Monsters: Inhuman
Human Institutions
By
Martin
L. Cowen III
Human beings form themselves into various superorganisms.
Examples include corporations (including the Media), unions, and government bureaucracies.
These superorganisms can be understood as having lives separate from their
constituent parts, those parts being individual human beings. As the title of
this essay, Monsters: Inhuman Human
Institutions, suggests, these superorganisms, while consisting of human
beings, are in important ways different from individual human beings. This
essay discusses some features of superorganisms with the goal of illuminating
some of the evils of our human circumstances.
Superorganisms as Monsters
When compared with individual human beings,
superorganisms can be seen as monstrously immoral. A micro example is the lynch
mob. There is perhaps no single human being, acting alone, who could work
himself up to the point that he could execute another human being by hanging. (Note
that we are not talking about a person whose child was murdered by another who might
exact revenge acting alone. The members of a lynch mob are rarely enacting
personal revenge for wrong personal to each of them.) Lynch mobs form and act because
the responsibility for murder can be muted by the relative anonymity and by the
shared responsibility of the group.
Lifespan
Superorganisms have features in common with
individual biological organisms. While superorganisms live and might die, their
working lifespans are usually longer, by far, than the working lives of the
individuals that comprise the superorganism. Governments endure for centuries.
Corporations, unions, and bureaucracies outlive the working lives of their
component individuals, usually by many decades. For example, Ford Motor
Company, founded on June 16, 1903, is 109 years old this year. No cell (an
individual human being) of the body of Ford Motor Company has enjoyed so long a
working life. We might expect that Ford will survive the 21st
Century, another 100 years. While not immortal, superorganisms can be extremely
long lived.
One consequence of the long working life of
superorganisms is that the period across which superorganisms act is
incommensurate with the working life of a single individual. Thus, should an
idea be good for the superorganism, but immoral, the opposition to the idea by
a single individual on the grounds of the immorality of the idea can only
survive the working life of the individual. When the moral individual human is
gone, the idea can be taken up again by the amoral superorganism. For example,
a moral individual within the superorganism, say the President, might conclude
that causing the legislature to give the superorganism a monopoly market by
outlawing competition is immoral. The moral President would oppose asking (or
bribing, the usual method) the legislature to create a legal monopoly for the
superorganism. His moral stand will disappear when the moral President retires.
The idea (legal monopoly) is still good for the superorganism and will revive within
the superorganism when the moral President is gone. Thus today, there are legal
monopolies in many fields of endeavor: electric power generation (e.g., Georgia
Power), legal services (e.g., the Georgia Bar Association), medical services,
taxi and bus services in most big cities, etc. All licensing laws are instances
of government created legal monopolies.
Evolution
Evolution is a factor in the life of
superorganisms. Evolution, it is said, does not have an intention or goal. In
biology, the advantageous mutation of a gene is not “intended” to improve the
species. Rather, there are many random genetic mutations, some beneficial, some
not. The mutations that are beneficial happen to allow those members of the
species having the beneficial mutation to survive and reproduce more
effectively. The same is true in the evolution of superorganisms. The mutations
are not intentional, but the random beneficial ones allow the superorganisms to
thrive. The devolution of education in our country is an example of a beneficial
mutation for superorganisms.
Education
Superorganisms function best with certain
types of individual human beings composing them. Human beings are formed, in
large part, by educational superorganisms—government schools. Actively moral individuals
who think broadly and for themselves are not, generally speaking, good
corporate, union, or bureaucratic citizens. The corporate, the union, and the
bureaucratic superorganisms all need good “company men.” The type of education
described above—one that creates individuals who think broadly and for
themselves—used to be called a liberal education—an education suited for free
men and women. The opposite type of education is an education suited for
slaves. These, of course, are very broad categories and the types are extremes,
polar opposites. The slave education is better for the superorganisms. A slave
education creates good “company men.” A slave education does not teach
philosophy or history or economics. All of these subjects lead the young mind
to broad abstractions. What is needed these days, according to almost everyone
giving an opinion (good “company men”), is education for a job. Our youths must
be trained to provide a marketable service, the “yes” men say. The youths must
be prepared to work well for a superorganism. The youths must be prepared to be
good “company men” (slaves) to the superorganism.
Thus, during the last century the preference
for a liberal education has declined and today the opportunity for a liberal
education no longer exists. Politically correct speech codes on modern American
campuses are among the tools designed to discourage broad and free thought. Human
beings, these days, are trained to be good “company men,” people without a
broad vision, who do not ask difficult questions, and who accept the moral
claims of their superiors with few or no questions. Note that this
unquestioning nature does not mean that everybody is of the same opinion. The
superorganisms are in conflict with one another as there are at least three
broad categories of superorganism: corporate, union, and government
bureaucracy. Therefore, the “company men” within each superorganism have
opinions in harmony with their superorganism and in disharmony with individuals
who are the parts or cells of the other superorganisms: corporate v. union,
corporate v government bureaucracy, one corporation v. another corporation, one
government bureaucracy v. another government bureaucracy, etc.
The “Yes Man,” a current example
A “yes man” is a good “company man.” United
Nations Ambassador Susan Rice is a great current example of a “yes man.” She
was told to sell the idea that the assassination of our Benghazi ambassador on
9-11-2012 was caused by a YouTube Internet video trailer. Talking points, massaged
through various bureaucracies (remember the shared responsibility of a lynch
mob), coming supposedly from the “Intelligence Community,” articulated this now
widely-known-to-be-false theory. It was obvious to me at the time (and I said
so in a weblog on 9-15-2012, the day before Ambassador Rice appeared on five Sunday
morning talk shows), that the Benghazi murders were simply a terrorist attack.
I said: “By the way, the murder of the
American Ambassador, as distinct from the regional riots, was simply a
terrorist act on the anniversary of 9-11 completely unrelated to any Internet
event.” I am, on the one hand, a broad, free thinker. Rice, on the other, is a
good “company man” who follows the rules of her bureaucracy and her rulers, the
bureaucrats above her in her beloved superorganism. Rice never questioned her
orders or her talking points, though both are highly questionable. She was
selected precisely because she knew nothing about the subject but what she was
told. Had she known that what she was told to say was a lie, her human nature
might have kicked in to prevent her from lying. The ideal person to have made
the Internet-video-case would have been Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, but
Hillary could not. Hillary knew what really happened. Hillary watched the
terrorist attack as it happened. She heard the as-it-happened reports from her
people in Benghazi. Hillary participated in the decisions that were actually
made, ultimately the decision to let the Americans die.
Rice feels completely free of responsibility
for the Internet video lie. She just parroted what she was told, like a good
“company man.” Every other actor within the various bureaucracies probably
followed their bureaucratic “rules,” more or less, and holds himself blameless,
too.
The tragedy is that four Americans were
killed. The government lied about the cause, because it was inconsistent with
the company line: “Osama is dead and Al Qaeda is in retreat.” No superorganism
or any cell will be held responsible or take any blame for the death of these
heroic four Americans.
Probably what happened is that the Government
bureaucrats—who were watching the terrorist attack in real time—were paralyzed (bureaucrats
cannot act like heroes: no rules for that) and failed to act to help the
Americans on the ground in Benghazi. The individual human beings could have
ordered air support and Marines, but as bureaucrats they failed to do so. The choice to let the four Americans die is
probably what is being concealed beneath the “Internet video” lie. That choice
will never be exposed. Ambassador Rice will be the next Secretary of State. The
superorganism will survive (as they always do), unscathed by this “little
difficulty.” All thanks to the inner and outer workings of superorganisms.
The Purpose
All superorganisms have a stated purpose. The
audience of the stated “purpose” is the individual human beings who form the
superorganism and those outside the superorganism who tolerate or embrace the
existence of the superorganism. The “purpose” is always to do good for human
beings. For example, the purpose of the CDC (the Centers for Disease Control) found
in their mission statement on their web site:
CDC: Mission
Collaborating to create the expertise,
information, and tools that people and communities need to protect their health
– through health promotion, prevention of disease, injury and disability, and
preparedness for new health threats.
CDC seeks to accomplish its mission by working
with partners throughout the nation and the world….
Among the “partners throughout the nation”
are the pharmaceutical companies. More on them momentarily.
The stated “purpose,” though, is less
important that the needs of the superorganism to survive and to grow. We may
find it interesting that the CDC specifically denies this charge on the same
web page as the mission statement, pledging “to place the benefits to society
above the benefits to the institution.” That the CDC makes this pledge is proof
of the existence of the issue, but their “pledge” does nothing to change my
opinion that that “the benefits to the institution” are always of paramount
importance to the superorganism.
A large part of the business of the CDC is to
promote vaccinations. Some people, including me, believe that human-caused
environmental changes are the cause of the large increase in chronic childhood
diseases (autism, Asperger’s, ADHA: Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, asthma,
Alzheimer’s, other auto-immune diseases). Any human-caused environmental change
will have been caused by some superorganism or combination of superorganisms.
Some people will blame coal-fired energy plants. I will blame the vaccine
schedule of the CDC, which increased from 8 to 10 recommended vaccinations when
I was a child to over 40 today. Ask any doctor or pharmaceutical representative
or the FDA or the CDC about the effect of the increase in the number of vaccines
in the schedule. According to these superorganism and their cells (their “yes”
men) there is no possibility that this fourfold increase in the vaccine
schedule is related to anything bad. (Imagine the psychological position of any
pediatrician. As an individual human being he thinks he has helped thousands of
children by giving them +/- 40 vaccines. Is it possible that he can allow into
his conscious mind the possibility that he has participated in causing one in
56 American baby boys to become autistic? I do not think so.)
Any individual human being who claims a
relationship between vaccines and autism will be subject to vicious attacks by
the affected superorganisms. Dr. Andrew Wakefield, formerly of the United
Kingdom, was drummed out the British medical establishment because of his
studies on the relationship between autism and the MMR (measles, mumps, and
rubella) vaccination. It is organismically “impossible” for the coal industry
or the pharmaceutical/medical/CDC/FDA industry or any other superorganism to be
the agent responsible for the human-caused environmental changes resulting in “one
in six” children having some sort of developmental disability.
Remember that while the stated “purpose” of
the superorganism is some human good, like health, the more powerful guiding principle
of all superorganisms is the survival and growth of the superorganism. In the
unfortunate case of the pediatrician, since he, ultimately, acts alone when he
administers his +/- 40 vaccinations, his psychological health is immediately at
stake. But his financial health is at stake as well. After
all, the main job of pediatricians is to administer those +/-40 vaccinations
for their financial benefit and for the financial benefit of the pharmaceutical
companies.
Cells that Migrate
A great example of the functioning of
superorganisms is to be found in the recent migration of the former head of the
CDC, Dr. Julie Gerberding. Former director of the CDC from 2002 to 2009, she
resigned when President Obama took office. On December 21, 2009, she was named President
of Merck’s global vaccine business: from regulator-in-chief to
vaccinator-in-chief. The main job of the CDC, in fact, is to promote the
business of the pharmaceutical companies by being the first link in the chain
of mandatory vaccinations. Dr. Gerberding is well qualified for both jobs.
The Media as Superorganism
Fox News is a part of a corporation and, as
such, it is a corporate superorganism. But the Media, in general, is an
important subgroup of superorganisms. The Media serves all other superorganisms
be telling their stories and advocating their stated “purposes.” Only rarely
does a Media outlet tell the story of a superorganism acting in self-defense or
to survive and grow.
Well known to those who pay attention (say 1%
of everybody) is the fact that news people interview people, not to tell the
truth, but to tell the news Media’s story. So, if the particular Media outlet
wants to tell a story of Union greed, they will find a person to interview who
will show that “fact.” An example is the audio of the New Jersey Union thugs
yelling at the Alabama Power crews who had come in the aftermath of Hurricane
Sandy to help rebuild: “Go home Scabs! You are taking Our Jobs!” and the like. Or
if the Media wants to show an example of the “You Owe Me!” attitude of a welfare
recipient, they will go find somebody, like the “Obamaphone lady”
and play her sound clip over and over. The Media wants to tell its story, not
necessarily the truth.
I have a vivid recollection of Fox News
Talking Head Shepard Smith’s great distress when an interviewee went off-script
to discuss vaccines and autism. He cut her off immediately since what she had
to say did not support his story-du-jour.
Pharmaceutical companies are huge advertisers
and Media outlets find it very difficult to tell stories about the relationship
between vaccines and autism. When they do, they will receive another Memo! Or have
their advertising budget reduced or zeroed.
All news Media are beholden to other
superorganisms, especially their advertisers (corporate superorganisms), their
regulators (government bureaucracy superorganisms), and their employees (union
superorganisms). So all information from the Media must be taken with a grain
(or a boulder) of salt or as pure entertainment.
Conclusion
We have learned that broad and free thinkers
are not good “company men.” We have learned the superorganisms have a stated “purpose,”
but that more important to the superorganisms is their survival and growth. We
have learned that superorganism will lie (and destroy people) in self-defense.
There are internal mechanisms that help superorganisms to lie (divided
responsibilities among cells, with only limited information within the cells). We
have learned that a liberal education no longer in exists having been
evolutionarily unselected in favor of an education suitable for slaves. A
liberal education does not create the kind of men and women who function for
the benefit of superorganisms. We have learned that Media outlets are
superorganisms that serve all other superorganisms, whose functioning has only
an accidental relation to the Truth. We have learned that the long lifespan of
superorganisms acts in favor of the interests of the superorganisms because
those individual human beings who would control or regulate the moral behavior
of the superorganisms are short-lived.
The point of leverage we individual human
beings have is education. Obviously, some of us get it. We can still
communicate the truth, though the evolution of superorganisms is toward the restriction
of free speech (reference again to the PC speech codes of American
universities).
Let us think of ourselves as living in Galt’s
Gulch, but not hidden in the mountains of Colorado behind a shield of invisibility.
Our Galt’s Gulch is in the open, spread across our American society. We are relatively
safe because the majority of people do
have an education fit for slaves and they cannot see or understand us. We are invisible to them. The slaves do not
think broadly (conceptually) or freely. Rather than having anger or contempt for
them, our attitude should be one of pity and compassion. They cannot help it
that they were programmed by the superorganisms in which they were reared and
in which they now live. They have never known any other existence. They did not
have a Liberal Education!
Our goal must be to continue the on-going
process of our Liberal Education. We must pass that education on to our
children. We must continue to study philosophy, history, economics, and, I will
now add, music. We must continue to look for the Great Truths (those broad
generalities and concepts that explain all things). We must approach these
truths with humility. Our conclusions must be tentative. Our conclusions must
be always open to correction and amendment when shown to be faulty.
I suppose the bad news is that I think we are
in a civilization-wide decline from which we, during our lifetimes, will not arise.
The Golden Age of Greece (500 BC to 300 BC), the Italian Renaissance (1300 AD
to 1500 AD), the Enlightenment (1650 AD to 1789 AD), and the Industrial
Revolution (1750 AD to 1850 AD) are all cultural high times, in my view. We are
in decline from since around 1913 AD. Our superorganisms are evolving and they
are destroying their hosts, free men and women, and the product of their free
trade. At some point the superorganism will run out of food and the
superorganisms will die, as do all living things. Then free men and women will
enjoy a new Enlightenment based upon the old, a world-view based upon Reason as
the proper means of Man’s Survival on Earth.
Behold the Fellowship of Reason.
