HaHa, thanks giving me the warning that you play the devils advocate. My man and I often take on those roles and mostly he plays the devil.
Yes, I am a social worker and what I learned in the past eight years is that you cannot and will not prevent people from hitting rock bottom. It's mostly a choice to live a suffering life (the unconscious). One has to get a healthy distance towards worlds and humanities saving thoughts and stay pragmatical into every single situation. I refer to what you said about the irrationality of people. Indeed, I see that - don't know if thats truly a mass phenomena - as a needed signal for those parts in us humans who remain intact in heart and mind.
What does experience tell you? When you thought of your counterpart as stupid, short minded, unhealthy, pathological: how did this person respond? What happened when you yourself were stable, good minded, humorous and encouraging? The person changed from a zombie into a reasonable person, no? :)
Think it to the end: Someone who is familiar with a precarious lifestyle has to be a loner. No kids, no spouse, no family which interests him/her. Otherwise you always will have people who interfere. Parents, brothers, sisters, grand parents, friends, spouses. This is actually their role and always will be. One does not have to like it but to feel that he counts when others point out something critical. In retrospective it often is interpreted as "care". The state wants to opt out as much as possible. I am telling every person in my consultancy that the state has nothing to do with personal conflicts and actually really likes people to take care of their own. I am not talking about politicians, I am talking about institutions like the courts, the police, the social workers, the unemployment institutions. They are happiest when people can take care of both their financial and emotional matters. In those cases, where interference is needed they still are happiest the less this interference had to last and be strict. People can learn to be more grateful for that. And they are when you let a funny light shine on it. I do that in my working with clients and in about eighty percent of the time we come out, laughing or smiling. The other twenty I just have to accept that life also is frustrating and sh.. happens.
So glad to hear that you do not choose the dark side. LOL ... though ... you and me and everyone has it and should embrace it. ... You know what happens with denial, I guess. Very well. :-D
Oh, Asia! The very unknown part of the world to me. But I dig into things from the East what comes with "Buddhism" or "Zen".
Yes, a pleasure talking to you.