Discourse with a slave

Subject: Discourse with a slave Wed Nov 10, 2010 5:39 pm

Discourse with a Slave
a pharaoh, a lord, a king, a president

You can get a PDF from here

Slave: Who was the first ruler, he must have been really powerful and strong.

Xs: The first ruler his/her point of origin is lost to time. All we have left are estimates regarding where and when it could have happened. Then again, the first ruler was not really a ruler at all. The first "ruler" was just a representative of his people because as communities of gatherers and hunters grew, those communities initiated contact with other communities and a representative was required as an eventuality.

Slave: Could you estimate the time period for me?

Xs: The first small city-states, which have been discovered until now, are at this point in time, little more than desolate landscapes. Sumer, with its approximate location as present Iraq (~5000BC); Ancient Egypt, with its approximate location as present North Eastern Africa (~5000BC); Indus Valley Civilization, with its approximate location as present Pakistan (~3000BC); Yellow river civilization, with its approximate location as present China (~8500BC to ~1500BC).

Slave: So we have no idea as to how these communities were formed?

Xs: The best estimates as to their formulation that we presently have, is a theory at best. As the small groups of hunters and gatherers grew in number they started to interact with other groups and as their interaction increased, to facilitate these interactions, they selected the representatives to ease communications between the two groups as single points of contact.

Slave: So money ruled these people at that time?

Xs: No, there was little to no concept of money at that point. It was almost entirely the barter system. So if you grew corn in your field, and I had lots of chickens, we would barter and establish a trade using nothing more than corn and/or eggs or chickens.

Slave: Better times eh?

Xs: Not really if you think about it. If you wanted eggs and the only person selling eggs wanted sheep and not corn then you would have to trade with someone else. First you would trade with the person selling sheep and then trade with the person selling eggs. Following that process they started using rare minerals as money. Since everyone wanted silver and gold and other similar rare minerals, they became the currency. In the last 2 millenniums, it has been realized that there are too many people around and too little precious minerals to barter with. So the currency has changed to paper. Sometimes, this paper is not even worth the materials used to print it, but it is used as legal tender anyways because governments dictate it.

Slave: You don’t like governments do you?

Xs: Governments are needed, regardless of me liking them or not. Their evolution has taken them to different levels of operations.

Slave: Yeah, these darn politicians do corruption and steal our money, even if this money is worthless, we still need it.

Xs: Yes and no, but that discourse would be better suited for another time and another place. A general once said to me “There is a right time and place for everything, a right time and place, for attack, for surrender, for withdrawal, for death.”

Slave: If the representatives were the first rulers, how did they become Kings and Generals?

Xs: It is part of human nature to desire, when the desire turns into an obsession or reaches a near obsession state, the human thinks that is a need. The same way, when communities were attacked because of the needs of another community, they wanted to defend their own belongings.

Slave: So it is the material wealth due to which armies were formed, material wealth due to which gangs started looting and material wealth because of which murder and rape became commonplace?

Xs: Murder happens for many reasons and when you search out its root cause, you find material benefits. Rape on the other hand is often considered to have a root cause in lust and the desire to procreate. Then you seek out the roots of procreation, you find the want for all to be immortal. Are we not sitting here 10,000 years later discussing the Yellow River civilization?

Slave: So the Yellow river civilization raped and murdered because of which they are still remembered?

Xs: I apologize, my meaning it seems, was inferred in a way I did not intend. I cannot blame you for that inference. Sadly, very few of us see the true meaning of immortality. Nothing in our experience can be considered infinite or immortal. Not plants, not rivers, not continents, not planets, not stars, not galaxies and not even the universe are conclusively held as infinite or immortal. We can speculate and hypothesize about the placement of stars 10,000 years ago, we can speculate about the dinosaurs that roamed the earth millions of years ago, but conclusively, we can say very little. What we do remember, is that the Yellow River Civilization was one of the oldest communities which was large enough to have representatives. What we do remember is that the Indus River Civilization was scientifically advanced for its time. The tyrants are forgotten easily if you compare. We don’t know the names of the groups or if a Hitler existed thousands of years ago. We don’t know if a Hitler even existed before the one we do know. After all, History is written by the victorious, not by those who have lost the battle.

All those groups and entities that are remembered will only be remembered, for their accomplishments in advancement of the species, for communicating with each other to the extent of requiring representatives.

Slave: So if the rulers were first only representatives, and then evolved to become protectors, why did they die out?

Xs: Was it not the submission of humanity to desires that led to the formation of armies? Was it not the armies, which submitted to its desires to become stronger? Was it not the same army which subsequently looted and plundered? We could safely say it was the same desire, the innate nature of humanity, which caused those representatives to become corrupt. When the representatives started thinking they could gain personally while pretending to represent the greater good, the decline began. The decline continues but they haven’t died out even today. The Kings and queens still exist. England, Jordan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Canada, Greenland, Morocco, Swaziland, Bahamas, Barbados, Jamaica, Bahrain, Japan, Cambodia, Brunei, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Belgium, Denmark, Luxemburg, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Vatican City, Australia, New Zealand, and many more are all sovereign states which exist following one form of monarchy or another. So they didn't die out.

Some were smarter, they changed their names. They call their countries republics, autocracies, executives, confederations, democracies, communists, and many more categorizations. But they all have rulers. Often those rulers are now often called Presidents and Prime Ministers.

Slave: So 10,000 years, and all that has changed is the name?

Xs: First, the name didn't change, the role did. The Representative became the ruler, the ruler then became the conqueror, he then became the protector again, then he became the negotiator, then he became the culprit, then he became the religious leader, then he became the defender, then he became the crucifier, then he became the violator, then he wanted people to believe he is omnipotent, then he got bored and decided to return to the old ways and become the ruler, this is when he became, the President.

Slave: You mean Presidents are just rulers in disguise? Mine isn't!

Xs: That is true, presidents once were rulers; now, not so much. The individuals are now important too, least they are led to believe that.

Slave: So what is a President good for now? They make a lot of racket when elections or polls come close.

Xs: They indulge in marketing themselves as angels, because they get apparent control of the system. They constantly forget that now there are new emperors, new rulers, and those emperors are playing an entirely different, yet same, excruciatingly complex, yet laughably simple game.

Slave: ALIENS???

Xs: No, no, we can safely hypothesize that aliens have not been discovered or some president would have declared themselves as the first human to speak to an alien only attempting to be immortalized and thereby establish himself the biggest Alpha Male.

Slave: Alpha Male?

Xs: The leader in a pack of dogs, the one dog who can subdue any other dog, who gets his pick of bitches, and who gets to procreate as often and with whomever he pleases. Men and Women often try to mimic this behavior without realizing it.

Slave: Ok, so if not aliens then who are the people who control these Presidents?

Xs: It’s all about the repetitive nature of such things. The leaders were selected to ease communications for better trade. The leaders indulged in their personal gain and became rulers. The rulers then tried many things and eventually returned to the old ways. Today however, the kings are called CEOs and Chairmen of the board of directors.

Slave: What’s a ceo? I know the chairman sits on a big chair on a long table.

Xs: Chief Executive Officer. He controls the entire company. In some companies the CEO answers to no one, at other companies he answers to the Chairman.

Slave: Head of a company? So what? They don’t control military.

Xs: No they don’t but the strategy of warfare has changed little. It was once over minerals and agricultural landscapes, now it is over these pieces of paper we call money. The minerals were important because they were rare. The agricultural landscapes were important because that meant food. Now, these very shards of paper control both of those things. This CEOs army is now the sales force, his strategist is now the vice president of the company, his knight is now the director, his minions are the managers and his slaves are the interns. The King is the CEO.

Slave: Don’t talk rubbish, CEO isn’t a king. He still follows the rules made by the government.

Xs: and the government is selected by elections, the elections are won through campaigns, the campaigns are funded by the CEO, these masters of puppets prevail.

Slave: So there are so many kings all over the world? Who is their emperor?

Xs: They have none. There are group leaders called CEOs of small businesses, there are lords called CEOs of medium sized businesses, there are Kings called CEOs of large enterprises, and there are alliances between these kings who choose a representative and call him a Chairman of a multi-national corporation.

Slave: But governments have lots of money and they want for none, no matter how big a company, it has got to have less money than a government.

Xs: The Sultan of Brunei was the richest man in the world until the 1990s, now he isn’t even on the list anymore. Walmart is a bigger economy than many nations on this planet, even though some of those nations export oil.

Slave: If not the money, the people must love their countries! I love my country!

Xs: Everyone loves their country, but companies now want to engage its workers in organizational citizenship behavior, this happens when a person starts to feel like a citizen of the company and loves it a little more regardless of the money it gives him.

Slave: So? I love my company too but that doesn’t mean I’ll go to war for it! Companies don’t even have wars!!!

Xs: Have you never seen 2 salesmen trying to sell competing products to the same person? Have you never seen advertising done by competing organizations? If you want to compare warfare with organizational competitiveness it might help you to know that psychological warfare was done by USA in the Korean War? If you want to know if war happens in business, you should learn about the term price war. Since we are talking about war, could you tell me the different between conquest by war and conquest by secretly buying a competing company? They call it a hostile takeover in both situations.

Slave: Yeah but James Bond is cool! Companies don’t have spies and cool people like that.

Xs: They do have spies; they call them corporate espionage specialists.

Slave: You mean to say I am a King?

Xs: Are you a CEO?

Slave: Yes!

Xs: Do you have a Chairman to whom you report?

Slave: Yes.

Xs: Do you have a marketing department whose mission is to ruthlessly snatch customers from other organizations?

Slave: Yes.

Xs: Do you have a human resource department whose mission to keep the employees happy and make them feel like home at the office?

Slave: Yes.

Xs: Do you have a finance department whose mission is to make sure everyone gets their money on time and you know exactly where the money is?

Slave: Yes.

Xs: Do you have a legal department whose mission is to make sure no one runs away with your money and if no one is running away with your money then try to lasso in your competition in through lawsuits?

Slave: Yes! How do you know this?

Xs: Do you have a public relations department whose mission is to ensure that nobody knows what your company is doing and still love it?

Slave: Yes, but please tell me how you know this.

Xs: I know nothing of your company. All I did was ask you about the responsibilities of a king, of a ruler, of a pharaoh and of a president.
But before I beg leave, I must ask you one last question.

Slave: Go ahead.

Xs: Do you still want me to answer your question, to tell you if you are a king?

Slave: No. I am a king. I am a president. I am a ruler. I am a pharaoh.

Xs: and a slave…

Slave: We spoke for so long, you have me convinced I am a king and now you tell me I am not only a king but also a slave?

Xs: Indeed!

You are also afraid of your incapability, subdued by your wants and obsessed with your needs, which is why you are a slave.

You are addicted to the moment when all eyes are on you; oblivious to any truth other than your own and a coward for the pain you feel when the eyes shift, which is why you are a slave.

You are a subject of your emotions, janitor to feelings that control you, victim of the desires that overcome you, loyal to the jealousy which burns you, covetous of even your own pride which blinds you, which is why you are a slave.

You are a slave to a passion, a love, the truest desire, which is why you are as much a pharaoh as was Julius Caesar.

For that reason, just like me, you are a slave.

For that reason, just like me, you are alone.

For that reason, just like me, you are insignificant.

For that reason, just like me, you are irrelevant.

The Loner

_________________

"The worst thing in life is attachment, it hurts when you lose it. The best thing in life is loneliness, it teaches you everything and when you lose it, you get everything."

Subject: Re: Discourse with a slave Wed Nov 10, 2010 9:01 pm

Good insights, but missing the most important one of all

Yao: But... you are also the master of the present moments... learn to master the art of living and you'll be free from all your bondages.

Subject: Re: Discourse with a slave Thu Nov 11, 2010 5:52 am

Yao wrote:

Good insights, but missing the most important one of all

Yao: But... you are also the master of the present moments... learn to master the art of living and you'll be free from all your bondages.

Kings ruled by CEOs, CEOs = Slaves. All for the same reasons ... It's always better when things a person writes talks with the reader rather than at the reader, don't you think?

Note:
Yes, if you reached that particular line in your thought process, then a significant portion of the reason I wrote this was achieved.

So you get 0.4 thumbs up from me :P

Yes, there is a moral of the story bigger than this too :)

_________________

"The worst thing in life is attachment, it hurts when you lose it. The best thing in life is loneliness, it teaches you everything and when you lose it, you get everything."

Subject: Re: Discourse with a slave Thu Nov 11, 2010 12:29 pm

Of course, that is why the comment for you was good insights. But the moral of your story is depressing, and very pessimistic. A king/CEO (also a slave) viewing itself as the king/CEO is looking at its half-cup of water as half full (optimist); a king/CEO (also a slave) realizing itself as a slave is viewing its half-cup of water as half empty (pessimist).

However, one must view its half-cup of water as a realist and try to work and fill it to its fullest hence my suggestion; and when the cup of water is filled, you are no longer a slave and not just a king/CEO, but you shall be the master of all men (including yourself).

Subject: Re: Discourse with a slave Thu Nov 11, 2010 7:03 pm

Bingo!

*changes 0.4 thumbs up to 0.80 thumbs up*

Yes there is more.

*starts to wonder if Yao is his long lost evil genius mastermind (non-identical) twin brother*

_________________

"The worst thing in life is attachment, it hurts when you lose it. The best thing in life is loneliness, it teaches you everything and when you lose it, you get everything."

Subject: Re: Discourse with a slave Thu Nov 11, 2010 9:30 pm

Hmm... I have the feeling Yao is Xs and Xs is Yao!!!!

Subject: Re: Discourse with a slave Fri Nov 12, 2010 5:02 am

DeadlyHeals wrote:

Hmm... I have the feeling Yao is Xs and Xs is Yao!!!!

Nea , he likes to talk to himself ...but its not that serious ...

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