Magnus
9th November 2016, 16:28
Some of us are probably finding it difficult to grammatically express intuitive wisdom, or at least, that's how I myself feel about it.
The other day, a good friend and I, had a rather intense discussion about social structures and its norms (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_structure).
Today, when I reflected upon the discussion we had, I tried to find references on the net in order to back up some of my own concepts and ideologies.
To my surprise, I found a philosophical masterpiece (https://offbeatperspectives.wordpress.com/2016/04/10/we-were-all-born-to-be-slaves-to-society-heres-why/), someone had already, gracefully expressed the heart of my own conviction (Thank you (https://lifeningblog.wordpress.com/author/unmaskedvoices/) for lending us your faculty!).
I immediately realized that this piece belong on Avalon and it is my belief that it potentially holds tremendous importance and benefit for everyone to understand and be aware of, now and in future generations to come.
It concerns nothing that hasn't been discussed before, but what makes this piece stand out, is how exceptionally well it brings forth the whole notion and all its parts in a delicate but yet consequent way that should be easily understood, even by those who are furthest from grasping the bitter truth.
Source (https://lifeningblog.wordpress.com/2016/03/29/slave-to-society/) / archive.org: (https://web.archive.org/web/20161109144645id_/https://lifeningblog.wordpress.com/2016/03/29/slave-to-society/)
"Posted by unmaskedvoices in Philosophy
I think that we are all slaves to society. Here’s why.
Was watching Dangerous Persuasions, episode 5 on CI the other day. It was the episode that I wanted to watch the most in the whole series. This episode was about a psychopath who kidnapped a girl as his sex slave for over 7 years. It was amazing to me how someone can have the power to control another psychologically without any visible hold on them, there’s an awful lot of similarities between how he was able to do that and how the society has a grasp on us.
Similarity Number #1
From the moment we were born, our fingerprints were taken, we were identified by identification numbers, a name for a personal touch but the same, nonetheless. To make things official, we even have a birth certificate, a piece of paper that proved their ownership that we belonged to this place called society. Slaves were made to sign over their lives, agreeing to terms and conditions set by their master. We signed a lifetime contract to society without even knowing what it was because what better time to control someone than during the birth of innocence.
Similarity Number #2
Fresh slaves were stripped off their identity and given a new one. As we grow up, thoughts were constantly drilled in us every day, they fed us what to think and do. We followed the direction and rules that were presented in front of us because it was all we ever knew. That’s what they call socialization, an indoctrination by the system to become a slave. When you become a slave, your master will never fail to remind you of your identity. They will do just about anything to make you accept your place, they will degrade you, they will humiliate you and they will instill fear in you to a point that you start to believe what they are saying as the truth. There are no physical scars to prove it, you don’t get to because your worth is nothing more than a piece of furniture to them.
Similarity Number #3
In order to survive, we have basic needs to satisfy like food, water and shelter. They knew that they can control us by creating a dependency on the system. The system works like this, they make it seem as though we needed something from them and in order to get these things, there was to be a trade. As such, they controlled the source of our basic needs and masked them into things we had to earn. Currency became a perceived need that we had to earn in order to meet our drive to survive. With that, they took our right to live as nothing more than a commodity.
As with any slavery relationships, there are bound to be good and bad slaves. Good slaves work hard to please the master. A good slave gets rewarded, with more money, more freedom, more power. For once, it seems as though they were important, needed. We even procreate for them, supplying them with what they needed to grow. Sadly, it was never us they cared about, they had everything to gain from what we had to give.
As for the bad slaves, they know that there is something seriously wrong but is powerless to live in any other way. The punishment for being disobedient was brutal, they make you lose everything, all while blaming you for it. No matter how they treated you, they know you will always go back to them, justifying yourself with excuses like being realistic, having no control over it, security. They are not afraid of rebellion, because when you have nothing left, you will come right back to the place you know best, to what that has become familiar to you.
Similarity Number #4
At times, a master can be extremely condescending. Some days they will be cold and cruel, on others, they are warm and kind. As far as freedom was concerned, they were generous, they gave us choices in life. But ultimately, the choices will always have terms and conditions disguised by both written and unwritten rules.
The truth is freedom has always been an illusion. I once told my sister, its worse to be tied up than caged up, because when you are chained up, you can see freedom right in front of you but you can never get it. Having a chain gives you the hope of freedom but in reality, freedom does not exist. They whisper sweet nothings into our ears to give us hope so we will keep working towards something that doesn’t exist, the highest level of deception.
A slave can never hold their heads up high. When in the presence of their master, they should always greet them with downcast eyes. Overtime, their sight were blinded from the truth, even the wisest slaves became indifferent to their plight, their senses numb from the cruelty of their master. Their plan worked so well that their very presence lingers in our heads in a form of reality. We need not be reminded of our identity anymore, for they had an invisible hold on us, much like the collars masters put on their slaves. A slaves knows its place even if there was no collar on their necks.
Similarity Number #5
When you become a slave long enough, you start attaching yourself to your identity, as if it was ingrained in your bones. The attachment is so strong, I might even proclaim that we love being slaves. There is an element of security and safety, when you get used to the suffering and the torture becomes a habit, it comes so naturally to you that you can’t seem to accept anything else. We know what to expect now and anything done differently is just too much to bear.
Generations of humans have obeyed, yielded and conformed. A master demands total and complete surrender and you know when they have all of you when even though the door is always open, you never try to escape. That is their ultimate goal, to create a reality so believable and perfectly calculated that their slaves can control themselves at will.
This is what I call psychological slavery.
Conclusion
So what I’m hoping to get from this analogy is the irony when we say slavery is inhumane while we humans, are doing the exact thing to ourselves. Some might argue that the system and rules are a necessity to safeguard the security of our species. Undoubtedly, it is in our nature to do so but how far is too far? When did functionality became domination and oppression? Can the actions of a psychopath be justified ? That can be put up for debate. So here I am in bed, thinking about how many people live their lives on repeat, pretending that everything is okay when they have this invisible chain around their necks, with nothing they can do about it until they die and I cried. I am crying for humanity. Only humans are capable of doing such a thing to their own kind.
In the course of human existence, we played god to a lot of things, we did not just enslave ourselves, we also enslaved the rest of the world, the land, the animals. It is as though we are playing a morbidly twisted game of monopoly. From the moment I was born, I was held captive without doing any wrong, and was sentenced a deathless death for it. Turns out, the suffering of mankind is not lesser than the other living.
How many people out there knows of the sacrifices that were made to achieve the human dream. If they did, how many bothered to acknowledge it and admit that we have been too selfish? Many would prefer to avoid this question and move on with their lives because it is easier that way. Doesn’t anyone out there feel as guilty as I am, to live in a society that has no qualms about taking what isn’t ours and marking it with our names?
Life could have been simple, we chose to make it complicated. The world had offered so much and have so much more to offer but we don’t see it more than fueling our desire for power and the control of all things. There is no doubt that power makes us feel good, it makes us feel invincible. With great power comes with great responsibilities and we did not bear the responsibility of taking away the freedom of so many others. The greatest flaw in human ethics.
This slavery is largely involuntary, at this point, it has really become a tradition. I am not expecting to change the course of history for we cannot change what has been done. I don’t know what kind of a world the world could have become if humans didn’t exist, maybe another species would have done the same. Or if we knew what would have become of us and had the ability to turn back time, would the ending still be the same? It is not about who to blame, humans are capable of a lot of things, both good and bad. What I am saying that we can do something about it, we can use our power to achieve something bigger than ourselves. People talk about change as if it is never going to be significant enough but we at least have to try. Instead of creating more issues, we need to create solutions. I have always liked the idea of asking children what problems they want to solve when they grow up instead of what they want to be when they grow up. We should question the intention of everything we do, think about the consequences of that action from the start till the end. Maybe then, we will know whether it is worth it or not.
As Osho once said, “If you love a flower, don’t pick it up. Because if you pick it up it dies and it ceases to be what you love. So if you love a flower, let it be. Love is not about possession. Love is about appreciation.”
Possession is not everything, society may own my life, but they can never own my soul. In order for humanity to prosper, we have to learn to be selfless in love. This is my view on society and it is not meant to represent or reflect anybody else’s perspective. Thanks for reading.
-The End-"
:facepalm:
The other day, a good friend and I, had a rather intense discussion about social structures and its norms (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_structure).
Today, when I reflected upon the discussion we had, I tried to find references on the net in order to back up some of my own concepts and ideologies.
To my surprise, I found a philosophical masterpiece (https://offbeatperspectives.wordpress.com/2016/04/10/we-were-all-born-to-be-slaves-to-society-heres-why/), someone had already, gracefully expressed the heart of my own conviction (Thank you (https://lifeningblog.wordpress.com/author/unmaskedvoices/) for lending us your faculty!).
I immediately realized that this piece belong on Avalon and it is my belief that it potentially holds tremendous importance and benefit for everyone to understand and be aware of, now and in future generations to come.
It concerns nothing that hasn't been discussed before, but what makes this piece stand out, is how exceptionally well it brings forth the whole notion and all its parts in a delicate but yet consequent way that should be easily understood, even by those who are furthest from grasping the bitter truth.
Source (https://lifeningblog.wordpress.com/2016/03/29/slave-to-society/) / archive.org: (https://web.archive.org/web/20161109144645id_/https://lifeningblog.wordpress.com/2016/03/29/slave-to-society/)
"Posted by unmaskedvoices in Philosophy
I think that we are all slaves to society. Here’s why.
Was watching Dangerous Persuasions, episode 5 on CI the other day. It was the episode that I wanted to watch the most in the whole series. This episode was about a psychopath who kidnapped a girl as his sex slave for over 7 years. It was amazing to me how someone can have the power to control another psychologically without any visible hold on them, there’s an awful lot of similarities between how he was able to do that and how the society has a grasp on us.
Similarity Number #1
From the moment we were born, our fingerprints were taken, we were identified by identification numbers, a name for a personal touch but the same, nonetheless. To make things official, we even have a birth certificate, a piece of paper that proved their ownership that we belonged to this place called society. Slaves were made to sign over their lives, agreeing to terms and conditions set by their master. We signed a lifetime contract to society without even knowing what it was because what better time to control someone than during the birth of innocence.
Similarity Number #2
Fresh slaves were stripped off their identity and given a new one. As we grow up, thoughts were constantly drilled in us every day, they fed us what to think and do. We followed the direction and rules that were presented in front of us because it was all we ever knew. That’s what they call socialization, an indoctrination by the system to become a slave. When you become a slave, your master will never fail to remind you of your identity. They will do just about anything to make you accept your place, they will degrade you, they will humiliate you and they will instill fear in you to a point that you start to believe what they are saying as the truth. There are no physical scars to prove it, you don’t get to because your worth is nothing more than a piece of furniture to them.
Similarity Number #3
In order to survive, we have basic needs to satisfy like food, water and shelter. They knew that they can control us by creating a dependency on the system. The system works like this, they make it seem as though we needed something from them and in order to get these things, there was to be a trade. As such, they controlled the source of our basic needs and masked them into things we had to earn. Currency became a perceived need that we had to earn in order to meet our drive to survive. With that, they took our right to live as nothing more than a commodity.
As with any slavery relationships, there are bound to be good and bad slaves. Good slaves work hard to please the master. A good slave gets rewarded, with more money, more freedom, more power. For once, it seems as though they were important, needed. We even procreate for them, supplying them with what they needed to grow. Sadly, it was never us they cared about, they had everything to gain from what we had to give.
As for the bad slaves, they know that there is something seriously wrong but is powerless to live in any other way. The punishment for being disobedient was brutal, they make you lose everything, all while blaming you for it. No matter how they treated you, they know you will always go back to them, justifying yourself with excuses like being realistic, having no control over it, security. They are not afraid of rebellion, because when you have nothing left, you will come right back to the place you know best, to what that has become familiar to you.
Similarity Number #4
At times, a master can be extremely condescending. Some days they will be cold and cruel, on others, they are warm and kind. As far as freedom was concerned, they were generous, they gave us choices in life. But ultimately, the choices will always have terms and conditions disguised by both written and unwritten rules.
The truth is freedom has always been an illusion. I once told my sister, its worse to be tied up than caged up, because when you are chained up, you can see freedom right in front of you but you can never get it. Having a chain gives you the hope of freedom but in reality, freedom does not exist. They whisper sweet nothings into our ears to give us hope so we will keep working towards something that doesn’t exist, the highest level of deception.
A slave can never hold their heads up high. When in the presence of their master, they should always greet them with downcast eyes. Overtime, their sight were blinded from the truth, even the wisest slaves became indifferent to their plight, their senses numb from the cruelty of their master. Their plan worked so well that their very presence lingers in our heads in a form of reality. We need not be reminded of our identity anymore, for they had an invisible hold on us, much like the collars masters put on their slaves. A slaves knows its place even if there was no collar on their necks.
Similarity Number #5
When you become a slave long enough, you start attaching yourself to your identity, as if it was ingrained in your bones. The attachment is so strong, I might even proclaim that we love being slaves. There is an element of security and safety, when you get used to the suffering and the torture becomes a habit, it comes so naturally to you that you can’t seem to accept anything else. We know what to expect now and anything done differently is just too much to bear.
Generations of humans have obeyed, yielded and conformed. A master demands total and complete surrender and you know when they have all of you when even though the door is always open, you never try to escape. That is their ultimate goal, to create a reality so believable and perfectly calculated that their slaves can control themselves at will.
This is what I call psychological slavery.
Conclusion
So what I’m hoping to get from this analogy is the irony when we say slavery is inhumane while we humans, are doing the exact thing to ourselves. Some might argue that the system and rules are a necessity to safeguard the security of our species. Undoubtedly, it is in our nature to do so but how far is too far? When did functionality became domination and oppression? Can the actions of a psychopath be justified ? That can be put up for debate. So here I am in bed, thinking about how many people live their lives on repeat, pretending that everything is okay when they have this invisible chain around their necks, with nothing they can do about it until they die and I cried. I am crying for humanity. Only humans are capable of doing such a thing to their own kind.
In the course of human existence, we played god to a lot of things, we did not just enslave ourselves, we also enslaved the rest of the world, the land, the animals. It is as though we are playing a morbidly twisted game of monopoly. From the moment I was born, I was held captive without doing any wrong, and was sentenced a deathless death for it. Turns out, the suffering of mankind is not lesser than the other living.
How many people out there knows of the sacrifices that were made to achieve the human dream. If they did, how many bothered to acknowledge it and admit that we have been too selfish? Many would prefer to avoid this question and move on with their lives because it is easier that way. Doesn’t anyone out there feel as guilty as I am, to live in a society that has no qualms about taking what isn’t ours and marking it with our names?
Life could have been simple, we chose to make it complicated. The world had offered so much and have so much more to offer but we don’t see it more than fueling our desire for power and the control of all things. There is no doubt that power makes us feel good, it makes us feel invincible. With great power comes with great responsibilities and we did not bear the responsibility of taking away the freedom of so many others. The greatest flaw in human ethics.
This slavery is largely involuntary, at this point, it has really become a tradition. I am not expecting to change the course of history for we cannot change what has been done. I don’t know what kind of a world the world could have become if humans didn’t exist, maybe another species would have done the same. Or if we knew what would have become of us and had the ability to turn back time, would the ending still be the same? It is not about who to blame, humans are capable of a lot of things, both good and bad. What I am saying that we can do something about it, we can use our power to achieve something bigger than ourselves. People talk about change as if it is never going to be significant enough but we at least have to try. Instead of creating more issues, we need to create solutions. I have always liked the idea of asking children what problems they want to solve when they grow up instead of what they want to be when they grow up. We should question the intention of everything we do, think about the consequences of that action from the start till the end. Maybe then, we will know whether it is worth it or not.
As Osho once said, “If you love a flower, don’t pick it up. Because if you pick it up it dies and it ceases to be what you love. So if you love a flower, let it be. Love is not about possession. Love is about appreciation.”
Possession is not everything, society may own my life, but they can never own my soul. In order for humanity to prosper, we have to learn to be selfless in love. This is my view on society and it is not meant to represent or reflect anybody else’s perspective. Thanks for reading.
-The End-"
:facepalm: