Don’t tell anyone this, whatever you
do…..
We must
understand the Myths we
had to create to control the “complexity” generated by larger groups of
people (to manage energy and social norms) to maintain some form of “order” Larger groups require more energy
and complex processes, systems and rules to manage that energy (Initially
just stored food energy; but eventually Oil)
Use Fear and Greed – why not?
Myth 1 Religion.
All religion is
mythological, and so fantastic that it requires faith to overcome rational
though and natural curiosity. Faith cannot be argued with and is more powerful
than understanding in any case, so there is no need to challenge it. There is
something greater than us that only a privileged few will ever understand and
those people know they are the chosen ones rewarded for their blind faith and
deference. Ignorance is bliss and
evidence is not a requirement? The fact that we die and rot away like everything else doesn't come into it!
From this we get
Myth 2 Law: To stop
everyone just acting naturally in any given situation (as angry apes for
example) we will create a set of agreed behaviours based on religious teachings,
things few would disagree with like -
Killing things is possibly wrong and killing each other is even more so? Okay “thou shall not kill” (and all
equivalents) – Looking at the root cause – perhaps it’s hate? Okay (myth balancing act no 1) we will invent
love to combat hate? So as we agree on what is right and what is wrong
- we need some people to be able to make decisions based on some "difference", perhaps we can call it class? (in
order to get others to conform) – Substitute good and evil with right and wrong until everyone without power gets it!
Ah I know
Myth 3 Ownership: Some
people will own things and take things by force and this will represent a thing called "power" that will
enforce conformance to laws and we can use religion and law to control behaviour,
generate fear. We will reward obedience and submission to the idea of power through
ownership, maybe giving others some stuff so they feel part of the power thing (but not really) – power needs some means of being displayed, proven if it is to work
and keep everyone fooled into obedience and conformity with this emerging
society …..Status, class, deference, land ownership is Key to success! - this take us up in scale from small groups of people to larger ones
until we get to a physical boundary after hundreds of ownership conflicts based
on power struggles and religious persecution – Let’s stop at a thing called,,,,,,,,? ah I know...
Myth 4: The Nation State. People in
nations can now scale up the dispute to a huge scale with big rewards for the
most powerful ensuring fewer and fewer individuals actually have real power and
wealth generated from it; once those in power created the rules governing that wealth
that they can change at will – pretending to be for the "benefit of all" the trickle down crumbs for the masses, just enough to keep them compliant to the rules and the rulers.. The
fate of many was sealed for as long as the myths prevail. Like the wizard of Oz behind the curtain –
none of it is real. But you must protect "Your country" from others - Fight for your county, for freedom, against tyranny, barbarism, (anything as long as you fight every so often) (Brilliant - Conflict becomes the norm to maintain control of the masses!) "Civilisation?" codswallop!
Myth 5:
Money as a
representation of debt and interest
based on a time value of money. Money is a means of representing energy
(mostly human labour) A "token" based on trust, used as an
IOU rather than barter and the in efficiency of goods traded in real time in
local self- limiting groups of people in one area with reasonable productive
capacity but limited growth potential. A means of exchange and a store of value (Lets back it with some real thing - eh? - gold; that takes energy to get and people seem to like it everywhere? Bingo, wealth power and the right to wield it. I win!
Behind the curtain (Or under the
shell if you like – financial myths)
Thus we were all
educated to know our place, obey the law and allow "others" to control the means of production in
order to generate wealth for a few people at the expense of everyone else in
exchange for some degree of attaining comfort in one’s own life where ever that
was in the societal structure. We were
educated to fit in to the system and if we were lucky (or could do useful work)
we would be able to provide for our families though our labour for others. This system is so toxic that it must be
maintained at all costs as the collapse of it would destroy society and those
who have most to lose would lose it very quickly as "have nots" redress the
balance with the "haves". Since population
growth is linked to the use of energy, putting a price on energy was stupid
because energy is currency and by extension you are putting a price on another
human being - The problem with that is one person’s price may differ from another’s
and then the system ultimately fails catastrophically as the inequality becomes
intolerable and unacceptable to larger and larger numbers of people regardless
of any attempt to continue with the mythical controls created as the society
developed and evolved. Tipping points
are tipping points whether in the real physical world system or in the mythical human
constructs historically based on nothing. There are really no gods, there are no laws, no
ownership and no nations, money is not real and things of real physical value,
productive land, water shelter and social stability will re-balance the population to
the available resources needed by the species; as with all living things, energy availability
defines population, complexity and ultimately survival.
I'm not looking forward to cheap oil running out!
This system is designed to fail so there is no point in trying to stop
it. As things change and people are
forced to move to wherever resources are (regardless of "Ownership" ) the new balance between humans and
available life supporting habitat will re-balance. Talk of human rights, human
compassion, fellow man and all that other stuff will be way too late as rational economic man crashes head long into the boundaries of the physical habitat he
helped to destroy. The laws of diminishing
returns, unintended consequences and thermodynamics acting in concert are formidable adversaries. This species is no different in terms of real
physical limits and we are about to find that out the hard way it seems?
Cup your hands together – Do you “Own”
that air between your hands?
No, of course you don’t.
Same is true for water and energy they
are everyone’s.
Things you claim to own and pass on
were never yours in the first place, but it makes it easier for governments to
TAX so you can pretend it is?
See the ONLY thing you are allowed
to own by this system of myths is
DEBT - that is a requirement; but what
happens if we all stop playing and default?
The rules will just change and those in
power will do it over and over again at
the stroke of a pen, at all costs.
