Brave Nora
Nora’s awakening and Nora’s departure are among the central questions facing the small and micro bourgeoisie.
Breaking out of the Gobi prison, bravely leaving, confronting the Cthulhu of the big Other, confronting the shadow side, inner demons, and karmic obstructions.
Marx + Zhuangzi + psychology offer a complete account of how individuals can liberate themselves and return to their true nature in this cyberpunk, atomized, Cthulhu age.
The indignities suffered out in the Gobi are medals of honor for a brave Nora. Being recaptured by the prison, strung up and beaten by the guards, put on public display, and placed in solitary confinement are medals of honor too.
Nora is Andy in Shawshank Prison, Jack in the madhouse, the horse in *Animal Farm*, Michael in *Prison Break*.
Spectators among the small and micro bourgeoisie cannot grasp the meaning or value of Nora’s departure, or what Nora is doing by leaving.
The small and micro bourgeoisie come in many types.
I. The unenlightened, with no Nora consciousness
Typical examples of petty-bourgeois malaise. Faithfully obedient to the big Other.
They judge me through elitism and social Darwinism. I discuss Marx, Zhuangzi, psychology, value investing, and AI, and create independent media content; they assess it all through the lens of success ideology.
II. The complaining Nora
At the stage of merely complaining about and resenting their circumstances, but with deeply rooted karmic obstructions of the small and micro bourgeoisie.
The first subtype is the male superman.
Many men’s so-called awakening to men’s rights holds that freedom means being defined by no framework, yet at its core it remains the worship of capital. Their idols are often Elon Musk, Ding Yuanying, or even Justin Sun.
The second subtype is the woman transitioning into a powerful female lead.
They believe that the endpoint of women’s awakening is to become men, to command power and money, and to achieve financial freedom. This is still the peasant’s dream of rising up to become emperor, the dream of becoming a female superman. It utterly misrepresents feminism. Their idols are Fan Bingbing or even Wendi Deng.
III. The half-awake, half-mad Nora
Vaguely aware, but not yet awakened, not yet firmly committed to the path of liberation.
They often flee from freedom and idealize the powerful. They mock and belittle my indignities and solitary confinement to affirm their own acceptance of the status quo. Some project their idealizations onto me, only to become disillusioned and frustrated when they encounter my reality.
The first subtype is the spiritual crowd.
One group wants to become spiritual masters, dreaming of being Wang Yangming or Nan Huaijin and expecting others to worship them. So they are always belittling, debating, and dispensing teachings, with the aim of winning submission; the second group hates spiritual masters, so when they see what I post, they think I am just another pompous old crank peddling amateur philosophy.
The second subtype is the demons and monsters.
Those who attack, drain energy, siphon off the vital energy of the Way, disrupt the vital energy of the Way, and so on.
IV. The half-awake Nora
The humanistic psychology crowd.
Relatively healthy, though they too have the karmic obstructions described above. There are always reasons they have not moved toward Zhuangzi and Marx.
Entanglement in the karmic obstructions of Nora’s fellow inmates is part of how the prison keeps people locked up.
V. The brave Nora
There is no path other than Marxism.