obsessing

What happens is, you think you're responsible for everything that happens to you, because...the American Dream, meritocracy, The Secret... blah blah...'you're captain of your own ship,' blah blah...so you're continually looking for explanation as to you could possibly have created that particular outcome by your behavior. The idea that it's your own damn fault also allows you to continue to imagine that you have some measure of control over what happens in your life. (Old ground, old ground. Walking it over and over again. Pacing, like an animal trapped in a cage. Being bullied as a child, especially by the people you're supposed to be able to trust - i.e., 'family' - seriously fucks with your head.),

Fact is, though, you didn't do it. You didn't vote for George Bush; you didn't tell all those high mucky-mucks at big, moster, greedy, selfish corporations to just help themselves to your retirement money and leave you high and dry.

The people who are still ok in spite of the disasters? credit themselves, of course - for their 'quick thinking', 'thinking ahead', 'good judgment', and other bullshit.

When somebody buys a house in a depressed market in a supposedly up-and-coming neighborhood with the idea that it'll appreciate when the neighborhood hits its stride and becomes the next place the movers and shakers want to live - well, guess what? Half of those folks struck out; the other half struck it rich. Did the lucky ones have better judgment? No. They just had better luck. Did the ones who lost the crap shoot have poorer judgment? No - again the answer is contained in the framing/phrasing of the question: It's a frickin' crap shoot, fer fuck's sake.

Most hated oxymoron of the moment: 'Making your own luck.'

How the fuck does one make luck? Excuse me while I go bang my head on the wall.

The biggest problem in a competitive culture that says we can all 'win' is that it's all bullshit. The 'win-win' sales schtick is a sop the winners throw to the losers to keep them coming back for more. A sucker born every day...

Why are some of more susceptible? Are we more trusting? More stupid? More gullible?

We're taught to be altruistic and selfless and caring, and yet when we actually are any of these things, we're taken advantage of, taken to the cleaners, and just generally walked all over.