Authenticity is bullshit. Make a sign and hide! Don’t show! Don’t tell!
You can’t be authentic if you’re not ignorant.
Only the indifferent and ignorant can be authentic.
That explains why Luffy from One Piece is the authentic Hegelian master. He is as innocent as a child, simply wanting to be free, the best version of himself, and the pirate king. The plot itself is perfect.
He lives his life in ignorance and cannot die because it’s the main character’s superpower from the author. Whenever something bad happens, he is always saved by a random powerful character, ensuring his survival. In real life, however, free will itself is powerful, and some people may choose to end their own lives without being saved. This raises the debate of who is truly brave: those who have the courage to end their lives or those who have the courage to live. We humans always debate ethical dilemmas like this, whereas in One Piece, the author already has a prejudice that the death of the main character is the most evil thing, symbolizing the death of his will.
Luffy is always accepted for who he is, so he doesn’t need to question or fake himself.
However, most people won’t find such a perfect plot in their lives.
Whether in a socialist society or an individualistic one, there will always be a few marginalized as a minority, those who can’t be accepted for who they are because they are seen as obscure or deviant, not conforming to what most people consider normal. They struggle to live because they are constantly reminded that they are not supposed to be themselves and that they need to follow the tyranny of the majority.
In such conditions, there are many choices.
You can choose to keep living authentically, believing that eventually someone will accept you for who you are. In the worst case, no one may accept you, and you’ll die faster defending your idealism or slowly wither away.
Or you can choose another path: fake your life, live as others want you to live, hide your true self, and gradually devise a strategy to survive and accumulate power so that eventually you can live freely and authentically. In the worst case, you may never succeed in executing your strategy, and you’ll live every day as a faker, losing yourself, hating yourself, and eventually dying miserably.
Some artists or scientists choose the first option. Some succeed (according to my subjective perception of success), while others don’t. Those who don’t often die at a young age, following their passion and succumbing to poverty or accidents, unnoticed in history with only silent evidence.
Some people choose the second option, living a life and doing a job they hate, cooperating with soulless individuals. Behind the scenes, they work towards what they truly desire. Some succeed, while others don’t.
With the second option, you will live a life similar to a real prostitute who genuinely enjoys selling their body or a thief who enjoys stealing. You have to corrupt yourself and constantly remind yourself that you don’t truly enjoy it, that it’s merely a means to something you’re fighting for. Not everyone can follow this path because they actually enjoy living as fakers, as actors or actresses. Some justify their fakery as art, failing to realize that they are slowly dying.
This is the quest in which Kaiki Deishu said,
The fake is of far greater value. In its deliberate attempt to be real, it’s more real than the real thing.
One thing you need to do is constantly remind yourself that you truly hate being fake or being a prostitute, and that you also desire authenticity. This is the only choice I have made until now. That’s why I never want to be happy. I can’t be authentic like Luffy. Those who claim to be happy are mostly constrained by plots that make them conform to what is considered normal, and they dislike soliciting or unknowingly enjoy being fakers. I am afraid I will become the latter one.
