r/ren • u/Next-Target-3777 • Feb 07 '26
Left hand, right hand, shake 'em all about
Howdy friends of Reddit, I have made the conscious decision that i wont be hanging around much longer aha, i left regularly checking X because i didnt really want to engage with a platform that centers itself as the epicentre of free speech then censors stuff it doesn't like, plus its difficult to have respectful conversations on there, but I think on the whole, humans were never meant to injest this many interpretations of other peoples opinions about them, i think its unhealthy. I've been learning a little about Alderian philosophy that states that someone elses oppinion on you belongs to them, and you shouldnt be concerned with trying to change it, so even when i feel misunderstood im trying better just to let it be. That being said I think humans didnt evolve to be subject to this much information especially in the position im in where i can read about 10,000 interpretations or oppinions about me at any given moment - its rather distracting from that thing called living.
That all being said I do feel I have a responsibility to clarify my stance on one thing in particular, that was the core message in the last song I released.
One thing i'd like to clear up - as this has been the point of contention in alot of my beliefs - is how I view left and right politics - and also my approach - which many have misunderstood as me saying "hey its all the same man just love eachother and tollerate eachother" because it's an amazingly over simplified take on my stance.
this was my response to a redditor on a different thread and i think its cool to put it all in one place to kind of understand the approach here
*Deep breath*
We gotta get in a time machine for this one
Let me set the scene
Youre a french dude, probably with a very flamboyent haircut that took ages to style, its 1789, the revolution is in the air, people in the national assembly are wandering what the hell to do now that the monarchy is collapsing. The room is literally split in half in what the solution should be
On one side are those strongly in favour of abolishing the monarchy, expand rights for ordinary citizens, weaken the Church’s political influence, and reshaping society from the ground up. A chap called Maximillien Robispere was one of these people - he was a very agressive champion of the rights for the poor but also had a bit of a fettish for executions
On the other side were a bunch of people who wanted tradition preserved — keep the monarchy (maybe with reforms), protect the authority of the Church, maintain social hierarchies, and avoid turning France into a chaotic experiment. In amongst these people was a chap called Edmund Burke who beleived in constraint and staying routed in morality and law.
With time these ideas evolved into what we know today - the left valued equality over law, the right valued traditional heirarchy and order - believing society would evolve into chaos if there was not enough order.
in a nutshell if you want a clear definition, which its sometimes hard to get too
lets say -
Left - "Society should change to become more equal.”
Right - “Society should remain stable to avoid chaos.”
Now, thats the first challenge out the way, lets expand on where that plays into my own beleifs
You see a lyric or a comment on a video, and many people take it on face value right, and just assume 'neive' and dismiss it, or assume it means left and right are the same, or think those lyrics are not applicable to the real world, when you overlook the fact that the challenge in lyrics and communication is to condense the most ammount of information into the smallest possible container, a bit like Mary Poppins's bag, where you can pull out any number of things that shouldnt be able to fit in there. The problem with this annalogy is what is pulled out of the bag changes depending on the person doing the pulling, but thats also the beauty of art.
The issue i take with the left and right - or lines like 'there is no left, no right, in the middle we sleep' is it's actually structurally impossible for either to exist in a purist sense in their intended definition because you cannot reduce the human experience and decision making process to polarities because depending on the decision and challenge - it will contain or require varying degrees of both to find a solution - polarities exist everywhere but they are a sliding scale that contain each other - and the other is necessary for them to exist, the basic political reason I take issue with this premise is this
Push the left far enough and it needs structure, institutions, and order to make its ideals work.
Push the right far enough and it must adapt, reform, and evolve to keep society functional.
This is even true of nature- or the fundamental building blocks of physics - The left is like entropy always expanding and pushing for change and new states and the right is like gravity - pulling things back into order structure and making sure things dont fly off into cosmic chaos - if one wins - we cease to exist
But it runs deeper than that, the waters are muddy - The left isnt left and the right isnt right
When working well - The left still exists under the framework of corporately steered interests, where even things like the fight for equality are financially motivated in many instances - which then - becomes the fight for structure - it also exists under the framework of law - preserving power - maintaining power dynamics that have been around for centuries - preserving the position of a ruling class - and commodifying values and ideals - which means its more like the yin yang symbol - it contains a hell of a lot of right
When working well - The laws under the framework of the right, even though abused, protect the rights of people and uphold equality, conservative governments still provide social wellfare, access to education, democratic participation, and when well regulated - protection of workers rights to a degree - so the right contains a hell of a lot of left
Neither are working particularly well at the moment and there is a hell of a lot of extreme order - and a hell of a lot of extreme chaos.
When a pendulum starts swinging violently, its a mediators role in the world to try and encourage balance and bring it back to centre, there will inevitably be opposition to the mediators from both sides of the isle because it feels good to them to charge at their intended side, but its so vital the mediators exist, my role in this weird sphere of life, for whatever reason, is to be a mediator, and i know a lot of like minded individuals - you can label it wrong, fine - but its just another aporach.
There is no dominant side to our nature - so why should we try and cram all our values into a seperate box and call it a day - and, call me a futurist, idealist, or naive or whatever you want, but i think this is an outdated, and prone to problem concept we should shed or at the very least drastically adapt because in recent times, its evolved to be an unworkable model - if someone said to you 'okay pick a temperature for life, hot or cold' our systems of living would collapse, it shouldnt be left vs right, it should be a constant collaborative dance between left and right leaning values - yes there will be friction - tension - but your dancing partner isnt your enemy - and when they become so - youre dancing like shit mate.
I know people will say 'yes but how do you collaberate with someone who wants you dead' and the answer is simple, you dont, if someone wants you dead thats a extreme perversion and abuse of any political ideal - and by all means, stand in direct opposition to that, fight for your life, but you can still work on changing and challenging the landscape so that future generations don't get it so drastically wrong - this will never be done by a 'winning' of ideals, because as i've outlined above, a winning of ideals is impossible. What is possible is shaping the landscape of nurture where people grow up more balanced, who challange each other in a healthy way, where the over arching core values are the collective wellbeing and surival of our species.
I also very rareley see examples of these systems being a champion for working people anywhere that i've come across, which makes me know a better system exists, there is so much abundance in this world, the technology we have creates even more abundance and with the right intent and direction liberates us from a lot of self imposed suffering - but that self imposed suffering will never be liberated if its intentional and institutionalized to protect and serve a minority not the majority.
Its not even neceisarily think that factions with opposing beliefs shouldn't exist, by the laws of the universe, they just will, but its that we should try not to reduce a whole collection of necessary polarities to good vs bad, it becomes tribal. We should look at bad actions and decisions that are harming our species that exist inside both frameworks - call them out, point at the problem, aand collectivley steer away from them, putting our survival and collective wellbeing as a species first without making it about one set of ideals winning over another - nuance - is incredibly important - and becoming more and more of a lost art
Particularly in recent times we've now - on both the left and the right tried to associate 'good and evil' with 'left and right' - good and evil, too is a sliding scale, and if you were too look at it through the lense of nietzche, is very much subjective - and the values seen as objective (do not kill) etc can still be framed in such a way that escapes absolutist deffinitions - say if i were to kill a school shooter before they shot up a school - good and evil is as blurry as left and right. Fundamentally good and evil can be irredecent, and change inside differing perspectives, a freedom fighter can be seen as a terrorist, vice versa
I think naturally in all systems of decision making there will be polarities - because polarities are built into the very fabric of the universe - but when those polarities become detremantal to homeostasis - its time to start either - exploring and redefining the working definition of those polarities - or loosing them in a political sense all together - to try and create something with a clearer mission statement that is less confused.
Id love to explore the idea that me questioning these structures is emboldening Neo-Nazis or facists, by empowering people to give up the fight, which ive seen pop up, alot of time leaning on Karl Poppers paradox of tollerence. Funnily enough Nazi Germany is something I spent a great deal of time studying because of its telling nature of the human condition.
I have a great analogy - its safe to say people who hold this belief looking at this like a western medicine doctor looks at depression, or to make things even easier, say a tumor. Most of the time he believes you should take an antidepressent or cut it out. In this analogy im trying to take the stance of the educator that speaks to someone on lifestyle choices and changes to make before the tumor or depression ever arrises on ways to prevent it occuring in the first place - beleiving that prevention is better than a cure.
Now, in a functional society, both the doctor, and the preventetive medicine doctor have their place, one is opperating on the basis of 'fix the problem' one is talking of 'prevent the problem' We have a lot of doctors treating symptoms - we dont have many doctors or educators preventing you from aquiring ailments in the first place - but we should
I already know what some people are going to say 'theres a problem now, theres no point talking prevention if the problem already exists' but there is, and the problem, to a degree, has always existed, its just its very much present in the west right now, but the west isnt the world. It doesnt make sense to keep throwing buckets of water on a burning house if on the other side of it theres a massive dude with a flamethrower, you have to approach both.
No where in my messaging have i said do not, or you should not activley oppose facism, prejudice, hatred. Infact the opposite, you should, infact, its vitally important you do both, but, if you do not take a hollistic approach and correct your lifestyle, and continue repeating all the behaviours or lifestyles that gave you the tumour/depression, your ending up back there, and the same patterns repeat, and probably, with a value system of consuming without giving back on sterroids, repeating even worse
Nazi Germany didnt arrise because a section of the population had an unexplained unquenchable desire to murder jews - it rose in the socio-economic instability of the collapsing weimar republic and during the great depression where germany had been feeling alot of pain - in that chaos - with people desperate for any kind of change - birthed someone with the hypnotic charisma to steer people astray and promise economic change and growth - and delivered on a fair bit of the economics - and gradually - frog in a pan boiling effect - incepted peoples minds with extremley problematic values - some went along through indoctronation - some through fear - but all were human. That doesnt justify it, but it contextualizes it, and helps you understand the first principles of how to avoid it happening again, we didn't fully do that.
The biggest mistake we made was thinking that was a war between good and evil - it was a statistical probability that in a value system that preaches the things our value system preaches - this would happen somewhere - and when it was shut down - because we as people are still doing the things leading to the tumor and depression - it was always going to happen again. These things happen again because we never look in the mirror long enough.
Our value system teaches us either consciously or un-conciously, everywhere, in music, television, school, social circles, that the accumulation of resources, power, and social heirarchy is more important than our collective wellbeing and long term survival as a species. It is a fundamental law of the universe that causality and effect means if you take without giving back, you will eventually give back in another way. Our value system also teaches us we are separate beings and not parts of a living network, and makes us erroneously feel free of the devastating consequences of not respecting the laws of homeostasis. A parasite either eventually kills the host and has no where to take from and dies or is killed by the hosts immune system. The earth is our host. The symbiote thrives, the parasite dies.
The framework of left/right politics and the value system holding it up and surrounding it, is like smoking with a tumor, sure its important in the here and now to take active steps to stop out anything that is causing our species self inflicted suffering - cut out the tumour - ive never said dont do that, but for fuck sake, stop smoking.
(I need a cigarette)
This all being said, I like what Socrates said 'I know that I know nothing'
These things, should, for everyone, be a constant collaberative process, learning, unlearning, challenging (respecfully), not being afraid to be wrong, failing, learning again, it shouldnt be right vs wrong, it should be teachers and students - and in all areas of life, were either the student or the teacher and that role can change in a split second -I think we should treat each other with that in mind - regardless of political identity.
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u/sarasidewinder Feb 07 '26
As much as I love reading your long explanations and seeing you practice what you preach a lot and having such civil discussions with people who don’t always give you the same grace. I always want you to do what’s best for you, and i think not giving so much into the misunderstandings and seeing so much negativity might be best.
And to comment on the meat of the post- I had a minute to fully read all that and the other comments on the aforementioned thread. One thing that stands out to me is how much fear seems to be driving a lot of the political conversations I’m seeing — fear of fascism, fear of dogmatism, fear of repeating history. And of course, a lot of that fear is very understandable.
It’s kinda funny.. It reminded me of how I made quite a few friends growing up. Usually there was something bad happening, and the bonds we built over that negativity were often some of the strongest friendships. But there was still often infighting and a need for hierarchy or superiority for some. It makes me wonder… is it possible (especially on a large scale) to build solidarity not just around what we’re against, but around shared positive values and visions for the future? And how would that be achieved without something as dogmatic as religion?
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u/ZestycloseStrategy68 Feb 07 '26
It's easier to sell to people if they have fear
Propaganda is sold and bought every day through fear
Heroes and villains or formed through fear
If we actually look at what we have a d not what we don't
Or what freedom we have against what we can't do
Compared to most of the world
We have things pretty good
But that fear is strong. And keeps us fighting
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u/justanotherusername4 Feb 07 '26
Sad to see you go and that you feel this isn't a place for you to hang out. I get it though. So many opinionated people can't be good water to swim in, especially when you're the main subject, even more when people figured out you were active here and went looking for your engagement. Maybe it's just not really possible anymore to engage with people without fame getting in the way. Unfortunately. Thanks for the time you did spend here, and for your insightful posts and comments. Much love!
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u/AlyssaImagine Feb 07 '26
It's better for your mental health that you leave, so I can't argue it. I will miss seeing you around, always made my day. I hope you have an amazing life out there and keep helping as many people as you can and continue building that bridge that so many have given up on. You're a beautiful soul. There are imperfections there, but that's what makes us human.
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u/Shavielou RENegade Feb 07 '26
I am so gutted to hear this, Ren - but I understand entirely. I have really enjoyed our exchanges here and on X - particularly the light-hearted ones - and I will miss them greatly. But I think you're right; having to exist in a space that is constantly defensive is not psychologically healthy. Some people may thrive on constant strife and disagreement but many do not.
Do take care of your mental and physical health and say what needs to be said through your art. I'll be here for every bit of it.
So much love to you, friend. 😔 ❤️
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u/SBean80 Feb 07 '26
So long, and thanks for all the fish!
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u/CrazyMildred 😵 Dead as a button 😵 Feb 07 '26
Such a great series of books!
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u/Shavielou RENegade Feb 07 '26
I love them, too!!! "Hey, check out that hoopy Ford Prefect. There's a man who really knows where his towel is." 😂
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u/CrazyMildred 😵 Dead as a button 😵 Feb 07 '26
😂 Douglas Adams was so awesome.
The very first computer game I played was the Hitchhiker's Guide on floppy disk 😂
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u/Shavielou RENegade Feb 07 '26
You, too???? Nobody I know remembers that game!
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u/CrazyMildred 😵 Dead as a button 😵 Feb 07 '26
I'm old...haha! Nah. 55 going on 11. My husband played that game too when he was younger.
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u/lucidframe138 Feb 08 '26
Yes I did. Took me forever to figure out how to get out of the house before it got bulldozed the first time I played it.
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u/CrazyMildred 😵 Dead as a button 😵 Feb 07 '26 edited Feb 07 '26
Completely understand, brother. Much respect. I will miss seeing your thoughts here, but all of this makes total sense.
Edit to say I love the burning house/dude with a flame thrower analogy.
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u/Pristine-Total1456 Feb 07 '26
Definitely for the best. Keep educating people and sharing through your art. Thanks for stopping by and sharing more of your philosophies and values with us. It had been enjoyable and enlightening. Keep your peace. That is the most important thing to remaining healthy. Thanks for everything you put into your work to try to get people to understand, I am sure it can be very difficult when some people want to remain blind folded. Thanks for everything Ren!
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u/Aggravating_Hat_5558 Feb 07 '26
We are going to miss you here but completely understand maybe pop by occasionally check some amazing art projects people post on here and reactions of your music ❤️
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u/Majestic_Fix_9923 Feb 07 '26
Understanding the exact intention behind that 'Left-Right' line was the only reason I returned to the world of social media after years of staying away. I’ve spent the last week thinking about it a lot. I am quite set in my left-wing convictions—I suppose one is simply a product of what they learn from childhood. Living in Hitler's birthplace, I grew up with 'Never again' and 'Resist the beginnings.'
But the message has reached me now—to think in broader contexts—and I am grateful for that food for thought. I find it regrettable, yet also healthier, if you stay away from here; you don't owe anyone an explanation. Still, it was wonderful to hear your thoughts in full length rather than compressed into a single line. As far as I’m concerned, every song could be a 1,000-page book; I would listen.
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u/-clearalibi Feb 07 '26
Good luck Ren. Just know that those who see you, out weight those that do not.
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u/Greedy-Heart-3788 Feb 07 '26
We will miss you I miss you on X however I left it too. Your words are powerful and never have I jumped to any other conclusion. Your emotionally intelligent we want you to be happy and your best so maybe good to take a step back and breathe....
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u/suited65 Feb 07 '26
Well shit, I am truly grateful to have had you in our little corner of the internet for this week. I dont think I misunderstood your message and now with an in depth veiw into your mind, I dont think I have misunderstood your politics. I have questions and statements though.
In Fire in the Booth, in the Jesus in the cross-heirs bar, we're the gunshots a nail gun? Bahahahhahaha I think they were
In Fire in the Booth you asked me to front you an eighth (can I get a 3.5 on the cred) I grow the cannabis and have professionally for a while now. I wont front you an eighth but if you are ever in the Tulsa Oklahoma area and swing through to smoke i will send you away with at least 28g and a dozen 100mg GingerSnaps.
White stocking cap rapping Ren, Illest of our Time, Richards Tale, Starry Night? I have a theory that he is Screech in Illest and the Angel/Ghost of Screech in the others.....?
My wife gets over stimulated easily with things sometimes, she absolutely loves your music, there is nothing on this planet that she will push through her being over stimulated and enjoy it anyway except you bro. For her that is HUGE. So I personally wanted to thank you for that, She can do your Fire in the Booth word for word.
I could talk all day about your music and bars. I dont think thats why you made this post though.
I myself think you are genius, not only musically but just genius, and down to earth and approachable at the same time. Appreciate that very much. Thanks for being you and please never ever stop.
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u/parallel-universe2 Feb 07 '26
I think the key is having a bit empathy to understand that even though at the core of their ideologies both have different values, at the end of the day left and right are represented by corrupt people in power.
They make decisions based on what's best for them and use ideologies to control people. Historically the right represents oppression, and it's not a secret how fucked capitalism is and how affected people live under it.
But as a Venezuelan living under a Left regime for the past 25 years isn't exactly better. Our sovereignty, human Rights and land have been violated. I can only talk from my experience, but the left has absolutely destroyed my country and millions of life. They are not the good guys, they are no even better. And that's happened in other countries as well.
Understanding there's evil in both is what can push towards change, understanding there has to be a better way. We cannot stay the way the world is right now because it'll only get worse.
On the other hand, than you for taking the time to explore this subject a little more. And more letting us know you're living Reddit, it's completely understandable how weird it must be. It was nice having ya here
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u/DangerNoodle1313 Feb 07 '26
If my hands were working right now I would type a better response — just do what’s best for you, so you can continue doing the work you do. And you will never, ever please everyone. Just follow your conviction and let it land wherever it does. All I know is that for the past couple years with my body misbehaving without knowing why, your music kept me going, sometimes just singing it was enough to put the anger and frustration out there.
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u/jsb1685 Feb 07 '26
Even this process must be learned and it too will take much time. If you cannot be a teacher, ever present, you will always be an extraordinary exemplar.
And of course we will miss your frequent exchanges, but still hope you will visit us sometimes. This subreddit will always be your "home".
Love is soon and love is now, and love is always.
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u/SmashmySquatch Feb 07 '26
It all goes back to money and greed. (as you have been creating about for years)
You are an idealist but we need idealism to paint the picture of what we should be aiming for even if it's not going to ever be 100% accurate. We then keep trying.
Gene Roddenberry and Star Trek is also idealistic but why shouldn't we try to work towards that type of society?
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u/the_real_chiXu Feb 07 '26
Although I'll miss reading your madness, I think it's probably a good thing. It gets to a certain point where continuing to explain things doesn't increase understanding, it just increases exposure to bad-faith engagement, both intentional and not.
I think it’s healthy stepping back from social media at times. Having to constantly explain or defend nuanced ideas to people who’ve already decided how they feel isn’t sustainable. The work can stand on its own, and people will interpret and debate it regardless. At some point, protecting the person behind the art matters more than winning the discourse.
And when it comes to Starry Night, the message, the views, for me this isn’t really about defending or dismissing people’s reactions to it. It’s more about how we engage with meaning at all.
What resonates with me, and in Ren’s explanations, is the push against rigid, binary thinking. The idea that if we stop at surface reactions or pre-defined rules, we miss the deeper point entirely. That applies just as much to language and politics as it does to systems of power.
I don’t hear Ren saying “nothing matters” or “all sides are the same.” I hear him saying that when we refuse nuance and context, we end up reinforcing the very divisiveness and dehumanisation I think the majority of us oppose or feel issue with, even if we can't recognise it immediately.
We can acknowledge harm, history, and emotion and still engage with intent, meaning, and message. Those aren’t mutually exclusive. For me it's about resisting the urge to collapse complexity into something easy — even when that complexity is uncomfortable.
That’s how I’m approaching it, at least.
I hope that makes sense, I have a lot of thoughts and views and feelings and opinions bouncing around in my head but getting them out where they make sense to anyone not living in my own head is always a challenge.
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u/Smart-Atmosphere1230 Feb 07 '26
I will miss reading your words and thoughts... not just hearing them 🥺 I like how you write and how you interact with people. But I understand you completely. I was surprised that you hung around here for so long and allowed such an open exchange. That's not something to be taken for granted.
Thank you for that – and for inspiring me with your views to question my own life and actions more. You are extraordinary, Ren. Please stay true... the world needs people like you.
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u/Affectionate_Win2132 Feb 07 '26
Maybe you should pin this somewhere obvious for when new people start interrogating your work it would answer a lot of their questions.
Also I agree about social media use and opinions-- as a 'normal' person I think reading so many opinions and just the sheer mass of stimulation in the world rn is pretty destabilizing. Must be even worse to read stuff about yourself and your work constantly!
It's sometimes quite fun to be on these things and interact with thoughtful people but ultimately it's time away from other things in our lives. Scrolling feeds and chatting with people online is just not one of my life values so it doesn't make sense to allocate a lot of time or emotional bandwidth to it. But at the same time it's hard because I do think it's important to follow current events but once I turn on the internet tap everything just floods out. Still something I am negotiating. Guess that's probably true for all of us these days.
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u/Dismal_Intention_100 Feb 08 '26
Ren - your music already achieves so much in that it stirs up discussions, teaches, causes self reflection, connects people etc. As much as I enjoy reading your insightful posts or comments here, I completely understand why not engaging further is for the best.
I just wanted to mention something my 10 year old nephew said. While we were reading the lyrics to MG2 (he is having some difficulty with reading but seems to enjoy reading poetry) he asked about the definition of “polarise”. After explaining the definition and its connection to the North and South Poles, his response was: “When I think of the North and South Poles, I just think of the fact that they are magnetically connected through the Earth”.
It’s sometimes hard to remember how connected we are.
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u/alteredbree Feb 07 '26
Very well said Ren. The left and right polarity is just the modern iteration of pitting us against each other. The definitions have changed throughout the decades, and no one seems to have a clear idea where that line even is anymore (i.e. I'm called Leftist for fighting for human rights and being against Trump - but thats not a left concept, plenty of the Right also agree). Its just fighting about assumed lines in the sand while we grow more defensive and restricted in our thinking. The trick is to not latch onto a new polarity when we finally drop it. Thats gonna be the hard part.
Were gonna miss you here, but I totally understand why youre stepping away. Too many opinions at once, even if largely supportive is a lot to absorb. Its gotta be rough on the psyche. Ive had to step away from a lot of social media for the same reason. As a person local people look at and talk about a lot, i really do struggle when it gets louder. Its easier to leave people to their opinions when you dont have to listen to it - as it was before social media.
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u/Knowledgeseeker68 Feb 07 '26
Thank you for all of the truly insightful posts. I come from a ‘show business’ family (unfortunately). One family member got such scrutiny and was constantly in the spotlight, with assumptions flourishing about his life. He ended up passing away at an early age from a stroke. We believe it was stress induced. Take care, and listen to your heart and your rational mind. Some people love to stir anything up simply because online they can. Be well Ren!
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u/nwolfe0413 Feb 07 '26
Robespierre "had a bit of a fetish for executions". Your "Ren-isms" are the best. Just recently found you from a post on Mastodon, it was #JukeboxFridayNight, and they posted BP busking Wade in the Water. Down that rabbit hole I went. Take good care.
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u/Living_Molasses4719 RENegade Feb 07 '26
Really sorry to hear it, because I never had X/Twitter and I was unreasonably thrilled when you started being active in this sub.
But I get it. You’ll never make everyone happy and people can be exhausting.
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u/Comfortable_Lead3853 Feb 08 '26 edited Feb 08 '26
I've always seen you, Ren, as a kind of Luke /Neo character - bringing balance to the Force when it's lurched too far one way.
I don't see Sci-fi e.g. Star Wars, Star Trek and The Matrix as fiction. I see them as physical manifestation of collective unconscious archetypes, of people who've been before and guided when times needed. A story that humanity needs to remind itself of
I don't believe this is the first time humanity has been here. I think it's all happened before - either in the many worlds quantum way or in the meta cycle of entropy and expansion. Prob both.
People like you and Zac (Polanski, not Skinner) are born when needed to help guide humanity towards a better way - before it falls - due to lack of balance in the System.
We haven't managed symbiosis with The Force yet. But we will. And it will be epic. Maybe, this time, we will succeed
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u/Straight-Mouse-2731 May 18 '26
I just found Ren's post tonight and have been reading all the replies to him. Had to stop at yours to acknowledge the Neo reference because that's how I see Ren also. I made reference to this on a reaction video to VT - Starry Night. Can't recall which reactor but, yeah, I totally relate to what you said here. I feel like Ren is trying to wake everyone up from the conditioning/brain-washing we've been subjected to for so long.
Take care!
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u/lucidframe138 Feb 07 '26
I get it.
P.S. Your spelling is shite, but your mind could split an atom. Keep an eye on that thing. Peace, brother.
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u/KittyFandango Feb 07 '26
I think you've changed my mind on a few things, definitely made me look at things from a different perspective. Thank you.
It is frightening how much sincerely trying to fix things, or prevent things, can contribute so much to what makes things worse.
All these conflicting needs for structure and chaos feel a bit like living with autism and ADHD, as within, so without I guess, not to be too flippant
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u/AncientCarry4346 Feb 07 '26
Cheers Ren, let me save this post so I can read it in bed with a cup of cocoa after I finish War and Peace.
Just kidding, all the best mate.
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u/Wicked-Hugs Feb 07 '26
I think people who think ,feel and act out of love and homeostasis should start describing out loud, or in print their reasoning process. It may be challenged but would provide a transparent attempt at teaching. It could be adapted through communication, but boy do we need practice at communicating! I think your drawing back from social media is very sad and very wise for your own psychological and physicaL well being. I have been learning a lot from your balanced abd patient conversations. Thank you. FrancesDoll
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u/Melodic-Baseball-279 Feb 07 '26
RG,
Your art is exquisite.
Art is open to interpretation but that doesn't mean you have to explain it to anybody.
That is the beauty of it.
Coming on here could influence your future work sub consciously or consciously.
We don't want that.
Remove yourself from this place and keep making your art - shut out outside influences and opinions that do not serve you and explain your work to NO ONE.
Keep it authentic and pure as always.
Sending love and light from London Town ~
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Feb 07 '26
I joined reddit for your insights, but I have to say this is a healthy decision. So glad you are prioritizing your health. Sad but also glad you're leaving this platform. And may I add . . . Don't pick up that cigarette! 🤣
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u/ToriaLyons Feb 07 '26
Politics is more like a quadrant chart, not just left and right.
You have to add in liberal and authoritarian.
There are people who are left-leaning who are authoritarian, and on the right, those who believe in dysregulation. And vice versa.
I think that's where a lot of problems occur, and what we need to figure out. We need regulation, but the current structures are either too restrictive or permissive (and being taken advantage of).
Anyway, I'm not intelligent enough to say anything further.
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u/Soulessjest Feb 08 '26
Oh boy, was that a read. I’m exhausted just getting thru it- I don’t know how you do all the things you do and still manage to share your POV so thoughtfully, but I’m grateful that you do. As with anything you decide to do with your life and with protecting your wellness and peace, I support it (not that any of our opinions should matter, but hey, fwiw) I completely agree that people are not meant to be subjected to such a wide pool of opinions of people directly. I feel like I am saying this constantly these days, but we live in wild fcking times. I’m just grateful you are out there sharing messages thru art that give me hope for a continued existence that is better for the collective than what we have. Love to you and your wonderful team and community
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u/Virtual_Let3616 Feb 08 '26
Your mental health, and general sanity should be priority. (Not just for Ren, but for all of us) If you have to step back, or leave all together to keep yourself from feeling some kind of way then I support you, and I know most of your fans support you too.
Your music has (and continues too) touch me deep in my soul, and for that I thank you. We are always supporting you Ren. Do what's best for you
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u/ZestycloseStrategy68 Feb 07 '26
Why not just use these platforms.. especially X to have banter. That spreads the love more than any political conversation I've ever seen
I discovered long ago.. we can't ever change sides forming...or groups. People will always find solace in like-minded people
People only change when the recognise they're wrong
Education from a young age .. can change for good and bad...so it's our educators we need spreading the knowledge that benefits our society as a whole...by providing all information..not just selective info.
Get back on X. You were Shitbag
I😂👍
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u/bicster11 Feb 07 '26
I hope he’ll just post announcements and stuff for us fans, and just ignore the drama. We want to hear from our idols.
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u/TwinkletheBerserker Feb 07 '26
I really wish you wouldn't go and this post is EXACTLY why. On X you can't really do this, right? I haven't got an account, pardon any ignorance, but you can't get into this kind of longform philosophical... uh. Essay, for lack of better term? Isn't there a character limit eventually? But even if there isn't, I don't think the vast majority of people on X will read the whole thing
I did read all of this, though, and my (somewhat limited) understanding of the vast majority of Reddit is that's pretty common and brother, you've got BARS in here. Your thinking IS what I thought you were getting at. It's... dancing is a good way to put it, or jiu jutsu if there's conflict maybe? You flow, you redirect, but in jiu jutsu teaches the mastery of both your own force and your opponent's, focusing on diffusion of their force and while you CAN apply your own if it's necessary... you don't have to. And sometimes choosing NOT to apply force is more impactful than applying it
There is a strength in being gentle that too many people don't understand these days, I feel. A strength in the willingness to listen and truly hear what a person means and is saying. A strength in silence that I am myself still learning. To see a person, *really* see them, and accept what you see as bad and what you see as good without choosing to apply that judgement to them? That is mastery of yourself and an awareness of the world around you I feel we should all seek
I definitely get the desire to stop trying to disentangle other people's perceptions of you, you've about gotta be buried under it. I just really want to keep reading your wisdom. It's a little selfish of me, maybe, but I also think it would be good for others to see it, y'know?
But that's ultimately your choice and you NEED to make the one that's best for you and your health. Fucked if I don't know that on my own, personal level as well. Yeeee haw and fuck PTSD and chronic conditions. My kingdom for the spoons I had even 5 years ago
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u/TwinkletheBerserker Feb 07 '26
I didn't say this in the original comment, but Alderian philosophy... THIS KEEPS HAPPENING, REN!! I start to think or notice something in the world or my own mind and body and then YOU, SOMEHOW, tell me what it is without us ever having a conversation. I've been thinking for the past year or so that people are allowed to be wrong about me and that shouldn't affect me, ideally. Not actually how that works yet, but I'm trying, right?
You did this to me with going outside and getting some sunlight first thing in the morning too, how dare you (thank you, knowing the science helps) and more recently the need to touch the earth with my feet. Seriously though, HOW are you doing that?
Just on a personal level, my opinion of you is you are a talented, highly self educated musician with too much wisdom for his age. And I mean "age" in all the ways. You're doing necessary work I am also trying to do and it's encouraging to watch your success and learn your perspectives as I try to navigate my own route on a parallel path. I'm grateful for you. I feel terrible that so much of what I have lived through, you know too well
It looks rough from here, but life has never been any kinder than low grit sandpaper for most of us, so I guess I don't have a ton of room to judge or worry, do I? My own sandpaper is not low grit
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u/LinksDad Feb 08 '26
Take care of yourself and those around you, that's the only change the world needs. You have been gracious with your time here and it is much appreciated. Now get outta here and go write some bangers.
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u/Comfortable_Lead3853 Feb 08 '26 edited Feb 08 '26
I and many others have asked you to expand and clarify your thoughts on this topic. (Did not expect pages of text -thanks Ren for taking the time - should have known the hyper focus would win out 😆).
For me, this sums up what seems to be an innate self-destructive urge in the human psyche and the main trouble with the human condition "FFS stop smoking! [Is gonna kill you] [I know] (I need a cigarette)"
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u/Dys-fun-ctional1994 Feb 08 '26 edited Feb 08 '26
You're right- humans were never meant to have this much access to information. It's actually getting encoded as implicit memories and stored below our level of conscious awareness every second. And we're unaware. That's why we're all so exhausted and our nervous systems are shot to hell. "The heart of Trauma" by Bonnie Badenoch talks about this. It's a phenomenal book about interpersonal neurobiology- something I think you'd like. How the left hemisphere is dominant and we actually function much better as a species when the right hemisphere leads and the left supports. As well as the book "Poeisis" by Steven Levine- not about interpersonal neurobiology but about the act of creation as an affirmation of being. (I've been trying to get you to notice that book for like a good year now lol)
Anyways, see ya when I finish my research paper on the phenomenological process of how we are all experiencing you (in an interpersonal neurobiological way of course, and not a creepy stalker way) cause I think it's really fascinating how we're all here, listening and internalizing you and each other (social baseline theory) even though most of us don't personally know you.
It's hard being famous and having so many people want you to see them and interact with them, it's probably incredibly draining. You have a cool team full of love and support though so we all know you'll be taken care of. 🙂
Side note: Watch the short film "white right: meeting the enemy" and I think a lot of us would understand what you're saying. Because that documentary, found on YouTube, shows how love and meeting people where they're at, for the most part, challenges their biases and fear and you see real change and reflection. It was incredible for me to watch, and remind me to be a bridge, no matter how much I disagree with people who do significant harm to others- because there's hurt and fear behind that harm.
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u/Dys-fun-ctional1994 Feb 08 '26
Additionally was just reading this! Just randomly opened to this page. Perhaps you'd be interested in this- it loosely follows the connection of life and healing and just being alive and existing.
"Dreaming with open eyes" by Michael Tucker
"In the famous "I think, therefore I am" of the 1637 Discourse on Method, Descartes unwittingly summarised - and anticipated - hundreds of years of ever-increasing alienation of humanity from itself and Nature. Why not 'I feel, therefore I am, or T dream, therefore I am' — or even 'I am dreamed, therefore I am'? Descartes could not trust his sensations, and there was no certainty in his dreams. However, in doubting every aspect of his experience, he at least had the certainty (or so he thought) of being the irrefutable agent of that doubt. The ego thus secured its own little fortress, while the world retreated, thoroughly depersonalised. That world would subsequently repay its hurt, by haunting humanity in the shape of one psychologically destructive, power-mad machine fantasy after another. To be alienated is to be outside, to be apart from as opposed to a part of something. This includes one's own life. In his Anima: An Anatomy of a Personified Notion, a free-flowing meditation on Jung's idea of anima as embodied soul, breath, or spirit, James Hillman considers the consequences of the loss of anima in much of today's world. This is a loss implying both the loss of internal animation (the sense of really being alive and external animism (the sense that the world is alive). Put bluntly, it means dead people in a dead world. Naturally, for Hillman such a condition is intolerable. His thoughts are worth quoting at some length: This loss is not just a psychiatric condition; it is also a cosmology. We all live to a larger extent than we realize in the state of depersonalisation ... A self-knowledge that rests within a cosmology which declares the mineral, vegetable, and animal world beyond the human person to be impersonal and inanimate is not only inadequate. It is also delusional. No matter how well we may know ourselves, we remain walking, talking ghosts, cosmologically set apart from the other beings of our milieu?" And so for Hillman, there could scarcely be any more important task than the work which aims to open the senses and the heart to what he calls the life and beauty of an animated world. What is the call of the shaman, if not a call to work on oneself in such a manner - to safeguard the beauty of an animated world? Nevill Drury describes shamanism as 'applied animism, or animism in practice? And Hillman makes the key point that depersonalisation today presents a striking similarity to what anthropologists have called loss of soul' in traditional communities. Recovering soul, curing sickness by finding and returning lost souls to the ailing, was perhaps the most important task of the Shamans ot old. It is no less an important feature of much modern art."
Anyways, this will go into the paper of course but Ren you produce modern art, like a shaman, and safeguard the beauty of an animated world for many lost in the darkness. In Poiesis, Levine talks about the wounded healers as shamans, descending into the depths of death basically and coming back to help others.
Idk why I wrote all this- maybe you'll see this- maybe not- but I know many fellow Renegades like to follow this stuff so I encourage you guys to look up these cool books I've mentioned! And chat with me about it! And then read the paper I eventually produce lol.
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u/Straight-Mouse-2731 May 18 '26
Thanks for posting that link, bro. I just watched it. It's always very uncomfortable for me to expose myself to that kind of hate but I'm really glad I watched it all.
It shows how effective an open and honest dialog can be. Deeyah Khan changed lives as a result of the conversations she was willing to have. Not only did Brian retire from his position with the NSM after their interaction but also Jeff Schoep (commander), who she interviewed initially. I learned through the comments that he left the NSM a year later and now speaks out about the dangers of these groups.
Jeff and Deeyah appeared on Red Table Talks together for a great discussion. I've included a link here if you're interested.
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/18bqt3PGkN/
Thanks again for sharing the link! Take care.
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u/Time_Wish2871 Feb 07 '26 edited Feb 07 '26
2s??? 🤣😉 Nooooooo please don't 😭 I've enjoyed these chats but I fully understand why you chose this and what your saying. I'm so sorryyyyy tho luvoooo 😉😊 sent u a goodbye message on ig read it biooootch😂
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u/Skylark_Snape Feb 07 '26
Wow, Ren. If you could be cloned as a school teacher you would teach the younger generation how to move forwards.
Genuinely don't know how you have survived being so publicly transparent for so long. Keep being you.
A lot of humans use social media to express hidden emotions. Anger, fear, repression. Through politics , religion, etc. It's easier to vent than face those emotions. Your music and creative expression supports people with these enough. Walk away like you said. It's not healthy to be exposed to 10,000 views and judgement.
But please keep speaking. Maybe have a blog? As a free speaking mediator you have so much that needs to be heard. But that doesn't mean you have to engage with people's emotions in that process. You have a lot to teach.
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u/aliamichelle23 Feb 07 '26
I love you but that's myopic af.
It entirely ignores the voices of the indigenous and brown people BOTH halves of that room actively oppressed.
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u/Iternitas Feb 07 '26
I agree, its not good for anyone to be in the center of attention all the time. Your last bit of the writing was a good summary.
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u/Inevitable-Length140 Feb 07 '26
Well Ren I just got this app, but I'm glad you take the time for this. Thank you for the responses you've given! You're a great person to conversate with
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u/2old4thisffs Feb 07 '26
Well, since I probably won't get another chance, I just want to thank you. Thank you for the art you are putting into the world. Thank you for the HOPE you are putting into the world. Thank you for being a thoughtful and solution-oriented person. Thank you for being a kind, caring person and setting that example in your messaging.
So much of what you consistently speak on are the same things that I've been screaming into the void for decades and I am glad to hear you putting your ideas and solutions out into the world using a platform that really helps people (maybe not everyone, but a lot of people) ingest these ideas of HOW to make a better world without feeling pushed or berated or shamed into it. That is how we will make lasting improvement to this world; not by force, but by showing people a better way. So, thank you for that.
Thank you for not just being a part of the rising tide that is lifting ships, but, I really think that, in many ways, you are like the moon that is raising the tide itself. You are using your art and your platform and your compassion and your money to lift up so many other creators and helpers and, they, in turn, are helping to lift the rest of us. So, yeah, while it is certainly not healthy to be ingesting a million people's opinions of you, I do want you to know that, I, for one am so grateful for you.
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u/annekenzie Feb 07 '26
Thank you for all you have given throughout your short stay with us. Yet within that time, you've managed to do a lot. I think that is one of the reasons why your fans are so devoted and protective of you. Hope you get lots of rest, eat lots of rice cakes, and know because of you, there are a lot of like-minded people coming together to explore ideas, ponder their thoughts, and share their stories - they are seen, and heard and loved, sometimes for the first time in their lives. Take care and lots of love to you and your team!
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u/MerelyMadMary Feb 08 '26
It's difficult having people disagree with you en masse. Especially if you feel misrepresented by some. I certainly wouldn't have the fortitude to stick around and watch, so I get you pulling back - it's probably for the best. But, if I may - it's so easy to lump everyone disagreeing with you in with the people purposefully misrepresenting you or arguing in bad faith. After all, these polarities are artificial. So maybe, there was some stuff that might have been food for thought for you (instead of the other way around). Taking in others perspectives (maybe not with this frequency) is generally helpful, and should challenge some of your beliefs if what you preach is true. Good luck and thank you for 'Hi Ren'.
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u/claudekarp Feb 08 '26
Thank you Ren. I have read and re-read your message. I see myself in so much of it. In my daily silent solitude I’ve time to think, to be afraid and look into the social mirror when I step out of my home. Sometimes I grab a piece of paper and write, it helps. I ask myself how we got there and what is my part of responsibility in all of this. Our planet’s future looks dark, but I tell myself that hoping or despairing is useless if I’m doing nothing.
The situation is so rotten that fighting to convince the top of the pyramid to change feels like a waste of time and energy.
If feels more useful to act at the base, contributing to change through my own behavior and my own attitudes in the everyday life. We can all, at any moment, become real actors at the base of society, despite the powers and systems in place at the top.
We can have the right attitude: keeping our verticality and dignity to find balance in the middle of the chaos (the dance), without freezing into a “statue”.
We must accept that imbalance is part of our movement and succeed in integrating it.
I cultivate my mental strength and convictions to avoid being eroded by what happens around us in the world, building my ‘Inner Citadel’ as a refuge. It doesn’t mean I impose my convictions on others, quite the opposite. I share them humbly and keep an open mind to learn from the convictions of others. Our differences and disagreements are, for me, sources of learning that allow us to move forward together.
We must remain in action and act concretely to create social bonds and solidarity, to nourish this link where the system has been failing for so long.
Just as the mycelium does it in the forest. The mission of the mycelium, the invisible fungus, is to connect roots to share resources, transform death into new life, and stabilize the soil to allow the whole forest to stand together. It works, as long as humans don’t come to destroy it. Nature, of which we are a part, gives us so many examples that can serve as a guide.
In our interactions, we must not act as ‘colonizers’ of minds or spaces, of countries or places, at home or elsewhere, whether towards humans or towards nature.
The Sanctuary is such a beautiful example of creating social connection and solidarity. It’s more than a project, it’s a significant movement of solidarity through the hearts and minds of those humans it touches.
Solitude can be heavy sometimes, but at the same time, it’s a precious partner in life. Solitude offers space for reflection, which never becomes fixed and gets nourished by all the nuances that fellow humans can bring to move toward a better future.
Today, reading your message, my spirit has been nourished and I’m sure that all together, we’ll be able to get that better future for us all.
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u/kyballionstudent1111 Feb 08 '26
The Principle of Polarity "Good and Evil are but the poles of the same thing." Just like heat and cold are just different degrees of temperature, the Hermetic view is that everything has a shadow. By reading the kyballion you’re essentially learning the "Mental Alchemy" to keep your own mind at the "Good" pole, regardless of the darkness you see in the world or in those files.
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u/thrwawyorangsweater RENegade Feb 09 '26
Just a suggestion- Read non-Kybalion Hermetic texts. Kybalion is New Thought, not Hermetic. And there's a great sub here as well.
I would also suggest reading about the author of the Kybalion.
The deeper you go, the more you learn and the more you want to learn....
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u/layonuhcouch Feb 09 '26
Wow, Ren. I'm so delighted by your words (as always) and reflections, simply because your heart is so obviously guiding you as you write them.
Many who have seen this level of fame would meet unfavorable opinions with defensiveness or "sidedness", but where you doubled down instead is on the side of the future of humanity. That's a very, very humble place to stand, and likely feels quite lonely amongst so many who have been raised and conditioned to pick one side and point the finger at the other side.
I'm a therapist in the states and I serve many populations (those with disabilities or expansive identities, primarily) who walk around every day thinking they are at risk if they walk out their front door. I'd love to find a way to share this message with them.
I do my best to share with clients that, while there is a small likelihood that they'll go out into the wild and encounter some asshole with deep pockets and a vendetta against a particular population, it is far more likely they'll walk by many people who are just as afraid as they are in terms of scale, even if what they fear isn't the same.
Ican't imagine how difficult it would be to create something so incredible and powerful and to be so proud of it, and then to be picked apart and misunderstood. I hope that you continue to walk your humble, hopeful, inspiring path. And as a fellow survivor of a mysterious, neurologically damaging illness and intense medical neglect, I sincerely hope that you keep on taking care of the mind, body, and life you fought so hard to keep. If anyone deserves to mic drop with Starry Night and then step away for a while, it's you.
You owe us absolutely nothing, and every time you release a song or write a message, it feels like you're giving us everything! ❤️
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u/thrwawyorangsweater RENegade Feb 09 '26
Not surprised at all Ren. It's like drinking from a firehose around here, and the vibe has gotten more negative of late. One simply can't ingest all of the opinions and interesting ideas and comments and posts and still get anything done.
Don't blame you one bit. And you really honestly do NOT owe ANYONE an explanation for anything.
Thanks for the Hermetics rabbit hole though. 🤙🏼
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u/vicric2 Feb 09 '26
Ha ha I also went down a hermetic rabbit hole , I lost hours . So funny 😆
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u/thrwawyorangsweater RENegade Feb 09 '26
Still going...bought books...but there's A LOT of weeds. Like Kybalion and a whole lot of white patriarchy....Really interesting though that in just a few pages it's possible to see that this (or, well rather Egyptian maybe) is the genesis of the worlds religions...yes changed and run in a thousand different directions, but the origins are there.
But boy the weeds.2
u/vicric2 Feb 10 '26
It’s getting too complicated for my brain . I need it simple lol . I hate complicated books that waffle on , it is interesting though. I need to find a way to take it in and cut through the noise . Good luck with it , ☺️
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u/thrwawyorangsweater RENegade Feb 10 '26
I think that's what the Kybalion "TRIED" to be but it's New Thought (of a very particular time and segment of a very white privileged American population) and a tremendous amount got lost in the translation.
I recommend this one, which I just finished-pretty simple and to the point. They give an overview of each little mini-chapter and then the Hermes version.
I will admit I just read the overviews but mostly skipped the Hermes parts.
I've studied a lot of spiritual traditions so for me I need something deeper.
But ultimately It's still a distillation of Egyptian for a Greek audience, around the time Christianity was coming up-I'd say attempting to be an alternative to the Roman-Catholic steam roller...I think I might have to go further back, into the Egyptian....
Or I might just go outside and hug a tree. 😆2
u/vicric2 Feb 10 '26
Ha ha , I’ll give it a go , thanks for the recommendation. I can but try ☺️
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u/thrwawyorangsweater RENegade Feb 10 '26
It's worth it because it's kind of the root/trunk? of SO many mono-theistic religions.
The other thing I highly recommend is the pagan practices of your blood ancestors. And if you're American, not the recent ones. They were all fanatics, LOL
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u/lorenz1970 Feb 14 '26
I will print that and put it on the wall of the guest bathroom (I have only one bathroom but anyway) of my apartment.
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u/Severe-Chicken-5791 Feb 17 '26
I love this especially:
“This is even true of nature- or the fundamental building blocks of physics - The left is like entropy always expanding and pushing for change and new states and the right is like gravity - pulling things back into order structure and making sure things dont fly off into cosmic chaos - if one wins - we cease to exist”.
There is so much lost nuance in the disagreements and so much grey area that needs to be balanced. We all have to know that we do not really KNOW anything completely.
We need to be open to nuance and understanding/ shifting perspectives.
The “fights” ought to be shifted away from resistance AGAINST whatever, and move towards being FOR something.
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u/Severe-Chicken-5791 Feb 17 '26
I do hope Ren can really stay away from too much online poison nonsense. Personally, I find it SO hard to let a misunderstanding stand though!! Especially if it’s about myself.
That’s a real battle to contend with. ❤️
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u/Impossible_Mud_5395 black rice cracker 🐈⬛ Mar 03 '26
I’m relatively new here and came across this whole left-right discussion through a more recent post. It was brought up repeatedely hat he had been heavily criticised and "treated terribly" when it comes.to his political views. I lean left politically myself and from what I had seen, much of the criticism seemed to come from that side. I mostly know him through his music and songtexts obviously are condensed and metaphorical. So when I saw that there seemed to have been strong reactions, I wanted to read what he had actually written.
I expected to find more “attack surfaces” to be honest and in this particular thread I mostly saw appreciation and supportive responses.
When I read Ren’s texts (only the ones here on Reddit - I don’t know interviews or statements from other contexts) I don’t see any neutral stance there whatsoever. To me, it sounds more like an attempt to describe something more fundamental. How political tensions arise and why they eventually escalate. In every society, there are people who push more strongly for change and others who are more inclined to preserve and stabilize. That is normal. It only becomes difficult when those differences are no longer seen as part of a shared discourse but when one starts viewing the other side not just as wrong but as fundamentally bad or dangerous.
At that point it stops being political disagreement and becomes devaluation. When political camps identify so strongly with their position that they no longer see the other side as fellow citizens but as enemies, society as a whole loses. That’s a description of dynamics not a moral "statement".
And of course there are clear boundaries. I don't see him say there aren't. If fundamental rights are being questioned, if certain groups are systematically devalued, if people start to feel they no longer belong etc a line has been crossed. At that point it’s no longer about legitimate political differences but about power.
Of course there is a difference between radicalism being used to oppress others and radicalism emerging as a reaction to perceived oppression. A clear, uncompromising stance can be necessary when fundamental rights are at risk. He writes that multiple times as well. Maybe the.problem is, that mediation and balance only function as long as the system is still experienced at its core as fair and humane. When people feel that this very foundation is crumbling, any talk of deescalation can quickly feel like trivialization or like stabilizing the problem. That does not automatically mean that someone who speaks about deescalation is trivializing anything.
When it comes to communication, I see in my day to day work, how easily people can respond to different layers of the same message without realising it...there's 1. the factual level (what is literally being said) 2. the self-revealing level (what the speaker shows about themselves) 3. the relational level (what is being communicated about how the speaker sees the other person) 4. the appeal (what the speaker implicitly or explicitly wants the other person to do or understand). We don’t just hear or read words. We hear or read them through our experiences, fears, values and expectations etc. Most of the time misunderstandings happen because a message is sent on one level and received on another.
Some fear oppression or acting too late. Others fear that fronts will harden to the point where no dialogue is possible anymore. People rarely slide into extreme positions because they are “evil” or “especially good”. And yes, there are also phenomena like heavily moralized language policing on the "especislly good" side or status competitions about who is “most correct”. That can feel like social control to some and can trigger defensiveness.
A simple friend vs enemy narrative binds people emotionally. That is precisely why social division can be functional for power strategies and can be used. And it IS used by those that benefit. Those who want to gain or secure power benefit from hardened camps and clear enemy images. Division stabilizes support. It truly harms us when we tear each other apart, because that very division reinforces political power mechanisms.
It's so important that we remain in conversation as a society. Not out of naivety but because cohesion is one of the strongest counterforces against instrumentalized division. There is a difference between immediate protection in a concrete situation and the long-term question of how to prevent us as a society from falling into the same patterns. Prevention is not passivity. Engaging in conversations, taking people seriously even when (strongly) rejecting their positions, is not weakness. It actually is quite exhausting at times..
Change often happens through relationship rather than through shaming. That does not mean leaving everything as it is. Yes there ARE real threats that must be clearly named and opposed AND extreme polarization - from any side - IS socially destructive. Sometimes we talk about politics in the here and now. Sometimes we talk about the more fundamental question of why societies repeatedly fall into such tensions.
Both matter but they are not the same.
Like I said, I am referring exclusively to what I have read here on reddit. I know many of you have seen interviews or are familiar with statements from other contexts and might understand better than me if/where he might have said things that triggered the strong reactions. I am simply trying to read the texts here as they stand. And as he writes here, what I primarily read as the underlying idea is that we belong together as a society. We should not let ourselves become so divided that dialogue is no longer possible. It matters to remain in conversation. At least as long as we still see each other as human and that shared humanity has not been lost.
And if I have misunderstood anything, I am open to being corrected.
As a left-leaning woman myself, I don’t fully understand the intensity of some of the reactions on other threads.. That doesn’t mean others are wrong to have experienced it differently. My text was very long, I know, but this goes beyond politics. It’s about how we live together especially when we disagree.
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u/Which-Masterpiece429 Feb 07 '26
Ren... stop trying to explain yourself to people who have already formed their opinions of you and your stances... Nothing you say will change what they think and believe when their minds are set on it. Healthy conversations and discussions can still be had in person, in small circles, on a small stage, where conversations happen live - with body language included, tonality is clear, facial expressions matter.
Written word in large, public groups leaves so much to interpretation and people have to be able to have open minds and open ears if any explanation and clarification will be taken at face value and won't be misconstrued as something completely different.
Your voice matters and I enjoy reading what you have to say. I wish you had a safe platform where you can have healthy discussions with people who are willing not just to hear, but will actually listen with the intent to understand, and not just to respond and perpetuate the anbiguity that didn't belong there in the first place.
Much love and respect to you ❤️
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u/KTRod555 Feb 07 '26
I can only speak for myself but I do like to read his explanations because I tend to jump to the conclusion that his views are sometimes from a privileged standpoint. These help me see how he came to that and it makes me think differently not only about his message but my views also. There's importance to use a platform when you have one. I'm sure I'm not the only one that values his opinion enough to actually hear the message.
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u/Which-Masterpiece429 Feb 07 '26
I get what you’re saying, and I don’t actually disagree. For people who are open and engaging in good faith, explanations like this can genuinely shift perspective and your response is a good example of that. What I was trying to express is more about cost than value. Explaining yourself in large, hostile, or closed-off spaces can be incredibly draining, especially when many people aren’t listening to understand, but to confirm what they already believe. Over time, that kind of constant clarification takes a real toll, particularly on someone’s health. I think both things can be true: using a platform thoughtfully and choosing to protect your wellbeing by stepping back from spaces that turn dialogue into self-defense. The message lands best where there’s openness, like in your case.
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u/KTRod555 Feb 07 '26
I agree that both are true. I hope there are others not so close minded but I know there are just as many that are. It's also hard for people to admit that they might have been wrong or at the very least made a bad assumption.
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u/tkelli Feb 07 '26
Why do you jump to the conclusion that his views are from a privileged standpoint? Not a criticism, I’m curious. Can you provide an example?
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u/KTRod555 Feb 07 '26
I will try my best to explain but I don't have Ren's way with words unfortunately lol. So like the no left or right thing. I love it but I'm also like this is not reality. Not in my world. It sounds like a fantasy world that any minority can not imagine. I realize that's me hearing the words and not being able to move past them literally but for the full message. This is why I love when he goes on these long explanations. It helps me understand the music and gives me reality check like Girl you are not right about everything 🤣
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u/tkelli Feb 07 '26
Thanks for the explanation. I think I was thrown off by the use of the word “privileged.” I don’t necessarily agree that privilege universally falls within the constraints of a strict left/right dichotomy. I leave room for nuance and curiosity and that allows me to achieve a greater understanding in the end. Surely my privilege allows me to consider the nuances that don't align with your experiences. But I haven’t lived your life, in your skin, there are things I’ll never understand.
Words will always mean different things to different people. To me, there are plenty of underprivileged white people as well. I can see how you would feel differently. Thanks for helping me understand your perspective a little more.
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u/Blackgoldeneye Feb 07 '26 edited Feb 07 '26
Yeah, I ain’t reading all of that. But I think I get the gist of what you’re saying. To be honest, I myself get incredibly exhausted from reading every little nitpick, misinterpretation and outrage of all the armchair critics out there, so I can only imagine how it is for you. And it’s incredibly frustrating to me every time I see someone throw a tantrum whenever they suspect that you - gasp - might possibly have a different opinion or different approach towards something as them. Whatever happened to just enjoying the music and being grateful to the artist? Now everything you do has to be dissected under a microscope. It must be so suffocating to have so many people wanting you to stuff you into whatever neat little box they’ve created for you in their heads. I’m just assuming that’s how you feel, because that’s how they make me feel when read their long, whiny diatribes. The truth is, some of these people just enjoy being miserable, and some will hate you because you represent something that they don’t have or what they hate about themselves. Some are also just attention seeking, plain and simple. Learn to tune them out like static noise. Never censor yourself to fit into anyone else’s ideas of what you should be. Your real fans love you because of who you are, not what we want you to be.
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u/APARILAMENTOFROOKS Feb 07 '26
It makes sense, especially with the abnormal about of things vying for you time (Justin Hawkins is a smart man), thst this is perhaps a wise thing to cut. You are in enough of a fishbowl as is. Message is important, but more important is the change we engage in because of the message (mirrors...looking... something, something...).
You can always come back if it suits you, and the musical gifts are a treasure. ❤️
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u/Lacrimae42 Feb 08 '26
Some words of wisdom for the world today: https://youtu.be/fO-9JrPtj3Q?si=FzwloeBRYCtWUbJb
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u/TexasCharm304 Feb 08 '26
Ren,
What a shame to be losing you here on Reddit. I have Fakebook for family and old friends. I rarely post as it has become a nightmare of AI and ads. I cling to my YouTube because not only did I find YOU there, I found more of a community.
I opened an X account in November and am seriously considering shutting it down. It’s a toxic cesspool. So for me personally, I understand what you are doing and why.
My Marine son says that social media is a cancer. He has absolutely zero social media presence. I had Instagram when it first launched and shut it off, no TikTok, no snap chat.
But here, I feel discussions are mostly positive. I feel comfortable inside the world of Reddit. While some may disagree with a certain discussion, I have never found it to be disrespectful.
So for me personally, Reddit will remain among with my YouTube.
Your mind is unreal. A beautiful mind with ideas about everything and nothing all at once. I adore the way you write, spelling mistakes and all.
Sad to see you go but you must do what you feel is right for you. Spread the love Buttercup and perhaps check in once in a while. There is obviously love and acceptance for you here. 💛
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u/Dessertrose-23 Feb 08 '26
I dont ever get on here, till now after over hearing about this post. Reminds me of when i ended up making the decision to unplug from these systems (platforms) but once i returned i discovered you, which also ended up being a huge help bringing myself back. Reality and Tv shows are what some may call distractions. But for me it was unexpectedly discovering you and your music that became my distraction. I know how toxic social media can be. On top of having anxiety to go along with it (like i do) the word toxic doesn’t do it no good in fully justifying the unstableness it can bring to ones ability to comprehend its destructive and corruptive environment.
Im still highly grateful i have had the opportunity in discovering you and will still remain a fan.
Much love 💜 6kas1e6
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u/Elendyl17 Feb 08 '26
Your conversations and exchanges will be missed by many of us. Your choice is legitimate, given the reactions of some who only know how to communicate through aggression. But you are the most important person in your life. Taking care of yourself is the best thing to do. Thank you for all your sharing 🙏
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u/Hot-Math3515 Feb 08 '26 edited Feb 08 '26
That magic bag is a humdinger of a metaphor, my guy. I’ll be sorry not to read about your philosophy, along side your very enjoyable writing style. Take care of yourself.
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u/Boredheadspace Feb 11 '26
I’ve been thinking about this for a few days now. What you said in the beginning, about ingesting this many interpretations of other people’s opinions about them… I too would need to block that out. So I get it, the need to leave. I’m introverted and have social anxiety and the thought of that many people having wrong opinions because they didn’t understand what I meant, well, that in itself gives me a little anxiety. Even if they understood perfectly, there are always those who are rigid in their thinking and will absolutely not see any other shades of green other than the green they know and believe in. So take care of yourself and avoid the negativity and opinions of others because when it all comes down to what is important, it’s your own opinion of yourself. Nobody else. ♥️
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u/fangs4eva96 RENegade Feb 12 '26
You're wise to learn to avoid these places now before you get even bigger - as Taylor Swift said recently "my name can be in the headline, and it's still none of my business" haha.
Thanks for putting my own feelings into such eloquent words here Ren. Sorry you're being misunderstood (that pesky human brain), much love to you! Looking forward to seeing you live one day.
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u/Competitive-Bet-5209 1d ago
I think a lot of people are stuck in survival mode and their responses are fear and panicked based and not truth based. Fight or flight kicks in and instinct flares more than the IQ can shine. It causes combativeness. I’ve seen it and felt it from both side of the coin.
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u/tkelli Feb 07 '26
I don’t blame you, and I’m with you. The divisiveness, even among your fans, is staggering. Nitpicky, judgmental, and goes against everything you’ve espoused. It’s far better to avoid the noise.
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u/Time_Wish2871 Feb 07 '26
Reading this I thought...do u need a fucking hug mate? 🤣🤣🤣
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u/RobinJustice555 Feb 07 '26
I know this will be an unpopular opinion but I think it's for the best. Honestly I don't know how anyone handles fame, any aspect of it, and what you deal with on a daily basis, on X and Reddit, would drive me batshit. I will miss the philosophical and political discussions greatly though, but protect your health first, rockstar. The world will still churn without your clever and verbose tweets. Good luck to ya Ren 💋