MINDLESS MUSINGS

Now we enter the infancy of the monstrosity we live in today. Enjoy as we watch the ancient ancestors of the elites take their baby steps. There was no textbook available on ‘how to fuck-over your peers by creating an air of superiority’. These OGs were literally beating a new path from scratch. Running on nothing but greed, vanity and cunning. They didn’t invent greed, nor were they the first to tell lies. What they did was (this fits too perfectly!) they created synergy.

A brand-new recipe with innumerable variations: conceit, deception, double-dealing, conniving etc. All in the name of “I deserve this!”. It didn’t happen everywhere at the same time, but it certainly was popular judging by the way we turned out.

Was it an inevitable outcome of my surplus theory?

Was it that at least one opportunist in every tribe was bound to figure it out eventually?

Did it catch on by observation? One tribe member notices the behaviour in a neighbouring tribe and has a lightbulb moment. “Yeah, I’m special like those few. I am entitled to more than the others.”

The remaining egalitarian groups somehow never had any self-serving trendsetters and were isolated enough to not witness the highs and lows of inequality – which as it turns out is usually directly proportional to where you stand in the haves and have-nots’ stakes. Whatever the reason, these precious specimens are all but extinct now.

Their numbers never bloated, and they remained inconspicuous within the grand scheme of things. Unfortunately, the ever-expanding majority relentlessly encroached on and, either absorbed or eliminated these relics. It’s miraculous that there is any left at all today!

I’m not saying they were utopian paradises and I’m certainly not saying they were always kind to outsiders (might be a reason for their longevity). My theory is simply that without the wicked visionaries there may have existed a time where humans, as flawed and brutal as they can be, didn’t need to be relentlessly growing in numbers and expanding their territory. A time when enough was actually enough.

Tragically it seems to have been an all or nothing contest. As soon as one group started thriving and multiplying it was only a matter of time before they began impinging on their neighbours. The neighbouring mob had three main choices:

• Flourish themselves and prepare to fight – either be wiped out or…
• Join the ever-expanding tribe.
• Flee and find a new residence.

Like I mentioned earlier some of the strong-willed groups who knew they couldn’t win a war managed to escape and depending on how secluded the destination, were able to avoid the insatiable appetite of improvement and growth. I imagine it was a plausible strategy for millennia, but the ‘modernisers’ were always lurking on the heels of the ‘savages’. Shit! People went as far as the fucken Arctic for a bit of peace and freedom. Nomadic groups wandering through deserts just trying to be left the fuck alone! At one stage the most intrepid tribes were fortunate enough to have entire oceans between themselves and the ‘conquerors’. Not just islands too, entire continents remained hidden for ages.

The way I understand it, Oz and NZ were the last hold outs. Pure geography I suppose. The ravenous horde were always coming. It was just so far away! What a horrible story this is. Even without delving into the atrocities and treachery the rot of humanity is startling. Colonisation is another ugly thread I plan to follow, but for now let us get back to long before then.

Long before the dreadful rape and pillaging of the ‘uncivilized’, it was just a few self-indulgent entrepreneurial fiends who would plant the seeds for all the vile misdeeds to come. At this fledgling stage the best they could do was manoeuvre themselves into leadership positions and skim a little cream. That would change as the stockpile and populations grew.

Again, I feel obliged to say that I did not set out expecting such a miserable path, but I must follow the chain of thought. I hope you read on.