Self-Help?

You read that title and had something go through your mind. I believe you immediately recognize that "self-help" is a popular topic among new and existing writers, speakers and coaches. Here's a short post on how dumb that is...

_{Jordan Peterson - image by Gage Skidmore - source: flickr}

This is what I get rushing through my mind: "help" is a transitive verb. You "help" someone else. Helping is to "give assistance to", so how on Earth do I assist myself? I can't ask myself to hold the door open while I carry the couch inside... Nah, in the "age of the self", our times of absolute individualism, I-fundamentalism, the words "I" and "self" (-ish) do wonders for sales-figures while fooling the customer into a sense of independence. You don't need someone else for such petty needs as "help". Just buy my book, and help yourself...

And, extrapolating, you don't need to help others, as they have the same opportunity to buy my book and help themselves. For it is you against the world and the rest of humanity and you need all the help you can get, from yourself, of course. So buy my book and I'll tell you how to do it. And after that you'll never have to buy another self-help book again! No need to get each other on a higher plane of existence, we can all help ourselves! With this book!

"Self-help" is such nonsense. Profitable nonsense though, for the authors, speakers and coaches who cast the illusion of independence on their clients and customers. They're selling a lie, albeit the all encompassing lie on which the current paradigm of capitalism is constructed, so it's easy to get away with. I think George Carlin, may he rest in peace, said it well:

"The part I really don't understand; if you're looking for self-help, why would you read a book written by somebody else? That's not self-help. That's help! There's no such thing as self-help; if you did it yourself, you didn't need help. You did it yourself! Try to pay attention to the language we all agreed on..."

This is not a book, just a short random thought I got today that hopefully prevents the sale of these, mostly, worthless books. Jordan Peterson, and his mega-popular book 12 Rules for Life - an antidote to chaos is a shining example:

Dr. Peterson tells us why skateboarding boys and girls must be left alone, what terrible fate awaits those who criticize too easily, and why you should always pet a cat when you meet one on the street.

If that doesn't put you off immediately, or make you burst out in laughter, I don't know what will. Anyhow, thanks for visiting my little corner of the internet, and I hope you go out there and help someone else. Someone who needs it, someone you love or a total stranger.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog and reading my posts dear reader, I appreciate that a lot :-) If you like my content, please consider leaving a comment, upvote or resteem. I'll be back here tomorrow and sincerely hope you'll join me. Until then, stay safe, stay healthy!

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