The Contented Monkey vs The Unhappy Human

[Doktor Howl]

I am a rather satisfied primate, as those things go.  I have decent economic security, a modicum of power at work and in daily life, my kids have turned out well, and I get regular sex.  By these standards, I am a contented primate, indeed.

But I'm not contented, much less particularly happy.  There is a good reason for this, and the reason is that I am not just a primate, I'm a biped; a human being.  As such, I have a vast amount of additional needs.  I need individual liberty, for one...And while I can still say and do pretty much what I please, this is because I am blessed with White American Privilege™.  Not RIGHTS, but privilege, and one that I keep on the sufferance of The Machine™.

The Machine™ allows this privilege, because it keeps White middle class America cooperating with The Machine's™ agenda.  The privilege could be revoked at any moment.  I didn't seize it, it was given to me...And what they give, they can take away.

So, rather than being a free man, I am in fact a pampered pet.  This is unacceptable.  Eugene Debs and Ralph Waldo Emerson, and HL Mencken had a few things to say about this, all of which boil down to "If ONE person is denied his civil rights without due process of law then I am not free."

The tools by which they control us are subtle, in a way.  It's all about messages.  For example, the police used to carry a pistol and a big hickory stick.  The message they gave was "I am here to preserve order, and I do so with a gun or a beating."  Sounds crude, but it was effective, and due to the all-or-nothing nature of their response to violence, it was – in most cases – used sparingly.

But that message has changed.  The police now carry "non-lethal" weapons, such as pepper spray and tasers.  Since they are (nominally) non-lethal, the police are far more inclined to use them, in many cases in situations that don't require force at all.  The message here is "I am here to keep you in line in all ways, and if you can't handle that, I'll shock the piss out of you and haul you in."

It's these subtle messages that are most effective.  The TSA, for example, has taken airport security from metal detectors (message:  Everyone's getting checked for guns) to strip searches and the pervert machine (message:  We're treating you like a criminal.  Get used to it.).

And I'm just not satisfied with this half-ass "freedom" they offer me.  It's not enough.  Even if it weren't privilege, I'm also not happy in a culture in which only some are free to holler what they like and stick one finger on each hand up (or two on each hand, for you English types).

In short, I am a contented primate, and an unhappy human.  I rather suspect this dichotomy is not unique, and in fact I would suggest that most people feel this way, the stress of which can lead to all sorts of bizarre behavior...But not the "I AM free, not merely indulged" sort.  This has been trained out of most people.  So, instead, they choose the easy route, and overindulge the already satisfied primate in themselves, turning every aspect of those monkey needs into outright gluttony.

This is one reason the country is so fucking fat.

And they have messages for that, too.  The Biggest Loser, the "reality show" that demonstrates people losing their morbid obesity, seems at first to be an uplifting message...Until you realize that they are surrounded by personal trainers, etc.  The REAL message, the one that locks into your hindbrain, is "They were able to lose weight because these experts did it for them.  You have no chance, fatty."

This indulgence is also the reason for the teabagger asshats.  They want a challenge, but they wish to face that challenge with the tribe at their side.  However many dozens of monkeys, screeching at the camera...A day at the zoo, and The Machine™ wins again.

Now, elevating your human side above that of the primate IS difficult and dangerous.  Just look what they did to Doktor Martin Luther King, Medgar Evers, and Gandhi.  But on the other hand, look at Mohammed Ali, who said "No", and was crushed.  They took everything from him...And he still said "No", and gave a blistering reason why:
""I ain't got no quarrel with them Vietcong... They never called me nigger."
They wrecked his career, in the short run.  Today, he is viewed as an icon of one man resisting the ENTIRE MACHINE™, with no regrets, simply by saying "No", and accepting the consequences.

Fact:  It is impossible to oppress a person that acts that way.  He can certainly be killed, but never oppressed.  Papa Hemmingway had a thing or two to say about that.  He was the best example of a human being of his day, and probably of the entire 20th century...He's at least in the running.

Now, I am obviously not saying that you have to run out and get bankrupted and blackballed from your profession to be free.  What I AM saying is that you must be prepared to face that, should The Machine™ ever turn its gaze on you.  Not that you then need surrender yourself to The Machine™ as Ali did...Unless you have a point to make, as he did.  No, scoot and let them fume.  Kick 'em in the nads while they aren't watching.  You know the deal.

Because, when you boil it all down, isn't the very idea of liberty that part of us that says "NO",  that part that says nothing you can take from me is worse than my giving you my self-determination?  Patrick Henry said "Give me liberty, or give me death!",  and he hit the nail right on the head.  I say, "This is my will...OR KILL ME", which is essentially what he said. 

And I hope it's what you say, or would say, should the situation ever arise.

Okay for now,
Dok

[Payne]

...fuck

You were a bit pre-emptive yesterday with your statement about having lost the ability to communicate via the written word.

~~~Payne: speechless.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

WHOA

This is fucking


...

I want to send it to everyone I know. WOW.

[The Rev]

Very well said. The contrast you laid out between the primate and the human is stark and very to the point.

[LMNO]

That frames perfectly one of the things I've been feeling lately.

Content monkey, Unhappy human.


Dok wins another point for our side.  Many thanks.

[Juana]

I hadn't really thought about it like that before, Dok. Excellent stuff!

[Freeky]

The challenge of humanity and happiness in it is getting the word out to those who forgot that there is more than contented monkeydom.  How do you open the eyes of a nation of people so defeated that the first lesson they must learn is "Don't rock the boat?"  

Well, maybe you need a few people who don't like to stand up too far, long grass gets cut, and all that, but if they had enough time to get people to open their eyes, maybe if the hammer finally came down they'd be okay with that, but they're still afraid.  I mean, self-destruction isn't very rational or sane, and doing something that works against The Machine is certainly self-destructive, isn't it?  So maybe is okay to be a little afraid.  

Then, maybe you get some heads that are rich, perfect growing ground for a few small ideas, planted with a few quiet words.  A lot of times the little ideas die, but sometimes they start an itch, and eventually some bigger ideas (and a lot of discontentment) start growing.  And one day they wake up and realize that they aren't just content primates, they're unhappy humans.

But where does it go from here?  If the environment the ideas develop in are wrong, the ideas will still die.  How will the big ideas survive, if the human is surrounded by the screechy, happy monkeys?

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

This kind of ties into the "what do you own?" thread in that unless the circumstances for primate contentment are met, there is no basis for human happiness to even begin because under deprivation the monkey brain is always locked into gear on some level.

[Jenne]

OH HELL YES.  THIS is pretty awesome stuff, Rog.  NAIL's HEAD--HIT!

[Dysfunctional Cunt]

Excellent!!

And while I know you hear that from us all the time.  I cannot stress enough how amazing your work is.  This piece is wonderful.

You've explained something I haven't been able to hit upon for some time now.  Given an answer to a restlessness and general sense of "ho-hum" that I haven't been able to shake, let alone explain, even to myself.

Thank you!!!

[Eater of Clowns]

OOKF this is powerful, Dok.

[Luna]

Wow, Dok.  Strong stuff.

[Jasper]

What's funny is that for me, right now, it's the opposite way around.  Still, the words about it are giving me the cognitive tools to deal with it;  Intellectually, I am happy.  Things are going well for me, and while not perfect, I'm moving toward something good.  On the other hand, the primate is malcontented lately for various reasons.  It has the unpleasant effect of making me feel bad about the fact that sometimes my spleen gets the better of me for no good reason, and I end up making other people upset.  

It is troubling, but now that I've at least been given these words that help me think about what's wrong, I think I can handle my shit better.  Weird how that works.

[Worm Rider]

Really nice work.

However...
I go back and forth between being upset, unhappy with the state of affairs, and just simply being OK with it all. I can't imagine what life would be like if there wasn't something for me to be angry with, something for me to really sink my teeth into. I love Big Brother.

I mean, we kind of revel in it don't we? How would we come to the realization that we make our own black iron prison or golden sphere of opportunity or umwelt if there wasn't some aspect of the world we found unsatisfying on a very human level?

[kingyak]