The Ubiquitous Quest For Power
Recognising that most of what you see going on around you is, by and
large, a quest for power, is one of the most enlightening
experiences that you will ever have, in my view.
Indeed, when you
get older, you will likely become quite depressed to see just how so much
of what you see going on around you looks 'contrived'.
About 90% of it, or so it seems.
And it is mostly about the quest for power.
And so younger folk have many more disappointments in store to look
forward to as they get older.
No Father Christmas. No Tooth Fairy. And very little that does not seem
to be 'contrived'.
And, gradually, you crawl up mental pathways that become more and more
'unique' as time moves on, and you gradually become even more isolated
from everyone else than you were before.
But you smile pleasantly. And you do your best to make sure that your own smiles
do
not look 'contrived'.
And everyone with intelligence knows that everyone else with
intelligence is doing exactly the same thing.
Or hiding.
you can easily see more and more of the
manipulative tools that people use
But also, in the same way that you can easily learn to see through that
little child who is ineptly trying to con you into handing out some more
pocket money, you can easily see more and more of the manipulative tools
that people use in order to get their way as you get older - particularly
the tools of younger people; unsurprisingly, because you, yourself, were
once their age.
And then you also see their excited passions and their deep sincerity slowly
evaporate as they get older; as hard realities and banal routines
gradually impact upon their brains while the cynicism sets in.
Later on, their friends and their relatives will begin to degenerate
and to die. And they begin to realise that there is no real point even to
their own existence - except in a minor way.
Of course, the least 'contrived' are children. But you see them
becoming more contrived as they grow older, particularly as they turn into
teenagers.
It's a depressing sight in many ways.
The happiest solution - according to many psychologists and me - is to
become obsessed or hugely interested in various things.
And by doing so, you learn a lot, while also having what seems like
'fun' to you.
So, with care, it's not so bad after all.
Just more inward than outward than it used to be.
The garden shed of old; into which people (men mostly) would disappear
in order to avoid the outward bit.
But this new garden shed is so much better than it used to be thanks to
all this new technology, the progress in science, engineering,
transportation and medicine.
All hugely liberating for men and women of all ages compared to how it
used to be; even 50 years ago.
And, of course, absolutely nothing to do with feminism
(And, of course, absolutely nothing to do with feminism, but mostly to
do with the outputs from clever and/or very hard-working men and the women
who supported them.)
You can nowadays see further and wider, from many different angles. You
can get a much better picture of what has really been going on throughout
your long life.
The various things that you saw before now make much more sense.
If you put in the effort, you can see more clearly how the forces from
different places combined to shape human events; events at the individual
level, the group level, the national level etc.
And the word 'contrived' comes to mind for most of it. But nearly
always with the same aim.
Getting more power.
Obtaining more power lies at the very heart of what most people and
most groups seek to do, even if they, themselves, remain unaware of this.
And when you understand this, so much of what did not quite makes sense
to you before, finally fits nicely into place.
Indeed, it seems always best to remain fully aware of the high
likelihood that what you see going on around you is mostly contrived by
people or groups to maximise their own power.
Whether it is the weeping of victims, an article in a newspaper or the
machinations of a government department, perceiving what you see as a
quest for power seems to be the best key for unlocking the truth behind
what is really going on.
The Big Solution, therefore, is to arrange matters so that people can
only
acquire power by doing good. And then it doesn't matter so much if power
is their aim.
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