THE CRUELEST HOAX

From the time a child is old enough to understand, and often long before that, society begins its assault.

He is taught to conform to the rules, the mores, the standards of society, to get along, in exchange for acceptance and security, and this induces him to suppress his own thoughts, his own feelings, his own self.  He befriends the unworthy, he agrees not to disagree, he is told not to stand out and he doesn’t.  He discovers, too late, that the security he seeks leaves him insecure within himself.

He is told not to “think that way,” not to “say those things,” not to “be like that,” when that is the way he wishes to think, to speak, to be.  In other words, he is told not to be himself, or herself, which is a contradiction, an impossibility.

He is told to gauge his success, to measure his worth, by the approval of others and he courts that approval at the cost of his own soul.  He is taught not to be proud of his achievements, which means not to be proud of himself, which places happiness outside his reach.

He is told to do his duty to family, to country, to society, which means to act not in accordance with the judgments of his own mind but with the judgments of others, which means to live without his mind, which means to live a living death.

He is told that it is moral to sacrifice his life to others, and so he does, and he becomes yet another lamb on the altar of death.

He is told that life’s rewards come in another life so he stops expecting them here on Earth.  Many destroy themselves to escape the anguish of an unrewarding life.

He is told that money is the root of all evil but he wants some and so he feels evil, sinful, unworthy.

He is told not to judge others, that we are all the same, but he does judge, as he must, and he discovers we are not all the same and he feels bewildered and guilty.

He is taught to fear failure, to fear rejection, so he runs from the enriching challenges and involvements of life.

He is taught that ideas do not matter, that they are but mental games that have no important meaning in his life...and so they don’t.

He is told that being born into a society has automatically made him a signatory to a social contract that decrees what he must do to satisfy his obligations to society.  He is advised that from time to time, society will define and clarify for him the duties he owes to society and the financial obligations he owes to other, less endowed, less industrious, members of society.  He is told that failure to do such duties and to pay such financial obligations (via taxes and other assessments) is punishable by fine and/or imprisonment, in amounts and duration set from time to time by society.

He is advised not to question, criticize nor contest either society’s authority under this social contract or his obligations hereunder under penalty of being labeled a radical, a rebel, an iconoclast, an idealist, a troublemaker,  each of whom is punishable by social banishment.

He is promised that in return for his obedience and fulfillment of the terms of this social contract, he will be permitted to be an accepted member of society.

Now, of course, such a contract could have no legal efficacy, could it?  After all, it was imposed upon you without your consent and if you do not agree with the terms of the contract, you are still forcefully bound by them. It is a contract that our courts would not enforce, would they?

But they do, every day, with respect to virtually every aspect of our lives.  (Remember, the judges and prosecuting attorneys are members of society.)  

If I choose to obey the social contract, I become a pawn to be used in the “public interest.”  If I choose not to obey, I am punished.  Clever!  Either way, I am being coerced to live my life, to some extent, in accordance with the wishes of the minds of others. 

Society, the alleged benefactor, is in fact an assassin.

The frontiersman opted for social banishment.