thisisnotjapan:

Guilt is only a useful emotion if it inspires you into action. Otherwise, it turns into pointless self-flagellation and whiny fake-martyrdom. I’ll try to illustrate using a non-racial example.

Productive

1. You eat someone else’s lunch.
2. You feel guilty.
3. You apologize, say you won’t do it again, and buy them a lunch next day.
4. You don’t feel guilty anymore.

Unproductive

1. You eat someone’s lunch.
2. You feel guilty.
3. You don’t do anything except complain about how guilty you feel.

Productive

1. Your mom and dad take someone else’s lunch and give it to you without you knowing.
2. When you find out, you feel guilty even though it’s not your direct fault.
3. You acknowledge and address the situation somehow, although the passage of time has made full redress very complicated.
4. You don’t feel guilty anymore.

Unproductive

1. Your mom and dad take someone else’s lunch and give it to you without you knowing.
2. When you find out, you feel guilty even though it’s not your direct fault.
3. You don’t do anything except complain how it’s not fair that you were made to feel guilty.