We've previously cited the vital increases of production via the division of labor and cooperative effort. For a more primordial perspective the word “production” might better be replaced with “subsistence” or even “survival”. Yet before addressing the dominant bearing money has on these fundamental means of sustaining human existence; we should first note that (like it or not) both are social (others oriented) phenomenon. So from conception to the casket ‘others’ are a very real life & death determinant. The significance of this is greatly amplified when one considers that our ‘survival instinct’ or ‘will to live’ is persuasively rumored to be the most ingrained cardinal commander of our strongest impulsions. The preceding will hopefully help account for a human propensity found in a quote I encountered just yesterday - namely:
When I was seven years old, I was once reprimanded by my mother for an act of collective brutality in which I had been involved at school. A group of seven-year-olds had been teasing and tormenting a six-year-old. “It is always so,” my mother said. “You do things together which not one of you would think of doing alone.” ... Wherever one looks in the world of human organization, collective responsibility brings a lowering of moral standards. The military establishment is an extreme case, an organization which seems to have been expressly designed to make it possible for people to do things together which nobody in his right mind would do alone.
-- Freeman Dyson, Weapons and Hope
Note that Dyson is suggesting that the same basic principle operant in a spontaneous episode involving a few seven-year-olds also applies to thousands of men in their prime totally immersed into a tightly controlled, highly regimented, patently propagandic environment. Well to that I'd just have to say -- pretty perceptive! Then there is that phrase of his.....
“Collective Responsibility”: Either incorporate that theme into your personal mental makeup or sell it to your flock and the depravity one can accomplish is unlimited. This sword cuts both ways. 1st: If anything is condoned by your country, kin, church or chums then independent thinking only risks the sin of nonconformity. Consequently you can accommodate their expectations free from personal responsibility. 2nd: Association with the collective is quite sufficient to assign you ownership of their mistakes and liabilities (i.e. the shame you should bare for slavery, 911, other stupid political blunders, et cetera). Hence your duties/rights to altruistic sacrifice are well established. This is one first class gravy train for those many manipulators ready to ride you to the grave.
If we want to talk about war (although plenty governments kill and rob far more within their borders than without), then lets considered the glee of a maniacal murderer set loose on the enemies country side. The more blood he spills the greater his heroism. When the war is over he can freely return to the ‘scene of the crime’ and gloat over his exploits. However, the man who refused to participate in the killings is not only wanted for treason in his own country but subject to extradition in the very same country he refused to ravage. So clearly governments are not threatened by foreign soldiers killing their people - the fear of this very prospect is, in fact, welcomed. Our worship of war is exactly what's needed to successfully establish government's legitimacy in the first place. Instances of self-reasoned action are instead the truly dreaded danger - the intolerable transgression.
Finally, Dyson claims, “The military establishment is an extreme case, ...” OK, I do empathize with those sentiments; particularly if “extreme” refers to explicit graphic gore and violence. In terms of absurdities of logic, however, it's merely another aspect of the same network of control (that's introduced about the same time walking is learned). Indeed, by the time one is called upon to murder for the state, most all the ‘logic’ for this has long since been instilled. And (if given the opportunity) frolicking in a massacre or two is pretty predictable.
For me, the better examples of extreme conditioning lie in a series of mysticisms that are embraced - with God, Country and Money being the most salient. Depending on who won what wars, particular geographical areas will inherit a given mind set (religion). The huge majority will renounce their potential individuality and adopt the status quo sufficiently to perceive with hate and fear those on the other side of some line who have merely suffered the exact same fate of blind faith. In other words, so much of what so many identify with and hold as dear and true is wholly determined by the chance accident of where they happened to be raised. It is difficult to imagine an insanity that could be more obvious to recognize; yet all emigration laws are invariably based on accidents of birth. So in actuality, it is the blinding power of collective madness that explains/defines the very existence of nation states imprimis.
Should one propose that world insanity is not such a good thing, then it behooves us to be very clear on who/what the enemy is so we have a better chance at making improvements. To this end, it must be recognize that GOVERNMENT is NOT the root problem, but is instead merely a result/effect of fear and lazy (non)thinking. Now given that the chief characteristic of human beings is our propensity to delusion, some sorry souls in government can get pretty darn drunk on false self importance and become wholly possessed on furthering ruthless plans to maintain and extend their power. Happily, you really don't need to worry about any of them. What we should damn well be concerned about however is encouraging them by putting our heads under their feet and propping up a wholly unworkable illusion. Because in no age nor instance has it ever been possible to rule (enslave) a people without the consent of the victim (thank you Ayn Rand).
If it is unclear how this directly and unmistakably relates to our Monetize theme then stay tuned for future posts and/or comments.
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