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Our New Gods |
January 16, 2013, 9:22PM |
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by: Masigno topic: Philosophy bookmark this article view bookmarked articles go to archives |
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| During Greek times, it was thought that there were many different gods, sitting high and lofty upon Mount Olympus and they were the sole benefactors of our fate. There was a God of the Sea and a God who rules the skies. The Greeks had a complex map of overlapping God’s that designed and lorded over their various parts of creation. Many have described it as mythology, a religion and by religion; they mean a way of explaining things they didn’t understand. Tragedy happened frequently before modern science and affixing it to the will of the Gods was a means of coping with disaster and hopelessness that a common person of the time couldn’t begin to understand. There are many stories about incomprehensible wills and desires of the God’s Greek art work is constantly referencing man’s insignificant place in the world, even great men like Odysseus were humbled by the will of the Gods.
Here in America and most of the western world, we worship gods, and I’m not talking solely about the one with his big Church. I’m talking about institutions, another word for gods. The ancient Greeks, placed value on the God’s because they made up the parts of the world they didn’t understand, just as we do for our institutions. You have no idea specifically how the sewage and electrical systems of the city of New York work, you simply understand they do their intended job, nor do you likely have the frame work for the power grid of the eastern seaboard. But, you understand that it works. You, like the Greeks are subject to the will of powers that you cannot directly change or assert your will upon. You can express your discourse but you’re still subject to its will. We live in what we call a democracy but we’re subject to an electoral college. Think about that. Our leaders are elected based on the will of a system that is the collective opinion of the people though not certainly the collective will of all the people. Just because our God’s are real doesn’t make us free from their wrath. This is a different age with the same mountain far above us looming in the background. But instead of Zeus, Aries, and Apollo looking down upon us, it’s the Department of Education, Citibank, The Department of Homeland Security. Keep in mind that these institutions are not controlled by any one person, one person may embody their will but taking the wrong direction will mean your destruction. Imagine if President Obama, went against the will of the Democratic Party and by executive decision made it illegal to wear short pants in public. What do you think would happen? It would be a stirring grandiose effort to usurp him because he wasn’t acting in his god’s favor. Or think about the inner workings of a retail store, I work as a cashier, there is a front end supervisor, a supervisor over him and eventually a store manager who listens to a regional manager and from there a higher office that answers to a board of directors with a CEO who answers to the stock holders who are basically any and everyone. It’s to my horror that its collective human behavior to continually serve the Gods that fail us, that we are incomplete vessels that must live off one another, instead of having the ability to be truly free. It’s more disturbing that we have the mental power to appreciate what the wild birds embody, but lack the ability to do the same for ourselves. In order to survive in this day in age we must serve the greedy, vote for the incompetent. There is no suggestion for changing any of this, it’s human nature, it’s how we’ve become who we are but at the cost of destroying us as individuals. |
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 conduit |
pretty much. politics, mass media, consumerism, celebrity culture, these are the new religions.
our political leaders serve the same role as spiritual figures in society that people look to in times of need, to satisfy their fears and insecurities about the world, for only those who we deem to possess some higher authority, or higher power than ourselves can address our concerns and our anxieties about the future, and provide some sense of order, security, and meaning to our lives. the mass media creates the "necessary illusions" required to pacify the masses, perpetuating the myths and assumptions that we like to irrationally cling to, our perception of the world and our beliefs and convictions just the product of blind faith as we choose to believe anyone who is willing to tell us what we want to hear. ------ [I]~we are a part of the process not instigators of its progress~[/I] February 12, 2013, 11:33AM |
 Diluted_Intelligence |
Individuality is overrated anyways. With billions of people on the planet, there is likely no single experience you go through in life that is unique only to you. Mankind needs structure, and sometimes even oppression, to keep in check. After all, we are the most savage animal.
Good read, though. And fear not, Greek Gods! You are still plenty useful when it comes to my DnD game. February 13, 2013, 7:37AM |
 DOUBLEDWAGON |
I disagree and agree with the person above. We need not structure given to us by the authorities but instead the same kind of structure that comes to nature through all of the chaos. I think people need to look more inside of themselves for enlightenment and stop depending on answers to be dropped on them through the metaphors other people have attached through language to their perception of emotions. In the end, we all want the same thing. Which in most cases is some sort of ultimate truth. The truth is, there is no such thing as truth. This may have everything or nothing to do with the original post or the comment above, but this has all been food for thought leading to my response. ![](\"/emoticons/10.gif\") February 15, 2013, 6:54AM |
Diluted_Intelligence |
@DOUBLEDWAGON: Not really sure where you are trying to go with this. I find the very structure of nature to be rather chaotic anyways. Even if your thought about people needing to look inside for enlightenment would result in a better humanity, the necessary condition of each individual actually doing so would never occur, because of the sloth, corrupt, etc...
Then you start dropping vague statements about how we all want the same thing (we don't) and how there is no such thing as truth (there is). The only thing that really makes sense is your final statement :/ February 15, 2013, 8:43AM |
conduit |
he's saying that society doesn't need to have some kind of structure that is rigidly imposed on us by fraudulent and coercive, self-serving institutions, for their own benefit. that if the external power structures which merely leech off the population are dissolved we would be more free to create our own desired structure capable of serving the wants and needs of the majority much more effectively, without it being forced on us.
There is nothing wrong with structure, the question is what form that structure should take, and whether we have a say in it. Ultimately I think we do all want the same things. stability, security, a fair standard of living, equal opportunities, etc, etc. You'll find that we all share more in common than you think, cultural divides are largely superficial, and minor disagreements trivial. February 15, 2013, 3:14PM |
 Vampariah |
We need better & the best leaders. ------ If men are pigs then why is bacon so good ? February 16, 2013, 5:00PM |
 Masigno |
Part of my thesis is that leaders are irrelevant. Collective apathy is the enemy, our leaders just embody it. ------ Victims? Don't be melodramatic. Look down there. Tell me. Would you really feel any pity if one of those dots stopped moving forever? If I offered you twenty thousand pounds for every dot that stopped, would you really, old man, tell me to keep my money? February 16, 2013, 11:02PM |
conduit |
as long as people are continually diverted, distracted and otherwise marginalised from the issues that concern them then they'll tend toward apathy.
ignorance is the greatest threat to mankind imo, and it always will be. February 18, 2013, 3:53AM |
Vampariah |
No one cares. ------ If men are pigs then why is bacon so good ? February 19, 2013, 12:46AM |
Masigno |
I don't think the point is that no one at all in the world cares, I just think that's it's a bit like the Greeks, the gods are too great, having the arrogance to defy the gods will eventally lead to your destruction. ------ Victims? Don't be melodramatic. Look down there. Tell me. Would you really feel any pity if one of those dots stopped moving forever? If I offered you twenty thousand pounds for every dot that stopped, would you really, old man, tell me to keep my money? March 14, 2013, 1:58PM |
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