Understanding Cultural Control- Living Systems Trilogy Part 3

My extended exploration into Living Systems Theory has certainly shown up how out of touch our Cultural norms are, along with their programs that have been running our lives. But of course, we all know that. We are experiencing it all the time in our lives personally. One of the problems is that the cogs of the wheels of social change are slow. The ideals, customs, and ways of being we have been taught by our parents are the same as they were taught by their parents, and theirs before that. Each generation brings some change which the establishment fights with all its might, due to the beliefs that change is dangerous. That means that most of what they have impregnated our brains with are generations out of date in consideration of the environment that we were being brought up in, both physically, and emotionally.  This reflects on what we were taught at school, and in the ideology currently taught in our tertiary educational institutes. We know that the truth can be very fluid when under political pressure. Historically, when the policies in a nation change, so does the curriculum. Books are burnt, along with witches, intellectuals persecuted and propaganda flourishes. On top of all that, even when new philosophies are found to work, given the backlash, it takes decades to become common knowledge. Eventually, we experience a paradigm shift. However, during that time lag, while the population catches up, the knowledge is already outdated. It’s a long slow process. Most parents are largely ignorant of the changes that are at the vanguard of common thinking. When challenged, they feel threatened and frightened. Our resistance wears off over time, leaving us with their antiquated mindset.

So it is, then, that my own thinking has been getting an upgrade. Many of you have heard me use the example of a pendulum; how it swings from one extreme to another, because extreme patterns require an extreme opposite to balance. This response is also required in our personalities, for us to function. As we become aware, through self-growth of these extremes, we can begin to moderate the swings, moving the pendulum closer towards equilibrium. What I now recognise is that we can never reach that state of balance because of change in the system itself. Change continues to perturb the balance, causing us always to re-adjust to its movements. We are not a fixed point. We are a living entity.

Now we are approaching the subject of perfection, goal setting, and expectations. According to the needs and preferences of our parents we all grew up with different ideals about right and wrong. Generally speaking, they are the ideals that were/are set for them through their individual cultures. This may or may not work in the places that so many have immigrated to, but they stick to them in the same way they stick to the mores of the times they were brought up in.  Originally, I suspect cultures were developed by our tribal communities to prevent some individuals from going rogue, harming other members of the collective. I know that in many indigenous groups rape was not permitted, resulting in a tribal member being driven out of the village. I believe that offenses in some Indigenous Australian tribes resulted in having the 'bone pointed’ at them. Few survived that process, whether it was magic, psychic, or a spear. The same thing occurs, we know, in a herd of wild horse. If a colt (often these offenses are committed by young males, full of testosterone and the joys of spring, but with little self-control, both in the human and horse world) is caught biting the bum of a filly, the matriarch will drive him backwards out of the safety of the herd. There he stays until he shows repentance, at such time he is allowed back in. It was very dangerous for any being to be driven out of the safety zone. They would rarely survive long, so showing willingness to comply didn't usually take long.  In us there is an inbuilt belief, passed from generation to generation, that ostracism can be hazardous to the health. To add to that, we are the most helpless of all species at birth, remaining so for the longest time, requiring the protection of the family groupings. Is it any wonder, then, that we believe deeply that getting it right is essential, fearing for our lives. But here is the snag.  What was true in our ancestors’ lives, whilst still true in our childhood today, is largely redundant as adults. Yes, we have laws that deal with those who disregard societies need for co-operation, but the fact that we have carried our terror of being different to the point of neurosis is well beyond overkill.

The problem is that, because of the changes in behaviour since our hunter/gather days, our culture has become much less about safety of the people, and more about creating wealth for the few at the expense of the many. For this too occur, there had to be many people willing to work for the few, at their own expense. That was so because the product that this wealth was made from had originally belonged to all people- the land and what grew on it. By taking over the land, they also took over the food, the means of survival, creating the very first version of co-dependence. In the hunter/gatherer period people were interdependent on each other. The categories of independence and dependence were far from their experience. The tribe, which was usually between 20 and 50 people were a unit, mostly related, though diluted by inter-tribal liaisons.

To ensure that this new system wasn't overturned by furious community members, they had to be made to believe that in doing what they were asked to do, they would be better off. They had to made to want to.  In his amazing novel, Ishmael, Daniel Quinn presents a very plausible possible start to this adventure in human control. In his words they 'locked up all the food' employing others to guard it, making the people work for the privilege of buying back what was stolen from them in the first place. Some form of currency had to be created (see the movies Zeitgeist) in exchange for the loss of what was rightfully theirs, and a mindset developed to elevate the currency above the items originally lost, creating a desire for it. So evilly clever it couldn’t fail.

And so, we believe that we must do as we are told to avoid the consequences of suffering, and we believe that the way to do that is to put all our time and life force into acquiring the currency. Our parents, and their parents believed that too, back more generations than I can count. It’s in our DNA. Hence, we have been terrorised into trying to get everything just right, to avoid the consequences that we have no idea about but fear the worst of. We also believe we must achieve that though endless striving. It’s what I call in The Way Through, 'the catastrophic expectation' that underpins our whole dilemma.

Now we have another problem. We were all born to individuate to express who we are, choosing our path in life according to our talents, abilities and desires. Even in a tribal society. As each person creates the unique conditions and processes that they alone are able to offer the whole, then we are all enriched. But we are scared stiff to even find out what they are. Self-repression has become the norm, resulting in a build-up of sadness, anger, fear and eventually, when we can't bear to feel them anymore, depression. But the answer is not ‘getting it right’. That’s impossible because of systemic change. Obviously, the people at the top of the hierarchy are change adverse. It could result in their whole system coming tumbling down around their ears, so that system is designed so that we don't question it.  This is why most social welfare agencies regularly prop up the system, not challenge it. You come out of the psychiatrist office with a prescription, not advice to quit your job or leave the family.  No matter what obstacles are placed in its way, change is relentless. Change is built into the Living System to create an environment of reset and refreshment, leading to innovation and growth. And we belong to that system of life more than we are part of the one manufactured for us.

What Life creates is a process of continual adjustment to change and innovation. As soon as we find balance (read 'get it right') things change again leaving us with the necessity to adjust yet again. So, there is no such thing as ongoing balance between opposites. There is only a range of options that allows us to gain (again and again) stability in a changing world. There is no such thing as perfection. It’s an addiction to trying to please others, who themselves are subject to the same laws of Life that we are subject to, wanting to fool us into believing that they are the arbiters. When people come to see me as clients, they are so far out of that natural working range of stability, that their lives are no longer manageable. My job is not to help them find balance in their life, but to find the ability to become what I have called 'the cosmic surfer'; the ability to ride the waves of change and stay on the board to enjoy the ride. It is my belief that we can, and desire that we all do, learn those skills sufficiently, that we stop trying to keep everyone happy and enjoy life on our own terms.

If you would like to learn more about how the world became as it is and how we can change it one person at a time, please purchase my new book The Infinite Compass-A Journey into Wisdom, which will be out any day now. Put your name on my pre-order list and get it hot off the press. Just email, text, or PM me. Bless