my theory of society...

[hagman51]

Society was created to allow for humans to gain a sense of security by cooperating with each other in order to survive in the harsh world of nature. In order to enable for a sense of stability to be enabled in society, change must not occur into society. So the question is how does society go about preventing change? Through the opression of the individuals of society, society forces these individuals to conform, and with this an individual under the control of the masses. There is an ongoing battle between those who disagree with the social norm and society. The individuals caught in the crossfire are the people who conform but do not reap the "rewards" of conforming to society. Now some of these people who refuse to conform with society change the world negatively(that's what society is trying to prevent through its opression) whereas other people who refuse to conform to with society change the world positively(which brings about a cultural evolution of humanity, which is currently the only feasible method for humans to evolve)

 

[Forkbender]

Hey! Welcome to our little corner on the net!

About Society:

Read Foucault.

'Society' doesn't do anything, it is not an 'actor'.

 

[hagman51]

I am not intending to depict society as having humanistic qualities, any humanistic qualities which i have described society having above are purely for the purpose of allowing for one to percieve the current state of our enslavement to the masses in an easy manner. While many would argue that you cant give humanistic qualities just for the "sake of the argument" look at capitalism. Adam Smith described capitalism as being self regulating through the "invisible hand" theory, that's a rather humanistic qualty which capitalism has been given, but its also true(if you live in an ideal world where people have to intention of creating monopolies and being corrupt.) Its also reasonable to give society humanistic traits(and say that it does something) considering that it is made up of people. im not suggesting that there's some evil new world order who actually plots this opression but i am suggesting that the natural tendencies of people to look for a stable environment to live in subconsciously causes them to support and expand the opresssion of society.


oh and Foucault is a philosopher i am looking at society as a sociologist. I am not very well read on foucault but he seems to discuss the power gap which exists in society. This power gap is extensively discussed in The Unibombers Manifesto. I consider this power gap in society to be another example of opression which we go through.

 

[hagman51]

and thanks for the welcome!

 

[????????]

I agree with what you said, in the sense that there is a duality in society so there's always a conservative group that fights to keep things more or less as they are and the others that fight for the betterment of the situation.

The question is then: who is right? obviously neither since both are necessary for balance (a chaotic balance). I think this reflects the old battle between black and white. The way everything is this big drama or play and we are the players.

 

[hagman51]

My personal answer to that(its not really an answer but more so an eloboration of the last point you made) interestingly goes out of the realm of sociology and dwelves into spirituality and the path to enlightenment and realizing what it truly means to be. With that said, along the course of the path to enligthenment one must realize that rather than there being a path to becoming one with the ego, there's a stream. This stream encompasses every individual who all desire to be freed from their "mind prison"(which is so because every individual has the natural desire to be happy) with some being able to do this better than others. Because of this, one must realize that every person's path in life should be treated as the ideal path(and with that, there being no right person or wrong person.) The only situation where someone is wrong is when someone else is hurt either physicallly or emotionally.

an interesting point you made which I would like to adress is, "The way everything is this big drama or play and we are the players." I really like that because it is so true, and it also helps point out what occurs when you are enligthened and escape the large wall that encompasses us all into the nirvana like state of being which we all can potentially attain. when you attain that sense of being, you escape from the control of society because you relinquish yourself from desire(which is what society uses to control you through different forms of opression which cause you to desire more.) In essence you become the audience watching the play.

 

[Forkbender]

oh and Foucault is a philosopher i am looking at society as a sociologist. I am not very well read on foucault but he seems to discuss the power gap which exists in society.

Well, yes and no. Foucault is not a philosopher in the Modern-Western sense of the word. He's more like a guru, especially his later works. His earlier work was about how power is exercised through different systems of society, institutions, discourses, etc. Most of it showed that power was omnipresent, in every relation, and that it couldn't be avoided. For Foucault, power is not something someone can possess, it can only be exercised. Power works through different relations with the people around you. Where there is power in one side of the relationship, there is power on the other side, the exercise may be either antagonistic or simultaneous. When there is only domination, there is no real relationship of power and power is reduced to violence, which is a very ineffective way of getting people to do what you want them. My interest goes out to the later works by Foucault, because herein he tries to create a philosophy that empowers, a philosophy that hands us tools we can use in whichever way we like to further our freedom. These "techniques of the self" are precisely that which can help us overcome domination.

i am suggesting that the natural tendencies of people to look for a stable environment to live in subconsciously causes them to support and expand the opresssion of society.

Though it might be said that society acts as oppressor, it would rather be collective action (or collective looking-the-other-way-in-the-face-of-fear). To ascribe the oppression to 'society' is an act of distancing yourself from it, something that a lot of people who contribute to this society are more than glad to do. I'm proposing that we should take our responsibility in being part of this whole mess and stop ascribing all evils to some externalities that are beyond our control. Victim-consciousness is turning us into pathological complainers, instead of freeing us up. It prevents us from realizing that we are in fact much freeer than we think.

 

[Lion]

f*ck society!

nature is my god, the forest my church!

 

[buffachino]

The idea of Man is like a fire; it can only exist if we continue to give it fuel.
Yet there are only enough trees to indulge the myth for so long…

And where then will we find comfort, if not by the burning remains of our selves?

Ha, Ha, Ha, He, He, He, Ho, Ho, HO!!!

 

[tryptonaut]

There's people who rely more on society than others. I can live very well without always having people around me. Others can't. Still I seek social contact, because essentially we are a group-animal. People naturally form groups because in groups we are stronger. Groups form opinions, opinions make for beliefs, beliefs oppress new ideas... and so on. It's a fact. You can't change the facts, but you can choose to not believe the beliefs and form or join a new group...

 

[Lion]

society does not mean having friends.

 

[magickmumu]

Safety and freedom, important forces within society. The old story. The noble said to the people: I will protect you, if you work for me. Give up your freedom and I can give you security.
You will be safe, but you and your children will belong to me.

 

[HeartCore]

removed the troll food

 

[GOD]

"History is moving and changing."

The American people have got 14% more intelligent in the last 40 years acording to a BBC report this week .

 

[Lion]

"History is moving and changing."

The American people have got 14% more intelligent in the last 40 years acording to a BBC report this week .

that's a fucking lott

 

[GOD]

Yeh !! I had dificulty believing it as well , but the report seemed to be quite convincing . I thought that there must be some sort of mistake somewhere because if you project it back a few more years it would mean that they were all so thick that they couldnt whistle and walk at the same time . Plus i cant see any sign of it , can anyone else ????

 

[buffachino]

Sure, social tenets and ethics adjust according to symptomatic circumstance, yet the progenitive concept of self perpetual civilisation dependant upon the sustenance of its own intrinsic contravention hasn’t changed a damn bit.
It’s us against the world in the minds of so many.
Yet again the projection of mans separation from the nature of his existence.
A result of our movement from the trees, and our eventual gateway to the stars.
Civilisation is the birthing pains of a mind on the fringe of acceptance or denial.
A struggle between abandonment and flight.
Only to notice that one is already falling.