Often, in United States, I hear that it is wise to ignore verbal insults, and that it’s instead preferable to not care about the things people may say about you and to you. Part of me definitely sympathizes with this stoic attitude. I appreciate the ability not to react to people trying to push your buttons. Emotional resilience against verbal bullying is something I can respect. Being able to be unmoved by the opinions of others and by attempts to smear your reputation is a super-power.
This reminds me of a short part in one of Jocko's recently podcasts. He was interviewing a SEAL who was one of the first ones in Afghanistan. They would form a base in these small villages and try to explain to the people why they were there. They would say stuff like, "we are working to form a central government in Kabul and this will be a positive thing for you for these reasons... And list the positive reasons. They would get blank stares or get thrown out of the village, but when they would say, "some people from your country flew planes into some buildings in our country and killed a bunch of people and we are here for revenge". The villagers gave them the 👍. You mean revenge? Well hell yeah, we understand that and we can get down with that.
check out this post in answer to mine: https://substack.com/home/post/p-140128717
This reminds me of a short part in one of Jocko's recently podcasts. He was interviewing a SEAL who was one of the first ones in Afghanistan. They would form a base in these small villages and try to explain to the people why they were there. They would say stuff like, "we are working to form a central government in Kabul and this will be a positive thing for you for these reasons... And list the positive reasons. They would get blank stares or get thrown out of the village, but when they would say, "some people from your country flew planes into some buildings in our country and killed a bunch of people and we are here for revenge". The villagers gave them the 👍. You mean revenge? Well hell yeah, we understand that and we can get down with that.
I love that