How Can I Stop Being a Victim?

[ticktockclok]

This is not a traditional question. I'm asking from the standpoint of my political beliefs. I'm a libertarian, and a primary libertarian belief is that we are victims of the state. I was thinking about this, and thought that maybe if I stopped acting like a victim, I would see change in the dominance and aggression of the state. I'm not sure if it would work, because I don't act as a victim in my life. But maybe I am, and just don't know it.

What are some actions a victim would take, as opposed to someone responsible for their life?

[Apollia]

Interesting link, thanks.

As for how to stop being a victim - maybe people just need to gain enough power to assure that no one can victimize them ever again. Or at least, not so easily...

People could cooperate with others to encourage bad, oppressive laws and policies to be changed, and to stop groups of thugs like tax collectors from stealing from everyone.

Meanwhile, some ways to keep being a victim might be to just accept the status quo, and try to convince yourself that everything is fine as it is, and that if you're unhappy with the way things are, then there's something wrong with you that needs to be fixed, such as by taking antidepressants, or by pretending to yourself that you're happy in spite of everything, and that you really don't mind things like the fact that millions of people are starving at this very moment.

Denial is a great way to keep remaining a victim - it can come in many forms, from denying a problem exists at all, to denying only a few select but very important facts, to convincing yourself that you either don't mind or actually agree with whatever oppression you and others are being subjected to.

Another thing which I think help perpetuates victimhood is the practice of blaming the victim - denying that anyone ever is at the mercy of forces beyond their own personal control, as an excuse for heartlessly abandoning people to their miserable fates as if everything that ever happened to everyone is all their own personal fault.

I think the only thing it's almost fair to blame a genuine victim for is for feeling completely defeated and destroyed - but even that seems quite uncompassionate to me, and counterproductive since I think it's most likely to depress someone further.

However, just giving up forever (without changing your mind and deciding you're not defeated after all) makes your defeat complete, so, it's definitely an attitude that shouldn't go unchallenged, since if someone feels defeated and just gives up permanently because of that, they really are doomed.

But, if you don't feel defeated, well, sure, you might still be doomed, you might still end up defeated and victimized, but, at least you didn't just throw away whatever chance you had of success, freedom, and happiness (or at least the pursuit of happiness, freedom, success, etc.).

Some additional non-victim courses of action would be to be honest (at least with yourself) about the fact that you can't stand the way things are, and to perceive that there really are major problems in the world that can't be blamed solely on your or other victims' personal failings - and that while no one is perfect, you and others might not need as much fixing as you or others may prefer, in your or their denial, to believe.

Here's one of my favorite articles I've ever found related to the topics of depression, being victimized, etc.: Most People Are Depressed For a Very Good Reason - Violent Acres

I guess I can even see how what I just wrote fits rather well into Steve's Truth, Love and Power triad.

Truth in this case could be, avoiding denial, and relentlessly being aware of and pointing out the problems that exist in the world. Love could equate to being compassionate to yourself and others, avoiding unfairly blaming the victim, and doing things to help stop people from being victimized.

Power is something you need in order to avoid being possibly coerced, stolen from, bullied and oppressed, or dependent on people with power over you who could treat you well or poorly depending on their whim.

Courage, according to Steve's diagram on this page, is related to Love and Power. Loving yourself and others can inspire you to have courage, to not just give up on yourself and the world in defeat.

Wow, I didn't expect to write this much on this topic. Thanks for the inspiration.

Best wishes,
Apollia

[Ecce Homo]

Originally Posted by ticktockclok

What are some actions a victim would take, as opposed to someone responsible for their life?

My take:

Victims believe that other people are responsible for their happiness. Victims believe that other people have actual authority to determine their destiny. Victims believe that they are weak and powerless. Victims believe in the efficacy of complaining and dramatizing their endless sufferings at the hands of the almighty other. Ironically, in their own way, victims can even become violent in their demands on others.

Now turn that entire paragraph into its exact opposite to get a feel for what responsible people might believe.

Responsible people believe that their happiness rests entirely on their own shoulders. Responsible people believe that the final decision making authority in their life is in their own hands. Responsible people believe that they are strong and powerful. Responsible people believe in the power of optimism and focus their attention on finding ways to overcome whatever challenges they face. And by owning their power, responsible people believe in the wisdom of cooperation and the “win-win” strategy of relating to themselves and others.

The victim response to life is maladaptive. The “responsible response” is just that: an effective way of answering life.

[ticktockclok]

Thanks for the response Apollonia, lots of stuff for me to chew on. Violent Acres is awesome; I'd almost forgotten about that site.

The thing is, I don't feel at all depressed. I feel like I will do whatever it takes to eliminate the state with no compromises, and very quickly. Even when friends look at me like I'm nuts, it doesn't deter me. My family largely used to think I'm nuts, but I guess repeat exposure to me has gotten them to agree with my ideas. It helps me see that the same kind of thing can work on the world, but I've got to figure out how to show people libertarianism on a mass scale. I agree with the article I cited though that nearly every person in the world is a victim of the state. Perhaps the victim in this article and the victim as in "oh, my life sucks" are two different uses of the word.

In case anyone is wondering, I've long since identified my purpose in life to make sure that the state goes away permanently and absolutely. "Eliminating the state" means no more state at all. I don't want to lower taxes, argue endlessly about abortion, or even go with Ron Paul's ideas (though I appreciate how he introduced many people to libertarianism) . I want to make the USA a non entity.


I'm wondering exactly what intentions I would have to release to facilitate the elimination of the state, and help me find more opportunities to help end the state. Exactly what beliefs and intentions would be helpful for me? I'm going to think about this long and hard on my own, but would appreciate any more advice.Right now, I'm not up to arguing over politics, so please leave that to the world affairs forum.

Thanks.

EDIT: I spent a while writing this post, and didn't see your reply, Ecce Homo. I'll reply to it later.

[Apollia]

Originally Posted by Ecce Homo

My take:

Victims believe that other people are responsible for their happiness. Victims believe that other people have actual authority to determine their destiny. Victims believe that they are weak and powerless. Victims believe in the efficacy of complaining and dramatizing their endless sufferings at the hands of the almighty other. Ironically, in their own way, victims can even become violent in their demands on others.

Now turn that entire paragraph into its exact opposite to get a feel for what responsible people might believe.

Responsible people believe that their happiness rests entirely on their own shoulders. Responsible people believe that the final decision making authority in their life is in their own hands. Responsible people believe that they are strong and powerful. Responsible people believe in the power of optimism and focus their attention on finding ways to overcome whatever challenges they face. And by owning their power, responsible people believe in the wisdom of cooperation and the “win-win” strategy of relating to themselves and others.

The victim response to life is maladaptive. The “responsible response” is just that: an effective way of answering life.

In some ways, I agree. I guess part of the problems I see with discussions about victims in general just boils down to semantics.

A person who is a victim of, for instance, a crime, is a victim whether they like it or not. It's an objective fact, the crime happened to them and there's no way to undo it (unless time travel or something is a possibility) - therefore the person is a victim.

Unfortunately for victims, the word "victim" in some social circles is almost a pejorative, a put-down. It can imply weakness and irresponsibility.

But, anyone who is victimized could react either in the weak "victim" manner or the more strong "responsible" manner you described. (Or, I would hope, a more realistic, less extreme perspective, which doesn't regard either oneself or others as being unrealistically far more or far less powerful than they really are).

Originally Posted by ticktockclok

Thanks for the response Apollonia, lots of stuff for me to chew on.

You're welcome.

The thing is, I don't feel at all depressed.

Good to hear it.

I feel like I will do whatever it takes to eliminate the state with no compromises, and very quickly. Even when friends look at me like I'm nuts, it doesn't deter me. My family largely used to think I'm nuts, but I guess repeat exposure to me has gotten them to agree with my ideas. It helps me see that the same kind of thing can work on the world, but I've got to figure out how to show people libertarianism on a mass scale.

Well, I can understand why you'd want to get rid of the state, but, anarchy has always seemed a bit extreme to me. I also don't see how it could last long. If everyone was free to do as they wished, certain people, groups, tribes, marauding thugs would likely end up banding together and amassing a lot of power and creating new states just through brute force methods (similar to the Vikings or any other conquerors). Warfare would likely become even more common, and possibly feudal systems complete with lords and serfs would arise again, and who knows what other historical monstrosities (like religious inquisitions, etc.) might run amok again.

I think after a period of anarchy, other oppressive states, tyrants, etc. would almost inevitably arise, and many people might end up being subjected to more and worse coercion under worse systems than they are presently under the rule of relatively nice democratic states, which at least make attempts at balances of power, and at least pay lip service to ideals of freedom, fairness, etc.

Not trying to argue, just speaking my mind a bit.

I agree with the article I cited though that nearly every person in the world is a victim of the state.

I agree.

Perhaps the victim in this article and the victim as in "oh, my life sucks" are two different uses of the word.

I agree with this too.

I'm wondering exactly what intentions I would have to release to facilitate the elimination of the state, and help me find more opportunities to help end the state. Exactly what beliefs and intentions would be helpful for me? I'm going to think about this long and hard on my own, but would appreciate any more advice.Right now, I'm not up to arguing over politics, so please leave that to the world affairs forum.

Well... maybe an intention for clarity, greater insight into what is likely to happen if states cease to exist.

Much as I wish human beings would be much nicer than they are, I don't have enough faith in humanity to believe that things wouldn't turn very ugly very fast if we had anarchy.

Before taking any drastic actions I think it's always good to question whether it would really help or only make things worse.

Maybe a more general intention like for the well-being of everyone in the world would be good. "In an easy and relaxed manner, in a healthy and positive way, in its own perfect time, for the highest good of all". (A quote copied from Steve's Million Dollar Experiment post).

Some other intention advice I often hear is the idea of focusing on the results you want (such as a world where people will never be victimized), and to not get attached to a specific idea on the means by which that result must be brought about, since otherwise one's rigid ideas of how things must happen can interfere with the manifestation.

Best wishes,
Apollia

[Ecce Homo]

Hmm. I see what you’re saying. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with me Apollia. I love the balanced way you see this question.

In my experience, I can’t be a victim unless I decide to interpret events in my life's story that way. In fact, now that I look back on my life, I’ve never been a victim, even though I grew up in a household that others might consider as “abusive”. For instance, my father hit me. Ok. That, for me, would be a fact of my past. Now, in the golden olden days, I interpreted that fact to also "be" abuse and I unwittingly took on the feelings of righteous indignation and moral outrage, not to mention years of depression that I thought I was supposed to feel having been a “victim” of “abuse”.

I love that my father hit me and I love that I used to think of myself as a victim and him as an abuser. It gave me a great opportunity to see for myself what leads to joy and what does not, both in terms of my father’s actions as well as my own actions and beliefs. I learned so much from my childhood! My father turned out to be my perfect teacher and I love him for that!

(DISCLAIMER: By no longer thinking of myself as a victim of abuse, I am not condoning, or labeling the action of hitting children, as morally good, nor would I recommend it as a parenting strategy. That’s not my point, just in case anyone reading this thinks that. It seems to be the conclusion a lot of people jump to when you move away from using words like “victim” and “abuse” to describe an experience, as in, “I must be condoning child abuse if I don’t label my fathers actions as abusive nor feel the requisite moral outrage.” That would most definitely not be true. The fact is, I would NEVER condone acts that can be considered as unkind and unloving.)

Having thought of myself as a victim in the past, I understand that we are all doing the best we can with the information we have. I for one would not use the word “victim” to put someone else down. That’s certainly not how I intended my post, although I can see how others might read it that way. In a very real sense, that first paragraph I typed describing what victims might believe was actually me typing about my former beliefs. Those are the things I believed once upon a time and I suffered for years as a result. But I don’t put myself down for believing those things. I understand that I was doing the best I knew how to do for myself. Like I said before, when we know better, we do better. In the meantime, we’re all doing what we can to be happy.

[Dannyboy1]

stop asking to be rescued. Learn from all the advice you get here, but it's up to you to take action. It's important also to keep negativity out of your process of your change. Don't blame others for victimizing you. You must take responsibility for it and not be angry. Don't allow the ego to take control and say, "I'll teach these bastards a lesson." People are wonderful to you if you really believe you yourself truly matter.

[ar81]

In a model of dominator and dominated you only may fit any of those two roles.
These roles are the required roles for abuse.
It is a medieval model. A vertical model.

French revolution stated a new model, equality, liberty and fraternity.
A horizontal model.
This model has not been assimilated by many people.

A feasible alternative for a transitional model would be to make people to understand that since they pay taxes they are investors, shareholders.

You invest in your country and president is CEO of the country.
As shareholder who put his money in that investment he has the right to demand profit and dividends, to demand results and to audit and supervise the company by himself if required.

It would be absurd to allow a CEO to have too much spare time, let alone letting him to use that spare time to play worldwide games of power.
Games of power means expenses that are not spend in the main business, which is to provide human welfare to population.

Since we live in a capitalist world, lets make it capitalist.
Citizens are shareholders who demand results to CEO/president, not the opposite.

I have met ambassadors and ministers in my activist work.
I can tell you that they would not treat you like some abusive bosses who are less important people.
You stop being a victim of people when you start auditing those who are making you to be a victim.

[Angela]

Originally Posted by ticktockclok

I'm wondering exactly what intentions I would have to release to facilitate the elimination of the state, and help me find more opportunities to help end the state. Exactly what beliefs and intentions would be helpful for me? I'm going to think about this long and hard on my own, but would appreciate any more advice.

TTT, by focusing on eliminating something, you are powerfully contributing to its continued existence. So your purpose of getting rid of the state just adds more existence of the state -- the opposite of what you are up to. Not to mention that negative intentions aren't too generally inspiring -- not a terribly effective way to get people on board with your plans.

If there was no state, what WOULD there be that would inspire you? What would you be going towards if you were eliminating the state?

To be powerful and effective, turn towards what you want.

[Apollia]

Originally Posted by Ecce Homo

Hmm. I see what you’re saying. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with me Apollia.

You're welcome, thank you too!

In my experience, I can’t be a victim unless I decide to interpret events in my life's story that way. In fact, now that I look back on my life, I’ve never been a victim, even though I grew up in a household that others might consider as “abusive”. For instance, my father hit me.

I'm sorry that happened.

Ok. That, for me, would be a fact of my past. Now, in the golden olden days, I interpreted that fact to also "be" abuse and I unwittingly took on the feelings of righteous indignation and moral outrage, not to mention years of depression that I thought I was supposed to feel having been a “victim” of “abuse”.

I haven't experienced physical abuse but I definitely know what it's like to be consumed with moral outrage over undeserved bad treatment.

I was filled with fury when I was a teenager, but I toned it down when I got older and realized I was provoking some of the treatment I objected to myself by retaliating with harsh words, etc.

I still feel that I was justified to an extent and don't really blame myself for my anger, but I learned to adapt to my circumstances and be more compromising and somewhat more forgiving of the other people's perspectives and actions, which itself made my life more pleasant.

I would likely be a much more harsh and uncompromising person now if not for those experiences. Though, alternatively, I could have become a very embittered, negative, even hateful person. And in fact, I was that way for a while.

But now, I've either repressed my feelings quite a bit, or, as I prefer to believe, I've really risen above my formerly consuming negativity to an extent.

Not that I now spinelessly bend over backwards when treated poorly - I still have what I consider a healthy capacity for outrage, and tend to agree with the Frederick Douglass quote "The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppose."

(DISCLAIMER: By no longer thinking of myself as a victim of abuse, I am not condoning, or labeling the action of hitting children, as morally good, nor would I recommend it as a parenting strategy. That’s not my point, just in case anyone reading this thinks that. It seems to be the conclusion a lot of people jump to when you move away from using words like “victim” and “abuse” to describe an experience, as in, “I must be condoning child abuse if I don’t label my fathers actions as abusive nor feel the requisite moral outrage.” That would most definitely not be true. The fact is, I would NEVER condone acts that can be considered as unkind and unloving.)

Ditto, I wouldn't wish my bad experiences on anyone either, no matter how much they taught me.

Having thought of myself as a victim in the past, I understand that we are all doing the best we can with the information we have. I for one would not use the word “victim” to put someone else down. That’s certainly not how I intended my post, although I can see how others might read it that way. In a very real sense, that first paragraph I typed describing what victims might believe was actually me typing about my former beliefs. Those are the things I believed once upon a time and I suffered for years as a result. But I don’t put myself down for believing those things. I understand that I was doing the best I knew how to do for myself. Like I said before, when we know better, we do better. In the meantime, we’re all doing what we can to be happy.

Yes, I agree. You seem like a really sweet, kind person, who has gained a lot of wisdom and made lots of lemonade out of the lemons life handed you.

Thanks again for your replies.

Best wishes,
Apollia

[ticktockclok]

Originally Posted by Angela

TTT, by focusing on eliminating something, you are powerfully contributing to its continued existence. So your purpose of getting rid of the state just adds more existence of the state -- the opposite of what you are up to. Not to mention that negative intentions aren't too generally inspiring -- not a terribly effective way to get people on board with your plans.

If there was no state, what WOULD there be that would inspire you? What would you be going towards if you were eliminating the state?

To be powerful and effective, turn towards what you want.

That's an interesting thought that I've considered in the past, but just ignored. Maybe a better purpose would be to create liberty. I think this is more in tune with most purposes I've seen, because most purposes I've seen don't have an actual end.

Originally Posted by Apollonia

Well, I can understand why you'd want to get rid of the state, but, anarchy has always seemed a bit extreme to me. I also don't see how it could last long. If everyone was free to do as they wished, certain people, groups, tribes, marauding thugs would likely end up banding together and amassing a lot of power and creating new states just through brute force methods (similar to the Vikings or any other conquerors). Warfare would likely become even more common, and possibly feudal systems complete with lords and serfs would arise again, and who knows what other historical monstrosities (like religious inquisitions, etc.) might run amok again.

I think after a period of anarchy, other oppressive states, tyrants, etc. would almost inevitably arise, and many people might end up being subjected to more and worse coercion under worse systems than they are presently under the rule of relatively nice democratic states, which at least make attempts at balances of power, and at least pay lip service to ideals of freedom, fairness, etc.

Not trying to argue, just speaking my mind a bit.

That's fine that you think that. Most people when presented with the idea of anarcho-capitalism think of chaos, which is what the media has presented as the definition of anarchy. Actually, I agree that if I immediately got rid of the government right now, it would be pointless and go back to something along the lines of what you're saying, because people would call for a new state. If all a slave knows of is slavery, that's all he can conceptualize. I think this makes an even bigger case for my purpose being to create liberty, rather than destroy the state.

Thanks everyone.

[Angela]

Great! What would liberty look like, if it were present? I don't mean the dictionary definition, but rather -- if liberty, as you'd like to generate it as your life's purpose, were really active and thriving, what would we be experiencing (again, as positive statement, rather than "we would not be this and we would not have that." What would really inspire you and have you be delighted with life?

[Apollia]

Originally Posted by ticktockclok

That's fine that you think that. Most people when presented with the idea of anarcho-capitalism think of chaos, which is what the media has presented as the definition of anarchy. Actually, I agree that if I immediately got rid of the government right now, it would be pointless and go back to something along the lines of what you're saying, because people would call for a new state. If all a slave knows of is slavery, that's all he can conceptualize.

Ah, you're much less naive than I mistakenly assumed. You're right, I didn't realize that anarchy/the absence of the state could refer to anything besides chaos, which gave me a very confused idea of what you had in mind.

I think this makes an even bigger case for my purpose being to create liberty, rather than destroy the state.

Sounds great.

Thanks everyone.

You're welcome! Thanks for introducing me to the concept of anarcho-capitalism.

Anarcho-capitalism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I actually had never heard of that before. Looks interesting.

Best wishes,
Apollia

[ticktockclok]

I can see the whole world being privatized. People are joyful; nothing is there to block them in their intellectual or spirutual pursuits. Companies and people try to make a profit, but realize that the best way to do so is to be kind and considerate in catering to your clients in whatever it is you do. It's difficult to be kind and considerate at a job you hate, so people start to ditch the 8 hour a day, corporate or bureaucratic life style, instead doing whatever they are passionate about. Also, people are simply able to do more, since no one is stealing their money.

Scientific research explodes as there is absolutely nothing to hamper. The standard of living for the world also rises, and "poverty" becomes a thing of the past. People prepare for the next great challenge of mankind as we approach the singularity, the point in time when AI becomes more intelligent than man. My guess is rather than machines being separate from humanity, what will happen is that AI will be used to augment the brain, which will become standard as we're flooded with greater and greater technological advances.

Kids will finally have an actual education. Many different options will be available for the parents of children, but even the cheapest option, teaching the kids yourself, will be infinitely better than the past standard of having them assimilate into government brainwashing institutions, and then go home to get another dose of statism from the idiot's box. Kids will likely go to centers of higher learning (I call them that because I don't know what the standard will be instead of college) much earlier, because their love of learning is not killed at an early age. They are motivated to do with their lives whatever they feel passionate about.

With the end of the state, religion will end as well. Religion is all about blindly believing in a limiting set of beliefs. While people of days long gone might have blindly adhered to whatever dogma they grew up in, men and women living in a world of liberty would constantly question and not blindly accept anything.

This world wouldn't be a bunch of people living isolated from one another. Think about the 7 Habits by Stephen Covey, if you've read the book. What are the levels he introduces? Dependence, independence, and interdependence.

When the USA was created, we were clearly at a level of independence. It wasn't a time known for people working on a grand scale together, but people could live their own lives with no interference from anyone else. That's how the Revolutionary War was won, a bunch of small guerilla bands destroying the British. Then, the USA receded into dependence, with the advent of the welfare state. Dependent on the TV for entertainment, on politics for people who don't care about you making choices for you, and on welfare or a mindless, drone-like job for feeding you. I think the key word when thinking about the future I see is interdependence. People voluntarily work together to bring themselves higher. Thinking spiritually, it's a perfect setting for lightworkers and darkworkers to work together.

The last thing I see is parents telling their kids to learn from history, so that the mistake of letting someone else have over your life doesn't happen again. And I see the kids listening.

[ticktockclok]

Originally Posted by Apollia

Ah, you're much less naive than I mistakenly assumed. You're right, I didn't realize that anarchy/the absence of the state could refer to anything besides chaos, which gave me a very confused idea of what you had in mind.



Sounds great.



You're welcome! Thanks for introducing me to the concept of anarcho-capitalism.

Anarcho-capitalism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I actually had never heard of that before. Looks interesting.

Best wishes,
Apollia

That's awesome that you're interested. Check it out; if for some reason you find you are averse to the idea, that's ok. If you'd like, check this site out. I was able to learn a lot about anarcho-capitalism there.

[Apollia]

Originally Posted by ticktockclok

That's awesome that you're interested. Check it out; if for some reason you find you are averse to the idea, that's ok. If you'd like, check this site out. I was able to learn a lot about anarcho-capitalism there.

Thanks, very interesting site. It'll take me a while to read all that but it looks like it will probably be time well-spent.

I don't think I'll ever begin calling myself an anarcho-capitalist even if I find out I agree with most of this, though. The word anarchy has such bad connotations that it might cause some people to dismiss anything with a name like that without even trying to find out anything about what people using that and similar terms really mean.

Traditional political labels are often confusing and misleading to people enough (which is why I don't even like using traditional labels - I prefer to just explain precisely what I mean and leave as little as possible to people's imaginations). But adopting a label with such bad connotations is almost like asking to be especially misunderstood.

However, it's clear from your post about the way you wish things would be that you have a very beautiful, idealistic, even inspiring vision for the way things should be, which I actually largely agree with. I just hope there are some realistic ways to bring most of that about.

Best wishes,
Apollia

[ar81]

Originally Posted by ticktockclok

I can see the whole world being privatized. People are joyful; nothing is there to block them in their intellectual or spirutual pursuits. Companies and people try to make a profit, but realize that the best way to do so is to be kind and considerate in catering to your clients in whatever it is you do. It's difficult to be kind and considerate at a job you hate, so people start to ditch the 8 hour a day, corporate or bureaucratic life style, instead doing whatever they are passionate about. Also, people are simply able to do more, since no one is stealing their money.

Scientific research explodes as there is absolutely nothing to hamper. The standard of living for the world also rises, and "poverty" becomes a thing of the past. People prepare for the next great challenge of mankind as we approach the singularity, the point in time when AI becomes more intelligent than man. My guess is rather than machines being separate from humanity, what will happen is that AI will be used to augment the brain, which will become standard as we're flooded with greater and greater technological advances.

Kids will finally have an actual education. Many different options will be available for the parents of children, but even the cheapest option, teaching the kids yourself, will be infinitely better than the past standard of having them assimilate into government brainwashing institutions, and then go home to get another dose of statism from the idiot's box. Kids will likely go to centers of higher learning (I call them that because I don't know what the standard will be instead of college) much earlier, because their love of learning is not killed at an early age. They are motivated to do with their lives whatever they feel passionate about.

With the end of the state, religion will end as well. Religion is all about blindly believing in a limiting set of beliefs. While people of days long gone might have blindly adhered to whatever dogma they grew up in, men and women living in a world of liberty would constantly question and not blindly accept anything.

This world wouldn't be a bunch of people living isolated from one another. Think about the 7 Habits by Stephen Covey, if you've read the book. What are the levels he introduces? Dependence, independence, and interdependence.

When the USA was created, we were clearly at a level of independence. It wasn't a time known for people working on a grand scale together, but people could live their own lives with no interference from anyone else. That's how the Revolutionary War was won, a bunch of small guerilla bands destroying the British. Then, the USA receded into dependence, with the advent of the welfare state. Dependent on the TV for entertainment, on politics for people who don't care about you making choices for you, and on welfare or a mindless, drone-like job for feeding you. I think the key word when thinking about the future I see is interdependence. People voluntarily work together to bring themselves higher. Thinking spiritually, it's a perfect setting for lightworkers and darkworkers to work together.

The last thing I see is parents telling their kids to learn from history, so that the mistake of letting someone else have over your life doesn't happen again. And I see the kids listening.

The day when everything is privatized, you will no longer live in a country, but a company that exists to make profit, so you are a replaceable tool. Unfortunately, people in poor countries can replace you, since they are cheaper, and that's why jobs are going off shore. As jobs go off-shore, you see people working more for less money.

The day when everything is absolutely privatized, companies will go to countries where workers are cheaper. I do not mind if that happens, because there poverty here. the only way USA would be equally competitive would be if it had more poverty.

[ticktockclok]

How do you live in a company? You live on property, your own piece of land. It seems like you're believing the myth that people can "steal" your job. You don't own a job. Somebody else is simply more competitive than you. It just means that you shouldn't stagnate your brain, and you should always keep learning.