AOT, the rumbling, the old testament, evil, the nature of evil and violence, philosophy
Ya'll Ive been wanting to make this post for a while but I just cant think of how exactly to word what I want to say; but i guess ill just start and see where this takes me. So, I want to explain why I love AOT and Erens character so much, also my moral philosophy behind supporting the rumbling.
I've made other post about the rumbling and why I support Erens actions so I don't wanna get all into here because you're probably tired of me talking about it. So basically to summarize; world hates Eldians because past Eldians = bad people, Big powerful neighbor attacks island Eldians for 100 years, commits a genocidal act of war against them. World gather to declare a genocidal war on island Eldians, launches attack on island. The Titans are island Eldians only defense. I support people acting in self defense. If you start a war and you get killed you're at fault. If you try to beat someone to death and they pull a gun on you you don't get to cry victim.
So if you've read my other AOT posts you probably could have already assessed that my thoughts run along the lines of the above statement. I wanna try to go deeper. Because we can say that Paradis had the right to defend themselves but killing 80% of humanity is taking it to far. People argue that Eren could have protected Paradis by taking out Marley's military; I disagree with that assessment but that not what this post is about.
I support the rumbling because the world of AOT is Evil and the people in it are evil. The only society in AOT that was shown to not be evil was Paradis and even they were quickly becoming evil once they were exposed to the outside world.
I liken the Rumbling to passages in the old testament where God destroys an entire city or an entire nation or the entire planet because humans have become evil and corrupt. and people will say what about the innocent people, what about the children, are they evil and corrupt? and they'll say that the God of the old testament is evil, but what I've come to understand of these stories, or at least my interpretation of them isn't that literally everyone in these societies that God kills is inherently evil and deserves to die, but that at some point a society becomes so corrupted that it cant be saved. At some point the spread and support for sick and evil ideas is so rampant in a society that while you can say the children are innocent you can also say that the chance they're going to grow up and fight against the system they're raised in is effectively zero; and of those that do they're quickly beaten back down. Look at Marley; we see scenes of Eldians being openly discriminated against, being kicked, being pushed to ground, being beaten, Eldian children being murdered. Eldians are forced in internment zones and spat on; and this treatment as well as the attacks against Paradis are largely supported by the populace. It's the people who hate Eldian's and hate Paradis. If there are people who don't, who believe that Eldians should be free to live like everyone else, who don't hate the people on Paradis, and I'm sure there are, there isn't enough of them to make a difference, they aren't doing anything about it so they don't actually matter.
Another point I'm drawing my moral conclusions from is, I think it was a ted talk, I cant remember sorry, but this guy talked about women and sexual assault and harassment we face, and he addressed the people who say not all men by pointing out that not all men but if you're silent when other men are harassing or assaulting women then you might as well not be there. So, even if the majority of people in the world were against the way Eldians were being treated it actually wouldn't matter because they didn't do anything about it and If you stay silent when other people are throwing racist abuse at someone that 'someone' isn't going to care about your silent support.
I think of the Rumbling and Eren as acts of nature. In AOT, during the rumbling a Marleyan military man says that "it is all the worlds hatred reflected back onto them."
I once heard another point from a source I don't remember, again sorry, which is basically that everyone, or nearly everyone, is evil, because if there's injustice in the world and you aren't using all you're power and resources to fix it you're evil. And I thought about this, about how I spend money on new clothes I don't need when there are people who don't have a coat for winter or have been wearing the same pair of shoes for 12 years but I have like 12 different pairs. I think about the homeless people I drive or walk by on my way to by a 6$ coffee and food when I have food and coffee at home. I think about people suffering under oppressive regimes and maybe I could do something help, maybe I could donate to something at least but I don't because I'm selfish and I want more for me.
AOT, the rumbling, Eren just like encapsulated all this in my head and it made me realize that I should and I can be a better person. I started thinking more about my place in the world and how I might benefit others; I started donating; I've started looking for volunteer work I can do near me (haven't found anything unfortunately, but I'm not sure how to really look for this stuff, my depression and anxiety disorders don't help); I try to speak out against injustice I see in the world instead of being silent and ignoring it. I'm not saying I'm a saint now or that I'm out here fighting tooth and nail for justice or whatever cause I'm really not; I'm sitting on a sofa in my dads living room; but, I'm more aware, and I actually try to help or bring awareness once in a while which is more than I was doing before.
So yeah hopefully this even made sense. I just wanted to actually talk about what this series has really done for me and why I'm obsessed. (I mean beyond Eren Jaeger being disgustingly hot) Lets be honest, I'm pretty obsessed with effing hot Eren is, actually. Ok I get distracted by his lean corded muscle and tall frame 🤤and stupidly beautiful face and oh no its happened again
