The Power of F%$K OFF!

Any familiarity with me or my writings tells you that you will receive a blunt recitation of my thoughts without consideration for societal norms, your feelings or the fluidity of so-called "right and wrong". With that cautionary note now prepare to be offended if you are a brainwashed automaton, or, enlightened and invigorated if you possess an aspiring intellect and the desire for self-determination.

If you are like most people then you have experienced that urge to tell someone just what you feel; frustrated, depraved, unappreciated, disrespected, humiliated, but in a way that only two words can adequately convey. In short to just tell that person to -- Fuck Off!. It is unlikely that you have contemplated the incredible power of such a declaration but that is the awareness of thought for today's rumination. For something that provides such personal power it should be used more. But few people are so audacious as to blithely invoke the spirit of this powerful declaration. Something has kept them from facilitating this awesome power.

In a biological sense it is your frontal lobe located in the Neocortex of your brain. This is responsible for regulating impulses. However, there must be an underlying belief system that triggers the regulatory function of the frontal lobe. For many that has been the nurturing received from parents and others that says to "bite your tongue" or "if you can't say anything nice then don't say anything at all". These may be reinforced through a slap to the face, soap in the mouth or other abuses used to coerce abandonment of free will. Then there is the long list of institutional reinforcement.

The organized cults establish their list of rules or moral code by which one is commanded to live. Their very survival depends upon the complaisance of adherents who are systematically deprived of the will for self-determination. That awesome personal power clearly conflicts with those mandates. The power to decide what best serves your needs regardless of the feelings or expectations of others is in direct conflict with cult dogma and their survival.

Schools are another way in which the members of society are indoctrinated into compliance with the expectations of self-restraint. This coercion comes in two forms generally. The easiest and most effective is the threat of sanction. Violate the codes in schools and parents get called, grades are affected or privileges are withdrawn. Then there is the second, an appeal to conscience. Children are taught about "right" and "wrong" in behaviour and encouraged to empathize with those who would be on the receiving end of their behaviours: do unto others as you would like for them to do unto you. These principles carry over to society in general.

A step beyond the school system is just applying the same principles on a larger scale which is through application of the criminal code. Decide to do what you wish when you wish and you could find yourself sipping on some Kool-Aid and chomping on a greasy doughnut after a nights rest on a steel slab with a covering resembling a child's tumbling mat.

Then there is the matter of an employer, supplier or customer. Express this phenomenal power to these people and you could find yourself with additional time to contemplate your aberrant ways. If anything is effective at maintain the restraint that your frontal lobe initially displays it is the threat of loss of monetary gain. For many, it is the continuous stream of income that is paramount to their survival. Maybe you should contemplate now why you do not invoke this power more.

It could be an extremely self-enlightening experience. This will provide to you an opportunity to examine whom is your slave-master. Likely, it is in your mind. Just as you have been I was also scripted to adopt certain behaviours as my own -- commensurate with the expectations of society. I now understand Margaret Thatcher's declaration that there was "no such thing as society". We are a grouping of individuals and should remain uniquely so. But, we have subjugated ourselves to the imposition of behavioural constraints by the group.

To better understand the process I look to a few of our great thinkers. The first that comes to mind is Socrates. Not for his position on brazenly making such a self-affirming declaratory statement but, rather, on his caution against the institutions that stifle thought. Socrates felt that the greatest danger to both society and the individual was the suspension of critical thought through an uncritical adherence to an orthodoxy. He opined that many common notions lead to a paradox of absurdity when reasoned thought was applied. The individual has an obligation to challenge the norms of society.

Contemporary thinker Richard Rorty has dedicated himself to rejecting the elevated status of philosophers preferring instead to ascribe philosophical thought to psychology, sociology or biology. Rorty posits that our belief systems or what we accept as true is based upon what our society let's us know. This has been apparent from the persecution of great thinkers over the years. Society is opposed to you having the power to confront accepted absurdities under which the power brokers maintain control over your thoughts and actions.

A twentieth century philosopher whom I admired was Michel Foucault. He wrote about the controls imposed upon our minds through the threat of stigma. Foucault posited that controlling the mind is a more effective means of social control than punishing the body. In his works, Madness and Civilization, and, Discipline and Punishment: the birth of the prison Foucault explains how psychology is used to control the individual. Most of his work related to sexuality, which I have always thought was treated with a puritanical absurdity in the United States. The philosophical underpinnings are applicable generally though. Foucault theorized that sexual repression is maintained by the threat of one's fundamental personality being labeled aberrant. This followed his teachings about prison. That anyone who expressed individuality was stigmatized through a psychological label. Just as you would turn to a co-worker and say "that guy is crazy" in reference to another employee telling the boss to fuck-off society has also established a more formalized labeling system to attach to anyone who also invokes such a self-determined manner.

I invoke this declaration whenever my integrity is attacked or someone tries to impose their will upon me which conflicts with my moral foundation. I fully embrace this life altering concept and have benefited greatly from it. I just received a phone call this week from a potential employer who a few months ago I had offered my services to if he felt he was in need. This week brought forth that day -- he is hiring now. But he quickly lost the opportunity to profit from my incredible skills because of his preconceived notions, or prejudices, and his inability to invoke this awesome power. He wanted me to cut my hair and get a car -- without a basis in need or logic for either. My response to him and that $2000 a week or so job was to get bent.

The reason that I can do this is because I have taken control of my life. No cult controls me. No institution controls me. [even when I was in prison I kept getting put in 'jail' in there] No employer controls me. No customer controls me. No person other than myself controls my actions and that is liberating. I also have the added benefit of not needing to cadge money from anyone. If you do not have at least two years equivalent of income in liquid savings then we certainly need to talk about your self-imposed enslavement.

So what keeps you from enjoying the rewards of this invigorating concept -- living a life where anyone who doesn't support your needs and desires can just "fuck off"? You have the power within you at this moment, use it. If you think the responsibility of this lifestyle is too much for you to handle then just tell me -- "fuck off"!

If you would like to learn how to think for yourself, have financial security and manage your life in a much more healthier and rewarding manner then please visit my website and contact my scheduler to make an appointment to meet with me.

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More information about child custody rights and procedures may be found on the Indiana Custodial Rights Advocates website.

©2012 Stuart Showalter, LLC. Permission is granted to all non-commercial entities to reproduce this article in it's entirety with credit given.