Look around. Really look.
We live in this weird moment where everything is about leveling the field. Everyone’s special. Every opinion matters. Every voice should be heard. No one gets to stand out, and god forbid someone gets more attention than someone else — that’s unfair, right?
It’s bullshit.
Not because people aren’t valuable — they are. But being valuable isn’t the same as being right. Or brilliant. Or worth following. And acting like everyone’s opinion carries the same weight? That’s how we end up lost — confused, frustrated, angry — and we don’t even know why.
Look at the world. There’s this growing anger simmering just under the surface. You feel it in politics, in culture, in religion. People lashing out, canceling each other, screaming into the void — not because they’re bad people, but because they have no clue what they’re supposed to do. No direction. No anchor.
We gutted all the things that gave us that. Traditions. Hierarchies. Symbols. We told ourselves they were outdated, oppressive, unnecessary. But guess what? We didn’t replace them with anything better. We replaced them with noise and options. A thousand ways to define yourself and absolutely no one to tell you what any of it means.
Here’s the truth: most people don’t actually want full-on equality. Not really. What they want is guidance. A path. Less noise. Fewer options. Because fewer options mean fewer ways to screw it all up.
Think about the Pope, walking around in those ridiculous red shoes. Easy to mock, right? Some outdated relic in a world of sneakers and hoodies. But here’s the thing — it means something. It’s not about fashion. It’s a symbol. A reminder that there’s a whole structure, a whole history behind him. He’s not there to be cool. He’s there to be part of something bigger.
And we need that. We need things to look up to. People. Symbols. Ideas. Not because we want to be controlled, but because we want to feel like there’s something worth chasing. Something solid. Something real.
But what did we do instead? We flattened everything. Turned kings into memes, turned teachers into service workers, turned leaders into “content creators” — just more noise in the scroll. And now we wonder why no one knows who to trust.
Why do you think people still cling to God, even in this hyper-rational, science-worshipping culture? It’s not just about belief. It’s about fear. The terrifying realization that you’re not the center of the universe — and the quiet hope that maybe, just maybe, something out there is.
Because if there’s nothing above you… then it’s all on you. And that’s a crushing weight to carry alone.
So yeah, we tore it all down in the name of progress. But we didn’t liberate people. We stranded them. And now we’re starting to see the cracks. People are angry, depressed, scrolling for hours, screaming into the void, chasing dopamine instead of meaning — because the old structures are gone and nothing replaced them.
That’s the void we’re living in. And no, more “equality” won’t fix it.
We need purpose. We need symbols that make us feel small in the best possible way. That remind us we’re part of something deeper. Older. Bigger than whatever stupid thing’s trending today.
Those red shoes? They might be the last honest thing left. A guy standing there saying, “This isn’t about me — it’s about something I serve.” And that? That’s powerful.
So ask yourself: what are you reaching for? And if the answer is nothing… maybe that’s why you feel stuck.
Maybe we don’t need everything flattened. Maybe we need something to look up to again. Something heavier. Something sacred. Something that makes us remember who we could be — not just who we are.
Because sometimes, yeah… the weight of red shoes is exactly what we need to lift our gaze.