An Elite Lie: Be Independent
Oftentimes memes find their way into popular culture not as the natural outgrowth of people’s opinions but also because they serve interests of other forces. Laugh at me if you will but even the KGB admitted 75% of their work was media-related and the CIA has acknowledged psy-ops through funding of media such as Ms. magazine.
One of these memes that has been ingrained in the social mind is Independence. That is to be independent in nature and thought from others. Some of this is good & liberating - to think freely of external influences that might be stifling whether that be conventional wisdom, other people such as family and your peer group, or the Church. What I find ridiculous however is taking this to ad absurdium. This topic could fill a book, so I will concentrate on one dimension. Did you notice when the military changes its slogan from Be All that You can Be to “Army of One”. It did so because surveys of Gen Y and Millennials revealed they saw strength coming from independence. Belonging was less important and desirable than self-reliance. Bowling Alone and other books have revealed how we are practicing and prizing our independence. The 60’s counter culture rebellion that touted breaking the ties that bind in society, that had become too stifling, became itself a new regime; one that mocks patriotism as simplistic, that makes light of family relations (marriage optional, respect of parents), and suggests any means of acting collectively is pure “socialism” that must be thwarted at any expense. Now of course large businesses don’t want people to unite and negotiate better wages or a more equitable deal as far as healthcare. Therefore unions, co-ops, and government activism must be decried. If you believe this and you’re willing to step outside partisanship for a moment, you may also want to consider that other forces want to break down other bonds for their own reasons. If a person considers himself an “army of one” and has shed ties with church (“pedantic”), family (“have no time”), friends (“i’m my own person”), when time comes to have him act against his interests, he will really be on his own. To reinforce we hear things like “I’m my own man”, “I look out for #1”, “I’m a rebel”, “I’m an iconoclast”, “I’m not a Joiner”.
What is at play here are Group strategies. The way to think about this is Hunting. Most effective predators hunt in packs. Numbers, multiple moving parts, complementary skills, coordination, and overwhelming force are the hallmarks of pack hunting. Whether its killer whales hunting in a Pod or lions hunting in a Pride, the individual can separate and conduct the kill, but together they are simply unstoppable. When we are born, we make our way in this world, largely on our own aided by our wits, our family, and maybe family-friends or whatever local and friend networks we may have. What is unbeknownst to many is that there are others who may appear that they like you, are hunting in this world solo, but rather are hunting in packs. The modus operandi of such a network is to be hidden in public view since any appearance of surface favoritism or unnatural alliances amongst people would be frowned up on the others. This is not to stir up paranoia. Most of these are perfectly natural: alliances based on college attendance (alumni) or family (nepotism), personal networks, or simply ties of interest / common activity. Then we get into murky area such as race and/or class (Old Boy’s Network), back-scratching groups (Rotary Club). Still further are powerful interests usually connected to some financial source (oil, banking), government, or intelligence agency and these usually operate at the highest level. Related to this are secretive groups such as Freemasonry- to which over 1M Americans belong, but of which only a smaller portion actually gain any meaningful advantage.
OK, Bob, where are you going with this? Powers always wish their rivals to be weak and disunited. History is replete with such examples; European powers long utilized the Balance of Power techniques to keep their enemies divided and oriented against one another. They also used subterfuge to dissolve the ties of those countries with others- often through propaganda that reached and unsettled its people before the government could counteract it. It turns out that this methodology is also used within a nation - to keep much of us not only in the dark but to hold a wrong set of values, which are championed by the mass culture, only to lead us astray. We end up pursuing a dead-end of materialism, exhausted, having little savings at the end of the day in part because a value system has been imposed on us which is not natural but rather serves the purpose of others. I don’t want to imply these forces control the agenda, but to deny the influence it is a bit ridiculous. More importantly, I want to stress that not just the mainstream “path” of working and attending church is controlled to a designed end, but also the popular counter-cultural contours. If you think you’ve taken an escape hatch through No Logo and Green Day, you might be surprised to find that your outcomes may not all be that different than those who chose to stay on the main road.
Back to my main point. Yes you could listen to Stereo MC’s “Connected” and arrive at the same point. On Reut- the pre-eminent Israeli think tank they list their Alliances section with a steel chain. I think that’s a good way of emphasizing the importance of connections.
