In 2020, Twitter-X bought the startup Squad from its founder, Esther Crawford, who ended up joining the staff of that social network. When Elon Musk acquired it, he laid off hundreds of employees and asked those who remained for maximum loyalty and commitment.
At the end of 2022, the image of the executive sleeping on the company floor went around the world. Crawford herself said that she slept in the office because her team had to work 24 hours a day to meet crazy deadlines. And at that moment she even felt proud of her dedication.
However, although it is said that her name was considered as a possible CEO of the social network, in February 2023 she was fired from Twitter along with a large part of her team, within the framework of a new cut of 200 jobs. In another tweet, she expressed her disappointment and made reference to Musk’s cruelty, although without mentioning it directly.
Her story shows us that people do not always have what they “deserve”, many times they only get what they can get by their own means.
Believing that the world is fair gives us security
We embrace the belief in a just world. We think that due to karma or divine intervention everyone ends up receiving what they deserve, but that is not always the case. Of course, effort, sacrifice and commitment are often rewarded, but they are not a 100% guarantee of anything.
Thinking that the world is fair gives us a sense of security to cling to when everything becomes chaotic, but it is precisely in these moments of uncertainty that justice becomes most unfair.
“People believe in a just world because it is too difficult to accept the whims of the universe. The belief in a fundamentally just world, a place where you’re unlikely to be killed unless you’re a gang member, you’re unlikely to go bankrupt unless you’re dumb, and you’re unlikely to get raped unless you’re asking for it. It’s comfortable,” wrote journalist Nicholas Hune-Brown.
However, is neither fair nor unfair, simply because this concept is foreign to nature and only exists in our minds (applying it more or less correctly to the societies we have built).
But precisely those societies that we have built tend to be a replica of the natural model, so that the system ends up giving more power to those who already have power and delegitimizes or ignores those who do not have it. This often means that the Western concept of karma fails completely and people do not receive what they deserve but only what they can achieve and preserve with their own strength.
Be willing to fight for what we want
Max Stirner thought that “my power is my property. My power gives me ownership. My power is myself and thanks to it I am my property.” This philosopher believed that we really only own what we can achieve and defend with our strength, the rest is an illusion that can vanish at any moment, as soon as a greater power intervenes.
However, far from being a pessimistic vision, it advocated personal empowerment. “I may not be able to do much by myself, but that little is everything, and it is better than what the power of others or the force of customs, religion, laws and the State do to me.”
Stirner believed that “he who has power has… rights; If you do not have the first, you will not have the second either.” It does not mean that rights are useless, it simply alerted us that, if we are not able to defend rights, we will lose them because we should not take them for granted, especially in times when societies revolt and seem to devolve.
How can we leverage Crawford’s story and Stirner’s vision in our daily lives?
- Focus more on what really benefits you. Don’t let yourself be carried away by the power of habit, customs or social pressures; Before making a decision, consider how its consequences will impact you. Too often we lose sight of the equation, trusting that the universe will return that act to us in some way. However, sometimes it is better to ensure the “return on investment”. Of course, that does not exclude acts of kindness, giving and solidarity that enrich everyone (including ourselves), it simply means making more conscious decisions.
- Get ready to fight. If you want something, you have to be willing to fight for it. And if you want to preserve it, too. Likewise, if you want a right, you will have to be willing to assert it. Don’t expect things to just happen by magic. Get your act together and go for what you want by objectively evaluating your chances of achieving it. Make several action plans and go slowly, but without pause. It is in that “fight” that you test your strength, develop self-efficacy and become more mature and resilient.
Sometimes reality can be sad. It can be disappointing or even cruel, as Crawford said. However, denying it is not the way. On the contrary, we must prepare to face all these possibilities in the best possible way. That way, if one day we don’t receive what we “deserve” we will have a plan B or C that allows us to move forward.
References:
Hune, N. (2015) The Monstrous Cruelty of a Just World. In: Hazlitt.
Stirner, M. (1976) El único y su propiedad. Pablos Editor: México.
