Socrates' Schtick
I went to the Midway on Saturday for the first time in over a decade- it’s incredible how little time has touched it. The air is still electric with the optimism of the 60s and the wary optimism of the 70s. Perhaps that’s what the name of the beast is with The Ex- an example of the leveling Kierkegaardian Aesthetic- where this is the most possible fun one can have- while still contributing their lives to the pursuit of that which the powers that be suggest. As my sister the German Environmentalist would muse- “A bread and circus”. This is what the Romans used to have to keep the working class contented, placid and distracted- basically manufacturing the good favor of the workers to protect the elite.
That’s something that philosophers and academics have touched upon again and again over the millennium- how do the classes interact- and more specifically how can the elite class keep the working class working?
Marx said that religion is the opiate of the masses- and then the Bourgeois stick it to you.
Modern Management texts would say you have 2 options: the carrot or the stick.
Adam Smith said leave it to the invisible stick and everything will just take care of itself.
Jean Jaque Rousseau said that love yourself like you love others (or was it love others like you love yourself)- and remember to stick to the social contract.
Hobbes said Speak quietly and carry and big stick
Locke said Speak loudly and don’t bother with a stick. Hobbes and Locke were kind of the Jerry and Newman of their own times.
Machiavelli said use the stick to beat them after you get them drunk.
Freud said that your stick is a phallic representation of how you wish to control your own life, but feel powerless to do so because your mother refused to pass the salt… Or that’s my best understanding of it… That and women have stick envy.
Jung said that the stick represents the archetype. I’m not sure what he meant- but I just really like his name… Jung…. Jung… Jung.
Camus said that there is no stick except what we are conditioned to recognize as the stick.
Durkheim said that if you’re experiencing cognitive dissonance- you will identify with the marginalized deviants move to the sticks.
The end result is that almost every philosopher has ways in which the powers that be are protected from the powers that work. On that note-
That’s something that philosophers and academics have touched upon again and again over the millennium- how do the classes interact- and more specifically how can the elite class keep the working class working?
Marx said that religion is the opiate of the masses- and then the Bourgeois stick it to you.
Modern Management texts would say you have 2 options: the carrot or the stick.
Adam Smith said leave it to the invisible stick and everything will just take care of itself.
Jean Jaque Rousseau said that love yourself like you love others (or was it love others like you love yourself)- and remember to stick to the social contract.
Hobbes said Speak quietly and carry and big stick
Locke said Speak loudly and don’t bother with a stick. Hobbes and Locke were kind of the Jerry and Newman of their own times.
Machiavelli said use the stick to beat them after you get them drunk.
Freud said that your stick is a phallic representation of how you wish to control your own life, but feel powerless to do so because your mother refused to pass the salt… Or that’s my best understanding of it… That and women have stick envy.
Jung said that the stick represents the archetype. I’m not sure what he meant- but I just really like his name… Jung…. Jung… Jung.
Camus said that there is no stick except what we are conditioned to recognize as the stick.
Durkheim said that if you’re experiencing cognitive dissonance- you will identify with the marginalized deviants move to the sticks.
The end result is that almost every philosopher has ways in which the powers that be are protected from the powers that work. On that note-
Happy Labor Day
posted by Mike at 9/06/2004 06:55:00 p.m.
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