"I refuse to work within the system"
Within the first semester of John Abbott, I took a political course which had a very interesting chapter to it. It reflected upon the self-interests of several individuals. When I first heard of this, I kind of simply brushed it off as something everyone knew and understood already, but the more I grow, the more I find it to be quite the interesting chapter indeed.
There are in my mind two ways to govern a country. The one being to simply tell people how to live, and the other to merely let them do what they want within certain confines. It's the difference between an ant, and someone who has his own room. In both systems, the individuals are still confined. One has the illusion that he/she is free but still is bordered while the other one has no illusions of freedom and isn't exacly given the hope of such a lifestyle either.
The interesting part is that people who live in the fenced off (room-like) regiment actually have no idea they live in such a fashion and the people who cross over into the system are even more moronic to realize it. I've been having a fun time observing certain people here at my work. It's a new system that makes renting videos a completely lonesome experience. Once you've registered, there's no need to talk to individuals, yet some clients insist on my assistance every time they walk in. Clients have this ideal image of how the system should work and are annoyed by the fact that it doesn't match, yet they're persistant and want to keep their utopic vision and often stay in denial. They don't learn from the system, they're hoping the system will learn from them.
My boss' bought a property in the city and decided to take care of the people who parked in the alleyway behind it. Turns out, one of the cars belonged to some new immigrant who comes from some Arabic-ant-like country. He called in once they added a little notice on his windshield stating that if he parked there again they would tow his vehicle, the first thing he said was that people tresspassed on his property. With his horrible accent and lack of vocabulary, this fresh-off-the-boat useless bastard was claiming people were tresspassing on his property for having put the notice there. Typical.
Politicians are the best illusionists.
1 Comments:
Interesting story about the parking. Freedom is a funny concept. We believe that we are free, and yet we follow social norms, standards, and laws which are either conscious or unconscious. In most cases, a certain way of behaving has simply become ingrained in us as a result of cultural upbringing and values.
You can see this in sales, for instance, where Asians will always like to barter. ie. "I'll give you $10!" This might work in Asia, but it doesn't work here. I actually would feel awkward going to buy something and trying to scheme the salesperson into giving it away for less. It's interesting because it assumes that the salesperson is not trustworthy and is clearly scamming. I know when I want to buy something, by the time I am ready to purchase, I have already determined that I need or want the item, and have also decided what price I would be ready to pay. If I see the price and think it's unreasonable, I won't start trading grain for a camera.
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