Here's my view of how it all came about... I'm probably wrong in many areas, but I
think my 'drift' of it is near the mark.
Imagine our species at the beginning.
You're born and used to the safety of your Mother and some other who occasionally
shows up and provides you with food. Food... that one thing that makes the body
override any modern-day thoughts that we wallow in today.
The world around you is bright and then suddenly it becomes dark, the night time is
when we huddle together and wait for that blessed thing we call daylight.
We wait wide-eyed for the strange sounds and the predators to stop their moving
around and terrible calls. In that wait, we feel safety in our numbers and some of us
sleep... a time to rest our bodies and our terrified minds.
We know there is safety in numbers and as we grow, we know that some of our number
are braver than others and stand guard, even dare to drive off any intruding night creature.
We come to rely on those who watch out for us.
For their bravery... and usually because they are more aggressive than the rest of the pack
AND because we want them to be fit and strong, they get the 'lion's share' of the food
acquired by the group.
We move on through time.
Tributes:
Gifts of what we assume are valuable are given to our brave ones. They can strategise and
plan against possible invaders, they let others dwell in the timid world where the 'bad things'
out there don't enter, they guard against the enemy.
Shiny trinkets, strange coloured stones and rich food are laid at the feet of our benevolent
guardians, hell... it's easier to farm than to fight -say some and so the perception is set in
stone that we need them more than they need us.
As our tribes merge and we become more reliant on those who lead... (the pool of so-called
warriors is diluted now by those who force with their views and not their brute strength)... we
continue to follow and the tributes become more and more intricate.
By now, we've agreed that a certain token will pass as a guarantee for the old tributes, so
notes of trust are used instead of chickens and bales of straw. That token is destined to
become the most influential object in our world.
It is built on trust and the irony is that it's acquired by many using mistrust. We almost
worship it.
We would die without it. As mankind moves off into industrial areas and starts to make
the land around him work more and more for him, he loses sight of his true self.
He herds the people together and by offering them that 'golden calf' of money, they begin
to work and the self-satisfying feel of acquiring ones own food falls away, we become
dependent on the boss, the head-honcho... the leader.
Our leader tells the masses that what they've become accustomed to needs a constant
input of money... the world that they used to forage in as long gone and now being top of
the food-chain, we've got to try harder and go further.
The leader will keep the lights on, he will make sure food is available and he also assures
us that the sick and old will not be left out to endure a lonely winter.
How can we refuse?
Our leaders seems to obtain the status of a God, they see all, they watch out for us at
night when we sleep... and they feed us. All we have to do his the mundane tasks like work
and give them some of our share... not a bad price to pay -we convince ourselves.
So here we are.
We sit at our computers, not a computer that you have ran after and caught on some
dusty plain not a machine built with your own hands, but the one provided by... (whether
you believe it or not)... by our leaders.
We grumble that these 'better-peers' are taking too much food or too many shiny baubles...
and they are, but this is the way it's been for a long time.
Many of these leaders do try, do watch for the intruder, but more-and-more sit and caress
the monies and jewels with a smugness of knowing nothing will ever change.
There are those who lead and those who follow.
edit on 10-9-2010 by A boy in a dress because: Edit: Spelling.
edit on 10-9-2010 by A boy in a dress because: (no reason given)