Trapped Inside the Matrix
Just the other day I was at my local cafe and could not help overhearing a conversation between a small group of hedge fund managers at a neighboring table. One of the young Turks was addressing his fellows, complaining about how the media painted them as the enemy. Another chimed in with a remark about how they did not make the rules, nor did they break them, they merely worked them to their own advantage. A third then pointed out that no competition is perfectly fair, there will always be winners and losers, so why whine about it? With that, the first speaker proposed a toast to finding a chair when the music stops.
And are these, then, the Players who claim victory in the great Game? Is it they who ultimately control our society in such a way as to fuel their personal profits and successes?
They are distinctive-looking, as a group, but it is sometimes hard to tell one from another. Each is well-dressed and self-assured; each is unrepentant in his pursuit of his own winnings. Together they form a kind of tribe in which all the members are united in their pursuit of fame and fortune no matter what the cost. Theirs is a world in which everything must be arranged “just so”, in which to stand out is to be left out.
The linear mindset, tribal tendencies, and the cult of narcissism are mutually reinforcing. Linear thinking lays the foundation for narcissism by viewing the world in terms of discrete elements, as opposed to an integrated whole. The less of a bond we feel with our neighbour the less likely we are to see the wisdom in attending to their interests. Looking out for number one becomes the only fixed point. As each of us lives our lives in this way, we naturally assume that that those around us think the same way. This creates a game of catch as catch can, do it them before they do it unto you. The tribal paradigm takes narcissism to the collective level. The tribe, dominated by narcissists may show solidarity towards the outside world, but will be a house divided against itself. The individual in this type of tribe views their fellow tribe members in one of two ways; as tools to be manipulated to further their own personal agenda, or as competitors vying for status within the group.
These three elements work together to generate our current worldview. The relative strength in the mix of each one of the three may vary from culture to culture, but the overall effect is always the same.
Members of a tribe are forced either to conform or to face exclusion. Fear of being banished from the collective unit breeds subservience, if not respect. As a result, if an individual within the tribe commits a morally dubious act the entire group must become culpable to distribute the threat to that one member among them. If anyone refuses to be complicit, they may act as witnesses, and so become an unacceptable threat to the other members who are all equally culpable.
Perhaps the most famous example provided by history is the assassination of Julius Caesar by the senators. It was critical that all present, Brutus among them, drive their dagger into the aspiring tyrant. The same principle applies to any powerful group, be it a crime family, political party or the senior management of a large corporation.
The more a member comes to know about the inner workings of a tribe, the less choice he has between exile and complicity. As an insider he knows too much to be let go – he understands the myth upon which the community operates. If an insider were to share his knowledge with those on the outside, the entire operation of the tribe might be jeopardised. Since everyone in the group is a narcissist – out for himself and determined to protect his own interests – any attempt to betray the collective aims will be seen as a threat and dealt with accordingly. Thus any insider seen to betray the tribe faces himself being undermined and destroyed – a fate which awaits a Wall Street stockbroker who acts as whistle-blower as surely as it awaits a senior mafia honcho.
What if these puppeteers sitting around the table, so pleased with their stature in this world, were no less puppets than those they deceive; perhaps even more so because they are forever the prisoners of their own delusions of grandeur. They are like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, bit players in a bigger drama, suffering from the delusions that they themselves are the antagonists. The rest of us just might wake up from the grand illusion we all share, but they never will!
John Berling Hardy exposes the secret which is the real driver of events in our lives. For more of his writings please visit www.playingtheplayers.com
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