The True Enemy Unmasked

I’m at war with a specific kind of person - not one individual or a few in particular, but a category. There are plenty of terms for them: Sociopath, Narcissist, Anti-social, Manipulator, Schemer, Two-faced, Heathen - the list goes on. Yet if you drill down into the nature of these labels, you’ll find a few common root flaws. Chief among them are a sharp negligence for personal responsibility and a grotesque disdain for other human beings.

Taking those two flaws into account, I use a simple term for the person I’m describing: THE COWARD. An old-fashioned word, rarely used in modern parlance. But who - or what - is a coward? Let me lay out a few of their traits:

The coward lies his way out of everything.

The coward shifts blame and wriggles out of responsibility.

The coward makes passive-aggressive remarks to appear superior in conversation.

The coward mocks the opposite sex.

The coward insults those doing better than him behind their backs while feigning friendliness to their faces.

The coward lures the needy and the helpless into schemes and exploits their desperation.

The coward weaponizes societal norms against those who stand out, gaslighting them into submission.

The coward demands total submission from a partner, because the idea of true partnership is a joke to him.

The coward abuses whoever he can - his parents, his siblings, his spouse, and even his own children.

The coward drags down those around him who are on the cusp of achieving another level of maturity.

The coward cuts corners and cheats his way to the top.

The coward has no interest in personal improvement.

The coward has no understanding of personal responsibility. Period.

Do you recognize the coward(s) in your life?

I could go on, because I’ve had more than a few unfortunate run-ins with the coward. Certain family members, old so-called friends, work colleagues - the coward has slithered around me in every circle of life. I’ve been fooled by them, hurt by them, beaten down by them. But I can do something the coward cannot: get back up. And I’ve gotten very good at it. I’ve also gotten good at spotting the coward and recognizing his ways.

In the past, I would rage and lash out at them, always with disastrous results for my own well-being and reputation. But I’ve learned from those mistakes. The enemy is cunning, always escaping accountability, like the little snakes they are! The only way to corner them is to use their own cunning against them. And considering that the last two cowards I encountered ended up taking a beating because of me, I’d say I’ve learned the art of cornering cowards. I'm going to refine my methods even further!

I made a promise to myself long ago: never again will I suffer cowards and fools. I intend to keep that promise to the letter. I am a Slayer of cowards!

EDIT:

It was only just a few hours after I wrote this post that I learned of the assassination of Charlie Kirk in the USA. I am absolutely fuming over this! To have a man killed over a difference in ideology? Now that's TRULY COWARDLY! The only reason anyone would do this is because the now deceased was in fact telling the TRUTH, and the cowards had no answer for it other than to silence him! So there you go: a true act of cowardice of the extreme!

I will have more to say about this at another time. But I can tell you this: this is a major Turning Point for present-day America, just as the JFK assassination once was!