And at the End There is an Iron Fist

One thing that I really enjoy is taking the mysteries out of life.  Reducing unknowns.  Learning.  See, ignorance leads to fear and fear leads to unhappiness.  So the more you know, the happier you can be.  Plus, knowledge is empowering.  When you know more about the world around you then you are more likely to be able to function well.  There are a few basic things that I think most people should know to make them more comfortable in the world.  One of those is how a piston engine works.  Almost everyone drives a car, but few people know how the car is actually propelled.  Same with a computer.  People should know basically how a computer works.  People should also know the basics of how government and law works.  Now many subjects like these are too complicated for anyone to fully understand, even someone highly educated on the very subjects.  Fortunately, for you to gain the comfort, power and happiness that comes with the knowledge of certain things, you only need to know the basicas.  Our educational system should, at the minimum, provide that much, but it doesn't.  Too often we are educated on the theory of how things are supposed to work, but not how they actually work.  For that reason, people graduate from high school, and even college, terribly misinformed about how the world actually works.  So, when people graduate from high school or college they spend at least a couple of years desperately hanging on to what they think the world should be like before they realize that they've been lied to all of their lives and embrace the horror that a lot of what they've been told is untrue.  (I'm not suggesting any sort of conspiracy, here.  What I'm suggesting is an incompetence or ineffectiveness in the conveyance of ideas.)  People then have to spend several more years learning about the real world.  Think of how much time has been wasted.  What could we accomplish if, at age 18, you were spit out of the education system well informed and well adjusted?  For that reason, I would be highly in favor of an educational system that more resembles what I think of as technical or vocational schools.  Of course, I also think we should do away with other fallacies like Santa Claus and the American Dream, to name just a couple.  "What's wrong with the truth?" I always say.  Would Christmases have been any less happy if I had known all along that my parents were responsible for the shitload of new toys I woke up to in the morning? Or that they had done that as a traditional part of our culture based on the generous acts of a Scandinavian bishop named Kris Kringle, or some shit?  I highly doubt it.  See, I fear no truth; even if it's horrible, and no one else should either.  What I fear are lies and fallacies that are shielding us from the truth.

I once suggested to someone that despite advances in our culture, everything still boils down to who can kick who's ass.  I mean like physically.  The person I told that to told me that that was barbaric.  I didn't disagree, but that's the way it was as I had it figured.  For example, take Bill Gates.  He's the richest guy in the world and he wields enormous power because of it.  But physically, he's a weak-ass pussy.  If someone were to put him in a choke hold or hold a gun to his head, he's powerless.  All of that money and power doesn't do him a bit of good at that moment unless he's able to buy his way out of the situation.  So, it's not really who has the gold who makes the rules, it's who can kick the guy's ass who has the gold that makes the rules.  (Of course, in the case of militaries, it takes gold in the first place to be able to build the ability to kick-ass, but that's another issue.)  Most social constructs don't allow people to resort to physical violence to get what they need or want, but when things reach a point the social constructs are out the window and fists or bullets start flying.

Two things started me thinking about this stuff.  One is that I'm reading Charlie Wilson's War right now.  I have already seen the movie and I got the book for Christmas.  The thing that I love about the story is that it proves something that I really believe in - that great things don't happen in some far away place to other people.  They happen right here; to people like you and me.  The ablity to do great and wonderful things exists in almost everyone and the first step to getting people to do great and wonderful things is to make them believe that they can.  You can write a great novel.  You can make an awesome movie.  You can be a rock star.  You can change the lives of the people around you for the better.  Anything.

The second thing is that yesterday I went out and took some property from someone as part of a lawsuit.  As a lawyer, I've learned a few things about the way the law and government work.  Almost every time I seize a bank account or property in a lawsuit the people respond with some variation of "You can do that?"  Yes you can fucking do that!  Otherwise, what is the point of suing someone if you can't enforce the results?  The phrase "law enforcement" has taken on an entirely new meaning to me.  People think that lawsuits are about lawyers and courtrooms and judges and papers, but they aren't.  They are about a law enforcement officer with a gun and a badge who is going to come to your home or place of business and take your shit.  At the end there is an iron fist.

Comments

[Snake Diggity]

Good post; I don't have much to add, but I will comment that you call the American Dream a "fallacy" but then later describe "The ablity to do great and wonderful things exists in almost everyone and the first step to getting people to do great and wonderful things is to make them believe that they can...", which is what I would say the American Dream is founded on.

Your Iron Fist theory is mostly right, but only on an end-line level. There are a shitload of things preventing most situations from reaching the "I'm stronger than you so I can tell you what's what" point.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go lift weights.

[Chris Stevenson]

Yeah, absolutely. The fact is that 99% or more of things get resolve without people having to rely on the last resort - the Iron Fist. Effective negotiating, intelligence, charm, personality, leverage of any kind can all resolve any situation without the need for the last resort. Those things are more effective and efficient that the Iron Fist, too. So you don't have to be Chuck Liddell or whatever to get ahead in life. I mean, look at all of the physical badasses that would rise to the top if ability to do violence was all it took. These days, those guys are low-level bouncers at clubs and shit. The guys runnin' thangs are shriveled up old white dudes who can't kick any ass. My point was sort of that I think a lot of people have been lulled to sleep and don't realize what's at the end of the line.

[Ojo Rojo]

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