved brits decided to move everything to the colonies so they could continue being garbage human beings.

So in my opinion, resentment is what has caused so much of what goes on nowadays. It is the reason I believe it is important for all creative writers with a story to tell and a message to convey to have a platform with which they may share their work. It is important for all creatives to be able to tell their truths, express themselves, and do it the way they feel works best for them. I always liked the art of using stories to bring ideas and perspectives to people who might not have seen or understood a certain way of thinking. If a perspective is valid and worthy of thought, then there is undoubtedly a way to express it analogously, telling not only the story, but incepting the minds of the audience. (This is for another time, but I will explain my use of the term ‘incepting’ at some point.)

Art does not need to say something, but it typically helps distinguish between those who create for the hell of it, and those who create because they feel they must.

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