Know Thy Enemy

“You might feel a little sting… That’s Pride fucking with you… Fuck Pride…Pride only hurts, It never helps”.   

-  Marsellus Wallace

  Today’s blog is a Therapeutic.  Like all therapeutics, it is designed to treat the afflicted. To some degree, we are all periodically governed by one or more of the seven deadly sins. Bagholder’s sin of choice has always been sloth, however on occasion, he has been known to flirt with both greed and gluttony. Today’s discussion though, is about pride, the sin from which all other sins originate.

    Having sparked the fall of Lucifer from Heaven, pride is widely considered the deadliest of the seven sins.  It is no coincidence, In Dante’s Divine Comedy, pride is punished in the deepest level of Hell.  In Christianity, the prideful are said to be punished in Hell by “being broken on the wheel”. The irony is not lost on Bagholder, in that metaphorically, the prideful are punished the same way here on Earth.  When you make a mistake, and life kicks you in the teeth because of it, there are only two ways to respond: with humility, or with pride. The humble learn from the mistake, make changes, and move forward. The Prideful do not learn, as such they move on a wheel like, circular path, right back to where life can kick them in the teeth again, and again, and again.

You see this play out repeatedly with addicts of all kinds. Whether they are addicted to drugs, alcohol, or gambling does not matter, their behavior is always the same.  Pride convinces the addict they (and not their addiction) are in control, preventing them from admitting they have a problem. As a consequence, it is only a matter of time until their pride leads them right back to the needle, bottle, or casino.  Notice how every speaker at an AA, GA, or NA meeting starts with “my name is ____, and I am an addict”. That statement is a psychological device designed to suppress pride, and reinforce the idea their addiction (and not the addict) is in control. Only by swallowing pride, and admitting addiction, can the addict get on the road to recovery.

Webster’s defines pride as an “over exaggerated sense of self-worth, arrogance, conceit”. The prideful are this way, because their worldview is derived from looking inward, at themselves. They believe the world revolves around them. Consequently, they are left with little capacity to see the world as it actually is. Their lack of vision and humility condemns them to a life full of negative emotions. Consider conflict with a loved one. Pride can kill that relationship by fostering the attitude: I am right, they are wrong, and they owe me an apology. Pride delays resolution of conflict by building walls made of resentment, sadness, and anger. In sharp contrast, humility builds bridges & doorways, allowing for quick resolution of conflict.

Not only does pride destroy positive relationships, but it has the nasty habit of keeping people in abusive ones. Handicapped by a myopic inward looking view, the abused always believe if only they do X, the abuse will stop. They constantly wonder what they could have done differently, always focusing on isolated incidents of abuse, but never the pattern of abuse. They see only the tree, and never the forest. As a result, they feel hopelessly trapped, always believing this time, will be the last time.

  Perhaps the worst aspect of pride, is it allows those with an understanding of the human psyche to easily manipulate, control, and exploit those without the same understanding. There is no better example of peoples excessive pride being used against them, than the abusive relationship we have with our Government.  The very same people who brought you “read my lips, no new taxes” …or…  “I did not have sexual relations with that woman” ...or… “Saddam has WMD’s”  … are now telling us:

“The vaccines are safe and effective”

Bagholder can hear all you pro-vax people.

“Yeah, the no new taxes was a lie, the sexual relations, yeah that was a lie too, WMD’s was also a lie, but this time, THIS TIME is different”

Believing this time is different, is pride fucking with you.

How many times do you have to be lied to, before you recognize you are in an abusive relationship? Temper that pride. Open your eyes and see these ghouls for who they are. They are constantly lying. They lie about everything!!  For God sake, The vaccine is not even a vaccine, it is a therapeutic! If it were a vaccine, it would come with immunity for something more than just political persecution.  Or how about this Biden whopper: “take the vaccine and get your normal life back” - how did that work out for you?

Bagholder, not beholden to pride, and a student of history, does not need a doctorate in virology to know there is zero chance these “vaccines” are either safe OR effective. Bagholder would bet his left testicle on it. The mere fact our pathological lying Government is pushing it, is all you need to know.  Good ideas sell themselves, they do not require government force. Ever.

  Bagholder is certain many of you reading this have already taken the vaccines, and are now in line for a booster. Or perhaps you are considering injecting your children with this government sanctioned poison. Before you do, please, do yourself a solid, and break the cycle of abuse. Swallow your pride, get down off the wheel, show some humility, and get on the road to recovery. Acknowledge you were lied to. Admit your mistake for buying into the lie. Change your behavior accordingly, and tell your abuser, to shove those boosters up his ass.

Bagholder is showing you the forest here … See it, or stay on the wheel … Your choice.