The R

As one of my greatest life teachers and mentors (in my head of course) growing up Rakim Allah stated in his classic song Paid in Full:
Thinking of a master plan
’cause ain’t nothing but sweat inside my hand
So I dig into my pocket, all my money is spent
So I dig deeper but still coming up with lint
So I start my mission- leave my residence
Thinking how could I get some dead presidents?

It’s funny how being unemployed can instantly give you the motivation you should have had the whole time you were financially stable. Just imagine the level of professional and financial security you could accomplish if you had that same hunger and desire to succeed when things were going well.

I have come to believe we are all conditioned for a false sense of societal complacency. According to the Cambridge English Dictionary, complacency is a feeling of calm satisfaction with your own abilities or situation that prevents you from trying harder. If you are being honest with yourself, I am sure you can see the parallels between your actions and its literal definition when you are securely employed.

Tyler Cowen, a professor at George Mason University and Author also thinks societal complacency is a major problem. In his latest book, “The Complacent Class: The Self-Defeating Quest for the American Dream, argues the complacent class mentality is quickly becoming detrimental to the American public at large.

Why is that? Where does this self-destructive conditioning come from? Well, I’m glad you asked. As you get to know me and my writing you will quickly learn I have no qualms about throwing random theory’s of conciseness into the air.

My first thought is a simple one. This is nothing more than a subtle form of systemic oppression best described by good old Marxism. David Prychitko writes: Marx’s scientific socialism combined his economics and philosophy—including his theory of value and the concept of alienation—to demonstrate that throughout the course of human history, a profound struggle has developed between the “haves” and the “have-nots.” Creating a culture of passivity has proven to be an effective way of castrating a societies desire to rise from being the “have-nots” and overthrowing the “haves.”

Is it me, or have you ever noticed how fast jobs and economic growth quickly follow an uprising? At the risk of sounding conspiracy driven, I have always felt the powers that be (the haves) have a time-tested formula for squashing civil unrest by utilizing complacency as a means to tap into our culture of passivity.