The tidy family scoff at the scruffy family across the road –
‘They’re so lazy; they live like pigs.’
And the scruffy family scoff back at them –
‘They’re so neurotic; their priorities are all wrong –
we’ve got more important things to do with our time
than just run around vacuuming and wiping surfaces clean.’
The slim woman scoffs at the fat woman next door but one –
‘She’s just a slob; she’s got no self-discipline.’
And the fat woman mutters back under her breath –
‘She’s so vain and so uptight; she doesn’t know how to enjoy herself.’
The rich people complain about the poor –
‘It’s all their own fault. They don’t work hard enough.’
And the poor people snipe back at them –
‘Privileged posh fools – they don’t know what real life is like.’
The social activists shake their heads at the spiritual seekers –
‘How can they be so narcissistic?
They just ignore the world and try to change themselves.’
And secretly (because they know they’re not supposed to be judgemental)
the seekers shake their heads back at them –
‘How can they be so deluded?
They just ignore their inner life, and try to change the world.’
And so everyone believes they’re superior to one another
and everyone passes judgement on each other
and everybody is unhappy with each other –
and especially with themselves.