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"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up."

Arthur Koestler 

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Thursday
Aug182011

The Game

I remember a game we played in High School history class. Colored chips were distributed randomly through the class. After the distribution the value of the chips was announced. We were then divided into three groups based on the value of the chips we held. I was one of the wealthy ones. 

We were allowed to tax ourselves and do whatever we wanted with the proceeds. We gave the chips to the most popular boy in class. This allowed him to go to our higher group. (He ended up in Hollywood I think) Alas, this meant one poor girl was demoted to the middle group. I was sorry for her, but not sorry enough to do anything about it. We had our charismatic leader now, we would rock that class. 

The rules allowed so to do whatever we wanted so we redefined what each chip was worth, but did not tell anyone outside our group. We then tried to trade chips. The rest of the class did not know what we had done, but it was obvious we had done something and no trades took place. I tried to con my friend Mario, but he was not fooled. Our lying caused the marketplace to crash. 

The analogy was that this was how society worked. I was not convinced at the time that this was how society works, and am still not convinced. However, looking at the world of today I am not so sure. The elites run the country and if they win in their speculations they keep the money, if they lose they are bailed out by us. Heads they win; tails they do not lose. 

Is our whole society structured like the game I played in High School? If so the only way to win is not to play. In one school that is exactly what they did. They divided all the chips equally and ended the game. 

The game is rigged to make you distrust the elites. But the main flaw is that the distribution of "chips" in society is not random. It is to a large degree based on talent. Still, there are those who game the system like our fearless leader in our group. The more rigged the system, the less each of us will play. 

Sometimes you just got to leave the system, and leave Babylon behind. 

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