In short: it’s a way of life.
Flaneurs, in the traditional sense of the word, were outsiders who strolled along the boulevards of Paris in the XIX century, and explored the sights and sounds that the environment they lived in had to offer. They had no moral, philosophical or ideological aspirations underpinning their observations and simply enjoyed the immediacy of their surroundings without further fanfare.
I feel that this is a way of life that has been lost in our modern society, where everything seems to be designed for outrage, and I wish to bring back that simpler mindset with the adoption of that way of life. I have a disdain for powers from on high who try to dictate how one ought to live one’s life. Hence that is how the Flippant Flaneur mindset came to be.
The way of the Flippant Flaneur tries to see reality for what is, rather than what it ought to be. But it does so in a sarcastic, playful way. Given that the only other way to do that would be to adopt a somewhat nihilistic and self defeating mindset. As such, the lifestyle is inherently irreverent and epicurean in its approach to life.
It doesn’t believe in masochism but it believes that there are things worth standing up for and fighting for and that often there will be a price to pay for that. But this is not done in the same way as the final stand of the ideologue who does it to tow the party line, instead it is done out of a strong sense of trust in oneself and one’s convictions.
If two Flippant Flaneurs were to ever meet and chat about life, they’d likely disagree on any number of things. The debates would possibly get quite heated, but they would never take it personally, because they’re both well aware that they only hold a fraction of the puzzle and thus their interpretation of reality is necessarily incomplete.
As such, the Flippant Flaneur is in the unique position of being curious, nonpartisan yet willing to make a stand for something he has become convinced by after seeing the evidence.
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