Tuesday, November 23, 2004

Maximum Advantage: Inevitable Deductions 97-99

97. More On The Herd:
The herd mentality manifests itself on many levels and extremes. Mass consciousness is a natural consequence of human social organization which provides the glue for social cohesion. A certain sentimentality is sometimes expressed regarding the removal of the human animal from nature. Narcissists are always sentimental. Certain types find it difficult to fathom the instinct for civilization and the resultant detachment from the natural. No good rationale exists for it. Perhaps one should realize life is not always sensible. Instinctual behavior and social mutations need not be rational. Human drives certainly increase population levels. A tropical animal capable of quickly adapting to live and flourish in all climatic zones certainly has numerous survival traits. Survival of the fittest does apply to groups at the expense of parts. How often in nature does the individual matter? The immediate group takes precedence over more abstract identifications. Nation trumps class. Controlling interests do not benefit by class solidarity. Systemic interests will be promoted above that of the international working classes, whom are isolated from each other by geography and language. The proletariat is generally not well traveled, therefore more susceptible to divisive nationalistic propaganda. How many U.S. factory workers ever even saw a real live Russian during the Cold War? Their only imagery came from de-humanizing propaganda which portrayed the enemy as something alien. It is only natural for fear and hatred to develop when facing the unknown. Perhaps a little of the anti-natural is not a bad thing. Rising above allows us to see above obvious differences exploited for maximum advantage, and at least, allows us to conceive of things like freewill. Rarefied air causes brain damage. Tolerance to certain poisons may be developed over time and even prove beneficial, whereas in continual high dosages it destroys. True wisdom is knowing when to voluntarily step away from the brink. A certain fraction may alter course through example by stopping and proclaiming "enough." Some will continue regardless, necessitating that these types be dealt with in an appropriate (if not necessarily pretty) manner. Solutions are not always aesthetic. Branding an entire group for persecution, when many of its constituents might actually prove solid supporters, is the result of anti-natural stupidity, like alcohol poisoning. Final solutions are for failures and those doomed for it. The time has come to abandon the relics of past ages and understand that classical concepts such as the proletariat and the bourgeoisie do not apply to the United States. Only three classes exist: those who work, the poverty class (which cannot work), and the executive class (which does not work). Only one is the real enemy. Mobility between the other two is all too common for these groups to be at odds with one another. Whether originating with capitalists or Marxists, divide and conquer should be resisted. Opportunists and opponents should never forget it.

98. Thought is not necessarily thinking.

99. On Rigidity
Absolute consistency is stagnant and anti-natural. The world is not constant. Nothing is permanent. Reality depends upon position and time. Youth is not age. Experience is not enthusiasm. Some possibilities are excluded while others are ruled out. Very little reduces to unity. Some compromises are necessary whereas others are only illusory or the result of error. An ideal is regarded but a principle might be best held firm. An incorrect conclusion or action does not imply a correct alternative. Workability and goals sometimes conflict and require modification. Simplistic considerations are narrowly confined by exclusion. A million possible paths will not fit on a single course. Only tools try. Success does not respect idiotic attempts to alter the world, rather riding and guiding events. It cannot be any other way and only the delusional believe differently. One must constantly examine and possibly re-evaluate all values, yet still hold uncompromising to certain beliefs over other alternatives when questions concerning correctness do not apply. Unlike the straight jackets called ideals, ideas often work that way. One must know when and where to bend. The 21st Century will prove this assertion...

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