we have a multi-ideal working within our environment and
within our minds…we have the public, the state/government
and we have society/culture which is the media/TV/movies/books
it is ART… and we have ourselves… we have these three things working
at all times… sometimes together, sometimes not…and this list
is by no means inclusive… there are other factors at work… we are not
a closed system, we are an open system, where matter (whatever what that matter is)
going from one system to another…
so we have a state/government… institutions like schools and the maintaining
the infrastructure with police and firemen and sanitation workers…
we have society/culture… as mentioned, the media and the arts… often
in conflict with the state/government…
and we have us… we exist within those above mentioned systems
and we exist within ourselves… as we think and exist and push for
whatever “our happiness” is…
each of these three things, state… society…ourselves…
act and interact with each other…they influence each other and
push each other…
let us look at the state for a minute… let us look at the prior administration…
the Obama years… we had a leader who whether you agreed with or not…
lead by example…there were no personal or professional scandals…
he set an example… and a very good example…he worked hard…
avoided drama, worked to make America better and he did leave America
better then when he was elected…
this example is the best means a president can show us the way…
where I work, in my store, we have perhaps 80 employees…
the managers are very lazy and don’t do much… even the front end
manager is one who doesn’t set much of an example…they all leave
early or stand around and talk personal matters while costumers are left
to fend for themselves because there isn’t enough help on the floor either
in checking or as day stock…
the managers set the tone of the store… they are lazy and try to get out of work
and they get paid much more then we do… so why should we bust our humps
to get things done when the management couldn’t care less?
and this is true of government… the leadership must set the example for the rest…
we have government only looking out for itself… making as much money as possible working
as little as possible… just like our managers
so that is one aspect of our live… we have management that only cares about itself,
from president on down… unlike the Obama years even when congress was only about
itself and couldn’t have cared less about the country…Obama was a good leader who
did set a good example…
so one aspect of today is this, we don’t have anyone setting a good example for our country…
we have Washington D.C that only cares about its money and its agenda which is to make
as much money as possible while working as little as possible…
now as a citizen of this country…if the leadership doesn’t care about me and
the country, why should I care? they get paid a whole lot of more money and
they clearly don’t give a shit…why should I? and why should you?
the next aspect is society/culture… what example of society/culture is showing us?
the Kardashians… enough said…people who are rich and powerful and do absolutely
nothing to improve either society or themselves outside of making themselves “beautiful”
is there some example within society/culture of someone who is active in
creating a better society/culture or trying to improve society at large?
we have a society/culture that is only about making money or being famous…
that is the goal of society/culture… anything else is not required…
the current society/culture is nihilistic… money/profit overwhelm
human values, human needs…ART is not about the creation of money,
but about reflecting who we are and what we were, what we are and what
we might be… ART is about the past, present and the future…
the current nihilism of society/culture is about making cash, nothing more…
and now we have ourselves… we exist in the midst of all these systems
that we both influence and are influenced by…if both the state/government
and society/culture is all about the money, then why shouldn’t we be?
the answer is simple, the state/government and society/culture is currently
about nihilism… the pursuit of money/profit over human values…
we are the last stand before nihilism takes over all our lives…
we are follow the path of the fall of Rome… we no longer have
values in which to believe in and we no longer have a energy/spirit…
we have lost our nerve…and pursue lower human values because to follow
higher human values takes energy and incentive and hope… we have none of those…
we are on the path to Rome because we no longer have the nerve to follow
our higher values…we simply follow the road of lower values of anger, lust,
greed, hate, because we have no leadership showing us the right path and
we have no incentive to follow the tougher, longer, more painful road of
the higher values…we are formed within our society, within our
institutions and within our values and we no longer have leadership in
society, in institutions or in our values…we are rudderless because
no one gives a dam… and so we pursue our “happiness” until death
with no thought to tomorrow… happy until the end… as the house is burning down
around our heads…we have our chains… who is strong enough to beak
their chains?
Kropotkin