Self Ownership

What makes a person who he is? School and experiences alone? What is learned from the family, from childhood, from society and culture? The first two may be collected by means of reason, but the latter are introduced in an uncontrolled fashion. This post is an attempt both to answer these questions, but also to point out the danger of either learning from order or from chaos.

All men are different - this is the truth, thank God! The long-lasting lie, that all men are equal is a control system atrocity. In high-class schools they will admit this to the sons of the wealthy and powerful, but not in schools of the common and you'll never see that false idea questioned in main-stream media.

Physically, every healthy individual has pretty much the same structure, the same muscles and the same general cell count. There we do not differ much, but it is in the mind that we stand apart (and eventually our minds even make our bodies different...). Every thought as well as every experience becomes data our brains handle differently and use in very different processes.

The mind is what makes every human differ from another. This is great, to have one's own individuality, because every man's journey through life becomes one great tale of adventures. To spend a life in a stale state is to forfeit such a gift. Many people spend their lives in the comfort of fear, scared to get hurt that in the end they realize, if they're lucky, that they wasted a wonderful and precious opportunity, single within itself.

To every decision one makes, there is a process of bringing coherent knowledge (data) into reason and seeking the best possible path. Two things must be considered, first, that not making a decision, as not taking action, are both a decision and an action. Second, the best possible path is always the effect of that person's true desire, regardless if the sought 'best' outcome is positive or negative, it's just what he was willing to accept.

What makes a man himself is the sum of the data within. Therefore, it is very crucial that we understand how this data-library is formed within memory and feelings, so that we may ascertain ownership of ourselves. If we command what is inside our minds and also the processes that filter what and how all else gets in there, we hold the key for our own decisions, else we allow others to choose what we do with our lives.

Schools

School content is nominally produced and controlled by authority, therefore control over what is learned depends strictly on that government's intentions - good or bad - they suit the purpose of authority. If that government seeks to control its population in an illusive-liberty, school content will tend to be semi-technical, memorizing and unilateral (seem familiar?). On the other hand, a government whose authority is based on true liberty and real democracy will base its school content on creativity and understanding, and in reasoning most of all.

Unfortunately, we know of no government that has ever taken such a route after the unique Greeks left us. They understood about expansion of the mind through reasoning. Today, the mind has become a tool, a gadget that simply functions as just another spare (and expendable) part in a big machine. True use of the mind is to first understand one's self, followed by understanding kin and eventually all of humanity.

School systems substituted traditional family wisdom after the industrial revolution. It is noteworthy to observe that post-industrial schools were organizations intended to form the working classes that needed to be prepared for the production lines. Since then, it has been understood that the ideal worker should become accustomed to repetition, understand and follow orders and function as a part of a whole.

(For a better understanding, read the post "A Brief Story about Capitalism and Sheep") 

Experience

The second component of becoming someone, experiences are the toughest teachers, since we learn by them through adversity. Even if the subject doesn't devote enough thought on what he could learn in each case, the wonderful mind still recalls on past experiences for understanding new situations (to which they also end up understanding those previous).

Fortunately for the individual, experiences are his own, and he has at least the opportunity - if not the wits - to learn and gain from them. In any case they belong to him - little outside intervention can rob him of them.

A disciplined mind can greatly expand, especially in wisdom, just by taking some time to analyze and assimilate the lessons in each private experience - and as effective as new and valuable information, someone else's experiences that are studied and absorbed can also become good experiences.

On the other hand, if the individual doesn't give a second thought to his experiences, and neither listens to others' stories, nor spends time in studying his own thought process, he is doomed (destined) to become a mediocre individual - a member of society that is numb to everything about him.

External Influences

External influences tend to be absorbed in a disorganized manner, lacking - in many cases - purpose and truth. Such influences come from family, cultural, religious and social traditions. Typically, these external influences are imbued with superstition, misinterpretations and lies that are repeated over and over until they become truths.

There is hardly a notion or conscience of filtering this raw data that has built up since our first civilizations and that lingers still within our crowd. Since there is no control over what is being implanted in new minds of future generations, most secular beliefs and customs will keep being passed down.

External influences are cast upon the intellect in chaotic (out of control) flow regarding the self. This means that the receiver of such flow of information isn't prepared to filter such ideas by either lack of maturity, knowledge, wisdom or will.

Since our families usually seek what is best for us, they at least try to guide us in wiser paths, but family influence has lost ground to that of culture, religion and society. What good our parents may teach us, throughout our youth, looses bearing in each generation passed. This is due to the fact that modern capitalism has a different agenda for our minds than that of old family wisdom.

That wisdom had been passed down from generation to generation, but with today's endless mind-slavery processes that our societies develop, the less we can inherit from our ancestors. Someone might say that it's a good thing, since they were primitive and ignorant, but in truth, such wisdom was about being good (and knowing why), about morality, and about living and loving.

Modern wisdom (if we can call it that) is no more than rules to keep us confused, troubled and needy. These three conditions are ideal for our governing and economic systems. The more confused and lost we become, the faster we hand our free will for someone else to lead (control).

Furthermore, society is becoming needy, although very few understand what they are needy of. This is called desire of status - the irrational belief of gaining approval, respect and admiration through the ownership of commercial goods and services. No matter how poor one is, he thus becomes an easy pawn to capitalism. Being lost and needy means that society's individuals will hurry to consume all that which their neighbors crave or brag to have. In this robotic behavior we are truly becoming all equal.

Such modern wisdom blocks the mind to the 'old-fashioned family wisdom' since it's been condemned as 'conservative', 'dull' and 'out of fashion'. What imbeciles to take pride in thinking this modern society is any better than in feudal times. Why? Because while once man had a curiosity and drive to conquer the world, or to reach for the stars, to understand himself, nature and the universe, our fellow man limits his choices between channels on TV, an iPod or an iPhone, between a sedan or an SUV. These thoughts encompass his daily worries.

What will become of Man's future, if we all choose to lay back and consume every idiotic toy that capitalism puts out in stores? By the way, the term store meant a place where humans stacked supplies for the future, now stores are places destined to be depleted over and over again. This modern behavior shows how it's good - and for whom - that we become all equal by sharing the same desires, the same state of confusion and despair. Modern man has been conditioned in wishing to be equal, although for this he trades his individuality for slavery.

The Sexual Example

If in the past sex was viewed with taboos and privacy, modern society has turned it into a casual issue that is 'normal' and expected for everyone to 'master' before reaching adulthood. Nice. But the taboo's served a purpose that is now lost - the natural development of long-lasting love and relationships. We live now in an unprecedented society based on divorce.

People should be aware that divorce is a serious form of failure. Every couple that weds expects that bond to last, they make promises to do so, but reality shows that people are often getting married and divorcing as quickly as a few hours. Why is that something to be proud of? Of having utterly failed in one of the most important commitments in one's life.

What happens, in truth, is that people get involved out of status, hardly out of love or compatibility. Soon enough they find out they hardly knew the person they were married to in the first place. Society imposes that if you don’t have a girlfriend in junior-high you are a definite looser. If you don’t get married by your early twenties you're probably a homosexual or another sort of freak!

This strong influence, brought on by a harsh modern society, surpasses the obvious question - is this person I am committing to really to my liking, to my admiration and care? That would be something a conscious mind would ask itself, but no, nobody has the courage of thinking about it, because facing the fact that you're alone is far more fearful!

Thus, every kid is thinking about how to get laid before his first acnes, because society has imposed, very strongly, that you must loose your virginity or people will think badly about you. If you don’t get married before you finish college, people will say you must be queer!

Does anyone still choose to live his own way of life, regardless of what people will think about him?

Purpose to Capitalism

Capitalism's goal is to sell more every day, for its own survival and prosperity. Every single government on the planet wants control, just that. Control means power, and power means prosperity for only a few. For this political-economic system to strive it needs a cattle-minded population that will follow every lead without complaining - just as much as sheep and chicken do.

This modern society has to want to be lead, not just to accept its condition. For the good of maintaining such power, it's also very good to have the cattle deeply distracted - almost hypnotized - with simpleton ideas, trendy culture and desired gadgets. This not only keeps humans out of 'trouble' wishing for a true better life, but also keeps corporate-capitalism's machine running very smoothly, thank you!

Love, honor, human fraternity and self-awareness are being replaced by the desire for animalistic sex and the desire of status - to fit into society just like everyone else. Today they teach us we are all equal (like white mice in a giant laboratory - expendable insignificant mice). Oblivious of the concept that Man's greatest characteristic and manifestation of liberty would be that we are all very different individuals.

Today' relationships between humans are bound to the following rules:

- opposite genders must only have unfaithful and casual sexual relationships;

- same genders must be based on futile and superficial 'fun' (doesn't matter if it's about friendships or homosexual partners, it's all about futility and superficiality);

- father to sons relations must always be misunderstood and formal;

- love can only exist with your pets, or platonically towards worthless celebrities;

- and above all, there is no such thing as disinterested or selfless relationships.

Secular Traits

The last source of knowledge, so to speak, comes from our cultural inheritance. This is mostly manifested to us by our first ring of family, other kin, and about religious teachers. As with other sources, this is one with the least frame of control as to what is being absorbed by our brains - as fact, folklore, and gossip or otherwise.

Religion, which for hundreds of years had been the primal moral standard, that prevented civilization from falling into the deepest forms of barbarism, lacked reform and has lost its function as a moral beacon. Young members of society have been conditioned to see religion as they see family tradition - something of the past full of old and outdated concepts. They discard any value in either religion or family believing themselves to be smarter, wiser and independent. What casual mistake!

Every new generation steps farther apart from 'old traditions' but towards seductive moral traps of main-stream media, pop culture and society's flawed standards of desire. It’s completely losing its vital and natural parental links. Scarcely any person comes out of his adolescent phase these days without hating his parents, without being utterly alienated to pop culture, without being fully in conformity to politically correct views such as ecology; anti-smoking, but very pro-booze; selective-racial tolerant and main-stream devoted.

In modern society, especially North American, capitalist culture is dominating the entire learning/motivational thought process. The family values are being deliberately discarded. Between school and pop-culture, there is hardly any other competing source for the mind. The first controlled by government, the other by capitalism.

Pop culture, the ignorant, racist and sleazy loud music of American black movements such as rap and funk are the prime example of what capitalism is imposing on North American society - a lust for cheap vulgar sex; gratuite violence; easy money; consume and distribution of drugs and alcohol, producing one widely common type of citizen - politically and socially alienated.

You cannot blame parents that are slave to work for not having the time to spend on difficult children. You cannot blame a selfish youth for lacking respect or responsibility. You cannot blame teachers for being limited themselves, being incompetent in teaching kids to be conscientious.

The only thing that deserves blame and correction is the social and economic system we have allowed to take over. It's this system that enslaved elder generations; that cut off fruitful contact between generations; that took great measures in sifting trashy culture trends; in modeling the worse school system possible; and producing the a false politically correct code of conduct that diverts any good intention.

Being mentally dominated by this pop culture transforms man's excelling mind into a sponge to absorb a lot of data, but without the capacity to personally interact with such information. That man is dependent on fashion trends, on vulgar desires and mediocre ideas. To summarize, the individual that allows himself to become dependent, which allows others to decide for him, is a mere slave, he cannot claim self-ownership.

Any man that falls for the tricks stated above also falls into a low category of man - the conformist. As such, he cannot state that he was misguided into being so, because in truth, he chose this path, which is easier and very full of others such as himself.

There are other paths to find, to seek out, but only for the few men that choose with courage to own their decisions and their lives. The idea of self-ownership is that which the person understands most elements in his decision process, that he understands himself and goes by his choices. This man isn't scared of being wrong, of getting into trouble or being rejected by a hypocritical society, his only fear is to allow others to choose for him. That's self-ownership!