You are wretched.
In the history of humanity puberty was the passage to adulthood and responsibility of self yet you accept prolonged subservience. You even sell your future life to bankers for the privilege of slavery and sustained stupidity.
You choose to be a house slave rather than risk freedom.
You are pathetic to watch. Racing from assignment to assignment, from essay to essay, from test to test, from lab to lab; racing to regurgitate on demand, to satisfy a master, to be graded for compliance, to be moulded into an obedient servant without ever having the time to think or understand.
You are even more pathetic when you justify your subservience with the master’s catch phrases: this is how we learn from true experts, basic knowledge first then thinking and application, practice leads to skill… as though human development, perception and learning were like tying a shoe or any other technical skill.
You are most pathetic when you devise a world view to justify your own negation and indoctrination; when you bring the master within yourself in this way. You are most sad, most deeply wounded and most distanced from yourself when your oppressor resides in you.
You were broken and institutionalized as a mostly defenceless child but now you are an adult and it is time for you to stand up – or take the path of life-long crawling.
You are now responsible for you.
Are you going to let these moronic ass kissers we call professors – who have jumped through ALL the hoops – impress you with their canned and well delivered spiels (or if not well delivered at least imposed by their illegitimate authority)?
The ones that deliver badly and grade unfairly only better illustrate the madness of it all. But you make a pact with every one of them to obey in exchange for grades and credits. And those that fool you with their smiles from privilege and their empathy entice you to imitate rather than rebel.
Just like with slave-driver tactics, there is a prof for your every student vulnerability. The hard ass offers superiority of the top-level exploiter with a promise of club entry, or the comforting illusion that you are needed for good in the crushing machine. The radical prof denies his/her role in managing the killing machine and offers enticing radical (to the root) analysis severed from all practice beyond writing, communicating, and more analysis – as the ultimate neutralizing stratagem for potential agents (students) who might not otherwise distinguish between inquiry and theorizing as acceptable and social reform as unacceptable.
You confuse your trainer, the master’s tool, for a mentor or a parent. Wake up. As an adult, no one is the boss of you. Your first responsibility is to yourself, to your own dignity. Only you can discover who you are and your rightful place. These scams are soul poison and make you into an oppressor that is oppressed.
Yes you are pathetic, with all your escapes and justifications. And just as pathetic with your drive to dominate and climb the ladder by stepping on heads. It will be a deservedly empty life until you stand straight up.
You deserve to be treated like a number, to be used and manipulated, because you take it. Why would the master respect you? Is reward for obedience respect? Are simulated pleasantness and an offer to take a place on your knees respect?
You have no say in what, how much, when, or where. You simply are told and only ask that the directions be more detailed: When is it due? Can it be double spaced? Can I have an example? And you ask for regurgitation aids: Can you give us copies of your Power Point slides before class…? Good fucking Jesus. You are pathetic.
Neither does your cynicism shield you. Obedience against your nature is harmful obedience no matter how you cast it. It dehumanizes you like it would denaturalize any caged animal.
You can free yourself.
You can fight back to defend yourself, to define yourself.
You must discover personal authentic rebellion and express it with your voice and your body.
Do not repress your emotions. Without anger and hate of your oppressor there is no passion or love. Feel what you feel and use it to drive your liberation.
Each act of rebellion is a step towards self-worth and freedom. Each act of rebellion informs you about you and about the world like nothing else can.
This is how to connect with comrades. You can only connect if you are yourself and know yourself. This is how to discover your place, a real place. It’s also the only known way to create justice.
You don’t need a better model or argument. Just reject pacification and co-optation. Take your place and your influence – in the classroom to start! – And wherever you are, always. Join your comrades and hold together with those who see the chains. The others are acting out the internalized master and only need to be stirred or challenged. Don’t let them mob you. Stand your ground.
You will find the way if you keep true and never lie down or kneel. Each time you comply you will feel the hurt again and this will remind you to step back into the battle for you.
Get out of the trap and up the ante for your life. It will be worth every moment.
Cowardice, stupidity and depravity are the other option.
It is that simple. You are always in charge of you.
Excellent Denis! I have been following your blog for the last 5 months and you have empowered me in so many ways! Thank you for being you!
ReplyDeleteSir,
ReplyDeleteYou are a supremely angry man. I just found this blog and you know what, if we replaced a couple of words here and there, i would have thought a Nazi wrote it.
Tell me Denis (it is Denis right?), what do you do for a living? Seriously, how do you earn money to feed yourself and keep a roof over your head?
I'd love to understand your situation, so then i can gauge whether you're a man of wisdom or simply a sad old lonely man, who covers the wounds of his failing relationships and hollow life with tedious clichéd rants on the internet.
I wonder if you'll moderate this comment or publish it. After all, it would be kind of hypocritical to not publish it. Surely we can pigeon hole that as censorship on the grounds of differing opinion. If the White House did that Denis, i think you'd have a blog post or two to write about the subject.
Again, please inform us all of how you earn money to live in our society. Then lets begin discussing freedom.
Regards,
John Harding
@John,
ReplyDeleteouch.
the strength of your counter arguments is compelling.
@John
ReplyDeleteWhat concern is it to you how Denis earns money to live in society? Does Denis live in YOUR society or in SOCIETY? Denis lives, without your permission.
There is meaning in losses. Without loss there would be no purpose, no drive, and no appreciation for life.
Also, if Denis moderates your comment, then let him moderate. Your CONCERN that he might moderate, followed by your CONCERN how he lives in YOUR society, reveals that you feel threatened by Denis.
Only the weak and those that prefer a false sense of security to the risks of liberty feel threatened.
How much money do you make? What kind of car do you drive? What kind of home do you live in? What kind of job do you have? Who are your friends? Let's play a game and take everything away from you and see if your anger will then be used to try and change society for the better or if it will only fuel your own utter demise.
Your concern for Denis only reveals your own fears and inadequacies. And your own anger.
Denis,
ReplyDeleteSarcasm is obviously a tool you know how to use. And you are spot on, my arguments are not compelling. Just an annoyed response at how un-compelling i found the arguments put forth in this post.
Simply put, your blog has not taught me anything, or stirred a whisper of rebellion or activism inside me. It's just made me jump to radical conclusions about how hollow your life must be, having to fill it with such pitiful ranting.
This, i feel, is rather sad. I sincerely hope i'm in the minority here, with my reaction to your work.
Regards,
John Harding
John,
ReplyDeleteWhat about reading Denis' blog as a record of his own personal exploration not necessarily with the purpose to gain followers?
But at the same time it is good that you feel annoyed, sad, angry. It is good that Denis has been able to stir your emotions. Now, the rest is up to you: search inside yourself to understand why you reacted the way you did. When you discover the answer, you will then better appreciate Denis' blog.
Linear thinking prefers to look in only one direction. I implore you, look around instead.
From my own personal experience, I would say that this blog post is an extremely spot on critique of first world university students. Far from "tedious clichéd rants".
ReplyDeleteAnd John, I find it fascinating and naive that you believe, "if we replaced a couple of words here and there, i would have thought a Nazi wrote it."
Since when have fascists advocated authentic liberation?
denis
ReplyDeleteperhaps you could offer some reflection of your own experience going through the system that could ground and personalize this critique?
(and not just the recent few years, but the time before that as well?)
points can often be made much more profound when illustrated with personal stories...