When we are kids we search for truth, seemingly in a sea of lies that apparently subsumes all the adults we know and depend on.
When we find that some of the things they act as if they believe are clearly and undeniably false, we realize we need to differentiate ourselves from them, or suffer the same fate. No one wants to be a pawn of puppeteers, used and discarded for their pleasure and profit. We want to be free, have integrity, and succeed where others have failed.
As we become adolescents, we discover views and messages that are designed to both separate ourselves from our elders and parents, and include us in a larger group of peers. I point out that these movements are designed, because they are. We are herded like sheep into folds of like-minded rebels, safely contained and profited from.
This isn't some new phenomenon, but an age old technique of divide and conquer strategy used to increase the wealth and power of those that establish such conflicts by expending the power of the groups they direct against each other, and therefore gaining a power advantage over them.
You can see the fullest expression of this propensity to reject what kids see as the failures of their elders in popular movements, musical genres like punk, metal, and rock in general. The fans of such movements are usually completely clueless as to how they are being herded for the profits of the promoters (and their handlers), and such herding is concealed as carefully as possible.
Just rebellion, therefore, isn't really enabling of the freedom that we seek to establish when we undertake it. The truth is that most of us really aren't capable of independence from such controlled opposition, because the controllers are smarter than us, and have sophisticated organizations.
Those of us that are capable of not joining the herds of sheep end up isolated, and therefore are incapable of doing much to change the generational system of social control. We true rebels end up targets, and our hunters are far more sophisticated and endowed with capabilities beyond ours. A common response to this reality is fatalism, which engenders affectation of unconcern used to mask frustration.
My own refusal to chase money is a glaring example of this. I, however, know it, and simply acknowledge the reality, because the truth is that I am incompetent to defeat the system, and that my limitations require that I pick my battles.
I decided that I'd prefer to live such that I enjoyed my work, the people I worked with, and sleep with a clear conscience, so divested my assets and became a handyman helping folks fix stuff.
This is no less a defeat at the hands of market manipulators than joining Antifa, or becoming some kind of gender bent snowflake, but winning just isn't an option, so I settled for peace of mind and self respect. I reckoned it was the best I could do.
Not to continue to beat my own drum too much, but I want to add that I recognize that I am no less a failure as a rebel than the punk rockers with zippers in their cheeks, or the tattooed sluts with tramp stamps, because my rejection of herds as a child left me with no moral compass, and this has required that I learn morals the hard way.
A man without regret is a man that ignores self reflection, and I do not.
Humanity self organizes into groups. We are social animals foremost, and the 'lone wolf' is a fallacy. I say this as one that has lived alone in the forest for extended periods, perhaps one of the least social of people I have met.
The point of my essay on rebellion here isn't defeatism, but rather to use myself as an example of how just rebelling and adopting the most attractive counter culture isn't rebellion at all. What is necessary is rejection of the animalistic tendency to join groups and suck at the dopamine tit by denying it's faults, and opposing it's enemies. We need to transcend our animal natures, and become self actualizing in terms of personal
integrity.
We need to do this in ways that allow us to work together in limited capacities, on issues we find we are in agreement with others on, yet not simply accepting of every plank in a platform, like yellow dog democrats (I use the example of democrats that would vote for a yellow dog if it ran on the democratic ticket, as it exemplifies the herd following trait, not because I hate democracy).
Failure is the only option. Fail with integrity.
I do believe that inevitable technological development will, at some point, cause social control mechanisms to become obsolete, and that ultimately true human freedom is unavoidable. I don't think that's going to happen today, or even, anymore, in my lifetime.
In the meantime, question everything, and accept the fact that you will fail, so that you can do so with integrity, grace, and in good faith.
