Facing opposition and challenges way beyond what you expected? Feeling like you’re always being kicked when you’re down? Noticing a strange pattern of being called weak and small, while you’re being treated as the biggest threat in the world? It could be a sign you have strong potential and will succeed in a bigger and better way than you expect. Whether you are an activist for a marginalized community, trying to advance from a lower socioeconomic status, building a business with a new, unconventional set of ideas, or doing anything that bucks the establishment, you don’t want to miss this episode. Develop a strong, fighting mindset, don’t internalize the ways they make you seem to be weak, overcome the ridicule, and stick to your values and uniqueness to gain success in advocacy and in your personal goals.
This episode introduces what I have termed the Repressed Warrior Paradox, where those with strong potential are held down and being fought back against out of proportion with what they expect, and they don’t realize that is because of their extremely strong potential to create both social change and personal victory. Because they don’t see their own potential, they will back down or be blindsided and are prepared to be the kind of fighter they need to be, and are on the inside to ultimately achieve their potential for unexpected victory. This is the first of three parts, in three episodes - this episode is focused on describing the typology. Next are individual steps if you are facing this experience to feel more confident and achieve success, and discussing the systemic designs that keep people with strong potential down, and how we can create better policies in a better society that allows more people to achieve at their highest level.
Notes:
You're an activist and realize that somehow weak, lazy people are the biggest threat in the world to conservatives. Why?
Major principle: Today's nuisance can be tomorrow's champion
The Repressed Warrior Paradox typology:
You are being beaten up on, you just want to live your life, but can't.
Wondering why things are so hard for you.
You just can't fit in and nothing can go your way, and everything is harder for you, but you just can't point out why
Ridiculed even when doing the right thing.
You just can't do things the way others can do them, but you can do a lot more than them
A lot of potential but just cannot make it in conventional spaces and manners
You are frequently a failure, but not because you're bad, but because you disagree or you just cannot stand how things are done.
You may be strong but viewed as excessively sensitive
Even little stuff may seem harder, this sometimes comes along with neurodivergence but is not the same)
Has to do more with an anti-authoritarian attitude
For seemingly no good reason, being knocked out for extended periods of time. Left defeated, confused, and helpless.
You're called weak, lazy, a whiner, despite of how hard you work, and are also somehow a massive threat, public enemy #1
You feel you're not conventionally strong or smart but there's a small voice that tells you that vou are better than you are being told. Maybe you have shown strong potential and achievement in the past but maybe not now.
Oppressed populations have this happen more often, so if you are a POC, LGBTQ+, disabled, it's more likely.
Kicked when you are down. Why? Maybe it's because you are a threat and stronger and more capable of victory than you think.
Happens to anyone who has the ability to validate or spread ideas the establishment does not like.
They want to knock you out before you can ever win. Interference comes to take you out ahead of time because you are a big threat, a bigger threat with more of a chance of victory than you ever believed.
Simply put: the better of a fighter you are, the more likely you are to get badly beaten up. And this has less to do with physical fights than it does potential and oppression.
Orange Cassidy - sometimes staying low-key and underestimated can be a strategic advantage
Embrace that you are a warrior and capable of victory
This comes with needing to live a more high performance lifestyle, and taking steps to stay prepared. I will explain more on the practical steps to feel better and start succeeding on the next episode.
You have a lot more power. You need to be more careful than normal and show control. It’s easier to hurt someone with a 90 mph fastball than a 60 mph fastball.
www.Fixerpunk.com
Got questions or comments about this episode? Is there another political or social issue you’d like me to cover? Are you realizing you are a repressed w
This episode introduces what I have termed the Repressed Warrior Paradox, where those with strong potential are held down and being fought back against out of proportion with what they expect, and they don’t realize that is because of their extremely strong potential to create both social change and personal victory. Because they don’t see their own potential, they will back down or be blindsided and are prepared to be the kind of fighter they need to be, and are on the inside to ultimately achieve their potential for unexpected victory. This is the first of three parts, in three episodes - this episode is focused on describing the typology. Next are individual steps if you are facing this experience to feel more confident and achieve success, and discussing the systemic designs that keep people with strong potential down, and how we can create better policies in a better society that allows more people to achieve at their highest level.
Notes:
You're an activist and realize that somehow weak, lazy people are the biggest threat in the world to conservatives. Why?
Major principle: Today's nuisance can be tomorrow's champion
The Repressed Warrior Paradox typology:
You are being beaten up on, you just want to live your life, but can't.
Wondering why things are so hard for you.
You just can't fit in and nothing can go your way, and everything is harder for you, but you just can't point out why
Ridiculed even when doing the right thing.
You just can't do things the way others can do them, but you can do a lot more than them
A lot of potential but just cannot make it in conventional spaces and manners
You are frequently a failure, but not because you're bad, but because you disagree or you just cannot stand how things are done.
You may be strong but viewed as excessively sensitive
Even little stuff may seem harder, this sometimes comes along with neurodivergence but is not the same)
Has to do more with an anti-authoritarian attitude
For seemingly no good reason, being knocked out for extended periods of time. Left defeated, confused, and helpless.
You're called weak, lazy, a whiner, despite of how hard you work, and are also somehow a massive threat, public enemy #1
You feel you're not conventionally strong or smart but there's a small voice that tells you that vou are better than you are being told. Maybe you have shown strong potential and achievement in the past but maybe not now.
Oppressed populations have this happen more often, so if you are a POC, LGBTQ+, disabled, it's more likely.
Kicked when you are down. Why? Maybe it's because you are a threat and stronger and more capable of victory than you think.
Happens to anyone who has the ability to validate or spread ideas the establishment does not like.
They want to knock you out before you can ever win. Interference comes to take you out ahead of time because you are a big threat, a bigger threat with more of a chance of victory than you ever believed.
Simply put: the better of a fighter you are, the more likely you are to get badly beaten up. And this has less to do with physical fights than it does potential and oppression.
Orange Cassidy - sometimes staying low-key and underestimated can be a strategic advantage
Embrace that you are a warrior and capable of victory
This comes with needing to live a more high performance lifestyle, and taking steps to stay prepared. I will explain more on the practical steps to feel better and start succeeding on the next episode.
You have a lot more power. You need to be more careful than normal and show control. It’s easier to hurt someone with a 90 mph fastball than a 60 mph fastball.
www.Fixerpunk.com
Got questions or comments about this episode? Is there another political or social issue you’d like me to cover? Are you realizing you are a repressed w
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
This is the fixer Punk podcast,the podcast that knows summer cutting season is
far overdue, but it's subconsciously interpretingthe cloudy weather in June to mean it's
still bulking season. I'm Grayson Peltier. Now today I want to talk about
(00:22):
a topic that I think is goingto have a lot of importance for progressive
activists, any sort of activist,and anybody that feels like they are facing
a very large amount of resistance,whether it's like specific to you or systemically
toward being able to succeed or evenbeing able to live your life. In
(00:45):
general, you feel like things arejust not quite going your way and like
you don't have the potential to overcomethem, and you don't quite know why.
I've discovered through a bit of observedthat a lot of times people will
face opposition that is way out ofline with what they expect and will regress
(01:11):
quite a bit from that. Butwhat you have to do is you actually
have to realize and refrain the situationand see that it is actually indication of
an interesting typology and a sign thatthings may actually wind up going your way
in a much bigger and better waythan you ever expected. And what will
(01:36):
oftentimes happen is this, This isthe easiest way to describe this is when
you see a social movement going onof people who are in somehow oppressed,
people who are of who are peopleof color, lower socioeconomic status especially is
(01:57):
a big one. Lg BTQ,disabled, and conservatives will go and they
will call them weak, lazy whiners, and they will also call them the
biggest, largest, hardest threat tosociety ever in the history of all time.
(02:19):
And this is a weird paradox,and sometimes this stuff actually gets internalized,
actually gets into your head of thenviewing yourself in a negative way and
viewing your chances in a very negativeway because they call you a weak,
lazy winer, and that sometimes getsinternalized at some point and in a way,
that's what they want you to do, that's where they want you to
(02:40):
be. And it's a very difficultthing because it can really hurt your mindset
and your ability to advocate for changeand take you from either being strong in
wanting to advocate for social change toeither just completely regressing and be coming weak
and unable to achieve change and tostop advocating or ill turn you into basically
(03:07):
just one of them people who arepart of the dominant ideologies because you can
have the your ability to have strengthis legitimized more within the dominant ideology.
But there are some signs, sometelltale signs that this might be going on,
and there are ways to overcome itthat are pretty unique. And this
is especially true if people view youas like troubled or they see you as
(03:30):
being basically just like a problem,and sometimes it can even make you really
depressed or anxious or things like that, but it's really just because you are
not living up to your potential,and the way society and systems are designed
and the way people are talking toyou is to get you to tap out
of living through that potential, whenin fact, you are a much stronger
(03:53):
fighter than you believe, and theyknow it. They know how strong,
how good you are, and thechance that you have for victory. So
they're trying to kick you when you'redown so that you don't rise up against
them and their power. And partof the way they kick you when you're
down is to get you to believethat you are a lot weaker because of
(04:15):
your social or societal vulnerabilities, becauseyou don't have those markers of social status,
then you're not entitled to the rightto be such a strong person and
to achieve victory and to leave indesign systems to make it so that your
day to day life you have tokind of pull back from your individuality and
(04:40):
what makes you great in order tobe seen as a good person, even
though you are acting morally ethically andresponsibly. None of this is an excuse
to not act in a moral,ethical, responsible way. But there's a
lot of stuff in society that's justabout control, and when people go against
that system of control, they canwind up getting resistance in these very weird
(05:04):
ways. Not just like if you'reconventionally strong, the way you're going to
experience resistance is going to be juststraight up resistance. But when you're non
conventionally strong, it may come inthis very weird form. And some of
the signs that you're feeling this andthat you're this is getting inside of you
emotionally is basically the idea that you'rekind of being seen as more of less
(05:28):
of like a like a threat threat, Like they don't see you as like
an opponent, especially if you're advocatingfor a policy idea they don't see you
as like a like a worthy politicalopponent or a worthy opponent in terms of
your workplace bargaining negotiations, your unionnegotiations, whatever advocating you're doing for social
change. They see you more asa nuisance. And I've said this before
(05:49):
on a few episodes, and thisis kind of going to explain the nuts
and bolts behind this statement, whichis today's nuisance is tomorrow's champion. But
right now you don't see that.You're at a point where you're being beaten
up on. You just want tolive your life, but you kind of
can't, so you have to engage. Things are so hard for you.
(06:12):
You have to engage in advocacy totry to change things. But then when
you do that, you just youcan't fit in. If you try to
go things the way that they wouldtell you to do normally, you just
can't fit in. You try togo through the normal systems of economic achievement,
social achievement, all those things,you just can't fit in. Nothing
(06:33):
goes your way, and everything justfeels harder for you, and you can't
point out why you're doing the rightthing. You're still ridiculed and you just
can't do things the way others cando them, but you can do a
lot more than them as the strangeparty. So you can do Your potential
is way more than the things thatyou are somehow failing at right now.
(06:57):
And you know that deep down,but you just can't make it in those
conventional spaces. And you're going you'retrying to change things in society, and
what you're met with is this bizarreform of both ridicule and resistance at the
same time, and you feel likeit's disproportionate. You're frequently a failure,
but it's not because you're bad.It's just because you disagree or you can't
(07:19):
really stand the way things the waythey are. So you're in business,
you're in the workplace or whatever,and you're not advancing, you're not getting
promoted because you have great ideas,you have good things you can do,
but the current structures of the systemsin that workplace or in the economy are
(07:39):
just not supporting it, not supportingthe way you view things, even though
in the end you can very wellcome out on top. Of course,
people that are your competition, especiallyin business, don't want you to come
out on top. They don't wantyou to or your opposition politically. They
don't want you to come out ontop. They want to find some unique
(08:01):
ways to stop you from doing that. And they know that sometimes because you're
more emotionally vulnerable, you're not purelyruthless. They know that they can use
that a little bit and stick themselvesinside of you and say, oh,
yes, this is your space.Your space is to be held down and
sort of stay on the bottom,and by making every little thing hard they
(08:26):
can do that. And you maybe very strong, but you may wind
up being viewed as extremely sensitive becauseof the opposition you're facing. Of course,
it's going to get to you alittle bit mentally. There may be
certain things that gets to you morethan other people, and you may be
viewed as being really really sensitive,when in fact you're actually really strong,
(08:50):
You have great ideas, and littlestuff may just seem harder. Sometimes these
kinds of things come with neurodivergence,when you feel like things are a lot
harder than they should be, butit's not really the same. It can
come on zone this morris to dowith having sort of like an anti authoritarian
attitude, and for seemingly no reason, you're kind of knocked out of whatever
(09:13):
you're doing for a very long time. For extent periods of time, you're
staying around sort of defeated and helplessand really more confused than anything. You're
like, Okay, I made onestep forward, and every time make one
step forward, I go ten stepsback because I'm facing really fierce opposition.
This is something that you're really basic, Like the idea I'm fighting for is
(09:33):
something that should be a fundamental humanright. I only want to get the
kind of recognition of the workplace thatI should be entailed to, the kind
of treatment in the workplace that Ishould be entailed to. I only want
to be treated fairly the way thatother people are. But somehow I am
being stopped. And that may makeyou to feel hopeless, and especially when
(10:00):
you're facing all this opposition. Maybeyou've gone through you've you've tried to improve
your mental health and really you haven'tmade it, but it's because you just
haven't seen that success. The successisn't coming, so you still feel bad
about it. But still you havea small voice that tells you that you're
a lot better than you're being told. And maybe you've shown strong potential and
achievement in the past, but justnot now. And more than anything,
(10:26):
it feels like you're being kicked whenyou're down, and this should be assigned
to you. It should be asign that when you're facing this kind of
opposition that it's because the other sidedoesn't just doesn't actually see you. Let
me say that you're weak, lazy, all of these things, but it's
(10:46):
because they do see you as athreat. It's because whatever you're advocating for,
whether that be a higher minimum wage, whether that be better treatment in
the workplace, more rights for peopleof color, minority criminal justice reform,
even if it's just for yourself toget a promotion or better pay at work,
(11:07):
or the ability to make changes inyour workplace conditions, or an idea
you have in business that maybe threatensthe status quo, it's because the reason
why this is happening to you,the reason why the resistance is a lot
harder and a lot harsh on you, The reason why you're being fought back
on so hard is because you actuallyhave potential and because your idea has some
(11:28):
possible merit to it. And thiscan happen to anyone who has the ability
to validate or spread ideas. Theestablishment does not, like they want to
knock you out before you can everwin. It's like the interference before a
wrestling match, like like the otherside will mob you before you can even
get in the ring and have thebell ring, that kind of thing.
(11:52):
And obviously it's not fun, justlike being physically beaten up, it's not
fun, but having that come aheadof time, it's just it's also not
fun. And really the way thatI that I explain this repressed warriors paradox
very simply is the better of afighter you are, the more likely you
(12:15):
are to get badly beaten up.And it has less to do again as
less to do with physical fights thatit does with potential and oppression, because
when you have potential, when yourideas, when you as a person have
potential, you're going to be upfor longer fights, more pain, and
less of like a quick submission,because if you were really weak, then
(12:35):
you'd be out of it. Youwouldn't be continuing to advocate your ideas,
wouldn't continue to be moving forward,You wouldn't continue to move forward with the
possibility of having your business grow oryour influence in your workplace grow or whatever.
You're advocating for. You wouldn't continueto have that possibility of having that
influence if you didn't actually have thechance. And being strong or can sometimes
(13:00):
mean that things hurt more because againyou are having to challenge yourself in order
to get to that level. Andit'll even be little things. Sometimes people
will avoid you, will get kindof lonely because maybe what you're what you're
looking for isn't so popular. You'rehaving some issues, and then and then
(13:24):
maybe people don't want to be aroundyou. Obviously you want to be if
you want to be in good favorwith as many people as possible. Don't
use anything I say as just anexcuse to go out and be and be
mean to people, be rude,do bad things. Certainly nothing unethical.
(13:46):
But sometimes when you're challenging, whenyou're making a statement that's more challenging,
sometimes people will not want to bearound you, Especially in today's highly politically
polarized world. Even doing little thingslike like saying that we should give like
that we should fully recognize voting rightsfor people can lose you friends in these
(14:11):
in this day and age, whichis pretty unfortunate. Those types of little
things can get you can get peoplein your friends circle to go away,
and it can be hard. Andreally, what I'm doing here as I'm
sort of describing this typology to seeif you relate to it, but um,
(14:35):
I have to also and I maymake this multiple episodes discuss this typology,
but then discuss like your individual stepsfor how to deal with this new
form of stress, this form ofstress of being in a battle that maybe
you didn't even know you were in. You're just out there trying to live
your life, trying to get whatyou need in life, and you're realizing
that there's this big battle over thatand that you're you're getting blind sided by
(15:00):
it, and what are some waysthat you can kind of help cope with
it? But then, of coursethere's also a systemic end of it that
we tend to create systems that marginalizepeople, that create a level of isolation,
that make it hard for people tocome back from failure, and that
(15:22):
really holds society back. And thegood news there's a little bit of positives
to this, because if you're oneof those people who you're fighting for equality,
you're fighting to be treated right,and the response to it is not
necessarily just a strong opposition. Butit's a combination of both ridicule and strong
opposition. Maybe the fact that you'rejust being ridiculed can be a bit of
(15:50):
an advantage, and people see youas being weak and see you as not
being serious. Sometimes it can bea little bit of advantage. Being low
key can make things a little bettersometimes, Like the the example I like
to bring as a pro wrestler namedOrange Cassidy. He's the AW International Champion.
He's one of like has one oflike the best winning records of any
(16:12):
wrestling champion right now, especially inAW. But the guy started out basically
by going into the ring and havinghis hands in his pockets rolling in there.
He doesn't even carry his his titlebelt with him, he carries in
a backpack. He like gives likelittle miniature kicks, miniature slaps and people
(16:36):
and they see him, Oh yeah, this guy's like a joke. I
don't have to worry about him.But then suddenly, out of nowhere,
he comes out he has the secondwin to him, and he's just like
going really really hard and actually fightingincredibly hard, having like now many many
very super intense matches, and he'sgetting he's getting the wins. He's retained
his championship for what is it likefive six months now or more. I
(17:03):
have lost count. Sorry about that, But because people underestimated them, that
can be a good thing. Now, sometimes if you're considered to be a
repressed population, they can publicly say, they can say, oh, yeah,
you're a little nothing, you're justa little prick or whatever, and
then they're fighting you back really reallyhard, and they are using every single
(17:27):
way to try to defeat you,and you're not getting it, and that
that confusion, that confusion is kindof a way to get you off balance.
It's a way to get you tothink, oh, yeah, you
know what, I'm going to goin there and this is not going to
be so hard because they're underestimating me. But you have to be ready to
just like Warrant Cassidy as he's goingto come in with hands in his pockets
(17:48):
all that. But you have tobe ready to fully fight with everything that's
in you. And some people justdon't get that because they think, because
they internalize the narrative that they areweak and lazy, just like they're being
told by the world around them.But make no mistake, even especially if
you're being ridiculed for your ideas,or you're being seen as being weak,
(18:11):
or being seen as being just anew sense rather than a proper opponent.
Maybe the way people see you isnot like the conventional form of strength,
and they give people who have likea conventional form of strength and a conventional
form of intelligence, a conventional formof wit a lot more grace. They'll
give somebody like an Andrew Tad oran Elon Musk more grace than somebody who's
(18:33):
advocating for the rights of the LGBTQcommunity, or who's advocating for higher minimum
wage, who's advocating for economic rights. They're going to give them a little
more slack. But you have tounderstand that you may be in a situation
where every mistake is magnified because theysee you both as a threat and as
an object of ridicule. Every mistakeyou make can be magnified, and you
(18:57):
have to be careful for that,and you have to kind of stay trained
at all times. Things are goingto be a little bit more like an
iron match iron Man match for you. Things are gonna go longer and take
more time, and you can windup. And the thing is is that
(19:18):
is that you may wind up justgoing about your life and you're like,
oh, man, I'm getting crushedout of nowhere. I'm just here asking
for what I need, and outof nowhere, I feel like I'm being
palmmel to the ground, and I'msad. But the important part is that
you have to get up. Thereason why you're being fought back so hard
on what it is that you're lookingfor is because you have potential, and
(19:45):
sometimes and a lot of times youjust you don't. You have to then
embrace, You have to become afighter, somewhat involuntarily. And and sometimes
you're being tempted with like the optionof like, Okay, you can just
give up on your uniqueness, whateverit is that you're fighting for, give
up on the union demands or whatever, give up on the policy changes that
(20:11):
you want, and then just submit. And sometimes they'll say, especially for
marginalized communities of color, whatever,if you just conform to every single thing
that capitalism wants out of you,then you'll be fine. That's kind of
the devil's bargain they give you.But you can't fall into that. You
have to know that what you're doingis in fact good, just moral and
(20:37):
right, and if it is that, then you continue. If it's not
that, then obviously reevaluate. Butanything less than full submission will then be
seen as like some sort of rebellionthat they'll fight back against. And it
can be hard because it can beconfusing. Sometimes society gives you signs that
(21:00):
are a little bit unclearing. Youcan't make it out, especially if you're
if you're talking talking from neurodivergence,you just don't know what's expected of you.
Sometimes. But this process of sortof getting beaten up and ridiculed before
you can even get up create cancreate a bit of a death spiral.
It can create like this whole thingof basically just thinking I am down,
(21:23):
I'm weak, and I'm just goingto stay down because every time I try
to get up, even every timeI try to get up just a little
bit, I am being hit sofreaking hard. Again. You see that
as kind of you can see thatas a positive sign. If what you're
doing is positive, then that canbe a positive sign. And you have
to kind of kick out of thatdeath spiral. And you have to know
(21:49):
that even though you're in like amarginalized situation, you're not in a situation
where somebody would necessarily call you apeak performer or somebody that has like high
performance needs. Like we think oflike mental high performance and stuff like that
for athletes, for successful business peopleand entrepreneurs, but we don't really think
(22:12):
of that as something for We thinkof that for like musicians, even they're
like physical performance and mental performance thingsfor like artists, things like that,
But for people that are engage inadvocacy, people that are coming from like
a much more lowly place, peoplethat are coming from a place where they're
seen as being repressed or downtrodden insociety, but somehow also a threat because
(22:34):
their ideas and there and their uniquenessis sort of a threat. They're not
necessarily seen or they wouldn't even thinkof like themselves as somebody who needs like
high performance mindset and physical training andall of that, but you do.
There isn't really a movement that I'veseen, especially in like the activism community.
(22:56):
There's been some movement toward like selfcare and basic stuff like that,
but not really toward high performance.But you have to realize that you are
a high performer. You are youare a fighter. You need to be
physically and mentally trained, and theydo want you to, especially if you're
coming from some sort of oppressed category. The goal of this combination technique that
(23:21):
they're using to put you off balanceof saying that you're both a week a
week little piece of crap and alsoacting like you're the biggest threat of all
time is to get you to surrenderto controlling and inadequate systems of so called
care. They think, oh yeah, they're like, oh yeah, you
(23:44):
need to go into the most likeyou need to go into the really crappy,
low wage job. So they seesomebody out there who's trying to do
something different, that's trying to starttheir own business, that's trying to start
like a cooperative environment. They're goingto start a business that's going to pay
people well, they're going to they'regonna run for office, They're gonna do
(24:07):
something great. What things in societyare set up to do is not to
allow you to pursue that greatness.They want you to see, my economic
situation is so bad, my lifeis going so poorly that I have to
just sit back and I have totake this lowly place, And they're gonna
make it seem like, oh yes, the way you're going to be cared
for. The only way you're goingto be cared for is with a job.
If you have if you're un weelfare, get a job at any job.
(24:33):
The old mantra of the Riverside welfarereform doctrine that pervades the current state
of welfare. There's actually a reallygood podcast series on this called The Uncertain
Hour from NPR if you want togo listen to that. But they want
you to surrender. They want youto tap out to those systems because they're
(24:55):
like, we can't have people ofdiverse backgrounds. We're getting a little better
about this as a society, butwe can't necessarily have people, especially people
with low socioeconomic status, being inleadership. They want you to just stay
in low wage jobs. So evenif you're somebody let's say you have a
degree. They had one of thesestories on The Uncertain Hour. You have
(25:18):
a degree in a professional field,you have experienced or a professional field,
but you're out of working. Youwind up in welfare. The welfare office
is going to try to put youinto some sort of job stacking boxes at
a warehouse, but you w intosome sort of cleaning job when you have
qualifications to do so much more thatagain you're internalizing the ridicule. You're like,
(25:40):
oh my god, I'm just thislowly, low wage worker, when
no, you can do a heckof a lot more in life. They
just want you to be in thosesituations and stay down there so that you
don't think of that, so thatyou never get to their level, and
you don't. You're not a threatto them if you just stand that level.
(26:00):
Meanwhile, they make you feel like, oh, yes, this is
care, this is making me better. Or sometimes even in terms of mental
health, sometimes you'll be told thatyou can't do things. You can't you
can't reach a certain level. You'llnever be able to tolerate that level of
stress, You'll never be able tobe that like you won't be able to
be that athletic, you won't beable to perform that well mentally, when
(26:23):
in fact, if you got treatment, maybe from another doctor, another type
of mental health provider who works withpeople who are more successful, who are
more wealthy, they're like, oh, yeah, you know what, you
have autism, but we know thatwe can get you to perform well in
your specific area, your specific areaof special interest. You have ADHD and
(26:45):
yeah, you could that could bean advantage to you in certain things instead
of just okay, settle down,take this low wage job, take high
doses of sedating medications, not gettingthe latest and best help. So there
is sort of a repressive form ofhelp that is more tantamount to tapping out
(27:08):
than it is to continuing the fight. And you have to kind of keep
your eye out for that and beready to advocate for yourself even when you're
being told that you're going to getthe help you need, which, of
course, get it, get tothe right people. The key thing is
to get to the right people andget the right kind of health help.
(27:33):
And just know that maintaining strength generallypromotes survival in all things. That kind
of being strong like that in whateverit is, as long as you don't
do it stupidly. There is againthere's a bit of there can be a
bit of a competitive advantage to stayinga little low key, to slacking off,
(27:56):
to not being like all on theirnot being like a huge threat to
people. Of course, diplomacy,being nice to people, being kind,
that is part of who you are. In a way, they might want
to actually turn you into. Theymight want to make you out to be
some sort of uncaring, unfeeling savagetoo. They might want to make the
(28:18):
people who hold your position out tobe people who just only care about themselves.
So don't fall into that trap either. And I'm getting into a bit
of more the solution side of thingsfor our repressed warrior out there, but
I think I want to do aseparate episode just talking about kind of the
(28:41):
steps in your own everyday life totake and in your activism and in your
movement work. If you feel likeyou are a repressed warrior, someone that's
always being ridiculed, You feel likeyou're always being kicked when you're down,
You're always just down, and youcan't seem to get up, even when
(29:02):
you're just making the slightest moves,and you feel like it maybe better just
for you to stay down there andjust tap out and just accept a worse
fate, but you just really don'twant to do that. You know that
there's something in you that can achievea lot more. You know that there
change that could be made in societythat you just have not yet achieved.
For that kind of person, Ihave some specific steps that I'm going to
(29:26):
discuss, but the first one isto embrace. It is to and this
is why where I'm going to leaveyou right now, because these episodes are
getting a little long and I don'twant to make them too long. The
first step is just to embrace thefact that you are actually really strong,
that you are a good fighter.And the reason why people will sometimes view
(29:51):
you as being less than or they'lltry to fight back against you really really
hard in a way that you didn'texpect is because you are that good.
You are just that good. Knowthat's who you are, and that could
help you to not become so negative. And you want to stop yourself from
fighting yourself of like you're seeing thisout there, You're like, oh my
(30:15):
god, this is such a hugeobstacle for me to overcome. They're putting
up all these obstacles for me,but not for the other guy, And
you want to just stop fighting yourself. The outside world is already oppressive enough
for you not to just want tooppress yourself. So as you start to
view yourself and co septualize yourself asstronger than, you're going to start to
(30:37):
behave differently. You're gonna start tobehave in a way that you are leading
with your strength and not with weaknessor whimpering or anything like that. Of
course, I'm good, emotional vulnerabilitycomes with it. The other thing that
I want to leave you with isto ask yourself whether or not you may
be doing something something a little bitwrong. You want to ensure that you
(31:03):
were acting with care, because nowthat you know that you're strong, you
can act with a lot. Youhave power, and as soon as you
realize that you have power, youneed to know that there's responsibility that comes
with power and know how to wieldthat power appropriately a responsible, ethical way,
and learn to sort of have thatcare and that discipline to use power
(31:27):
in the right way. Because youdon't want to become like your opponents.
You don't want to become like thepeople who are oppressing you. You don't
want to become like the oppressive capitalisthealthscape that we live, and you don't
want to be contributing to the problemof it. So now that you know
that, like simplest way to simplestway to put that is, if you
(31:48):
know that you can throw a ninetymile an hour fastball, you better know
how to control a ninety mile anhour fastball because it can hurt somebody a
lot more than a sixty mile anhour fastball if you'd throw it into the
wrong place. So realize your strengthand then know how to use that strength
(32:08):
in a proper and controlled way.And there are some personal steps, because
again you have to realize that eventhough you are coming from an oppressed or
marginalized situation where you wouldn't necessarily thinkof yourself as being a high performer,
in order to achieve in advocacy orin business, in social entrepreneurship, you
(32:30):
do need to nurture yourself and trainyourself up with that kind of fighting strength
and those disciplines in your life.But they're they're going to work in a
different way. They may not beexactly the way that the wealthy CEO is
keeping their body and their mind ingood condition. It maybe a different way
(32:52):
that you keep your body and mindin the right level of conditioning for yourself.
And I'm going to discuss some ofthe strategies on the next episode,
so I hope you will join mefor that. Of course, anytime I
talk about anything relates to mental health, I do want to give a disclaimer
that if you believe you have anysort of medical or mental health concern,
(33:13):
please consult a qualified physician for acomprehensive evaluation promptly. But I do hope
you join me again for the nextepisode. Please follow the social media on
TikTok that is at fixer Punk fi x Rpunk, as well as on
Instagram on Twitter at Grace Nation,greysn n A t I O N.
(33:36):
If you feel like you're in thissituation, you feel like you're a bit
of a repressed warrior dealing with thatparadoxical feeling sad and down with yourself,
but also knowing that you have alot of potential to create a lot of
change. You have a personal storyor you're dealing with some sort of oppression
and you want to talk about it. You want me to maybe analyze it,
break it down, think about thesystems around you. Give me a
(34:00):
call, call in, leave amessage eight four four four seven seven punk
eight four four four seven seven seveneight six five. Leave a message anytime
day, night, eight four fourfour seven seven seven eight sixty five.
If you have an advocacy organization thatyou run or a part of, if
you're campaigning, if you are asocially responsible business, or anybody with a
(34:23):
groundbreaking idea where that needs help learninghow to market, advocate, communicate,
develop good strategies, any consulting oradvice around the business of changing the world,
then off Speed Solutions may be ableto help you with marketing communications,
(34:43):
digital marketing, advocacy strategy as wellas various business support services so that you
can operate authentically and strongly in yourmessage, your values, your ideas and
make things work well and get thatextra help and that outside set of eyes
(35:05):
to know if your messaging is landingin the right way and if you're communicating
with your key audiences in the waythat they will best receive and best perceive
you so that you can come outon top. So, if you're if
you're leading a campaign, nonprofit organization, advocacy organization, or group in any
way and you need help getting yourmessage out there in the best possible way,
(35:30):
go to Offspeed Solutions dot com.Off Speed Solutions dot com and I
would be happy to work with you. I'd love to discuss and I'd love
to try to help you get thebest results in your advocacy or business success
(35:50):
journey. Thank you so much fortaking your time with me today, and
I really appreciate having you here toe
This is the fixer Punk podcast,the podcast that knows summer cutting season is
far overdue, but it's subconsciously interpretingthe cloudy weather in June to mean it's
still bulking season. I'm Grayson Peltier. Now today I want to talk about
(00:22):
a topic that I think is goingto have a lot of importance for progressive
activists, any sort of activist,and anybody that feels like they are facing
a very large amount of resistance,whether it's like specific to you or systemically
toward being able to succeed or evenbeing able to live your life. In
(00:45):
general, you feel like things arejust not quite going your way and like
you don't have the potential to overcomethem, and you don't quite know why.
I've discovered through a bit of observedthat a lot of times people will
face opposition that is way out ofline with what they expect and will regress
(01:11):
quite a bit from that. Butwhat you have to do is you actually
have to realize and refrain the situationand see that it is actually indication of
an interesting typology and a sign thatthings may actually wind up going your way
in a much bigger and better waythan you ever expected. And what will
(01:36):
oftentimes happen is this, This isthe easiest way to describe this is when
you see a social movement going onof people who are in somehow oppressed,
people who are of who are peopleof color, lower socioeconomic status especially is
(01:57):
a big one. Lg BTQ,disabled, and conservatives will go and they
will call them weak, lazy whiners, and they will also call them the
biggest, largest, hardest threat tosociety ever in the history of all time.
(02:19):
And this is a weird paradox,and sometimes this stuff actually gets internalized,
actually gets into your head of thenviewing yourself in a negative way and
viewing your chances in a very negativeway because they call you a weak,
lazy winer, and that sometimes getsinternalized at some point and in a way,
that's what they want you to do, that's where they want you to
(02:40):
be. And it's a very difficultthing because it can really hurt your mindset
and your ability to advocate for changeand take you from either being strong in
wanting to advocate for social change toeither just completely regressing and be coming weak
and unable to achieve change and tostop advocating or ill turn you into basically
(03:07):
just one of them people who arepart of the dominant ideologies because you can
have the your ability to have strengthis legitimized more within the dominant ideology.
But there are some signs, sometelltale signs that this might be going on,
and there are ways to overcome itthat are pretty unique. And this
is especially true if people view youas like troubled or they see you as
(03:30):
being basically just like a problem,and sometimes it can even make you really
depressed or anxious or things like that, but it's really just because you are
not living up to your potential,and the way society and systems are designed
and the way people are talking toyou is to get you to tap out
of living through that potential, whenin fact, you are a much stronger
(03:53):
fighter than you believe, and theyknow it. They know how strong,
how good you are, and thechance that you have for victory. So
they're trying to kick you when you'redown so that you don't rise up against
them and their power. And partof the way they kick you when you're
down is to get you to believethat you are a lot weaker because of
(04:15):
your social or societal vulnerabilities, becauseyou don't have those markers of social status,
then you're not entitled to the rightto be such a strong person and
to achieve victory and to leave indesign systems to make it so that your
day to day life you have tokind of pull back from your individuality and
(04:40):
what makes you great in order tobe seen as a good person, even
though you are acting morally ethically andresponsibly. None of this is an excuse
to not act in a moral,ethical, responsible way. But there's a
lot of stuff in society that's justabout control, and when people go against
that system of control, they canwind up getting resistance in these very weird
(05:04):
ways. Not just like if you'reconventionally strong, the way you're going to
experience resistance is going to be juststraight up resistance. But when you're non
conventionally strong, it may come inthis very weird form. And some of
the signs that you're feeling this andthat you're this is getting inside of you
emotionally is basically the idea that you'rekind of being seen as more of less
(05:28):
of like a like a threat threat, Like they don't see you as like
an opponent, especially if you're advocatingfor a policy idea they don't see you
as like a like a worthy politicalopponent or a worthy opponent in terms of
your workplace bargaining negotiations, your unionnegotiations, whatever advocating you're doing for social
change. They see you more asa nuisance. And I've said this before
(05:49):
on a few episodes, and thisis kind of going to explain the nuts
and bolts behind this statement, whichis today's nuisance is tomorrow's champion. But
right now you don't see that.You're at a point where you're being beaten
up on. You just want tolive your life, but you kind of
can't, so you have to engage. Things are so hard for you.
(06:12):
You have to engage in advocacy totry to change things. But then when
you do that, you just youcan't fit in. If you try to
go things the way that they wouldtell you to do normally, you just
can't fit in. You try togo through the normal systems of economic achievement,
social achievement, all those things,you just can't fit in. Nothing
(06:33):
goes your way, and everything justfeels harder for you, and you can't
point out why you're doing the rightthing. You're still ridiculed and you just
can't do things the way others cando them, but you can do a
lot more than them as the strangeparty. So you can do Your potential
is way more than the things thatyou are somehow failing at right now.
(06:57):
And you know that deep down,but you just can't make it in those
conventional spaces. And you're going you'retrying to change things in society, and
what you're met with is this bizarreform of both ridicule and resistance at the
same time, and you feel likeit's disproportionate. You're frequently a failure,
but it's not because you're bad.It's just because you disagree or you can't
(07:19):
really stand the way things the waythey are. So you're in business,
you're in the workplace or whatever,and you're not advancing, you're not getting
promoted because you have great ideas,you have good things you can do,
but the current structures of the systemsin that workplace or in the economy are
(07:39):
just not supporting it, not supportingthe way you view things, even though
in the end you can very wellcome out on top. Of course,
people that are your competition, especiallyin business, don't want you to come
out on top. They don't wantyou to or your opposition politically. They
don't want you to come out ontop. They want to find some unique
(08:01):
ways to stop you from doing that. And they know that sometimes because you're
more emotionally vulnerable, you're not purelyruthless. They know that they can use
that a little bit and stick themselvesinside of you and say, oh,
yes, this is your space.Your space is to be held down and
sort of stay on the bottom,and by making every little thing hard they
(08:26):
can do that. And you maybe very strong, but you may wind
up being viewed as extremely sensitive becauseof the opposition you're facing. Of course,
it's going to get to you alittle bit mentally. There may be
certain things that gets to you morethan other people, and you may be
viewed as being really really sensitive,when in fact you're actually really strong,
(08:50):
You have great ideas, and littlestuff may just seem harder. Sometimes these
kinds of things come with neurodivergence,when you feel like things are a lot
harder than they should be, butit's not really the same. It can
come on zone this morris to dowith having sort of like an anti authoritarian
attitude, and for seemingly no reason, you're kind of knocked out of whatever
(09:13):
you're doing for a very long time. For extent periods of time, you're
staying around sort of defeated and helplessand really more confused than anything. You're
like, Okay, I made onestep forward, and every time make one
step forward, I go ten stepsback because I'm facing really fierce opposition.
This is something that you're really basic, Like the idea I'm fighting for is
(09:33):
something that should be a fundamental humanright. I only want to get the
kind of recognition of the workplace thatI should be entailed to, the kind
of treatment in the workplace that Ishould be entailed to. I only want
to be treated fairly the way thatother people are. But somehow I am
being stopped. And that may makeyou to feel hopeless, and especially when
(10:00):
you're facing all this opposition. Maybeyou've gone through you've you've tried to improve
your mental health and really you haven'tmade it, but it's because you just
haven't seen that success. The successisn't coming, so you still feel bad
about it. But still you havea small voice that tells you that you're
a lot better than you're being told. And maybe you've shown strong potential and
achievement in the past, but justnot now. And more than anything,
(10:26):
it feels like you're being kicked whenyou're down, and this should be assigned
to you. It should be asign that when you're facing this kind of
opposition that it's because the other sidedoesn't just doesn't actually see you. Let
me say that you're weak, lazy, all of these things, but it's
(10:46):
because they do see you as athreat. It's because whatever you're advocating for,
whether that be a higher minimum wage, whether that be better treatment in
the workplace, more rights for peopleof color, minority criminal justice reform,
even if it's just for yourself toget a promotion or better pay at work,
(11:07):
or the ability to make changes inyour workplace conditions, or an idea
you have in business that maybe threatensthe status quo, it's because the reason
why this is happening to you,the reason why the resistance is a lot
harder and a lot harsh on you, The reason why you're being fought back
on so hard is because you actuallyhave potential and because your idea has some
(11:28):
possible merit to it. And thiscan happen to anyone who has the ability
to validate or spread ideas. Theestablishment does not, like they want to
knock you out before you can everwin. It's like the interference before a
wrestling match, like like the otherside will mob you before you can even
get in the ring and have thebell ring, that kind of thing.
(11:52):
And obviously it's not fun, justlike being physically beaten up, it's not
fun, but having that come aheadof time, it's just it's also not
fun. And really the way thatI that I explain this repressed warriors paradox
very simply is the better of afighter you are, the more likely you
(12:15):
are to get badly beaten up.And it has less to do again as
less to do with physical fights thatit does with potential and oppression, because
when you have potential, when yourideas, when you as a person have
potential, you're going to be upfor longer fights, more pain, and
less of like a quick submission,because if you were really weak, then
(12:35):
you'd be out of it. Youwouldn't be continuing to advocate your ideas,
wouldn't continue to be moving forward,You wouldn't continue to move forward with the
possibility of having your business grow oryour influence in your workplace grow or whatever.
You're advocating for. You wouldn't continueto have that possibility of having that
influence if you didn't actually have thechance. And being strong or can sometimes
(13:00):
mean that things hurt more because againyou are having to challenge yourself in order
to get to that level. Andit'll even be little things. Sometimes people
will avoid you, will get kindof lonely because maybe what you're what you're
looking for isn't so popular. You'rehaving some issues, and then and then
(13:24):
maybe people don't want to be aroundyou. Obviously you want to be if
you want to be in good favorwith as many people as possible. Don't
use anything I say as just anexcuse to go out and be and be
mean to people, be rude,do bad things. Certainly nothing unethical.
(13:46):
But sometimes when you're challenging, whenyou're making a statement that's more challenging,
sometimes people will not want to bearound you, Especially in today's highly politically
polarized world. Even doing little thingslike like saying that we should give like
that we should fully recognize voting rightsfor people can lose you friends in these
(14:11):
in this day and age, whichis pretty unfortunate. Those types of little
things can get you can get peoplein your friends circle to go away,
and it can be hard. Andreally, what I'm doing here as I'm
sort of describing this typology to seeif you relate to it, but um,
(14:35):
I have to also and I maymake this multiple episodes discuss this typology,
but then discuss like your individual stepsfor how to deal with this new
form of stress, this form ofstress of being in a battle that maybe
you didn't even know you were in. You're just out there trying to live
your life, trying to get whatyou need in life, and you're realizing
that there's this big battle over thatand that you're you're getting blind sided by
(15:00):
it, and what are some waysthat you can kind of help cope with
it? But then, of coursethere's also a systemic end of it that
we tend to create systems that marginalizepeople, that create a level of isolation,
that make it hard for people tocome back from failure, and that
(15:22):
really holds society back. And thegood news there's a little bit of positives
to this, because if you're oneof those people who you're fighting for equality,
you're fighting to be treated right,and the response to it is not
necessarily just a strong opposition. Butit's a combination of both ridicule and strong
opposition. Maybe the fact that you'rejust being ridiculed can be a bit of
(15:50):
an advantage, and people see youas being weak and see you as not
being serious. Sometimes it can bea little bit of advantage. Being low
key can make things a little bettersometimes, Like the the example I like
to bring as a pro wrestler namedOrange Cassidy. He's the AW International Champion.
He's one of like has one oflike the best winning records of any
(16:12):
wrestling champion right now, especially inAW. But the guy started out basically
by going into the ring and havinghis hands in his pockets rolling in there.
He doesn't even carry his his titlebelt with him, he carries in
a backpack. He like gives likelittle miniature kicks, miniature slaps and people
(16:36):
and they see him, Oh yeah, this guy's like a joke. I
don't have to worry about him.But then suddenly, out of nowhere,
he comes out he has the secondwin to him, and he's just like
going really really hard and actually fightingincredibly hard, having like now many many
very super intense matches, and he'sgetting he's getting the wins. He's retained
his championship for what is it likefive six months now or more. I
(17:03):
have lost count. Sorry about that, But because people underestimated them, that
can be a good thing. Now, sometimes if you're considered to be a
repressed population, they can publicly say, they can say, oh, yeah,
you're a little nothing, you're justa little prick or whatever, and
then they're fighting you back really reallyhard, and they are using every single
(17:27):
way to try to defeat you,and you're not getting it, and that
that confusion, that confusion is kindof a way to get you off balance.
It's a way to get you tothink, oh, yeah, you
know what, I'm going to goin there and this is not going to
be so hard because they're underestimating me. But you have to be ready to
just like Warrant Cassidy as he's goingto come in with hands in his pockets
(17:48):
all that. But you have tobe ready to fully fight with everything that's
in you. And some people justdon't get that because they think, because
they internalize the narrative that they areweak and lazy, just like they're being
told by the world around them.But make no mistake, even especially if
you're being ridiculed for your ideas,or you're being seen as being weak,
(18:11):
or being seen as being just anew sense rather than a proper opponent.
Maybe the way people see you isnot like the conventional form of strength,
and they give people who have likea conventional form of strength and a conventional
form of intelligence, a conventional formof wit a lot more grace. They'll
give somebody like an Andrew Tad oran Elon Musk more grace than somebody who's
(18:33):
advocating for the rights of the LGBTQcommunity, or who's advocating for higher minimum
wage, who's advocating for economic rights. They're going to give them a little
more slack. But you have tounderstand that you may be in a situation
where every mistake is magnified because theysee you both as a threat and as
an object of ridicule. Every mistakeyou make can be magnified, and you
(18:57):
have to be careful for that,and you have to kind of stay trained
at all times. Things are goingto be a little bit more like an
iron match iron Man match for you. Things are gonna go longer and take
more time, and you can windup. And the thing is is that
(19:18):
is that you may wind up justgoing about your life and you're like,
oh, man, I'm getting crushedout of nowhere. I'm just here asking
for what I need, and outof nowhere, I feel like I'm being
palmmel to the ground, and I'msad. But the important part is that
you have to get up. Thereason why you're being fought back so hard
on what it is that you're lookingfor is because you have potential, and
(19:45):
sometimes and a lot of times youjust you don't. You have to then
embrace, You have to become afighter, somewhat involuntarily. And and sometimes
you're being tempted with like the optionof like, Okay, you can just
give up on your uniqueness, whateverit is that you're fighting for, give
up on the union demands or whatever, give up on the policy changes that
(20:11):
you want, and then just submit. And sometimes they'll say, especially for
marginalized communities of color, whatever,if you just conform to every single thing
that capitalism wants out of you,then you'll be fine. That's kind of
the devil's bargain they give you.But you can't fall into that. You
have to know that what you're doingis in fact good, just moral and
(20:37):
right, and if it is that, then you continue. If it's not
that, then obviously reevaluate. Butanything less than full submission will then be
seen as like some sort of rebellionthat they'll fight back against. And it
can be hard because it can beconfusing. Sometimes society gives you signs that
(21:00):
are a little bit unclearing. Youcan't make it out, especially if you're
if you're talking talking from neurodivergence,you just don't know what's expected of you.
Sometimes. But this process of sortof getting beaten up and ridiculed before
you can even get up create cancreate a bit of a death spiral.
It can create like this whole thingof basically just thinking I am down,
(21:23):
I'm weak, and I'm just goingto stay down because every time I try
to get up, even every timeI try to get up just a little
bit, I am being hit sofreaking hard. Again. You see that
as kind of you can see thatas a positive sign. If what you're
doing is positive, then that canbe a positive sign. And you have
to kind of kick out of thatdeath spiral. And you have to know
(21:49):
that even though you're in like amarginalized situation, you're not in a situation
where somebody would necessarily call you apeak performer or somebody that has like high
performance needs. Like we think oflike mental high performance and stuff like that
for athletes, for successful business peopleand entrepreneurs, but we don't really think
(22:12):
of that as something for We thinkof that for like musicians, even they're
like physical performance and mental performance thingsfor like artists, things like that,
But for people that are engage inadvocacy, people that are coming from like
a much more lowly place, peoplethat are coming from a place where they're
seen as being repressed or downtrodden insociety, but somehow also a threat because
(22:34):
their ideas and there and their uniquenessis sort of a threat. They're not
necessarily seen or they wouldn't even thinkof like themselves as somebody who needs like
high performance mindset and physical training andall of that, but you do.
There isn't really a movement that I'veseen, especially in like the activism community.
(22:56):
There's been some movement toward like selfcare and basic stuff like that,
but not really toward high performance.But you have to realize that you are
a high performer. You are youare a fighter. You need to be
physically and mentally trained, and theydo want you to, especially if you're
coming from some sort of oppressed category. The goal of this combination technique that
(23:21):
they're using to put you off balanceof saying that you're both a week a
week little piece of crap and alsoacting like you're the biggest threat of all
time is to get you to surrenderto controlling and inadequate systems of so called
care. They think, oh yeah, they're like, oh yeah, you
(23:44):
need to go into the most likeyou need to go into the really crappy,
low wage job. So they seesomebody out there who's trying to do
something different, that's trying to starttheir own business, that's trying to start
like a cooperative environment. They're goingto start a business that's going to pay
people well, they're going to they'regonna run for office, They're gonna do
(24:07):
something great. What things in societyare set up to do is not to
allow you to pursue that greatness.They want you to see, my economic
situation is so bad, my lifeis going so poorly that I have to
just sit back and I have totake this lowly place, And they're gonna
make it seem like, oh yes, the way you're going to be cared
for. The only way you're goingto be cared for is with a job.
If you have if you're un weelfare, get a job at any job.
(24:33):
The old mantra of the Riverside welfarereform doctrine that pervades the current state
of welfare. There's actually a reallygood podcast series on this called The Uncertain
Hour from NPR if you want togo listen to that. But they want
you to surrender. They want youto tap out to those systems because they're
(24:55):
like, we can't have people ofdiverse backgrounds. We're getting a little better
about this as a society, butwe can't necessarily have people, especially people
with low socioeconomic status, being inleadership. They want you to just stay
in low wage jobs. So evenif you're somebody let's say you have a
degree. They had one of thesestories on The Uncertain Hour. You have
(25:18):
a degree in a professional field,you have experienced or a professional field,
but you're out of working. Youwind up in welfare. The welfare office
is going to try to put youinto some sort of job stacking boxes at
a warehouse, but you w intosome sort of cleaning job when you have
qualifications to do so much more thatagain you're internalizing the ridicule. You're like,
(25:40):
oh my god, I'm just thislowly, low wage worker, when
no, you can do a heckof a lot more in life. They
just want you to be in thosesituations and stay down there so that you
don't think of that, so thatyou never get to their level, and
you don't. You're not a threatto them if you just stand that level.
(26:00):
Meanwhile, they make you feel like, oh, yes, this is
care, this is making me better. Or sometimes even in terms of mental
health, sometimes you'll be told thatyou can't do things. You can't you
can't reach a certain level. You'llnever be able to tolerate that level of
stress, You'll never be able tobe that like you won't be able to
be that athletic, you won't beable to perform that well mentally, when
(26:23):
in fact, if you got treatment, maybe from another doctor, another type
of mental health provider who works withpeople who are more successful, who are
more wealthy, they're like, oh, yeah, you know what, you
have autism, but we know thatwe can get you to perform well in
your specific area, your specific areaof special interest. You have ADHD and
(26:45):
yeah, you could that could bean advantage to you in certain things instead
of just okay, settle down,take this low wage job, take high
doses of sedating medications, not gettingthe latest and best help. So there
is sort of a repressive form ofhelp that is more tantamount to tapping out
(27:08):
than it is to continuing the fight. And you have to kind of keep
your eye out for that and beready to advocate for yourself even when you're
being told that you're going to getthe help you need, which, of
course, get it, get tothe right people. The key thing is
to get to the right people andget the right kind of health help.
(27:33):
And just know that maintaining strength generallypromotes survival in all things. That kind
of being strong like that in whateverit is, as long as you don't
do it stupidly. There is againthere's a bit of there can be a
bit of a competitive advantage to stayinga little low key, to slacking off,
(27:56):
to not being like all on theirnot being like a huge threat to
people. Of course, diplomacy,being nice to people, being kind,
that is part of who you are. In a way, they might want
to actually turn you into. Theymight want to make you out to be
some sort of uncaring, unfeeling savagetoo. They might want to make the
(28:18):
people who hold your position out tobe people who just only care about themselves.
So don't fall into that trap either. And I'm getting into a bit
of more the solution side of thingsfor our repressed warrior out there, but
I think I want to do aseparate episode just talking about kind of the
(28:41):
steps in your own everyday life totake and in your activism and in your
movement work. If you feel likeyou are a repressed warrior, someone that's
always being ridiculed, You feel likeyou're always being kicked when you're down,
You're always just down, and youcan't seem to get up, even when
(29:02):
you're just making the slightest moves,and you feel like it maybe better just
for you to stay down there andjust tap out and just accept a worse
fate, but you just really don'twant to do that. You know that
there's something in you that can achievea lot more. You know that there
change that could be made in societythat you just have not yet achieved.
For that kind of person, Ihave some specific steps that I'm going to
(29:26):
discuss, but the first one isto embrace. It is to and this
is why where I'm going to leaveyou right now, because these episodes are
getting a little long and I don'twant to make them too long. The
first step is just to embrace thefact that you are actually really strong,
that you are a good fighter.And the reason why people will sometimes view
(29:51):
you as being less than or they'lltry to fight back against you really really
hard in a way that you didn'texpect is because you are that good.
You are just that good. Knowthat's who you are, and that could
help you to not become so negative. And you want to stop yourself from
fighting yourself of like you're seeing thisout there, You're like, oh my
(30:15):
god, this is such a hugeobstacle for me to overcome. They're putting
up all these obstacles for me,but not for the other guy, And
you want to just stop fighting yourself. The outside world is already oppressive enough
for you not to just want tooppress yourself. So as you start to
view yourself and co septualize yourself asstronger than, you're going to start to
(30:37):
behave differently. You're gonna start tobehave in a way that you are leading
with your strength and not with weaknessor whimpering or anything like that. Of
course, I'm good, emotional vulnerabilitycomes with it. The other thing that
I want to leave you with isto ask yourself whether or not you may
be doing something something a little bitwrong. You want to ensure that you
(31:03):
were acting with care, because nowthat you know that you're strong, you
can act with a lot. Youhave power, and as soon as you
realize that you have power, youneed to know that there's responsibility that comes
with power and know how to wieldthat power appropriately a responsible, ethical way,
and learn to sort of have thatcare and that discipline to use power
(31:27):
in the right way. Because youdon't want to become like your opponents.
You don't want to become like thepeople who are oppressing you. You don't
want to become like the oppressive capitalisthealthscape that we live, and you don't
want to be contributing to the problemof it. So now that you know
that, like simplest way to simplestway to put that is, if you
(31:48):
know that you can throw a ninetymile an hour fastball, you better know
how to control a ninety mile anhour fastball because it can hurt somebody a
lot more than a sixty mile anhour fastball if you'd throw it into the
wrong place. So realize your strengthand then know how to use that strength
(32:08):
in a proper and controlled way.And there are some personal steps, because
again you have to realize that eventhough you are coming from an oppressed or
marginalized situation where you wouldn't necessarily thinkof yourself as being a high performer,
in order to achieve in advocacy orin business, in social entrepreneurship, you
(32:30):
do need to nurture yourself and trainyourself up with that kind of fighting strength
and those disciplines in your life.But they're they're going to work in a
different way. They may not beexactly the way that the wealthy CEO is
keeping their body and their mind ingood condition. It maybe a different way
(32:52):
that you keep your body and mindin the right level of conditioning for yourself.
And I'm going to discuss some ofthe strategies on the next episode,
so I hope you will join mefor that. Of course, anytime I
talk about anything relates to mental health, I do want to give a disclaimer
that if you believe you have anysort of medical or mental health concern,
(33:13):
please consult a qualified physician for acomprehensive evaluation promptly. But I do hope
you join me again for the nextepisode. Please follow the social media on
TikTok that is at fixer Punk fi x Rpunk, as well as on
Instagram on Twitter at Grace Nation,greysn n A t I O N.
(33:36):
If you feel like you're in thissituation, you feel like you're a bit
of a repressed warrior dealing with thatparadoxical feeling sad and down with yourself,
but also knowing that you have alot of potential to create a lot of
change. You have a personal storyor you're dealing with some sort of oppression
and you want to talk about it. You want me to maybe analyze it,
break it down, think about thesystems around you. Give me a
(34:00):
call, call in, leave amessage eight four four four seven seven punk
eight four four four seven seven seveneight six five. Leave a message anytime
day, night, eight four fourfour seven seven seven eight sixty five.
If you have an advocacy organization thatyou run or a part of, if
you're campaigning, if you are asocially responsible business, or anybody with a
(34:23):
groundbreaking idea where that needs help learninghow to market, advocate, communicate,
develop good strategies, any consulting oradvice around the business of changing the world,
then off Speed Solutions may be ableto help you with marketing communications,
(34:43):
digital marketing, advocacy strategy as wellas various business support services so that you
can operate authentically and strongly in yourmessage, your values, your ideas and
make things work well and get thatextra help and that outside set of eyes
(35:05):
to know if your messaging is landingin the right way and if you're communicating
with your key audiences in the waythat they will best receive and best perceive
you so that you can come outon top. So, if you're if
you're leading a campaign, nonprofit organization, advocacy organization, or group in any
way and you need help getting yourmessage out there in the best possible way,
(35:30):
go to Offspeed Solutions dot com.Off Speed Solutions dot com and I
would be happy to work with you. I'd love to discuss and I'd love
to try to help you get thebest results in your advocacy or business success
(35:50):
journey. Thank you so much fortaking your time with me today, and
I really appreciate having you here toe
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