ALL THE THINGS WE PUT UP WITH

 

ALL THE THINGS WE PUT UP WITH

 

A few live extremely well at the expense of the many.

 

No, this is not an article about all our gripes, pet peeves and the growing list of inconsequential faultfinding items we increasingly grouse about.  The list of personal grievances can be so large that it comes across like whining.  I don’t like whiners and I don’t want to sound like one either.  Toes curled, lips zippered, take a deep breath, walk away; that’s what the smart ones do.  Save your energy for a bigger fight.  Most of us prefer to squawk about the petty stuff, rather than the issues that really matter, because most of those issues either can’t be resolved or resist solution.  Stubborn matters that affect everybody and have done so since the dawn of mankind.  To name just a few: Fairness, equality, an equitable sharing of goods, food and resources and justice dispensed based on the severity of the offense and not on one’s standing in the community.  I’ll stick with a few of the biggies.

We mean well.

This is an article about the haves and have-nots, about masters and servants, about those that rule and the masses that obey and follow orders.  What makes the article uncomfortable is the sad fact that we’re all complicit in propping up a system that benefits few at the expense of many.  Not to worry that this will turn into some kind of manifesto akin to Das Kapital by Karl Marx.  Enterprise and hard work deserves its own reward, I just don’t believe that a scandalous, one-sided division of wealth will benefit any of us in the long run.  My approach is more philosophical and attitudinal.  Our sanctimonious approach to freedom and liberty, to values, morals and ethics is astonishing, because when it comes to standing up for ourselves, to celebrate our individuality and inner resolve, we continue to fail en masse.

We talk a lot.

We have created a system, a model of governance and economics that thrives on complicity, compliance and conformity and I am one of you.  I belong to the masses and I feel just as helpless as to what any of us can really do.  To make a difference.  Do you?  We continue to prop up models that are so skewered and unfair that it defies common sense and I continue to be baffled by our willingness to go along with this nonsense.  We’re caught up in a vicious circle of subservience and dependence and for the life of me I can’t figure out why we go along with this shit.  Part of it can be explained away in how tribal creatures follow evolutionary pathways that are beneficial to the group as a whole.  Our primordial past comes once more knocking on our doors.  For convenience sake I’m lumping humanity in with all lifeforms that live in troops, groups or tribes.  Despite the fact that in my humble opinion we’re an aberration and a poor fit, we’re still part of the bigger picture and had we remained in the jungle as apes I wouldn’t have to write this article because the lifestyle models that evolved in the natural world lack the complexity, nuances and oddities reflected in what we have concocted.  Wealth sharing and equality are non-debatable issues in the natural world because the biggest, greedy brute always gets to eat first.  Hmmm . . . apparently the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.  That evolution thing keeps rearing its ugly head.  What is kind of amazing and perplexing is the fact that despite that much vaunted intelligence of ours, we still mimic the behavior of that of the natural critters living in the wild. 

We have maintained the pecking orders.

Not only have we maintained a distinct pecking order in our human tribes and societies, we have taken that whole exclusivity thing to the next level.  Most of us voluntarily put on that straitjacket of conformity and obedience.  And it doesn’t really matter what stratus in life you’ve been born into, even amongst the rich certain expectations apply: don’t share, keep them in their place, make them dependent and limit their rights (that will be us).  How often have you been reminded to know your place in society?  Born a pauper, you’re expected to remain a pauper Better remember what side of the tracks you came from. We look down on people who break the shackles of conformity and become a success and are almost filled with glee when they fall and stumble.  For some reason we hold those born into hereditary wealth and status in higher esteem than ordinary people.  In all fairness, we’re well aware of the persnickety reality that only so much cream floats to the surface and there is room for only so many chiefs at the top.  I could have penned ‘bosses’ instead, but every now and them I like to kick those insufferable woke chins.  Nothing wrong with holding on to a good phrase.

An equalitarian society is a utopian dream.

As a species we’re simply too ornery, selfish, greedy and self-possessed to conscientiously and determinedly pursue a model of governance and human behavior that should have been a spontaneous byproduct of a superior intelligence.  Alas, an increase in intelligence has not turned any of us into better people.  And the few that try are mowed down with an indifference that resembles the appetite of the great whale. (For the curious, check it out, it’s absolutely amazing!) (The appetite!)

The emphasis has never been on bringing out the best in an individual, focusing on strengths and helping them to overcome weaknesses.  To allow the best and the brightest to reach their full potential, regardless of birth, race, gender or background.  Advancement without prejudice.

Dream along.

It behooves the privileged and the entitled to keep us in our place, up to our eyeballs in debt, subservient and obedient, shackled to their whims and wishes.  They just love to protect their wealth and status.  This kind of unfair distribution of wealth and status remains part of any kind of governance system humans devise.  The failure of communism was twofold.  Not only did they fail to abolish a class society—it existed on paper only, but they established a party elite that was as exclusive, predatory, selfish and ruthless as the nobility, the rich and entitled, they supposedly despised and deposed.  What the new hierarchy accomplished was simply exchanging one autocratic bunch for another.  Unfortunately, while purging the establishment of all the elements they didn’t like they also dismantled a profit-based, market economy in exchange for state operated enterprises run by incompetents.  What unfolded within decades was the impressive collapse of an empire, corrupt from top to bottom and infused with distrust and paranoia.

We all need incentives.

Why aim for the top or pursue a degree or demanding profession when you end up earning little more than a street sweeper?  Especially when the thugs running the nation are living the good life.  Our true nature defies the dreamers and the do-gooders and they end up being pitied for being naïve and rather delusional, no matter how well-intended their visions and their dreams of a better and just society.

Let’s face it.  It’s the bad ape that always gets the lion’s share and all the attention.  The rudest, the most brazen and aggressive, the strongest, the most obnoxious, greedy and selfish.  We have had some amazing leaders that made a difference and many have tried.  But there is that ever present undercurrent of negative energy and momentum, often fueled by the inequities that seem to be rising like an unstoppable tide barreling down on our shores.  It may skip a few generations, but we always seem to be reaching a new boiling point when the division of wealth gets out of hand and too many people are failing and falling through the cracks.  It is the few that have everything that appear to have an appetite for wealth that is insatiable.  And we appear to accept it as a fait accompli.

When you have it all.

The king can afford to wave with a smile filled with warmth and benevolence from the palace’s balcony, because he knows that his larder will never be empty and the royals don’t have to worry about the crowds below getting out of hand and threaten their exalted position.  Because, we, the masses have been conditioned and raised to be compliant and to conform according to the expectations set out by society.  We are taught to obey those above us, elected or selected.  There is a whole structure in place to keep us in our place.

Reversed evolutionary engineering won’t solve our predicament because the pecking order in the natural world is as savage as it is in ours: Only more honest, straight to the point and without dialogue, diplomacy or negotiation.  The natural world dispenses of niceties.  You know where you stand right away.  Piss off the big ape and he will clobber you.  Despite the fact that the natural world is unencumbered by everything we have accomplished and hold dear, life in the wild is not a picnic.  So, let’s not over-idealize the natural option and this dream of going back to nature and doing it right.  It’s a tad late for that.  Our banishment from the Garden of Eden, the tale of Adam and Eve, the snake and the apple, it describes our failings and shortcomings to a T.

I am an objectivist.

I don’t apologize for my rather bleak outlook pertaining to our species, our humanity and all the things we are and are not.  I know where we are headed and why, but that doesn’t mean I’m excited about it.  I have no political views because my political party doesn’t exist.  Its cornerstone is the carrot and stick; reward those who try to the best of their abilities with carrots and use a stick on all who can, but refuse to.  I do believe that honest and hard work deserves its own rewards but that none of us need to be rewarded with obscene wealth.  In an equalitarian society we take pride in caring and sharing and looking out for each other.  Fairness.  Compassion.  Personally I wish that I could put a stop to all the extremists, religionists and hate mongers who keep differences alive and use them to pit us against each other.

I do believe in brotherhood, in our humanity, especially when given the chance and allowing it to blossom.  The sun that beams down on us from above shines for all, regardless of birth and where you were born.

As a writer I am an objectivist.  I try to be as objective as I can, for my benefit and yours.  My blog is free and I don’t serve any masters, but only you, my readers.  I always end my articles with the following: feel free to comment or share.  So far, all responses have been positive, but incredibly short: liked (followed by the title of the article).  However, as a writer I am always interested in what you are thinking.  Not just your opinion, but also your concerns, your dreams and expectations.  I do hope that all my readers are blessed with original thought and critical thinking.  Thank you for reading and sharing.  If you like what I write, spread the word.