reply to post by dawnstar
you can just say heck with it, if you can't beat them join them....and become a rulebreaker yourself, prove that you are willing to compromise your
values enough times, hey, maybe you can make it to the top!!!
you can do what I decided to do at work, begin to move out of the situation, just walk away!!! kind of hard to walk away from society though...
or well, you can stay tough and let your convictions rule you
Yeah, it's a sad situation, but one of the break-throughs many of us make is that most of our "values" were handed to us by the "Massa" of the
plantation. Once we see this, we begin to see through Massa's "rules", and realize he is giving us these rules for HIS benefit, not necessarily
ours.
Of course, that being said, I don't necessarily think we need to "compromise our values", we just need to get our own set of values, and see
Massa's values for what they are. For a while, we may still feel "guilty" for disobeying Massa, but after a time, we may even come to feel good!
Certainly, when we begin to see the benefits from thinking free (which must spill over into our lives too), we may decide one day that we don't need
Massa's way of thinking anymore.
Like I've said in other posts, there is a genuine "core" value-set that we should all recognize, and strive to live up to, that is, "do unto
others", the Golden Rule, known in antiquity. It's so simple really, to understand that whatever hurts our neighbor, is really "wrong", we
certainly would not want our neighbor to hurt us. But when it gets a bit farther out, things can get wonky.
For example, religion has a whole set of ideas that don't seem to help the individual very much at all. Some of the more popular religious ideas, in
spite of being utterly preposterous, are down-right unhealthy to believe in, and yet, millions hold onto what they were given anyway. The "hell"
doctrine comes to mind. And yet, having the masses truly believe in such nonsense may actually help our rulers. As the ancients pointed out,
"hell" was created by the ruling class, to better manage an unruly mob, who might easily cut the Master's throat, if they weren't so worried about
hell-fire!
Today, when we're faced with moral situations, what is our "compass"? Are we worried about a "god" coming after us, or pridefully "doing the
right thing", or do we truly have a concern that our actions may have real consequences, in the here and now. Example: You work for a "boss", and
you have an opportunity to steal from him. But you realize that stealing from him, is stealing from his (innocent) family too. You also see that you
could easily be in his shoes, and would not want anyone stealing from you. Besides, he has placed trust in you, and if you are merely "true to
yourself", you may well choose not to be a "thief".
But things get fuzzy when it comes to the faceless corporate "boss", or the government. At this point, perhaps many of us do try and think about
the bigger picture, rightfully guessing that if "everybody" (cheated on taxes), then maybe the whole thing would come tumbling down. But what
happens when the system is radically corrupt? What goes through the honest person's mind when they know "their" money is going to be wasted by
their government? Worse, what if a person of some conviction really doesn't want to give their money to a corrupt government, who may promote things
they do not care for, abortion, war, the enslavement of their fellows?
And yet, it's far too easy to degenerate into versions of Massa, and only worry about being caught. That can't be right either! Back to keeping it
simple, being true to ourselves, and having genuine concern for our neighbor, in the same sense that we wish to be treated.
I applaud your courage to "walk away" from a bad work situation, not everyone can do that. Hopefully, something more resonant with who you are, and
who you are becoming will present itself. No, we can't exactly walk away from society, even hermits carried that "society" with them into the
caves.
But we can begin to look at things from a new perspective, and see where that leads us. For me, it was as "simple" as trying to see things from our
Master's viewpoint. Once we start thinking in this manner, much becomes clear. And we, formerly slaves, might even aspire to freedom one day.
JR