"Whining" And Analysis

There are many people who see the artistic type as whiney. In fact anyone is capable of being whiney if their expectations have been disappointed. I have known well-off Reagan conservatives who were very whiney when Clinton was President.

In some cases, what we are seeing is the behavior of people who have been disappointed. What they are good at is not valued in society, and that gives them a lot to whine about. In other cases we see as whining things that are not. One of the worst errors to that effect that I've seen has been portraying analysis – especially social analysis – as whining. It is no such thing. It is analysis. For a problem to be solved it first has to be seen; and if it is not seen then it has no chance of being solved.

To portray analysis as whining is therefore to prevent problems from being solved. And that makes the world worse for everyone, giving people still more to whine about for real.

The bottom line is that anyone can get whiney, including even the people who think themselves go-getters. That was the case for example for Republicans at the university that I attended in 1990s. They kept whining and whining. Then they went on claiming that whining is for liberal losers. Yet here they were supposedly tough and strong Republicans whining like a little bitch.

Are there many artistic types who are whiney? I am sure that they are; but they are not the only people who whine. And in any number of cases what they are actually doing is not whining but showing problems that need to be solved. Seeing a problem is the first step toward solving it. Portraying that process as whining prevents problems from being solved. And that is not a responsible or a rightful stance.

In my case, I do not whine at all. I know that my life has been a privileged one. I do however see all sorts of problems that need to be addressed. That is not whining, it is analysis. And analysis is necessary for all informed action.

So then there are some people who whine for justifiable reasons; and there are people who get painting as whining when they are in fact doing something far different. And then of course there are people who just whine. It is important to figure out who is doing what and for what reason. Then one can confront people who are doing the wrong thing and apply those who are doing the right thing for rightful ends.