[MD] How are people controlled?

[ARLO J BENSINGER JR]

[Arlo]
I no more prefer my life to be based on what Washington or Franklin "said" than
on what Yahweh  or Jesus "said". We take the Good, scrap the bad, and move
forward.

[David M]
Made me think about control. None of us want to be controlled. We want to make
choices for ourselves. But how much choice do we have? Do we know what choices
are available?

[Arlo]
This is a big problem. And I think a lot of it has to with social habituation.
>From early on, as far down as elementary school, we begin shuffling people
towards particular trajectories, and all the while reinforce expected behavior
and outcomes. People learn to accept their lot in life. I also feel it stems
from a lack of critical thinking, which is devalued and ignored (mostly) as a
skill set. Until a problem can be understood, a solution can never be found.
All to often, habituation leads to both diagnosis and solution. By fostering
creativity and critical thinking from early on we can combat this in large
degree.

[David M]
Take work. Most of us start out with only having our labour to sell. We take
ourselves off to the labour market and see what there is to offer. We find an
employer, offering some work we think we can do, we sign some contract, if
there is anything in the contract we don't like we usually can't get it
changed. Off to work we go, and find that the way the work is to be done is all
set out for us, that there is a command structure to the form of organisation.

[Arlo]
What Marx wrote about labor alienation is particularly illuminating today. There
is strong parallel between the dissonance revealed in modern labor in ZMM and
the disjointedness Marx saw swelling from the implementation of industrial
technology. While Marx lacked a language to see that the problem was the result
of an S/O culture more than determined by technology, the way labor has been
alienated reveals the depth of S/O dominance continuing through modern day.

[David M]
All very lacking in choice. Could we imagine better forms of organisation that
were more flexible and recognising of the freedom of the individual? Should we
not have to co-operatively negotiate every step in the process. What hours you
work, where you work, how you do your work, what work is imprtant and needs
doing, etc? Do most of our current social forms reflect force, control and
bribery rather than choice?

[Arlo]
I would hope (and I truly believe) that the adoption of a metaphysics (on a
cultural scale) that recognizes Quality would lead us towards what you imagine
here. But until we lose the S/O dominance, the labor alienation it induces will
likely not change. Some employers are starting to get it. Look at Google for
example. Holy Cow! And Starbucks. But our markets today (overall) are not about
people, they are about money, and people are just another commodity to be
bought, sold and dispensed with to maximize profit. Its changing, but it'll
pour like molasses until more people "see" Quality and stop seeing dollar
signs.