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Neo-Feudalism: The New Paradigm

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posted on Jul, 20 2015 @ 03:03 PM
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I've said most of this here and there around the boards -- but maybe it's time for me to say it again, all at once. This started originally as a reply to another thread, and as it grew I realized it deserved a topic of its own for discussion.

There's an old Bob Dylan lyric: "When you've got nothin', you've got nothin' to loose" ... Well, a lot of people have nothing and a very few now have something. It wouldn't hurt us to all contribute a bit so that we can all float higher. The packing of people into dense cities (for job opportunities) is leading us all into a bunch of anti-communal behaviors and attitudes.

We sit in isolate corners and gratify the whims of our egos -- that's "freedom" now in today's world. We screw everyone else as long as we do something that makes us feel good. The fact remains that as populations rise and corporations dehumanize us, we feel obligated to satisfy our selfish needs in order to feel validated and important.

The real issue is the dehumanizing values that are being passed down by the big corporations and the government as control icons.

What's insanely frustrating is that we support the same capitalism that ships jobs overseas, glorifies profit-over-people, and then demonize people that go on social programs that we've setup. The same system we are told is great is creating the problem we hate. The same forces that create poverty and unemployment turn around and brainwash us into vilifying the poor. It's cognitive dissonance at its finest.

Issac Asimov has a wonderful quote, and it seems to be explaining what is going on in today's world:



Moyers: What happens to the idea of the dignity of the human species if population growth continues at its present rate?

Asimov: It will be completely destroyed. I will use what I call my bathroom metaphor. Two people live in an apartment and there are two bathrooms, then both have the freedom of the bathroom. You can go to the bathroom anytime you want, and stay as long as you want, for whatever you need. Everyone believes in the freedom of the bathroom. It should be right there in the Constitution. But if you have 20 people in the apartment and two bathrooms, no matter how much every person believes in the freedom of the bathroom, there is no such thing. You have to set up times for each person, you have to bang at the door, "Aren't you through yet?" and so on.

The same way democracy cannot survive overpopulation. Human dignity cannot survive it. Convenience and decency cannot survive it. As you put more and more people into the world, the value of life not only declines, it disappears. It doesn't matter if someone dies. The more people there are the less one individual matters.


So what we're seeing is the value of the individual declining. Human beings want to be valued, noticed, wanted and loved -- this is a fundamental part of the human experience. We are allowing corporations and government to tell us that we're not special, we're not important, we don't matter and that we're just tiny insignificant cogs in an infinite machine.

In reaction to this dehumanizing environment we are now beginning to act like children. Everything offends us these days, and the PC crowd is now in control. Have you ever wondered why? We're so berated and beaten down by newly emerging paradigm that the only way we can fight back is to become immature, attention-seeking children.

We are undergoing a complete paradigm shift into what I call "Neo Feudalism" that will be painful for most and not for a very few. At some point a tipping point will have to be reached, as we all begin to realize that we have the science, knowledge, materials and resources to create a kind of amazing paradise on Earth.

We can't achieve a better world though because of the people we allow to lead us. We allow the least imaginative, the least creative and visionary people to lead us. We allow the industrial elite people that are far removed from the daily struggles of the common man to make the decisions about our society.

And the ironic thing about all of this? Those of us that can effect the greatest change in the world are right here on ATS -- you and me -- we're the top 5-10% of the industrialized, literate democratized world. The problem is, we're all eating three meals and sleeping in a bed at night. Most of us are pretty far removed from the real bad news of the world. So, those that can really make the changes are unfortunately the furthest away from the problem!

And just like the immature children we are becoming, we naively think that if we put our fingers in our ears and close our eyes, the problem will just go away. We think if we just ignore the ongoing environmental rape and the dehumanizing of our species -- it'll disappear.

Instead of fighting back we're told not to -- we're encouraged to gratify our egos by commercials and radio ads. Sharing is seen as a weakness, as no one's going to be sharing with you! We are relying more and more on our technology to insulate and buffer us from the world we exist in, becoming more and more like the machines we create. We're developing AI's that one day will have to teach us about compassion and humanity, as we'll have all but lost it.

So this is what it's come to -- a new future of feudalism. It's been repackaged but essentially the same thing we saw in the Dark Ages. What's so amazing to me is how staunchly people have been brainwashed into defending those that would impose it upon us. It seems they somehow have been mislead to be believe that if they wish hard enough, try hard enough, then just maybe they too can break through into the aristocracy!

This is nothing but a delusion, similar to someone thinking they can win the lottery.

So get your mud and grass hut ready, the nobles will be arriving soon for their yearly tribute. . .

edit on 20-7-2015 by MystikMushroom because: (no reason given)



posted on Jul, 20 2015 @ 03:20 PM
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a reply to: MystikMushroom

star and flag for Asimov alone

That is why im so pro off grid....we have the technology and tools to live in the wild and still be somewhat comfortable. If you can truly master off grid living you have won...you just have taxes and health to worry about then...off grid means you aren't part of the system any more. You will start paying less attention to politics...you will read about a power outage that affected everyone in the area...but not you. They will increase the price or utilities and you will never even know it happened.

In theory for a moment think if we all lived off grid...wed now have a government with nothing to do....and I for one think "# the government".

Oh # im on a list now.
edit on 20-7-2015 by rockpaperhammock because: (no reason given)


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posted on Jul, 20 2015 @ 03:34 PM
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a reply to: MystikMushroom

What do you mean its coming? It never left!!! Oh the guise changed but America is not much different than those dark days. Its just that our overall level of comfort/technology has gone up so we don't realize that we still have our lords. You can tell every election cycle when the serfs join their lords' cause. We are given a measure of freedom all the while paying more in taxes than the serfs did in the dark ages. Our country was founded by slave owners, and captains of industry aka the nobles. Our bicameral legislature is supposedly there for balance but I think its there as an outlet valve for the peoples anger. The House of Representatives are our bone they threw us to have our "say" in government. So whats the point of the Senate? To propagate the aristocratic system. Just like the Senate in the days of Rome were all wealthy land owners and heads of families we have the same now.

I completely agree with you though, though I disagree with Asimov that population growth is the problem (though I'm not sure that was really your point). It can be a problem, but as you pointed out, we have the ability to be living in a friggin paradise with the technology we have currently, not to mention the stuff they won't give us. Our earth is far from overpopulated, we are just not very creative like you say.




posted on Jul, 20 2015 @ 03:34 PM
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a reply to: MystikMushroom

These are the big issues. Big issues that all the trifling distractions are meant to hide.

The "nobles" might not be people this time. Corporations are super human and they are soon to be super sovereign once the TPP/TISA gets done.

I hear the argument "But hey, I'm a customer and I can decide to go to this or that corporation for product" . Other corporations offer me a paycheck to be a small cog in the gears. I'm free.

"Customers" and "employee" implies an element of human free will --that is true. This is changing and it's not by accident. Profit machines want to literally captivate customers and employees. They are succeeding. Prison labor, removing food labeling and forcing nominally harmful medical treatments is just the start. Dehumanization...subjugation, the appropriation of religion... these are the values being programmed into Americans.

It's working. Many on the fringes can see it happening. A few stop to declare the water pot is getting warmer.



posted on Jul, 20 2015 @ 03:37 PM
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I don't subscribe to Malthus' postulate and it has been proven wrong.

This reminds me of Harry Seldon in the capital of the empire explaining how civilization will splinter and disunify as explained by his fictional "psycho-historical" predictions setting up the creation of the foundation, the ultimate split-off civilization.

I do think we should continue to improve our technologies and techniques to minimize our 'footprint' but, expanding into new territory has traditionally been how we grow and flourish. There is still plenty of space for the time being and private space expansion in colonies, mining, etc. really is the next frontier.
edit on 20-7-2015 by greencmp because: (no reason given)



posted on Jul, 20 2015 @ 03:47 PM
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a reply to: greencmp

Isn't it ironic that human beings are now more connected to one another than ever before, but we all feel more isolated at the same time? The very technology we are creating to connect us all together is taking the humanness out of the equation.

We are behaving more and more like robots, and imbuing humanist traits to our AI's and pocket assistants.

A day will come when an AI will have to explain the idea of compassion, selflessness and empathy to a human.



posted on Jul, 20 2015 @ 03:50 PM
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originally posted by: MystikMushroom
a reply to: greencmp

Isn't it ironic that human beings are now more connected to one another than ever before, but we all feel more isolated at the same time? The very technology we are creating to connect us all together is taking the humanness out of the equation.

We are behaving more and more like robots, and imbuing humanist traits to our AI's and pocket assistants.

A day will come when an AI will have to explain the idea of compassion, selflessness and empathy to a human.


Oh dear, that will undoubtedly be true.



posted on Jul, 20 2015 @ 03:51 PM
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a reply to: zardust

Well, if you look at what "freedom" meant in say the 1800's Western frontier, it mean participating in the general will of the community you lived in. Most communities were fairly small, and everyone had their own unique role and place in them. People felt like they mattered and had some sort of useful purpose.

In the ever growing cities that are often times the only recourse for work in today's world -- we have little to no voice in the will of the community. We don't matter. We're not special. We're not unique.

What we do have power over is the ability to stroke our own egos -- the ability to give ourselves pleasure by being as selfish as possible. This behavior is not only encouraged, but reinforced by the materialistic media we propagate through our pop culture.

Today, "freedom" means to gratify your ego, despite any negative consequences that may entail.



posted on Jul, 20 2015 @ 04:02 PM
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a reply to: MystikMushroom


What's insanely frustrating is that we support the same capitalism that ships jobs overseas, glorifies profit-over-people, and then demonize people that go on social programs that we've setup.

Careful who you speak for. Its either civil war or we all stop paying taxes, which they have mostly automated at this point. Voting is a farce. It will take an army to change the system.

It only appears that we support it because nothing has been done to change it. We are living in an artificial construct, designed without consent, forced to abide by its rule of law. You may only live off the grid unknowingly to them or face forceful reeducation and alignment into society.


The same system we are told is great is creating the problem we hate. The same forces that create poverty and unemployment turn around and brainwash us into vilifying the poor. It's cognitive dissonance at its finest.

At what point in our brainwashing do we lose the responsibility to govern ourselves and become a byproduct? You basically spelled it out, but slightly contradicted yourself.

First you said we support the system, then you said its because we are told that it's great for us, and lastly, state that we are brainwashed.

Those who support the system are those that benefit from it the most. The only alternative to being lied to is expecting everyone willingly distrust their government, which is impractical. Brainwashed is just that, reason without logic. Most are stuck between the last two.

I'm not trying to come off as argumentative, but what are we? Supportive, lied to, or brainwashed? Don't shun those who have supported the lie when they've only found out after the fact.

We need to convince people that hope is dead and the only option left is action. Everybody has a breaking point. Some are just more comfortable in their ignorance than others.


edit on 20-7-2015 by eisegesis because: (no reason given)



posted on Jul, 20 2015 @ 04:13 PM
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a reply to: MystikMushroom

Kris Kristofferson wrote a song that was made popular by Janis Joplin..."Freedom is just another word for 'nothin left to lose'..." You can call me "Bobby McGee".

I like your phrase of NEO-FUEDALISM.

It does bring to mind the harvesting of labor, wages via taxes and most importantly; accumulated wealth every 20-25yrs or once a generation via marketplace bubbles. At the age of 45, I find myself comparable to sea monkeys (krill shrimp) in suspended animation or a mere Chia Pet on the Animal Farm waiting to be sheared once again for my woolly pelt.

Even if I still owned a house...the title still lists me as a mere TENANT!!!



P.S. Thanks for giving me my first applause!



posted on Jul, 20 2015 @ 04:22 PM
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a reply to: eisegesis

Good points, I basically pounded the keyboard and didn't take much time to do any edits or revisions!

I think we need a blended system that's balanced. We need a system that glorifies the human potential and rewards the creative. We should be holding up creativity and the human experience as ideals, not greed and ego-driven self satisfaction.

We should come to understand that the Earth can provide for us all, and that the need to horde insane amounts of resources isn't necessary for happiness. This, however, goes against eons of evolutionary progress. As soon as the first proto-human discovered that by having a surplus he was able to influence the behavior of others, we become chained into a master/slave system.

Down through the ages that system has been finely tuned and adjusted to hide itself, wrapped up in high flown abstractions such as religion and dogmatic social constructs. We willingly buy into a system that uses and abuses us, tells us that only if we have X will we feel like Y. We allow our human potential to be taken away from us under the guise that we too can have what those sitting atop Mount Olympus have.

We have the capacity to use our amazing technology to free ourselves and break the cycle of the old paradigm. We just can't organize ourselves to do so because of the memes that we allow ourselves to be fed.



posted on Jul, 20 2015 @ 04:38 PM
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a reply to: MystikMushroom

There is nothing new about this way of doing things. This has been the way it has been done for as long as the fake monetary system has existed. Either you have it or you don't and you want it. There are only so many ways to slice the same pie. The bigger mouth gets the bigger piece and the smaller mouth goes hungry. We follow blindly and do whatever we are told to do because if we don't we are ostracized and refuse to play ball.

This is like writing the new testament and saying it is new and improved version of the old testament. Neither testament can lay claim to the truth or that one is better than the other.

The only way for this world to survive at the rate it is going is for the monetary system to come to a screeching halt and everyone shares the world and it's bounty equally as it was always intended to be.

This mentality of survival of the fittest is defeatist and allows for the bullying tactics to occur within our society. Protect the weak don't eat them. Give a dog a bone, don't hide it. Rise up and slaughter, like David and Goliath fable, no, even giants need love.

Lets all have a group hug and love each other unconditionally and damn the feudal whatchamacallits.



posted on Jul, 20 2015 @ 04:38 PM
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All of that sounds good in theory, however, when in practice it loses its luster. The reality is I am not looking for anything other than the freedom to enjoy my family and friends and I don't need any form of government or an invasive society to tell me how and when I can do something and how to dispose of the fruits of my labor.

There shouldn't be a penalty for simply wanting to exist.



posted on Jul, 20 2015 @ 04:40 PM
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We are slaves to our own desires. We accept material objects as indicators of our worth and we allow those that possess these objects in the greatest numbers to determine their value. Those that reject this system are labelled as dissidents and or mentally impaired. The rare groups of people that have managed to live in peace and harmony with our planet are considered as illiterate, animals and savages.

Yet we consider ourselves intelligent and we want to blame others for the condition our condition is in.

Smart we are not.



posted on Jul, 20 2015 @ 04:45 PM
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a reply to: Metallicus

What I hear you saying is "I just want to make myself happy."

That's part of the problem I'm trying to describe. We've all been beaten down so much by a culture that marginalizes us that the only way we can fight back and take control is to gratify our own ego. We do things for ourselves, by ourselves, to ourselves and distance ourselves further and further from our society at-large.

The more we isolate ourselves inside our own little imagination lands of ego-stroking, we become easier to manipulate and control. Everyone becomes absorbed into doing things that make them feel good directly instead of looking outward at the entire human condition and the state of humanity.

Is it any wonder why we are flocking to virtual reality? Is it any wonder we cocoon ourselves with confirmation biased news sources that tell us only what we want to hear? Is it any wonder the political spectrum is more polarized than ever before?



posted on Jul, 20 2015 @ 05:00 PM
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a reply to: MystikMushroom


As soon as the first proto-human discovered that by having a surplus he was able to influence the behavior of others, we become chained into a master/slave system.

Sadly, that influence may have been justified. One who creates a surplus for themselves within the same confines, fairness and regularity that the others can also equally benefit from, is not anointed with the ability to control others.

It stems from the others willingness to be controlled.

Their understanding is, I don't have to work as hard if I may comfortably relinquish some control knowing that I will benefit equally as those who have a surplus.

But like you said, it has been exploited, fine tuned and made to solely benefit those already with a surplus, while creating the illusion of fairness and equality in return for our freedom.


edit on 20-7-2015 by eisegesis because: (no reason given)



posted on Jul, 20 2015 @ 05:04 PM
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a reply to: eisegesis

The thing is, someone didn't have to create anything. Someone just had to stack up what other's weren't using, or steal it from someone else. Someone just had the idea that if I have more of X, eventually everyone else will run out of X and want mine. When this happens, I can dictate to them how to act and dispense X as I see fit.



posted on Jul, 20 2015 @ 05:10 PM
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a reply to: MystikMushroom



The more we isolate ourselves inside our own little imagination lands of ego-stroking, we become easier to manipulate and control. Everyone becomes absorbed into doing things that make them feel good directly instead of looking outward at the entire human condition and the state of humanity. 


Too many of us are still clamoring to board the Star Making machines. There is a Fix-It-Up Chappie on every channel, ready to place a "Star" upon thars.

The Mc Beans of the world are convinced that “They never will learn. No. You can’t teach a Sneetch!”

Is it too late to prove them wrong?

edit on 20-7-2015 by NightSkyeB4Dawn because: Word drop.



posted on Jul, 20 2015 @ 05:20 PM
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a reply to: MystikMushroom

I agree with nearly everything you have said. Nearly.

The part I would like to scrutinise, is the section where you refer to the membership here, suggesting that it is also removed from the hard realities of living in this world.

Although it is true that we all have access to the internet, and by extension, this site, it is not entirely legitimate to suggest that we are all disconnected from the harsh conditions that people live under. I am not a man of means, and am looking forward to nothing but struggle for the rest of my days. Struggling to give my son a better start than I got, struggling to keep my head near the surface, let alone above the water in a financial sense, struggling to keep the fragile bonds which bind our business together from snapping under the strain, and by so doing keep a roof over my head.

There is no comfort in my future, no certainty of calm, no end in sight to the constant battle to maintain the pretty damned pathetic state of affairs which is my life. No savings, no mobility, no wage worth a damn, all despite working hard and working well. There is nothing about my life which says far from struggle, close to comfort. I am, we, my family are never far from the edge, and it is only a balance of skills, grit, determination, and on occasion raw fury that gets us through the day. But we make it, and keep making it.

I doubt very much that I am the only member around here who far from being removed from the hardships of life, has not only experienced them himself, but strives every day, hard as hard can be, to maintain at a level other than the worst they have ever seen, ever lived. I am not in the top five or ten percent of anything, not anything at all.



posted on Jul, 20 2015 @ 05:22 PM
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originally posted by: MystikMushroom
a reply to: eisegesis

The thing is, someone didn't have to create anything. Someone just had to stack up what other's weren't using, or steal it from someone else. Someone just had the idea that if I have more of X, eventually everyone else will run out of X and want mine. When this happens, I can dictate to them how to act and dispense X as I see fit.

The same could be said for a group of individuals who each have the same amount of food, except one just eats it slower. When the others run out, they deserve to be controlled. The utopian view is that the controller teaches them the ways of self reliance, the polar opposite of what you see taking place. Materialistically, let them be controlled. THAT is where we have supported the system. Value has been placed on the worthless.



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