Be yourself, don't let them mold you into an a..hole

[Dennis Leahy]

There's a fork in the road for most people working in corporate jobs: one path leaves you intact, genuine, your own self (but, may not be what the corporation wants from you.) The other path is to become swallowed, molded, and regurgitated by a..holes a bit further up the chain of command, in an attempt to make you like them.

I think the following article illustrates this beautifully: https://medium.com/bad-words/the-asshole-factory-71ff808d887c


The A..hole Factory


My good friend Mara has not one but two graduate degrees. From fine, storied universities. Surprise, surprise: the only “job” she was able to find was at a retail store.

Hey—it’s only minimum wage, but at least she’s working, right? And at a major-league, blue-chip company, An American icon; an institution; a name every man, woman, and child in this country knows; an historic company that rings of the American Dream the world over, besides. Surely, if nothing else, it’s a start.


Perhaps you’re right. Maybe it isn’t the start she always dreamed of…but at least it is one. If so…then awaits her at the finish?


What is Mara’s job like? Her sales figures are monitored…by the microsecond. By hidden cameras and mics. They listen to her every word; they capture her every movement; that track and stalk her as if she were an animal; or a prisoner; or both. She’s jacked into a headset that literally barks algorithmic, programmed “orders” at her, parroting her own “performance” back to her, telling her how she compares with quotas calculated…down to the second…for all the hundreds of items in the store…which recites “influence and manipulation techniques” to her…to use on unsuspecting customers…that sound suspiciously like psychological warfare. It’s as if the NSA was following you around……and it was stuck in your head…telling you what an inadequate failure you were…psychologically waterboarding you…all day long…every day for the rest of your life.

... (read more) (https://medium.com/bad-words/the-asshole-factory-71ff808d887c)


The article is brilliant, sick, sad...and true. Don't let it be true for you.

[Mike Gorman]

I gave it a good go, working in corporate environments, and I was grateful to begin with, after my divorce in '96 I was in a bad way and in need of a change of direction - I signed up for an IT training course and worked for 0'ing for 1 month before being offered a permanent position in a govt department. I flourished and made a 'name' for myself as a great troubleshooter - but I had to take it further and embarked on a series of further IT troubleshooting roles in the U.K & Australia. After 18 years I'd had enough - toxic office politics, repressive managers, dog eat dog jostling for positions. I bailed out and commenced working for myself, building websites, offering online marketing services and many other internet-based projects. I am still hustling, still building, but on my own terms.

[grannyfranny100]

I call the mid 1980s recession the death of the loyalty/security paradigm. It was the first recession of mid level white collar employees. They were the children of blue collar workers who made great sacrifices. They wanted their kids to have secure, middle class, white collar jobs. These blue collar people might have lacked degrees but they understood the work, strike cycle that ruled their lives.

Their white collar kids were appreciative of their greater job security. They accepted the compromise of being transferred every couple of years to raise their children without the trials and tribulations of their blue collar parents.

The mid 1980's recession changed all that. Their loyalty to the corporations did not bring the security they expected. Many were down sized. They no longer felt any loyalty to those corporations and without any guilt, they began to job hop to find better paying jobs. In return, the miffed corporations began ever more controlling measurements of employees.

Today the people at the top are basically psychopaths devoid of normal human feelings. Their corporate culture reflect the psychopathic view of the world. It is as easy to "down size" employees as it is to cut back on supplies and materials. Cut backs on corporate jets, company cars or golden parachutes rarely happen and reflect their service to self pathology. These days corporate executives rarely get fired; their board of directors continue to pay them for poor performance.

What we see now is a greater perversion. We call it greed. Profitability is the only goal. The next step is interlocking boards of directors and the development of trade agreements such as TPP which are designed to remove any counter actions by governments and citizens.

The long term planning includes even more data collection about individuals. The current consumer driven economy will be change to meet their goals. Smart meters will tell them about our current habits. We will be told how much of whatever we can have and at what price. They will control us to meet their objectives and goals.

So who are the a**holes?:dog:

[samsdice]

This is the inevitable logical conclusion of tech driven consumerism. Frank Zappa saw all of this in the 60s, in that, we will all end up as loyal plastic robots.

[SabreToothMom]

I have to admit I read the whole thing and was disappointed that the author didn't name the store this person is working in. The descriptions remind me of Kohl's and Old Navy though.

[Dennis Leahy]

I have to admit I read the whole thing and was disappointed that the author didn't name the store this person is working in. The descriptions remind me of Kohl's and Old Navy though.I think there is probably some hyperbole used in the article. The article illustrates the insidious nature of conditioning the top-down sociopathy into the rank-and-file workers. A relentless programming that certainly should remind us not just of Edward Bernays, but of military/black-ops mind-control programs.

How much torture/brainwashing can we take before we crack? Even those of us who have "shields up!" have a breaking point - so imagine this kind of psychological warfare being used on the average person who isn't even aware of "the matrix" much less being familiar with MK-ULTRA-like techniques.

The author's use of the word "a..hole" was really not nearly strong enough (but hopefully still gets the point across.) In reality, people are not just being programmed to be a..holes, but sociopathic, self-serving, merciless, robots - just like their programmers, and their programmer's programmers.

[Nasu]

Great post, thanks. Unfortunately it's a top down approach, so your an a...hole if you dont participate or an a...hole if you do, it's catch 22. Many find through either frustration or hope, the benefits to working for yourself. However, unless your enterprise is just you, forever, your going to have to hire people to get things done. This is when you become a legal agent for your government and tax system.. I am an inforcer, a shill if you like, a perpetuator of the status quo. The more I grow my business the more I grow our government..

Stepping off the system is not a tenable solution today, even of you own your land with adequate local resources, taxs will still need to be paid, in the currency of the land. Defaulters and dodgers are scooped up by the system and then charged to be incarcerated... The system is broke, we need a reset!.... Until then, I agree that we all need to be genuine to who we are.... N

[Robin]

Dennis, if I may, I'd like to give my own personal spin on such a topic. :)

In Jewish Mysticism there is such thing as a golem (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golem), which is basically a being that is created out of clay. There are a lot of stories that center around manipulators molding a being out of clay and then controlling them by making them carry out their agendas without the golems directly being aware of it. What most people do not realize that just like all folklore and science fiction is based off of Truth and cleverly disguised as fiction, so too is the golem. In reality, the story of the golem (molding a being out of clay) is a metaphor for real people who allow themselves to be manipulated by external sources such as government, religion, science, etc.


https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT_9TUmHJ_Khe_xVXDOKX0hWfAg9f5cG oXr5F5gB8DXl6taZTQx

So, in essence, most of humanity embody the persona of a golem, because they allow themselves to be manipulated by external sources, usually unknowingly. They remain as golems because their ignorance and apathy disallow them to mold themselves (out of metaphorical clay) into what they want to become.

The meaning of the golem was taken by author J.R.R. Tolkien in his books The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien cleverly (yet obviously) depicted what happens to a human when they become entrapped in their own egos and allow themselves to fall victim to manipulation by Satanic ideology; they turn into the character Gollum.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NB2CNr692RE

Without going into too much detail, Tolkien intended Hobbits to represent all humans on the planet who one might consider insignificant in the grand scheme of things, that is, the average citizen. Gollum used to be a Hobbit until he became absorbed and controlled by the power of the ring, which is a metaphor for the human ego. Gollum's name used to be Smeagol, which etymologically means "creeping in." Tolkien intended the name Smeagol to mean creeping in to represent the mindset that creeps into somebody's brain when they become grounded in their egos.

When Smeagol becomes totally controlled by the ring (ego) and turns into Gollum, his whole behavior changes because his brain is overpowered by the Reptile brain, otherwise known as the R-complex. This causes a massive imbalance in his brain, and his behavior is geared towards survival-of-the-fittest behaviors such as aggression, territoriality, competition, fight-or-flight, domination, and pure analytical thought. There is a huge lack of empathetic, caring, creative, and intuitive behavior. This is why the character Gollum always speaks with a series of "sssss" at the end of his words, such as my preciousssss.

Unfortunately, most humans on this planet are so imbalanced to the point where they are performing all of their actions through the reptile brain due to Satanic ideology that has plagued all of humanity. Most humans are Gollums (golems), and are addicted to the power of the ring (ego). Tolkien knew what he was talking about, and he made it clear what happens when somebody's brain becomes imbalanced. They fluctuate from victim-mindset (Smeagol) through only thinking with the Limbic System to the dominator-mindset (Gollum) through only thinking with the R-complex, therefore bypassing what should be the central command center of the brain, the Neocortex (Human brain).

The author of this article may be warning people about being morphed into a..holes, but I would warn people not to turn into golems. But it is far too late. Most people have fallen victim to the power of the ring and are nothing more than writhing creatures that have no self-respect or capability of loving themselves. They have allowed themselves to be manipulated by Satanists.

The Golem factory.

[Dennis Leahy]

Bravo, Robin. I knew you have (for quite a while) been studying Tolkien's masterwork, with the idea to lift the veil on what Tolkien was really saying. You're not only onto something, you are able to articulate it. Looking forward to your own masterwork exposing all the Tolkien metaphors and allegories.

Dennis

[Mercedes]

I had my own "corporate experience" when I started to work in a pet clinic, it was a very nice people friendly environment, loved how everybody was so sensitive to the animals needs, good camaraderie among the people but in the end what broke the deal was the never ending, always pushing more and more to sell the products. And I knew it was never going to end. So I just was not for that ride.
And on the subject of Gollems, what I now believe is that as much as we try or not in this matrix working with what we are dealt with is going to be a really big challenge. We are all gollems, we are manipulated by the programs, the many many programs there are installed in our bodies, in our brains, in our religions, in our economic and social systems. Even our feelings are manipulated. We have been created and reproduced to be used as renewable reusable livestock.

[gripreaper]

THE PLAN

In the beginning was the Plan,

And then came the Assumptions,

And the Assumptions were without form,

And the Plan was without substance,

And darkness was upon the face of the Workers,

And they spoke among themselves, saying,

“It is a crock of sh!t, and it stinketh,”

And the workers went unto their Supervisors and said,

“It is a pail of dung and none may abide the odor thereof,”

And the Supervisors went unto their Managers, saying,

“It is a container of excrement, and it is very strong,

Such that none may abide by it.”

And the Managers went unto their Directors, saying,

‘It is a vessel of fertilizers, and none may abide by its strength,”

And the Directors spoke amongst themselves, saying one to another,

“It contains that which aids plant growth, and it is very strong,”

And the Directors then went unto the Vice Presidents, saying unto them,
“It promotes growth, and it is very powerful,”

And the Vice Presidents went unto the President, saying unto him,
“This new plan will actively promote the growth and vigor of the company, with powerful effects,”

And the President looked upon the Plan, and saw that it was good.

And the Plan became policy.

Yet to the workers, it still remains a crock of sh!t.