Ego, self-overcoming & "I will not serve"

[David McDivitt]

I appreciate your sentiment. I used to criticize radicals who wanted to tear
down the establishment, since if it wasn't for the establishment they'd have
nothing to do. Also, anarchy tends to become modified anarchy which ends up
becoming society again.

However, spending time around team people, group people, and otherwise
goodie goodie people, being associated with "I will not serve" people is
very refreshing for me. It helps me remember I have an identity and stay in
touch with it.

Me doing my own thing and having my own mind is not assertiveness. It's just
me. I'm not making anyone do anything except leave me alone. It is the
goodie goodie people with all their moralisms who are assertive and we need
to remember that. It is my choice how much of it I want to put up with. If I
get crossways with society or fail to have normal, meaningful, gleeful
relationships with society, that's my choice, too. It's all up to me. The
fact I know I have this choice is what constitutes "not serving", that I do
not immediately jump to whatever new moral imperative, but think about it
first, think how I will be affected and whether I like that.

I first sent this to Michael personally because I did not think to check the
email address. When my message doesn't come back across the list, I
remember. As a former listowner myself who doesn't do lists anymore, I'm
aware of the moral opinion some people have concerning the reply-to address.
I never have understood that very much on a discussion list where most
replies go back to the list. Using reply-to-all in the email client causes
two messages to be received by the author. So this is a real time example of
society and how much one wants to participate in it. If I was a social guy
I'd think "Oh goodie. Another moralism for me to stuff in my little brain".
Not being a social guy I bitch about it.


>From: Michael Brown <petrarcapress at gmail.com>
>Date: Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:47:47 +1300
>
>i will not serve" is not a primary manifestation of my attitude toward 
>the world, not even primary as statements go. i want a more positive 
>foundation, a yes. my life is a deep structure of yes - it is only 
>against the state and other spooks - and the spook-ridden - that i 
>appear as a no.
>
>i will not serve - but i'm not hung up on that fact, either.

--
dgm