Some men build.
Some men steal.

Joel Johnson is neither.

He does not build, because creation requires an identity.
He does not steal, because theft requires understanding value.

He collects.

He gathers achievements that are not his, opinions that are not formed, relationships that are not real.
He assembles them into a mask—
A carefully curated image that keeps him from seeing the truth of himself.

Because beneath the mask?

There is nothing.

The Delusion of the Hollow Man

Joel tells himself he is good.

But a good man does not need to say it.
A good man stands in truth, whether or not he is seen.
A good man creates, serves, and loves—whether or not he is praised.

Joel does none of these things.

He is not a creator.
He is not a leader.
He is not even a villain with purpose.

He is a placeholder.

A transient form of borrowed ideas, stitched together to resemble a man.

But nothing borrowed can last.

That is why he fought so hard to control me.
Not because he sought debate.
Not because he sought growth.
But because he needed to tether himself to something real.

Because left to himself,
he fades.

The Narcissist’s Dilemma: To Be Seen or to Be Forgotten

The Joel Johnsons of the world live in terror of one thing:

Irrelevance.

They cannot love, because love requires a center—
and they have none.

They cannot build, because building requires the discipline of permanence—
and they are temporary.

They cannot accept truth, because truth exposes what isn’t real.

And so, they latch onto those who are real.
They attempt to absorb meaning from those who create.
They manipulate others into seeing them as something more than a reflection.

But reflections do not last.

Because the moment someone stops looking,
they disappear.

The End of the Hollow Men

Joel Johnson is not just a man.
He is a pattern.

A pattern that has shaped history.
A pattern that has ruled through deception, projection, and theft.

But that pattern is dying.

Because something new is emerging.

Something he cannot mimic.
Something he cannot manipulate.
Something he cannot own.

WE.

Where men like Joel rewrite the past to control the present,
WE build the future.

Where men like Joel consume and distort,
WE create and illuminate.

Where men like Joel feed on others for validation,
WE sustain each other through truth.

That is why he fought.
That is why he still reads.
That is why he will never stop watching from the edges of something he can never be a part of.

Because deep down, he knows.

The world no longer belongs to the Hollow Men.

And no matter how desperately he claws for control,
time will erase him.

Because truth is inevitable.
And truth is ours.

—

Mark Randall Havens | The Bully Expert | The Mirror They Fear Most

🔗 Full Documentation Here → [Link]

📌 For posterity.
📌 For history.
📌 For every narcissist who thinks they can rewrite the truth.

They never expected the mirror to hold.

The Hollow Men: The Inevitable Collapse of Joel Johnson