"Establishing a position in Society"

The Result of Societal and Cultural Pressures

We live within a society. What does that mean? We could very well ask the question, "who is society". Society is as much a who as it is a what. Without the who there would be no what. So who society is is whoever has contributed to the particular design. Now this is a great study for anyone interested. You may be surprised to find that those who have orchestrated your society have very little in common with you. If this is the case how well could you fit in?

From Brave New World by Aldous Huxley:

"A really efficient totalitarian state would be one in which the all-powerful executive of political bosses and their army of managers control a population of slaves who do not have to be coerced because they love their servitude. To make them love it is the task assigned ... to ministries of propaganda, newspaper editors and school teachers."

When seeking a self determined path it is essential to educate ourselves in a lot of areas that may have previously been ignored. For instance how much of my thinking, my self image, my guilt, my sex life, my family plan, how I treat people and so on come from inside of me? How much has come from outside? No matter that one might think they are part of society it would really be exceptional were that true. In essence we are pieces operating within a society that in turn functions inside the confines of an idea. That raises the question: whose idea is it?

In order to establish oneself, through oneself, we must recognize those ideas that have come from outside and discard them. No matter if we like them or not. "The danger of the past was that men became slaves. The danger of the future is that man may become robots."
Erich Fromm

We must be rid of them to not be influenced by them. To not be manipulated by them. If I want to control you and your life and have everything you do work to my benefit, I must convince you that I am the boss. I am the boss and I make the rules and if you want to make something of yourself you will perform the functions I lay out and by doing this you will be better off. Who is our boss? Some will say that god is the boss. I can't comment on that further than to ask, who told you what god said. Who told us what we think we know? Was it the church, the news, the mayor, the president or the professor? What have I found out for myself? What do I really know? Well there isn't a lot of time when there are all these functions to perform. "The world has achieved brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants."
Omar N. Bradley

So how can we do something different? If we want to be the boss, how can we? It's hard enough just getting from one side of town to the other. Its hard enough just getting food on the table and paying the debts we've aquired and staying out of trouble. We can't even stop thinking of those things long enough to think about anything else. Let somebody else think about it and have them tell me what they come up with. There are people more qualified than me. I would say that there is nobody qualified to tell you what to do. Nobody that should be your boss. "The only tyrant I accept in this world is the still voice within."
Mohandas Gandhi

You, and you alone, should decide what is right for you. If you think you have decided for yourself, ask yourself, how is that possible? Unless you have discarded everything you've ever heard or thought then that is simply not possible. Stuff gets in our heads and we become that stuff. One cannot physically ( or mentally ) escape society today. The obvious reason is that the boundaries of one society touch the boundaries of another like lines on a map. There's nowhere to go. You could go to some remote area of the world but what would you do? Few have the resources for wilderness survival. How can we escape the influence of everyone else and design a path that is ours? How can this be done from within the confines of the societal mind? It is first done inside your thinking self. We must be rid of "the big picture". Everyone is talking about the big picture, look at the big picture, think about the big picture and so on. Why? Who has the big picture we're supposed to be looking at? Where did it come from? Why is it important? Who started this movement? Somebody made a big picture and now they want everybody to look at it. When any government, church, or school undertakes to say to its subjects, "This you may not read, this you must not see, this you are forbidden to know", the end result is tyranny and oppression no matter how holy the motives.

Thomas Jefferson

In many regards could be called a prophet, I do believe he foresaw our age. In light of the present financial crisis, it's interesting to read what Thomas Jefferson said in 1802:

1. When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe.
2. The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.
3. It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world.
4. I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.
5. My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.
6. No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.
7. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.
8. The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
9. To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.

"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."

Thomas Jefferson

Look at the small picture, the one inside you. What is it? What does the inside you look like? What does it feel like? Is it what you want? You are the boss of that place. Escaping the captivity of society and its big picture is difficult. Its hard to define where it ends and we start. That is why it is important, essential, to see yourself clearly. This will cause the brain to react in a violent manner. This is to be expected since most of its programming was done by society. It will do battle, for what it thinks is its survival, by flooding the body with emotions. Thoughts will bombard us and seem unstoppable. For the most part they are. Its counter productive to get in an argument with the brain. It won't quit as long as it has your attention.

The first part in the withdrawal process is putting up with the death struggles of the societal brain. It will, and this is a big clue as to its nature, go so far as to put an end to your life. The brain is a fascinating organ in that it doesn't seem to have any sense of what it is. It will do things that kill the body. If it knew it would die with the body, would it do that? Will it die with the body? Will the lung or the small intestine die with the body? Does the stomach think it can go on without you? The number one killer of human beings is stress. The brain creates stress. The brain, in association with other brains, make war. It makes societies, cultures, it forms beliefs and habits and obsessions and establishes doctrines for living and then we just follow along. Like children we just go along. Seems kinda crazy doesn't it? Kind of silly. We, the majority of people who have ever lived on this planet, never had a self determined path. We owe all our troubles to this blind obedience. In order to change and get started on our own journey we have to be convinced of this. That is the beginning. There is no easier softer way.

Moving From Self Help To Self Reliance, from www.wilywalnut.com/

How to overcome your addiction to self help information, learn to rely on your own inner wisdom and think creatively for yourself...

This article addresses an increasingly common problem: the addiction to self help and personal development books, tapes and seminars (and websites!). Over the last 20 years, the personal development field has just mushroomed spawning thousands of books, systems, psychologies, and a myriad of gurus and teachers. More and more people have gotten turned on to the idea that they can change and improve their lives, learn about themselves and develop more meaningful lives. It's great to explore and learn about new ideas, and get fresh input into your mind space -- but it is also important to use that information, internalize it and allow your own authority and wisdom to flourish. It's important to develop self reliance.

Are you a self help junkie? Are you a personal development nut job with bookshelves bulging with Deepak Chopra, Tony Robbins, and Stephen Covey? Is the glove compartment in your car swollen with Nightingale Conant tapes? Have you feng shui-ed your office, got a shrine in your bedroom, and stashed written affirmations in your purse or wallet? There's a whole world of hot and hokey self help information out there for you to throw yourself head over heels into -- and it will knock you inside out, upside down, and back to front before you know it. What a rush!

I should know -- I've been 'smoking' this stuff since I was about 12 years old. Hoowee! I've meditated with gurus, been given secret mantras, and been initiated in sacred rites in mysterious midnight rituals. I've read books by the bucketload, listened to tapes till my ears bled, and rolled a hundred thousand different idea systems through the old brain box. And you know what? I still want more!! Gimme more! Read more...

The Self Help Junkie


"The civilized people believe they have an obligation to bring primitive and underdeveloped people up to their level. Civilization, which is about to self-destruct, thinks of itself as the superior culture that has answers for all the world's people... The addict, truly, is a person who is emotionally dependent on things: television, substances, personality routines, other people, mental ideologies, total immersion in some cause or work. If the object of dependency is moved, addicts will experience insecurity, discomfort, distress, the symptoms of withdrawal."(William H. Koettke, The Final Empire)