submitted by jwithrow.
Journal of a Wayward Philosopher
Shedding the Institutional Mindset
November 19, 2014
Hot Springs, VA
The S&P opened the day at $2,047. Gold is up to $1,197. Oil bounced back above $75. Bitcoin is still hanging around $379, and the 10-year Treasury rate is 2.36% today.
Yesterday we examined some of the prominent macroeconomic trends and we reasoned that, from the American perspective, the world will be a much different place eighteen years from now. We pondered: how can we help prepare a child growing up today for adulthood in a world that will not resemble the one that currently exists?
To answer this question we must first examine the script as it exists for the average American child coming up today. For this I will defer to one of my favorite analysts, Paul Rosenberg over at Casey Research, who summed it up rather succinctly:
Do well in school (an institution).
Rebel with music from the entertainment corps (institutions).
Wear the new shoes/jeans/etc. with the best corporate logos (institutions).
Get a university degree (from an institution).
Take student loans to do so (from an institution).
Take a job at a big firm with great benefits (interacting institutions).
Get a home loan (from an institution).
Build a 401(k) (more institutions).
Believe in democracy (a multilayered institution).
Be a good citizen and vote (same as above).
Send your children to daycare, then school (institutions).
Buy brand-named goods (from other mega-corp institutions).
Watch the best in entertainment (corporate institutions).
Conduct your relationships on Facebook (a vampire institution).
Trust in Social Security and Medicare (Ponzi institutions).
I read this list and have to nod my head in agreement – this is pretty much the script that has been sold to every individual in American society for quite some time now. The script has worked out fairly well for people over the past seventy years but I must ask the question: is it still viable? After all, past success is not indicative of future results.
I am skeptical. To be frank, I am not so sure this script will even work out well for the Baby Boomer generation (though it has up to this point). Time will tell.
So, getting back to the original question from yesterday, how best to prepare Madison for a changing world? Logically the first step would be to change the script. Maybe even set fire to it.
But to change the script first requires a change in mindset.
The current script represents the institutional model which operates under the assumption that individuals are inferior, weak, and ignorant; that they are objects to be molded and formed in the institutionalized image. The institutional model suggests that each individual should spend most of their time working as a “productive” member of the institution. While rarely stated explicitly, the institutional model implies that each individual is subordinate to the institution. Those who subscribe to the institutional model tend to develop the mindset that everyone must participate. Everyone must play.
To walk away from this institutional mindset requires courage but a beautiful thing happens when you do – the world opens up and becomes more free. Then you discover your boundless potential and begin to trust yourself implicitly. And then you can start to envision a better way to prepare little Maddie for adulthood.
Instead of treating birth as an emergency and rushing off to the hospital you can do a homebirth. Instead of rushing her off to school to have indoctrination forced on her by the collectivists and bureaucrats you can develop a comprehensive, practical, and liberating homeschool curriculum. Instead of exposing her to mindless entertainment you can find wholesome hobbies that the entire family can do together. Instead of pushing her to mindlessly rush off to college you can capitalize an IBC insurance policy for her and, when the time comes, tell her to follow her passion. Instead of telling her she must get a corporate job with good benefits to be successful you can help her devise a plan to build a career pursuing her own interests. Instead of telling her she must be a good citizen and vote within a corrupt system you can tell her to “be the change you would like to see”. Instead of ignoring financial education and hoping Social Security will be there for her in the year 2079 you can teach her the merits of asset allocation so she will be financially independent forever. Instead of instilling within her the institutional mindset you can help her remember that she is a sacred individual and nothing less than an eternal spirit of humanity.
The possibilities are endless!
Then it doesn’t matter what the world looks like in the future because she will be prepared to thrive physically, financially, emotionally, and spiritually no matter what.
More to come,
Joe Withrow
Wayward Philosopher
For more of Joe’s thoughts on the “Great Reset” and regaining individual sovereignty please read “The Individual is Rising” which is available at http://www.theindividualisrising.com/. The book is also available on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle editions.
