Every once and a while my delusions of persecution and grandeur kick into high gear. Everyone wants to be a super hero. Everyone wants more power. Everyone wants to be greater than they were before, and the definition of said greatness varies widely from opinion to opinion.
Dat god complex doe.
It's one thing to have power, but it's a completely different matter entirely when considering how that power is wielded. Those without power are often delude themselves into thinking that the world would be so much better if they were in charge. Completely ignoring the fact that the more things change: the more they stay the same. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. How much longer will we keep making the same mistakes before we choose another path?
When I was much younger my dad and my friend's mom would take turns dropping me and a group of friends off at Great America, a theme park bordering San Jose. One time we spent like an hour just sitting on a bench watching kids try to pick up a quarter we super glued to the ground. Sometimes they would fall over. It was hilarious: we were unbelievably toxic pieces of shit I assure you. Life's too short to not fuck with people, amirite?
In any case, one time when my dad dropped us off he gave us a little peptalk: something my friends and I will likely never forget. It was just a little speech reminding us that we should stay safe and whatnot, you know, typical helicopter parenting type stuff: worrying about things that in all likelihood will never happen. But today my father took it to an entire new level of absurdity:
Don't be a hero...
...
... If you see any bombs, don't try to diffuse them.
Now I know that sounds like a metaphor, and it certainly might have been given the circumstances, but given the other context of this rousing speech the consensus was pretty clear: he was being literal. If you LITERALLY see a bomb don't LITERALLY try to diffuse it. Thanks for the advice dad, what would we ever do without you?
I'll never forget the contorted faces of my friends as they stared in disbelief at the absurdity of this situation, trying as hard as they could so suppress the hysterical laughter that ensued after my dad was out of earshot.
This was all long before mass-shootings were a common occurrence, so the notion that we'd be in any real and simultaneously avoidable danger was ridiculous. As if we needed such advice anyway... even in the event that something actually happened such a conversation would have zero sway on future action.
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Bizarre-Coaster-Accident-Kills-Hayward-Man-at-2992233.php
To be fair, people have died there
A man trying to retrieve a cap from under the tracks of a high- speed roller coaster was struck and killed yesterday in a bizarre accident at Paramount's Great America amusement park in Santa Clara.
In 1998 someone climbed a chain-link fence to retrieve their hat they lost on the Top Gun ride, a roller coaster where your legs dangle below you. While you're in line it references the movie a lot with Tom Cruise. It reaches speeds up to 50 miles an hour and the G-force is actually high enough begin blacking out on one of the steeper dips.
Apparently the ride dips so low at that part and goes so fast that his guy got hit in the head by a girl's leg, shattering her shin and killing the guy trying to get his hat. Crazy stuff.
What's the point?
Both my parents are rule-following book-smart nerds. Likely in spite of that I took a turn in the opposite direction. I used to be quite the rule follower myself and perhaps in some ways the brainwashing I received during my formative years is still lingering in the background as I rage against it.
Yeah, but what's the point?
The point is that my dad's advice wasn't the worst advice. This isn't the movies, heroes wind up dead. Champions of the people have a short lifespan. When the people rise up and parade their champion for all to see: the head of said rebellion always gets cut off. Best to avoid such a path if possible. This is where I would normally list like a dozen+ people who were outright murdered or died suspiciously, but I'll spare you this time. Use your imagination or look it up.
History has been repeating itself over and over again. Honorable dingbats like Ned Stark end up dead in Season 1 and it's really nobody's fault but their own. You play the game of thrones, or you die. Simple.
And these facts of politics and power shifts really put all of us in an awkward position. No one gets to play hero anymore. Rather than centralized leadership rising up to represent the Swarm of consensus, we have to collectively agree on the path forward without leaders in play. Leaders are a thing of the past.
You can't kill an idea.
Therefore our ideas and consensus itself must lead the way, decentralizing all attack vectors as the earthquake of disruption ravages the powers that be and forces them to lash out and show the world who they really are.
And who are they?
They are the people who are going to coerce everyone to get a new COVID vaccine every six months. They are the ones who will enforce immunization passports, a concept that was considered ridiculous conspiracy theory just months ago. They are the ones who willfully forget these facts and pretend like they never happened. They are the ones who come forward openly and say you're going to own nothing but don't worry: you'll be happy. As if we were already happy with the way things were going already... nice try.
Or not!
The future is very uncertain and unpredictable.
The world has a way of surprising you.
It's never as bad as the conspiracy theorists say it will be.
Even if it usually is pretty bad regardless.
Greed ruins everything.
But even barring the Q-Anon bullshit:
The world is already, today, a pretty verifiably messed up place. This is an uncontested fact. This has always been and will always be a scaling issue. Trust/honor is in short supply, and only just recently have we started to pay a premium to the suppliers. Before crypto, the most profitable thing to do was the exact opposite of society's ideals. #fsociety
And truly not a single one of us is immune to said greed, which is why we all have to move forward together as the Swarm we were meant to be. Unfortunately I still haven't detailed my plans for my silly little "cult" idea (aka fake religion). Obviously a cult that calls themselves a cult doesn't take themselves too seriously. I'll get around to it.
DOUBLE AGENT
But what I'm trying to get at here is that even if we want to be champions of the people and have the power to do so, even if we have the opportunity to "be the hero": we shouldn't do it. When you're at the top, ya gotta play the politics game, or get run over by the big boys.
Simultaneously networks like Hive will have to pose as the champions of the people; a provider of good jobs and fair governance; while also catering to the legacy system.
Wink Wink (looks at the peasants):
These dinosaurs are so stupid: they are going extinct.
They don't even realize they've signed their own death warrant!
Wink Wink (looks to elite):
These peasants are so stupid: we will financially enslave them in the new system just like we've done for generations. The audacity that this time would be any different! We are going to make a fortune.
Like any political maneuvering, both sides must be catered to and appeased to get the desired results. Politicians are the ultimate double-agents.
There will be no Utopia/Dystopia.
Never has and never will be.
Change is the only constant.
The quest for balance should be our goal.