“Custom… gives me no power therefrom, and runs me in debt to boot. We spend our incomes… for a hundred trifles, I know not what, and not for the things of a man. Our expense is almost all for conformity.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Written by Bryan Lutz, Editor at Dollarcollapse.com:
Mere mortals are making themselves uber-impressive on social media.
Like gods among men, its become status quo to make yourself, no matter your lot in life, appear rich and beautiful, fake.
Yet, even as we see so much fake, there’s hope.
Charles Hugh Smith explains the first part:
“This competition for visibility is not only cut-throat, it is artificial. Reserving recognition and respect for the few with high visibility in the world of screens has generated a great many perverse outcomes. Since mere mortals cannot possibly compete, every competitor must present an artificial self that is a pastiche of what’s considered essential to gain media visibility: not just being attractive, but super-attractive, not just wealthy but super-wealthy, not just talented but super-talented, and so on.
Mere mortals are left in a hopeless situation. In response, they’re withdrawing from the competition en masse. This abandonment of the competition is largely beneath the surface, as the apologists’ happy-story narrative collapses once we recognize the hopelessness and the solution–withdrawal from the economy and society.”
Smith is following a trend…
Instead of competing with the super-attractive and uber-wealthy, people are withdrawing from the economy and society. Smith says it’s a hopeless situation.
But there’s another perspective here.
Withdrawal is a passive form of non-conformity. And that passive, non-conforming response to a sick society isn’t a cure, it’s another symptom.
If a person wants to play a role in the healing of self and society, they can’t disengage. You only need to say, “no.” Think and act differently.
While conformity leads to…
Wasted time…
Wasted resources…
And wasted opportunities…
In fact, if you consider what Smith is saying, the desire for conformity is so strong in our society that many people are willing to “fake it till you make it” on social media. As if being ultra-rich and beautiful is normal.
Normal enough to think, “Doesn’t everyone fake it.”
Whereas if you’re willing to simply get on social media, and present yourself as a mere mortal, you’re going to be offering something completely different.
And if you take it a step further, if you begin to align yourself with the real conditions for economic prosperity in your family, in your neighbourhood, and in your workplace then you will stand out.
And what are those real conditions?
To start, a focus on production.
Working with your hands on something, anything.
If you’re Charles Hugh Smith, that thing might be gardening, growing your own food.
If you watch Bitcoin’s Michael Saylor, on anyone of his many podcast interviews you’d see a wooden model ship. I’m willing to guess he spent at least 1000 hours building that ship with his own hands.
If you’re a church history person, you might remember how Jonathan Edwards spent 12 hours of his days confined to his study with books galore. But in the mornings and evenings he would be outside chopping wood for the fire. That was something he kept to himself, and never let any of his eleven children take part.
These men are non-conformists…
And they flourish because of it.
They use time to gather resources, and resources to gather opportunities.
That is the way of mere mortals.
Mortals do not depend on the customs, societal norms, or the process of conformity to produce whatever it is they see their neighbour doing.
Mortals depend on producing things with their own actions.
Whether that is research and writing, ship building, or producing your own food. There is no faking production.
Either what an individual produces exists, or it does not.
So for the producers, even those who produce videos about their ship building on YouTube and Instagram, there’s hope.
They’re doing something a rich and beautiful influencer could never do.
They’re not conforming to the competition set by the desire to conform.
They are mere mortals.
