In school I was told the profit motive will save us all. It will trickle down to all of us and save us from despotism and poverty.
In school I was told everyone has a fair shot to make it, all it'll take is hard work. The hidden but not said implication was that all of us had an equal shot to get there.
In school I was taught to look out for myself, my grade was the only grade that should matter to me, and group work was minimized. Individualism was marketed as my personal savior.
In school I was taught that the purpose of education was to get a job, in fact I never really remember anyone talking about learning how to think. That wasn't important apparently ... which is why we were taught to memorize.
In short, I feel lied to. Anything great that has been accomplished in the world has been accomplished by a group. Martin's speech wouldn't have mattered if no one was there. Malcom X wouldn't have been terrifying to the establishment if no one listened to him. Gandi woulda just been an old fool if the people didn't support him. Group group group group group. Man do I feel lied to. The look out for self mentality well it doesn't get ya very far.
I guess I'll start w/ a poem I titled "Lied to"
The face of the American people is black, white, yellow, and blue We’ve been suffocated by the corporation who knew All along we thought they were here to employ you But instead we’ve found ourselves stuck like glue They’ve claimed the right to make law In the beginning we believed what we saw Now we are being held down by the invisible paw And our services are being and have been cut down by that invisible saw We are being starved while food surrounds us The profit motive of our auto industry stole our bus Now we can’t afford to get to work, but we told never to fuss we’re the American people, the corporation said trust us So we did, and our iron economy turned into rust The promised boom times revealed the lie, the boom was bust I feel had, I thought the foundation of a relationship was trust But I guess I’m naive to think they’d treat us better than dust Sweeping us out the way to please the source of their lust The Fed’s got em all in bed so now who do we trust They turned most of the gov against us I guess we really only got us
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You know, the corporation is a group, and look how much power they have as individual corporations (which are obviously groups of shareholders etc working together for profit) or as a group pushing for policy that favors them. Man this individualism thing really fails us normal people.
I mean what if blocks in the city worked as groups to beautify their area and manage crime. Hell what if they all had gardens to reduce the cost of food for the people there. And what if the blocks worked as a group to influence city politics. And if the cities worked together to influence the state. And if the states filled with blocks that are working towards a common goal came together to influence the Fed. And what if people cared about their common person as they cared about themselves and shed this individualistic doctrine. What if?
I mean this individualism is all a lie. Isn't it? I mean what would a CEO be without a company to run, and without investors making that business possible. Democracy is all about groups working together. So where did this rugged individual even come from.
I ran track for years, and that is supposedly an individual sport. But, you get scored as a team, there are relays, and all sorts of other things make it a team sport. You plan which races to run harder in and which ones to kick back a little based on where you need to score points. The relays are based on team work and trust as the baton is passed from one person to the next. Coach never said just think about yourself. So why was I told that everywhere else?
Is it that those in power are afraid of everyone else being group minded. Would their powerful groups lose some power if everyone else worked in efficient groups too. Do they enjoy watching us struggle to get all the things we need to get done done as an individual when it would be easier as a group? Are they sadistic? (those wealthy people at the top) Why can't we be group minded to?
Edit: I just realized that I should mention this, this society is far from individualistic in structure. We don't go out and secure a piece of land and manage it ourselves. We don't work the land to feed our own family and fetch water. We don't do many things for ourselves. We lean on other people to get those tasks done. We just don't even think about that as being a part of a group. Its the failure to see that allows us to think of ourselves as individuals. I just think that is a shame.