The Collective Rules
Are made up by the collective
As they go along, making rules
To cover not having any rules
Or having rules being ignored
With such exceptions to rules
That rules are made to be broken
Which seems to be a silly rule
Which is not quite as wacky
That not all the rules are
Fair in love or war, even though
Both seem to be direct opposites
Rules with exceptions
Seem to be the rule
“The kids have rules to live up to, but most of the rules were tough. They had some good rules, y’know, I don’t mean to put them down. Parents had some pretty good rules. No running with the scissors. That’s one I never disobeyed. Made sense to me. This big mother’ll go right through me.
“What are you doing?”I’m not running with the scissors…for one thing.” They had a couple more good rules. They had another one: No sticking your head out of the high-speed railroad train window. Say, goddamn, Dad, good rule. Doesn’t want our heads chopped off. Fantastic, Dad.
But then they had some dumb rules: No running in the hall. Where ya gonna run? In the rooms? Gotta keep turning in the rooms, man, s**t! You can’t get up any speed at all, man, s**t! Hallways were made for runners. The hallway sprint – try to take that quick right before you crash into the statue of the Sacred Heart- man blow everybody… blow the whole feast day.
They had another dumb rule: No singing at the table. Why not? One guy with a bad voice fucked it up for everybody else? No singing at the table. How about humming? No, by extension, humming and whistling included. There’s no such rule as no screaming at the top of your lungs at the table. That ought to be good to try that. Show me the rule. You could stand right next to the table and sing your ass off. Just don’t sit down, man.
🎵”I’m standing near the table during dinner and I’m singing and it isn’t even covered by……….. your rules.” 🎵
“Sit down, you.” That was your middle name…you. “Come here, you.”
– George Carlin
The kicker is that now
The rule of law will be replaced
With the rule of Murphy’s law
Anything that can go wrong, will
Competing with Yhprum’s law
Which is a pretty good rule
Anything that can go right, will
Not like that ever gets followed
Some rules seem to have more weight
Since they were allegedly written in stone
Others preserved on papyrus in an
Underground bomb proof shelter
When not on public display holds rules
Which are mostly malleable and
Convenient to placate the proletariot
Whether in stone or on sacred paper…….
“Did you really think we want those laws (rules) observed?” said Dr. Ferris. “We want them to be broken. You’d better get it straight that it’s not a bunch of boy scouts you’re up against…
We’re after power and we mean it… There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals.
Well, when there aren’t enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws.
Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What’s there in that for anyone?
But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced or objectively interpreted – and you create a nation of law-breakers – and then you cash in on guilt.
Now that’s the system, Mr. Reardon, that’s the game, and once you understand it, you’ll be much easier to deal with.”
― Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
While still giving the supposed
Adherers of those rules that they do
Not really need to adhere to those rules
With near minimal to zero research
There does not seem to be any rules
Covering any impedance for greed
The unspoken rule as immortalized
In the movie “Wall Street” “Greed is good”
“The point is, ladies and gentlemen, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind”.
– “Gordon Gecko”
Gecko – a small cold blooded reptile feeding off insects. Hmmmm.
The dismissed part of greed
Is that greed also kills
Which is more of a devolutionary grind
Than capturing an evolutionary spirit
I guess it depends on how we want
To proceed with the collective rules
“Humanity” is not very pretty
When it sees itself
In a collective mirror.”
– Angelo Devlin
Aren’t the rules what keeps us away from evolution?! It’s a clever way of keeping the masses inside the box. Interesting read, Angelo! I appreciated the reflection. Light and blessings to you, my friend 🙏 🌟
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Yes, Ayn Rand hits the nail on the head with where we are at. You would think, if everyone read and understood that, there would be a paradigm shift. At least to search for something more equitable.
Meanwhile, Robert Fulgham has the best advice to “rule” the collective.
All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten
by Robert Fulghum
Most of what I really need
To know about how to live
And what to do and how to be
I learned in kindergarten.
Wisdom was not at the top
Of the graduate school mountain,
But there, in the sandpile at Sunday school.
These are the things I learned:
Share everything.
Play fair.
Don’t hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don’t take things that aren’t yours.
Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life –
Learn some and think some
And draw and paint and sing and dance
And play and work everyday, some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out into the world,
Watch out for traffic,
Hold hands and stick together.
Be aware of wonder.
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