Moo-tivational Conditioning of the Human Herd
Collective freedom - the freedom of the herd - does not exist.
The government has cured the coronavirus pandemic the same way they cured the opioid epidemic.
They just made it illegal to get sick.
In a roundabout way, that is what the penalties for not getting the poke or wearing masks is about. It is less obvious in America than it is in Australia but is so only because we have a pesky Constitution and they do not.
This whole episode has the feeling of a cattle drive, with the government rounding up people into a herd and culling the strong, independent and noncompliant. It is the national inculcation of the idea of collective freedom in place of individual freedom.
But “collective freedom” does not exist. In the words of F.A. Hayek:
“Even among us we have planners who promise us a “collective freedom,” which is as misleading as anything said by totalitarian politicians. “Collective freedom” is not the freedom of the members of society but the unlimited freedom of the planner to do with society that which he pleases. This is the confusion of freedom with power carried to the extreme.”
They are even training our kids to be docile little human calves, because fences produce more conformity than does living on the free range.
All this for a disease that has a 99.658% survivability rate for people under 65 and more kids are killed in the inner cities over the course of a year than have died from this pandemic since it began over 18 months ago.
The past 18 months has been about much, much more than the immediate adrenaline rush of power, this is an opportunity for them to conduct operational behavioral conditioning on a national level. This is about inculcating a nation in herd mentality rather than herd immunity.
The cattle analogy may seem unduly harsh, but at our most basic level, humans are still animals. Very smart, highly functioning animals, yes, but animals, nonetheless. This is an undeniable fact of nature and can be proven all the way down to the mitochondrial DNA level. The truth is, we are only three percent away from being a chimpanzee.
Of course, opposable thumbs are an innovation that have strongly contributed to humans being at the top of the food chain, but most higher primates have them as well – what sets us apart is our superior ability to think, to reason, and by extension, to learn - but even with our significant advancements and capabilities, we continually find ways to reinforce that we are still governed by the law of the jungle, that we are still subjects of natural law.
Natural law is described as a law whose content is set by nature and is thus universal. As employed in classical application, natural law refers to the use of reason to analyze human nature and deduce binding rules of moral behavior. It is also hard to argue that the natural state of man is anything but freedom, that total free will in obedience only to natural law.
The human/animal nexus of behavior is everywhere – from the similarity of gang behavior in the inner cities to the social organization of the higher primates. We even see similarities of the self-segregation of animal species in herding behavior like patterns of human choices of people with which we associate and where we live and work. There is animalistic violence in our society driven by base instincts – among them: survival, rage, domination, and fear. Were it not for recidivism to our natural state, it is possible there would be no murders, we would be free of wars and likely free of a great deal of marital infidelity caused by our primal mating instincts.
Since we are governed by these natural laws, the commonalities that are expressed in human behavior to those of nature are sometimes startling. Take, for example, the similarities of government policies directed to influence human behavior and the canine responses noted by Anton Pavlov as his experiments developed a strong tie between stimulus and response through the programmed withholding or rewarding of food until a certain desired action was completed.
One might say the left is using “moo-tivational conditioning” (pardon the pun, it just seemed appropriate to inject a bit of humor!)
There are more dire consequences of living with the herd.
The results of a 2008 study conducted by Kristen Jule of the University of Exeter in England has relevance to human behavior and its relationship to the modern welfare state.
She studied over 2,000 captive animals (all carnivores) that were released into the wild. Unfortunately, she found that less than a third of them survived even the first six months because they had lost the ability to fend for themselves or even to recognize risks to their lives and had no idea how to avoid or defend against them.
Many of these lessons were harshly learned in the early days of the environmental/animal rights movements when animals were released into the wild after a life of captivity. These “reintroductions” rarely went well and many of the animals were quickly killed by predators or were so oblivious to hazards posed by roadways or automobiles they were simply hit and killed.
She also found that not only do the offspring of captive animals lose their ability to hunt and forage for themselves, but over time, they also lose the ability to care for their own offspring. These forgotten rearing skills lead to entire generations incapable of independent survival in their natural environment. The animal family then becomes dependent on a third party for individual survival and eventually for the survival of their offspring.
Herd of dependent cattle or a nation of independent, free people.
Our choice.
Alas, nothing new here. We human beings were invented with free will but have always shown a preference to "look good in the eyes of your peers". We are pressured to become obedient prisoners. We want to fit in. Not rock the boat. Communal bonding leads eventually into group think.
Overpriced sneakers decorated with a swoosh are sold to adolescents whose first job in life is to look good in the eyes of their peers. Look like you fit in. Obey group-think logos and mantras. Don't think beyond the swoosh. These people grow up to be Democrats.
Socialists tend to associate personal liberty with feelings of discomfort, uncertainty, and helplessness, whereas communal equality signifies for them protection, financial security, and minimal individual risk.
“The secret of happiness is freedom. The secret of freedom is courage.” - Thucydides