General Public, Mike; Mike, General Public....

Pleasure's all mine.

Society as a whole deems what is and isn't appropriate, generating a desperate need to be in the majority. Individuals base their expectations off what society deems as expected: men open doors for woman amongst other quirky social niceties. Anyone NOT in the majority is automatically in the minority, and is considered a menance. High held traditions are considered to be the guiding points for one's societal progression, for example a family of three or four generations of physicians will expect the first born son to carry on the tradition. This is in many respects similar to the system developed during the Mideaval period and honored during the Magnificient Renaissance of the trade system. It appears to be accepted by society one must follow society.

I'm not necessarily condemning traditions, but what I am condemning is following a tradition simply because society tells you to, or because your family tells you..etc. Those are always bad reasons and instead of nourishing personal growth (as I'm presuming the attempt was to develop the traditions), it would appear that in the majority of the cases personal growth and happiness is in fact hindered. These traditions do have origins of practicality (or at least in some cases). For example, the artist would send his son to (the vast majority of the time) a painting apprenticeship because practically that was the most reasonable and realistic. This system presumably worked until the French Revolution in Europe and the American Revolution in the 13 Colonies around the time of the Enlightenment and Scientific Revolution when free thought and systematic criticisms were becoming more popular and accepted and established social traditions were then under serious critique (this is a speculation, I honestly don't know but it makes rational sense.)

This then meant that individuals were free to pursue their own thoughts without worry of criticisms, social isolations and even death in some extremem cases (it is curious to note it is within this time frame, give or take a century, the Reformation was well underway-thus it was a period of intellectual, social and religious revolutions.) Free thought emerged and choked the tree of rigid tradition into near extinction.

Is this effect still seen today? I would argue somewhat, although it would seem that Society is running dry of places to change, other than the premise TO change. I feel a certain sense like Society has reached a plateu of change that will eventually fall in a gentle decline. To what, I don't fully know. Does it particularly bother me? No.

Society, in my eyes, is overrated. The world is truely beautiful with its diverse differences, and that is not the part of society that I am concerned with. The part of society that I am concerned with revolves around the actual GLOBAL concept of Society. So, let me rephrase what I said above: The world is truely beautiful with its diverse differences because of the individual. Indeed the individual per se is molded by their society and their surroundings, but that society is, in my eyes, a function of the individual, not the other way around.

And that is what I stand for: do what you want. Every person deserves the right to happiness, and every person deserves the right to obtain that happiness through their own means. If a rejection of society is a byproduct, then I would argue that should not be frowned upon. On the other hand I hold that society as a WHOLE is overrated, but not necessarily NOT rated, and thus an infostructure should be maintained. But that infostructure should work for the individual, not the individual for the infostructure.

This is to be not only the first of many (personal) political insights, but of many. I will also include on this blog personal reflections, rantings, and an attempt to celebrate the world; both whats Right with the world and whats Wrong with the world.