There's quite a lot of screaming going on in the media... honestly? I couldn't think of a better way to start this than that? Okay, lets try this again.
I set out to figure out how it's possible to have absolutely no empathy whatsoever for other people. I plugged along for some time, looking at the ways CEO's act and react to change and how, within the American system, they tend to grind the 'everyman' into the dirt. What I finally came to was a few salient conclusions.
The 'wars' and digressions in Congress aren't actually ideological. None of them. They are, in fact, very practical. Each one exists to a purpose and if you start from that position rather than that each 'side' has different beliefs then suddenly our system of government (and it's current failures) make a lot more sense.
Now, a position based on 'beliefs' is a very emotional one. You can't really argue with a belief. Scientific studies have shown repeatedly that even if a person is massively, obviously, provably wrong that attacking their position with facts won't change their minds. It will entrench them more heavily in their belief, especially if they have emotionally vested themselves in that belief.
So arguing the virtues of Atheism with Christians or vice-versa is actually counter productive. Arguing the realities of abortion in America is silly. We're a belief oriented country. This situation was engineered VERY carefully over many years by people who knew exactly what they were doing.
Keep this in mind. George W. Bush was the most successful American president of the past 30 years. He set out to achieve a VAST swath of goals and managed nearly every one of them. I am speaking of 'success' based purely on what he set out to do. The consequences of those actions were also part of his initial intent. Yes, he knew multiple wars mixed with tax cuts would cause bankruptcy. It was obvious. He had a thousand people to tell him so. It wasn't just hubris or insanity.
Bankruptcy benefited those who owned him. Those at the very bottom who suddenly found themselves broke also found themselves unable to recover. The social safety net didn't exist. They were easy to purchase and at a much lower rate than otherwise would have been available. Debt became the means of ownership of people. College debt is a popular one because it can't be discharged. Medical debt is another because it's so difficult to avoid.
Other countries simply pay for college and medicine.
I want you to imagine someone coming into your house and demanding money from you. Even today, tax time is difficult. People don't enjoy shelling out money because there's a massive disconnect between what they put out and what each of them personally receives back. Keep in mind, this is ON PURPOSE.
Again, those in what ultimately amounts to power benefit from a government too starved to fight them.
Imagine you have a scab on your arm. It's composed of your cells. It serves a purpose. Many of those cells are alive and doing their best to keep you alive. It's part of your body.
Still, when it starts to itch, you pick it off and flick it away. Why? It was there to keep you safe. It was doing it's job. Parts of it were alive. You do it because it's SMALL. Simply enough. There is no organization to save an endangered insect but we will gleefully save an endangered dolphin.
Size counts and interaction counts.
Now, I want you to imagine you are at the top. In your 24 hour day you can snap your fingers and purchase anything you desire. You can sleep in the most opulent house imaginable and eat the finest foods.
Several servants move onto your land. They work your home and serve you but equally sometimes you find they've taken food. They're living beings. They're helping you. Some are even loyal.
Now, you or I, poor though we may be, would most likely ignore the squatters so long as they aren't hurting anyone. We can empathize with them.
At the top, empathy is actually dangerous. Dominance is established not by empathizing but by a willingness to quickly and viciously adapt yourself to changing circumstance. Dominance means brutally crushing any danger or eliminating any threat. Those servants stealing food would be a threat.
The way power alters brain chemistry is in much the same way cocaine does. Threat registers become outsized. After enough time the mind begins to perceive threats everywhere. Paranoia becomes endemic.
Keep this in mind then. Our government here in the States is a massive, powerful beast controlled by men who've been empowered over 70 years to make decisions and whose decisions have only empowered them further. Welfare, education, diplomacy, tolerance, and negotiation have become scabs. They're irritants. A country that tells itself it is 'the greatest' is vastly insecure. In it's insecurity, when it notices one of the reasons it's insecure it immediately places that insecurity behind a wall of denial.
We have reached a place where maintaining the self-image of ourselves as 'great' has forced us to cut off and deny so much that now that we're forced to examine what we've denied the weight of our failure feels overwhelming. This is a systemic collapse.
Don't worry. It's a good thing. Systems are replaced and evolve. You will probably get to be around for one of these periods of evolution. You will be given the opportunity to alter the 'predator/prey' dynamic once again to attempt to prevent this from recurring later.
Keep in mind, whatever system you come up with, it's gonna collapse. You're only coming up with next iteration.
I set out to figure out how it's possible to have absolutely no empathy whatsoever for other people. I plugged along for some time, looking at the ways CEO's act and react to change and how, within the American system, they tend to grind the 'everyman' into the dirt. What I finally came to was a few salient conclusions.
The 'wars' and digressions in Congress aren't actually ideological. None of them. They are, in fact, very practical. Each one exists to a purpose and if you start from that position rather than that each 'side' has different beliefs then suddenly our system of government (and it's current failures) make a lot more sense.
Now, a position based on 'beliefs' is a very emotional one. You can't really argue with a belief. Scientific studies have shown repeatedly that even if a person is massively, obviously, provably wrong that attacking their position with facts won't change their minds. It will entrench them more heavily in their belief, especially if they have emotionally vested themselves in that belief.
So arguing the virtues of Atheism with Christians or vice-versa is actually counter productive. Arguing the realities of abortion in America is silly. We're a belief oriented country. This situation was engineered VERY carefully over many years by people who knew exactly what they were doing.
Keep this in mind. George W. Bush was the most successful American president of the past 30 years. He set out to achieve a VAST swath of goals and managed nearly every one of them. I am speaking of 'success' based purely on what he set out to do. The consequences of those actions were also part of his initial intent. Yes, he knew multiple wars mixed with tax cuts would cause bankruptcy. It was obvious. He had a thousand people to tell him so. It wasn't just hubris or insanity.
Bankruptcy benefited those who owned him. Those at the very bottom who suddenly found themselves broke also found themselves unable to recover. The social safety net didn't exist. They were easy to purchase and at a much lower rate than otherwise would have been available. Debt became the means of ownership of people. College debt is a popular one because it can't be discharged. Medical debt is another because it's so difficult to avoid.
Other countries simply pay for college and medicine.
I want you to imagine someone coming into your house and demanding money from you. Even today, tax time is difficult. People don't enjoy shelling out money because there's a massive disconnect between what they put out and what each of them personally receives back. Keep in mind, this is ON PURPOSE.
Again, those in what ultimately amounts to power benefit from a government too starved to fight them.
Imagine you have a scab on your arm. It's composed of your cells. It serves a purpose. Many of those cells are alive and doing their best to keep you alive. It's part of your body.
Still, when it starts to itch, you pick it off and flick it away. Why? It was there to keep you safe. It was doing it's job. Parts of it were alive. You do it because it's SMALL. Simply enough. There is no organization to save an endangered insect but we will gleefully save an endangered dolphin.
Size counts and interaction counts.
Now, I want you to imagine you are at the top. In your 24 hour day you can snap your fingers and purchase anything you desire. You can sleep in the most opulent house imaginable and eat the finest foods.
Several servants move onto your land. They work your home and serve you but equally sometimes you find they've taken food. They're living beings. They're helping you. Some are even loyal.
Now, you or I, poor though we may be, would most likely ignore the squatters so long as they aren't hurting anyone. We can empathize with them.
At the top, empathy is actually dangerous. Dominance is established not by empathizing but by a willingness to quickly and viciously adapt yourself to changing circumstance. Dominance means brutally crushing any danger or eliminating any threat. Those servants stealing food would be a threat.
The way power alters brain chemistry is in much the same way cocaine does. Threat registers become outsized. After enough time the mind begins to perceive threats everywhere. Paranoia becomes endemic.
Keep this in mind then. Our government here in the States is a massive, powerful beast controlled by men who've been empowered over 70 years to make decisions and whose decisions have only empowered them further. Welfare, education, diplomacy, tolerance, and negotiation have become scabs. They're irritants. A country that tells itself it is 'the greatest' is vastly insecure. In it's insecurity, when it notices one of the reasons it's insecure it immediately places that insecurity behind a wall of denial.
We have reached a place where maintaining the self-image of ourselves as 'great' has forced us to cut off and deny so much that now that we're forced to examine what we've denied the weight of our failure feels overwhelming. This is a systemic collapse.
Don't worry. It's a good thing. Systems are replaced and evolve. You will probably get to be around for one of these periods of evolution. You will be given the opportunity to alter the 'predator/prey' dynamic once again to attempt to prevent this from recurring later.
Keep in mind, whatever system you come up with, it's gonna collapse. You're only coming up with next iteration.
