as time is short...
much is made of how we can individually create our own self...
and yet, and yet the society/state plays a powerful role in
the creation of self.... would I be the same person in
the Soviet Union or the south before the Civil War? no,
of course not..... who we are, are very nature is dictated
by our society, family, state, media and very ideas that
surround us from birth.... the very essence of America is
found in a discription..... god, country and guns.... which
pretty much sums up American values...the idea of being American,
was really discovered during the Civil War.... if someone ask before
the Civil War, where you were from... one would answer the state you
were from, not the country.... I come from New York, not, I come from
the U.S... we self-identified with our local status, the state, not
the country of America....
but my very nature, who I am, comes just as much from my state
and country, as it does from my family or social status or when
I was born.....
One of the stories of America is how one ''built'' themselves into
a success story...the ''lone wolf'' built a company all by themselves
and made themselves, by their own efforts, a successful person.....
there are two problems with this narrative.. ONE, its not true....
no one, I don't care who you are, can build a company by yourself.. it
simply can't happen.... TWO. the narrative of being successful is
wrong.... does success really have to do with building a company or
becoming wealthy? the definition of success is very, very narrowly defined...
and it includes titles, wealth, material possessions, power and fame.....
all of which I have stated is trinkets.. which have no value... they are
eating empty calories... they fill you up but don't keep you healthy...
they are the junk food of life... wealth and titles and fame and material
possessions and power.... and we define ourselves in terms of this junk food
of America... not by any values that have some worth...
the self we create by American values is junk food... void of any real
value or worth... what values should we pursue that isn't empty calories
or junk food?
Kropotkin