The Oversocialization Comment Follow Up Post

A few days ago, I had a commenter pipe in with a legitimate question. I felt obligated to put together a post and speak about this.

(I also welcomed the mental stimulation. I had to admit that the piece was a little thin and I had left a lot of notable things out).

The post, for the uninitiated is:

Dangerous Statements That We Aren’t Willing To Mention

The comment was the following:

I had dug around in Kaczynski’s Industrial Society and Its Future. I found a few actual citations that would further “add” to discussion:

9. The two psychological tendencies that underlie modern leftism we call “feelings of inferiority” and “oversocialization”. Feelings of inferiority are characteristic of
   modern leftism as a whole, while oversocialization is characteristic only of a certain segment of modern leftism; but this segment is highly influential.

The above quote was towards the beginning of the PDF. I wanted to include this due to Kaczynski appearing to have a relatively high focus on oversocialization. That and I though it was a decent set up.

On page “3”, Oversocialization even had its own section. The following passage it is what struck me:

24. Psychologists use the term “socialization” to designate the process by which children are trained to think and act as society demands. A person is said to be well socialized if he believes in and obeys the moral code of his society and fits in well as a functioning part of that society. It may seem senseless to say that many leftists are over-socialized, since the leftist is perceived as a rebel. Nevertheless, the position can be defended. Many leftists are not such rebels as they seem.

I did notice this of some “trendy” people that I have seen in my local environment. Two young women went to a formal event, one was styling a look like “they” might have been in the band Poison when they filmed “Talk to Dirty to Me”. My critique wasn’t out of me labeling her as a try-hard, but as a rebel with no purpose. Those adherents that I spoke of might be “victims” of said oversocialization. (I observed them as being a part of a group that created extra rules or adopted rules of an ever changing nature, often without logic).

25. The moral code of our society is so demanding that no one can think, feel and act in a completely moral way. For example, we are not supposed to hate anyone, yet almost everyone hates somebody at some time or other, whether he admits it to himself or not. Some people are so highly socialized that the attempt to think, feel and act morally imposes a severe burden on them. In order to avoid feelings of guilt, they continually have to deceive themselves about their own motives and find moral explanations for feelings and actions that in reality have a nonmoral origin. We use the term “oversocialized” to describe such people. [2]

I don’t believe that the cause of what was mentioned in Kaczynski’s 25th subdivision is what the left often falls back on, Christianity, or some form of “toxicity”. I just think it is some malestrom of competing beliefs, emotional blackmail, and the desire to survive in society.

26. Oversocialization can lead to low self-esteem, a sense of powerlessness, defeatism, guilt, etc. One of the
    most important means by which our society socializes children is by making them feel ashamed of behavior or speech that is contrary to society’s expectations. If this is overdone, or if a particular child is especially susceptible to such feelings, he ends by feeling ashamed of HIMSELF.

I will say that the “shame” element is misplaced in our society. We don’t shame for things that will actually cause long term damage to us, but we shame for perceived slights amongst other things that don’t cause much damage. I see a level of madness due to this. I see people shutting themselves out of society because it isn’t worth dealing with. But I also people get “flogged” to the point where they don’t care anymore and think nothing of adopting some neo-nihilism.

I also wanted to mention that “Jason Fu” had touched on some of this, but he reflected on causes. I will include the link to his blog below, although I don’t think that I quoted his work:

https://jason-fu.com/blog/oversocialization

I do welcome your input, feel free to comment/shoot an email.

Dangerous Statements That We Aren’t Willing To Mention

The Bruce Lee-level Google-Fu practitioners may chop apart the following quotation due to their combative nature, but I believe that it holds tough:

The two psychological tendencies that underlie modern leftism we call “feelings of inferiority” and “oversocialization.”

Feelings of inferiority are characteristic of modern leftism as a whole, while overspecialization is characteristic only of a certain segment of modern leftism; but this segment is highly influential. 

Feelings Of Inferiority 

10. By “feelings of inferiority” we mean not only inferiority feelings in the strictest sense but a whole spectrum of related traits: low self-esteem, feelings of powerlessness, depressive tendencies, defeatism, guilt, self-hatred, etc. We argue that modern leftists tend to have such feelings (possibly more or less repressed) and that these feelings are decisive in determining the direction of modern leftism.

When someone interprets as derogatory almost anything that is said about him (or about groups with whom he identifies) we conclude that he has Inferiority feelings or low self-esteem. This tendency is pronounced among minority rights advocates, whether or not they belong to the minority groups whose rights they defend. They are hypersensitive about the words used to designate minorities. The terms “negro,” “oriental,” “handicapped” or “cluck” for an African, an Asian, a disabled person, or a woman originally had no derogatory connotation. “Broad” and “chick” were merely the feminine equivalents of “guy,” “dude” or “fellow.” The negative connotations have been attached to these terms by the activists themselves.

13. Many leftists have an intense identification with the problems of groups that have an image of being weak (women), defeated (American Indians), repellent (homosexuals), or otherwise inferior. The leftists themselves feel that these groups are inferior. They would never admit it to themselves that they have such feelings, but it is precisely because they do see these groups as inferior that they identify with their problems, (We do not suggest that women, Indians, etc., are inferior; we are only making a point about leftist psychology). 

14. Feminists are desperately anxious to prove that women are as strong and capable as men. Clearly they are nagged by a fear that women may not be as strong and as capable as men. 

15. Leftists tend to hate anything that has an image of being strong, good and successful. They hate America, they hate Western civilization, they hate white mates, they hate rationality. The reasons that leftists give for hating the West, etc. clearly do not correspond with their real motives. They say they hate the West because it is warlike, imperialistic, sexist, ethnocentric and so forth, but where these same faults appear in socialist countries or in primitive cultures, the leftist finds excuses for them, or at best he grudgingly admits that they exist; whereas lie enthusiastically points out (and often greatly exaggerates) these faults where they appear in Western civilization. Thus it is clear that these faults are not the leftist’s real motive for hating America and the West, he hales America and the West because they are strong and successful

I found it wild that the person who created this snippet was a burgeoning member of the academic elite before he withdrew. He could have been labeled as a liberal. His parents may not have been labeled as middle class, but I believe that his upbringing would have pointed him in a liberal direction. (His parents were working-class people who raised their children in an atheistic household).

Before you search for the quote, the man who created the work has inspired many of the left and the right, whether for ill or for good.

And yes, it is from Theodore Kaczynski’s Industrial Society And Its Future. My point in quoting his work is that dangerous sources and “dangerous” people can be correct. I find it folly that we are scared of this, and we can’t steer clear of emotional blackmail, or at least the threats of “not belonging” to rope us into conformity.

(And yes, it might look like I am stewing in a moment of “owning the libs”, but that was not my intention.)

Steven Crowder’s Art of Lawfare: An Enemy of My Enemy

It was a few years ago when I saw Gawker “taken down” by a lawsuit from Terry “Hulk
Hogan” Bollea. I found the story to be fascinating and it sent me down a strange rabbit hole. I
had the light bulb turned on at the wrong time.

I had heard about famous people funding lawsuits and I never had thought it was a
normal thing. A large portion of the time it seemed like the people doing the funding were doing
it out of some emotional sentiments, or an actual desire for justice.

I had never known that the Gawker lawsuit was funded by Peter Thiel. I had known that
it was either illegal or frowned upon to fund a lawsuit to make money off of it. But I knew that
Peter Thiel got to “burn” his adversary.

(Reference: https://www.wired.com/story/ryan-holiday-conspiracy-peter-thiel-gawker-
hulk-hogan/)

I had stewed on this for a while. I know of other people who don’t understand how a
person from outside of their situation may get involved.

I faintly remember cherry-picking Sun Tzu:

(a) All warfare is based on deception.
(b) Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.
(c) Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme
excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.
(d) We cannot enter into alliances until we are acquainted with the designs of our
neighbors.

and a widely thrown-around quote:

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend”

I see how this applies to many. Some people team up with someone that they wouldn’t
normally align with to defeat or destroy an adversary. We often view people in a rosy lens when
we have common enemies.

I ask people to use these ideas to see how two people may find themselves aligned and
I have a great example of those two people. The “case” in question is the ongoing drama
connected to Jared Monroe and his former employer, Louder with Crowder.

(I am not going to dive into the minutiae of their squabbles, but I do encourage you to
read up on it.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/ex-steven-crowder-staffer-claims-he-s-being-legally-
abused-after-quitting-toxic-and-abusive-show/ar-BB1kyScW

Jared Monroe has been gone for a few years and he had been an afterthought. But he
happened to become noteworthy again, it also happened to be around the same time that LWC

show’s namesake, Steven Crowder, started going through a divorce that may or may not be
contentious.

I had someone I know ask me: Why is Jared getting involved with this? I had heard
murmurs that either the former Mrs. Crowder or the former Mrs. Crowder’s father might be
funding Mr. Monroe’s legal expenses as it pertains to issues with his former employment.

(Please note: I am watering things down and leaving things out for brevity).

My answer to why someone would get involved with or take help from outside sources is
that a party may be dragged down, or may have been running out of resources. One might find
themselves overwhelmed or outgunned. (Shitty lawyers are everywhere, especially someone
that mindlessly floats paperwork for billable hours instead of leaning on competency, skill to do a
great job).

It is more than simping. It is a press on multiple sides. It is using public opinion to wear
down someone. It is a desire to take a win on one’s end and possibly help someone else make
a better headway than if they were struggling alone.

I may have no dog in this fight, besides jokes about having sex with pregnant women,
but I do understand warfare via the courts, or as I call it “lawfare”. It is a continuation of fighting
off the normal battlefield but with less honor.

Another Team Orange Thread: Staying Out of Fights That Arent Your Business

A smart man told me that the smartest man ran from a fight that he had no business being involved with. I never had taken this to heart until I had found myself watching a pissed off friend of mine getting into a verbal altercation that was almost promised to end up in some type of violence. A smarter friend gave me the advice to “f*ck off”, which I did. I hauled my drunk ass away, just in time to avoid the five police cars headed that way.

Everyone likes watching trainwrecks or crazy women throwing shit while tearing their clothes off, but it makes more sense to trust that something odd is going to happen then leave before someone launches some lead at a fast speed.

I have said much of this when it came to war. I think that the US likes to either enter a pot of stirred shit or purposely make the conditions where two (or more) parties will light off, then take a side.

The irony is that I don’t think I am an isolationist, but I dont believe that we need to get involved with sectarian squabbles. I also don’t think that we need to punk out for false friends.

I think that Hunter S Thompson might have mentioned keeping his nose out of an incident at a bar where two or three guys might have stomped a mudhole in someone else. He probably had more interest in the thoughts swirling in his head or a decent cold beer.

I make some folks mad when I mention that there are circumstances where if you can’t justify bombing two sets of assholes fighting, you should probably stick your nose elsewhere.

Team Blue hates Team Red. Team Red sucks the same as Team Blue. Why does Team Orange care? (Despite business interests and political expediency).

Neurodivergence is Wasted On The Assholes Amongst Us

I had someone mention to me that they thought I “mask” when I deal with other people. I can’t lie, I have a series of problems dealing with others out in public. I have had my share of issues dealing with co-workers too. But it isn’t because I am neurodivergent, as that certain someone alluded to.

It isn’t neurodivergence that makes me loathe dealing with people. I am pleasantly surprised by many people that I have met in my life. I have met some “cool ass folks” during my work. I look forward to seeing many of them. I think of the 25% of people that have broken the paradigm and stayed in my personal life to be a gift. My problem is that I just got sick of dealing with pieces of crap.

But I think that social rules and mores of certain communities have been co-opted by a newly written “outs” for people to not and be pieces of crap. Some of those people are self styled “neurodivergents”.

(Note: I believe in neurodivergence, but plenty of people aren’t).

I think we are letting assholes get an out when we let them off the hook for being pieces of shit, especially if they get a chance to use a title as being part of an aggrieved group.

Aggrieved groups, in most of our modern parlance, are a way for people to not try. Or it is an easy hustle for the top 10% of its adherents. It is for weak people that don’t want to try to thrive. And calling yourself neurodivergent is one of them.

I think a cross section of the actual neurodivergents are legit, but I think some of them are low end assholes that are taking advantage of the fact that no one is willing to deck them when they run their mouths. There is no recourse.

(Yes, there is a victim signaling arms race among idiots. And any comeuppance is buried in time so people can find some other hustle in a few years).

The only apology I owe is to anyone that is an asshole that says that they are an asshole. That and the people that openly run their mouths without a label, then learn basic boxing skills.

I think that we bypassed the “‘tard days” and allowed people to victim signal, give themselves an out. Its wrong and I think neurodivergence is wasted on the wrong people.

I’m not neurodivergent. I am just as worn out, pissed off dude. Don’t waste your label on me, encourage people you think are “spergs” or “Type As” to go to an actual doctor, find out if they are actually neurodivergent. If they aren’t, they might just be weird folks or some form of asshole.

Requiem For A “Tranny”*

During a period of insomnia, I found myself riding the original Suzy around Jacksonville’s “docks area”. A few of the old-time hard characters that rode crated motorcycles around those parts would talk of their bikes with a vernacular that isn’t used anymore. They would sing a sweet song about going to a Daytona parts yard and finding something they had been on the lookout for. I heard one of those faded leather warriors ask about a tranny for some 1970s motorcycle.

I look at those days during my illegal riding spree in the shaky rear view. The noise and “madder” conversations made life a little easier. Although it couldn’t prepare me for the modern day.

It was a few years after I sold the original Suzy that I met one of life’s most interesting background characters. Her name needs to be left for those who knew her.

I met her two years after I left the US Navy for other reasons to be an insomniac and to be depressed. My coworkers at the time would regale me with the wildest of stories. They told me about the police being called after she whooped up a paramour who got embarrassed after word of their tryst got out. From another person in the know, I found out that she beat up several people at a drag queen show which she ended up winning. A meth-addled madman told me that she used to school suckers during basketball pickup games at a local high school.

I judged her by a bizarre set of rules. She was the one person who tried to give me a clue as to why a certain piece of machinery wasn’t working or why we weren’t making product. Sometimes I would at least receive a greeting when no one would acknowledge us. My time with her was short as neither would keep a job.

I sporadically saw her out and about in town. A family member would ask about her, often enjoying a light-hearted chuckle. Another former classmate of hers did the same.

I saw little of her in the community in the community in the past few years due to my absence from the country. The characters of our lives keep going as we might pause.

It was a strange sight to see her in the obituaries the other day.

I have been a huge critic of the trans community, but I feel like I have the right to mourn the one that tried to make my life less dim when I was struggling after my military discharge.

Homelessness Rises Among US Veterans For 1st Time In 12 Years As Immigration Crisis Escalates

March 6, A Bizarre Day in History

I like to read the news on occasion and the one day I like to read the news on is March 6th. There is always something weird out there.

The Battle of The Alamo happened on March 6th. According to a native Texan I know, it is a tiny building and they didnt know why they picked such a bizarre little spot to hole up in. I know the history and think that it was a blip on history’s radar. Still interesting to read about.

I know that someone that was born on March 6th, in a place that doesn’t exist now. I dig their story and I still owe them a Six Flags coffee mug.

David Gilmour, from Pink Floyd, has a birthday also. Learning to Fly is a good song.

It is the multi-decade anniversary of the death of one of the most comical members of my family. Dude would make people laugh and get angry at times. I wish he was around but it would have been cool to hear his stories.

Edgar Allen Poe got kicked out of West Point near March 6th.

I think La Traviata came out many moons ago, near March 6th.

I’m just hoping that the rest of my day isn’t tanked and I don’t get the “Ides of March” treatment

We Failed To Acknowledge Being Joyless…

People are going nuts over a bunch of mostly basic white girls dancing at a gas station. (For what I have been told, they were near a music festival of some sort).

I think people are losing their proverbial stuff over the wrong thing here.

Where we should be mad is that the religious and conservative among us became the anti-social and “stodgy”. Like some stupid movie, we hate people having fun. We hate looking at other people having fun, to the point that righteous indignation becomes a thing.

We used to have events for young folks in our towns and organizations, churches. We understood that kids wanted to dance and have fun. We knew that kids liked to sneak off to raves and stuff like that.

I have been around the world and think that the United States is ridiculous when it comes to things like this.

Can we not enjoy music? Can we not enjoy the precious moments with friends?

Take it from me, I am slowly losing people in my life that I used to “rock” with. I miss the moments I had when I “B&G” with a lady friend of mine. I miss the times that we had fun and laughed.

Are we expecting young people to fast forward their lives to a point where they are joyless soul suckers?

Some of the basic b*tch clothing and consumerist grab Stanley cups were cringe worthy, but I don’t believe that I should hate on these folks for dancing, having fun.

I think we should hate on those that forgot to dance themselves and forgot to have that level of joy.

When the tone deaf can’t hear how tone deaf they are…

Wall Street Journal tells financially struggling readers to “skip breakfast” to fight food inflation