As a self-declared misanthropist long before Reddit was even a twinkle in the universe's butthole, I have grappled with a lot of the issues posted.

Yes, it is I, the hipster misanthropist (looking down my nose at you through glasses sans lenses).

But I wanted to take a gander and see what level of loathing this subreddit is at. Like, if I offer an opinion with any shred of nuance to it, will I get downvoted to hell and banned? I'm going to try it anyway. I'm new here, but I'm seeing something within a lot of these posts that I also hate about humanity. It's the utter mud-rolling that we can get ourselves into. We are clearly all here because we have been burned before. I have been in this state of mind on and off for as long as I can remember. I used to pray for the apocalypse, for mankind to be thrown back into the abyss where it belongs. I viewed (and still in part do) mankind as a parasite, and the earth its dying host.

But something happened over the years that began to change my vision of humanity. I looked around. I saw the ways that most people treat each other within our society. MOST people are not operating in an aggressive, opportunistic manner. Most people are fairly ok within community boundaries (cities are definitely throwing a wrench into this, but still). In fact, our very neurobiological makeup is designed for cooperation and reducing harm. Like, we have these things called mirror neurons in our brains that essentially cause us to feel others' pain (in a cognitive sense), and incite us to take action to prevent or reduce that pain, because we know we wouldn't want to be feeling that pain. It's really cool! In addition, I have seen a LOT of strangers jump to action to protect each other, cooperate to overcome obstacles that have nothing to do with them, and (albeit much less frequently) stop to chat with people who seem to be in mental distress.

Do not get me wrong, there are vile, vile people within this world. However, even though narcissism is on the rise, the narcs, the Machiavellians, and the manipulators make up a smaller portion of the population than your average, decent people do. Now, I will acknowledge that the impacts of negative interactions can be monumental and far more enduring than positive interactions in both the physical and emotional sense. Having something stolen from you is far more damaging than it would be beneficial if instead that individual just waved hello and bid you a good day. But we are stuck in the mud because we are ignoring the bazillions of mild to moderate interactions that occur ALL THE TIME, while actively discounting the positive ones in order to focus on horrid things that HORRID PEOPLE do. For example, classic misanthropy triggers for me are school shootings. As soon as I see it, I think of how horrible the human race is, and completely disregard that the only reason I believe that is because I actually LOVE my fellow man. I'm horrified for the victims, who are human too. My misanthropy is in fact not representative of my hatred for humanity, but my hatred for the way some people can treat each other.

Something that may help... For every shitty thing that happens, just try to remind yourself of one at least 'ok' level person in your life that you could NOT see committing that same action. If you can't find a single person that you could trust to not commit that offense, I would advise seeing a counselor because either the viewpoint you are regarding the world from is rife with unhealed trauma, or you might be pushing people away unconsciously and seeking out communities where you only find camaraderie in commiseration (hey, absolutely no judgment, Bipolar II misdiagnosed for YEARS, I had some dark times with some dark people and a lot of self-inflicted societal castigation).

But look, we are all persisting in SPITE of the vile systems that we despise. No, we did not design the systems that plague us, and yes, we were forced into this life kicking and screaming with absolutely no part in the decision. We were forced into a situation we will have to die to be free of it. Someone could take it from us when we want to keep it. Someone could lock us in a prison and force us to live out the rest of our lives in the dark because we did the right thing. It sucks, my bros, my sisses, and my themses. It really does.

In summation, I think mud-rolling is essential sometimes for venting, sure, but be careful about falling so deeply into that despair that everything becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. You will seek out confirmation biases, you will view the things that happen only through a lens of misanthropy, and you will always be able to find something that already supports the hole you're standing in.

A community like this is full of people who clearly can see through the fucked-up veil of humanity's dark side, their unchecked ego, their pride, their obsessions with power, their lust, their avarice, their hatred, their violence, their utter deceptions. But we are not fooled by the facades meant to lure the masses into submission.

That's a powerful place to start. Have a little hope, you beautiful assholes. There are still some good ones out there, and others that just need a little lift.