Groupthink squashing Individualism...
from A Fugitive Crosses His Tracks
Aksel Sandemose
Sandemose in his 1933 novel formalized a set of laws that had been a sociological form of behavior in the Scandinavian world for centuries. They are important in the United States, especially in the upper midwest states, because they still heavily operate in that region where many Scandinavian immigrants settled. As these immigrants migrated across the country in the 20th century, they brought these traits with them, permeating local culture, integrating the concepts of collectivism and socialism and enforcing these social behaviors and political beliefs into American society.
They are antithetical to Individualism, Freedom of the Individual, Entrepreneurial Enterprise, Creative Expression and defeat positive thinking ego in the worst possible way. To me they are essentially anti-American because they are based on conformity and discourage originality, open discussion, creative thinking or anything "outside the box." Regardless, they are widely accepted as the norm in many communities, influencing our social, economic and political culture, destroying the potential of creative minds and new ideas.
The chief principle to all of them is:
Don't think you are anyone special or that you are better than anyone else.
The rules are:
1. Don't think that you are special.
2. Don't think you are of the same standing as others.
3. Don't think you are smarter than others.
4. Don't fancy yourself as being any better than others.
5. Don't think that you know more than others.
6. Don't think that you are more important than others.
7. Don't think that you are good at anything.
8. Don't laugh at others.
9. Don't think that any one of us cares about you.
10. Don't think that you can teach others anything.
11. Don't think there isn't anything that we don't know about you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybWrY0venT4
Showing posts with label Jante Law. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jante Law. Show all posts
8/3/10
4/21/10
This Is Not America
It is now merely the United States...
America was an achievement oriented country where someone who may not have had a lot of advantages in life, with some intelligence and skill, pluck and courage, using imagination alongside hard work combined with some machination and a little luck, could succeed at making a better life for themselves.
If this sounds cynical and negative to you, so be it. I'm an immigrant who arrived here at 14 years old and started working right away. I don't regret one minute of it and am satisfied with my life because I realize that in my time, most of what I didn't achieve is my doing. On the other hand I am very dissatisfied with the current condition of the United States and the implications it has for the future of all of us and the limitations for some of us. Until the current method of operation comes crashing down, opportunities as they were in America generally do not exist as they did. History is a good indicator of what happens next. Good research is the US Constitutional 16th Amendment of 1913, the Weimar Republic in Germany in 1919, Argentina since 1930, Nixon ending the Gold Standard in the US in 1971.
The beginning in my time for me was in the 1970s when Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Commision Quotas made clear to millions that what you knew, how skilled you were, the education you had, was irrelevant in a vast majority of workplaces and schools. It was all based on who you were based on your gender, ethnicity or race and if you filled a certain slot based on those inherent qualities and not on qualifications. There is no argument there was racism or sexism and no doubt achievement was limited by gender and race. The problem is the resolution was all wrong and allowed people unprepared and without talent to get ahead while highly prepared and talented people were left behind merely because they were not the right gender or color.
This created an environment that is a weird version of the main rule of Jante Law "Don't think that you are anyone special or better than us." It also morphed into equal rights for everyone has come to mean that everyone is equal in everything.
ULTIMATELY THIS IS NOT A LOGICAL AND CANNOT CONTINUE. IT'S A MATTER OF TIME.
In the mean time, during this period when it is the United States and no longer America, the best most of us can do is just that, the best that we can do. It is key to rise above and think positive, be forward looking and think ahead and I can tell you from experience...
That is very hard work but hard work never hurt anyone and is part of America. You can choose to remain a part of America, even if it doesn't exist as "national policy."
Do you want to be what's left of America or fall into lockstep with the current Statism of the United States? The choice is yours.
http://youtu.be/Xz7_3n7xyDg
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America was an achievement oriented country where someone who may not have had a lot of advantages in life, with some intelligence and skill, pluck and courage, using imagination alongside hard work combined with some machination and a little luck, could succeed at making a better life for themselves. John Baeder American Painting
The United States is a nation-state run by Social Democrats (masquerading as liberal progressives) backed by Government Bureaucrats and Labor Unions in collusion with Corporate Republicans (masquerading as conservatives) backed by Big Business and the Super Wealthy as a Statist country. The average person unless they have connections with Power Brokers, Labor Unions, Family Sponsors, Non-Profit/Non Government Organizations, Big Money, Bureaucrats, the Political Class and similar contacts, now has to struggle needlessly for arbitrary reasons to get ahead.
If this sounds cynical and negative to you, so be it. I'm an immigrant who arrived here at 14 years old and started working right away. I don't regret one minute of it and am satisfied with my life because I realize that in my time, most of what I didn't achieve is my doing. On the other hand I am very dissatisfied with the current condition of the United States and the implications it has for the future of all of us and the limitations for some of us. Until the current method of operation comes crashing down, opportunities as they were in America generally do not exist as they did. History is a good indicator of what happens next. Good research is the US Constitutional 16th Amendment of 1913, the Weimar Republic in Germany in 1919, Argentina since 1930, Nixon ending the Gold Standard in the US in 1971.
The beginning in my time for me was in the 1970s when Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Commision Quotas made clear to millions that what you knew, how skilled you were, the education you had, was irrelevant in a vast majority of workplaces and schools. It was all based on who you were based on your gender, ethnicity or race and if you filled a certain slot based on those inherent qualities and not on qualifications. There is no argument there was racism or sexism and no doubt achievement was limited by gender and race. The problem is the resolution was all wrong and allowed people unprepared and without talent to get ahead while highly prepared and talented people were left behind merely because they were not the right gender or color.
This created an environment that is a weird version of the main rule of Jante Law "Don't think that you are anyone special or better than us." It also morphed into equal rights for everyone has come to mean that everyone is equal in everything.
ULTIMATELY THIS IS NOT A LOGICAL AND CANNOT CONTINUE. IT'S A MATTER OF TIME.
In the mean time, during this period when it is the United States and no longer America, the best most of us can do is just that, the best that we can do. It is key to rise above and think positive, be forward looking and think ahead and I can tell you from experience...
That is very hard work but hard work never hurt anyone and is part of America. You can choose to remain a part of America, even if it doesn't exist as "national policy."
Do you want to be what's left of America or fall into lockstep with the current Statism of the United States? The choice is yours.
http://youtu.be/Xz7_3n7xyDg
__________________________________________________
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