Philosophy done right

Philosophy Forums Philosophy
1

it is 6:00 am and a man wakes up…
we do not have a name for this man, he is just
a man… one of billions of men who woke up this morning…

But instead of leaping up and taking his usual shower
and then dressing for work, the man lingered in bed…
He was puzzled by a question that came into his head,
perhaps from a dream, perhaps it just popped into his head…

What am I to do? It is a simple enough question…
What should I do today? The man had spent his entire life
being a normal human being, before pondered this question…

He was born and was raised in his parents’ faith, with a name
given to him by his parents, within the country of his parents birth
and now his country of birth…He was given the usual education,
which left him no questions, as education should leave us without
any questions… as to who we are and what it is we should do…

He was married, as all good citizens should be married…
but his wife was out of town dealing with her sick mother…
He thought he should call her, but after looking at the clock,
he realized, she wouldn’t even be up yet…

and so, he laid in bed… pondering… What am I to do?

As he was an good employee, he thought about calling his work,
talking to his boss… perhaps that would clarify what it was he was
supposed to do?

He called his boss… “Hay, Tom”" this being a modern work place,
he could call his boss by his first name… ''What is it I am supposed to
do?" His boss answered “Well, today, you have the Ginsmore account
and the Tomas account” ““But Tom, what is it I am supposed to do?”
“You do what you always have done, which is manage the accounts
in district 6” “” But why? What is the point of this?” “Are you Ok?
You sound a little weird… is everything all right?”

And he thought to himself, I am supposed, expected to
say, yes, everything is fine… I’ll be in shortly…but that
wasn’t what he was feeling… He wasn’t sick, not really,
but he wasn’t fine, he just knew, knew something was wrong
and but he just couldn’t put his finger on it…

''No, Tom, I am not feeling ok, I think I am coming down with
something… I think I will take the day off…

“Ok, no problem, just make sure you are in tomorrow. We have
that big presentation going on tomorrow at 10:00.‘’
and the boss hung up. That didn’t make him feel any better or
worse, for that matter… it didn’t make him feel anything at all…
and the question he faced, ''What am I to do?” still bothered him,
maybe even haunted him a bit… Perhaps what also bothered him
was the fact that this question, had never bothered him before…
I have obligations and bills and commitments that I cannot just
ignore or leave behind…I have two cars for heavens sake,
I need two cars to live…and just as quickly the thought came into
his head, "“do you?”

What this was, was the first time, ever, that he had doubted…
anything in his entire life…‘‘is your very survival depending on
you’re having two cars?’’ a second doubting question…and then
came a third question’’ a terrifying question…
''is this life you lead, really all there is to this life?"
''Is obligations and commitments and car payments,
really all there is in your life?" ‘‘Do you have anything
of your life that isn’t about your obligations,
commitments, your bills, and duty?’’ ''What in your life
is actually yours?" ''The question of ‘‘What am I to do?"
is answered by your daily working, and being a good citizen,
buying products that keep the system going, but is any of it,
any of it, actually about you?’’ More questions and where
are these questions coming from?

''Do you do your daily obligations because it is what you want,
or do you do your daily obligations because it is expected of you?"

And he realized, he didn’t know that answer…
I go to work to afford things, cars and a house and a cat
named Bandit… But how is that me? How are buying things
really about me and what I want? Which really begs the question,
''What do I want?" To be honest, that answer always came from
outside of him… from his education, his childhood indoctrinations,
the media constantly begging, demanding, pleading with its
citizens, buy, buy, buy…be a good citizen by being
a good consumer, by being a good producer, by being
a good worker…Just as his boss Tom expected this morning…
a good citizen is one that is a good worker and a good consumer…

‘‘But does that make it right? Does that make it something
that I want to engage with?.. Does the entirety of my life lie
with buying things, making things, producing things…
Is that all there is to life? And then I retire, where according to
statistics, I will die roughly 7 years later…is that the entirety of
my life? Where I spend the first 20 years being educated to work
and then 50 years of my life working and then 7 years without working
before I die? So, of the roughly 75 years of my life, all but 7 years
is engaged in either preparing for work or actually working…
I get 7 years, where because of ill health, I might get 3 years
of good health before I become too sick to enjoy my retirement…
Is that all there is to this?’’

The questions in his head became too much… he rushed out
of bed… took a quick shower and grabbed his coat and went
outside… to escape his troubling questions…

''What am I to do?"

Next, ‘‘what am I to believe in?’’

Kropotkin

2

it was still early as he finished his showering and shaving…

What was he to do? specifically do today? All his life he
was told where to be and what to do… at a fairly young
age, we are sent to school, and after school, we are
expected to repay those who funded our schooling…
collage ain’t cheap… going to collage to learn a
trade or become trained into some skill to gain a job,
which is the entire point of collage… collage is
a place to gain skills to get a job, nothing more…
it has no other function…and thus we leave collage
hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt, which must
be paid off… and that is the point of the debt…
to force us into working… for right at the start of
our working career, we are already in debt to society…
we have no other choice in paying off our debt other
than working…

so, right at the start of our working career, we are forced into
working…and we need cars and clothes and other
‘‘necessities’’ to get and hold a job… which is more debt…
it is this debt that forces us into working for the next
40 or 50 years… and that is the point of this debt…
that is part of the way society/state holds and maintains
power over us…

But none of this was apparent to our ‘‘hero’’, all he
wanted to know was, ''What am I to do?" today…

As he stepped outside his door, he wondered, where should
I go? In his rush to get away from his overworked brain,
he forgot to eat breakfast… and this stomach was now
grumbling…

He stopped at a local diner he knew… a local greasy spoon
diner… His wife hated the place, but he was a midwestern boy…
breakfast came to $13.90… he did tip… a $5…
much too generous… after eating… he sat at his table
and fell into thought… an act that has led more
people astray than any other action…
for what heresies can thinking lead one into?
that is why the state/the society spend much time
and money coming up with ‘‘bread and circus’’ for
the people…for there is nothing more dangerous
for the state/society, then people thinking for themselves…
hence the dumbing down of the state/the society…
and the creation of education that only trains people
for a career, not to think or wonder about existence…

In any case, ''What was he supposed to do?"
Every single place he could think of to go, was
a state supported means of the ‘‘Circus’’… the museum,
the zoo, the movies, shopping malls…
for every pair of pants one buys, is another day working…
and that is the point, right? To keep people in debt…

He decided to head downtown… as he left the house
in such a hurry, he had walked to the greasy spoon
dinner, he had no car… so, he took the limited
public transportation availible…
and he idly wondered why public transportation was so
limited? To keep people in their cars meant they
had to remain in dept… gas and insurance are costs one
has to pay for…
Everything has its purpose…

Downtown was quiet… as it is during the week…
people were inside their offices working…
as good citizens ought to be doing…
He found himself in one of the well known
public parks that dotted the downtown…
It was in the middle of the shopping stores that dotted
the downtown… All these stores with their expensive
goods… more bread and circuses…
and more debt one can get into…

He stopped and looked at this… all of this…
and he suddenly realized that everything he could see
right now, everything, was part of the ‘‘bread and circus’’
of our modern age… It was hollow, empty, full of
sound and fury, signifying nothing…
of all his thoughts of the day, that thought terrified
him the most…

and if all of this was empty, hollow, what was real, what
had worth? What was worth doing? What am I to do,
if everything around me, the values of the society and state,
are empty, hollow?

As he sat on his park bench, wondering about his next step,
he was interrupted… two policemen… asking for identification…
Why are you here sir? ''I am sorry officers… I am just thinking…
''Sir, why aren’t you at work?" ‘‘I called in sick’’… …
''As you are clearly not sick, why are you here?"
''As I said, I am just thinking" ‘‘Well, sir, we are going to
write you up, give you a citation’’ ‘‘But why?"
‘‘You are clearly causing a public disturbance’’
‘‘But what public. I am the only one here’’
‘’ And that sir, will get you a second citation’’
''But why?" ''Questioning a public official is against
the law… a third citation will get you arrested…
do you want to get arrested? ““Why no, of course not”
''Then be silent and move along… be a good citizen”

And he did what he was told… for he thought of
himself as a good citizen… But why is that so important?
to keep the peace, to keep the order within the society,
the state… and for whose benefit is that done?

He kept on walking… He found another park, not too
far away…he sat down… and he continued to create
a public disturbance …he continued to think…

If all of this is empty, hollow, what is real?
What values should we believe in, hold as dear?
He didn’t know because of the education he had
recieved… never doubt, never think, never ask
questions… be a good citizen… be a good worker,
be a good consumer, be a good producer… All
praised that which is holy and dear in our society…
and to what end does one practice being a good
worker, a good consumer, a good producer?
Who does it benefit? Why do we spend 50 plus
years being a good worker? Only to have maybe,
maybe 7 years of retirement… years without
work/a career, being the primary goal of our existence…

Without even realizing it, he stood up… he stood
on the park bench and looked for someone to engage with…
a nearby man was walking by… and he shouted at the man,
''What do you hold to be true? What do you believe in?"
and being a good citizen, the man ran away… for
asking questions is not working, is not being a
good citizen… there is no money to be made in asking
questions of this sort… and there was no one around…

So, he sat down… What was I taught to believe in?
Aristotle once wrote in a book, that all men desired
was to know things, to have knowledge…
The Medieval man was taught to believe in god,
heaven, hell and the truth of the bible…
and what is the modern man taught?
That there is nothing outside of or beyond
the creation of wealth…all hail the GDP…
the religion of the modern state…
But is that all there is? What lies beyond the
creation of wealth, the pursuit of profits?

He happened to look around and saw another couple
of policemen heading his way… He had forgotten that
the modern state has a myriad of ways to keep track of
public spaces… Drones, satellites, cameras on every pole
in our public areas… and of course the point of that was
to keep the peace… to maintain public order…
to make sure everyone remained a good citizen…
Not to disturb the public peace…
But which public exactly? Himself and others like him
or the state?

He again ran away… but the ever-present drones and
cameras kept track of him… to keep the peace…
to maintain public order…and who did that benefit?

Suddenly a booming voice came from somewhere…
He couldn’t tell where…

"Citizen, go home… Your presence has been notice
and you are now identified… go back to work
and no other actions will be made against you…
fail to go to work, and you will be investigated
as a danger to the public order’’

As he walked back to the public transportation,
he noticed a drone following him… and every street
corner camera followed him down the street…
being a good citizen means doing what one was told…
that is how the public order is maintained…
to keep the peace above all… and for whose
benefit is the peace being kept for?

When he finally arrived home, there were two policemen
at his door…

the taller of the two spoke to him…

“” As per public order 1984, you are hereby charged with
a failure to follow public directives 2025 and 1959.
Your work has been notified, and you are to be fined
2 months of pay. Sentence has been carried out and
the fine has been removed from your bank account…
You are broke… Your only recourse is to return to work
and recover your money like all good citizens… by working…
Have a safe day’’ and they handed him a piece of paper…
Which listed all his crimes that day… and the fine for
each crime…and it came up to exactly how much money
he had in the bank…

How was he going to explain this to his wife?

and with that came a text from his wife on his phone…
‘‘I have been told of your actions today. If I cannot be
treated in the style I have become accustomed to, I
am no longer interested in being your wife…I herby
am serving you with divorce papers’’…

There is a price to be paid for questioning the bread
and circuses of today…

questioning our beliefs and values come with a cost…

and who does that benefit?

next, what can we know?

Kropotkin

3

a side bar here…but Kropotkin, what you write here
is pure poppycock… fantasy of the worst order…

What, the state doesn’t have access to drones, or to satellites,
to having cameras on every street corner? The state
doesn’t have access to how much money one makes?..
the State cannot write the laws to benefit itself or those
who own the state, big businesses?

I remind you that at one point in time, slavery was legal,
that woman were considered property was legal, that women
had no independent access to bank accounts or credits cards…
they had to have a man, co-sign for them on any bank account
they created… and this was law until 1974…that it was illegal
for blacks and whites to marry in Virgina until 1969…

Laws can be created for all kinds of purposes… and for whose
benefit is this done?

and as far as being efficient, the entire goal of business
is to make money, which is to say, to be as efficient as
possible…and big business has demanded for years
that the government become much more efficient…
I.E… to be run to make money… to make profits…

at what point does my little story run into fantasy,
when every single aspect exists right now, today…
it only lacks intent… and that is easy enough to
create, to manifacture… especially when big business
owns the government…

there is not a single element of my story that doesn’t exists
right now, today…

Kropotkin

4

About an hour after the policemen left… he got an
e-mail from work…

“As your job has now been reclassified, you no longer
have health care… Please report to your new job site
at…”

and almost the very next moment, came another e-mail,

“As your new job reclassification is of a lower status, you
can no longer afford your home. Your new residence is at…
it is a studio apartment… Have a safe day”

Efficiency, efficiency, efficiency… that is how the battle is
won or lost… that is how profits are made or lost…
and in the final accounting of life, that is all that matters…

What if he wanted to retire… that is not possible… to be able
to retire legally, one must be 70… that is the law and to collect
any benefits from retirements, one must have a job…
health care is only possible through a job… social security and
Medicare is only possible by working so many years…
any public benefits we get is done by working…
making having a job, working, compulsory…
there are no exceptions… to receive any benefits of any
kind, requires a certain number of years worked…
don’t believe me… try to apply for Social Security before 65…

and if in working in capitalism, working is compulsory, how is
that any different than communism?

every aspect of modern existence requires, demands
that we have a job…how does that make capitalism
superior to capitalism?

The basics of existence, of living is food, water, shelter,
education, health care… and each of those basics requirements
of living requires one to have a job… thus the basics of
existence is a privilege, not a right to have unless one
works for it… something animals take for granted must
be worked for in our modern existence… basic necessities
that allow one to even exists, must be worked for…

At this point, we are below animals in the chain of being…
and what if one refuses to work? you become homeless and
you will die… for there is no other choice, no other
alternative outside of working in our human existence…
is that what it means to be human?

what can we know?

How do we know that capitalism is the greatest economic
system ever devised if it allows no choice, no alternative to it…
Participate or die, that is the essence of capitalism…
the alternative is to die…and that conflicts with the primary
instinct all life has, which is to survive… In the end,
capitalism brings itself to a greater need than even this
basic instinct of life… work or die… in capitalism,
is there any other choice?

He certainly didn’t see any other choice… do you?

Kropotkin

5

Do you ever clean yourself up, or is it just baked on drivel at the corners of your mouth. God.

6

stnms: Do you ever clean yourself up, or is it just baked on drivel at the corners of your mouth. God.

K: I am sorry you are unable to grasp the concepts I am presenting…

Kropotkin