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1. Disinformation Purveyor :verified_think: (thatguyoverthere@shitposter.club)'s status on Friday, 16-Jun-2023 23:59:39 JST Disinformation Purveyor :verified_think:

   Some people partly satisfy their need for power by identifying themselves with a powerful organization or mass movement. An individual lacking goals or power joins a movement or an organization, adopts its goals as his own, then works toward those goals. When some of the goals are attained, the individual, even though his personal efforts have played only an insignificant part in the attainment of the goals, feels (through his identification with the movement or organization) as if he had gone through the power process. This phenomenon was exploi- ted by the fascists, nazis and communists. Our society uses it too, though less crudely. Example: Manuel Noriega was an irritant to the U.S. (goal: punish Noriega). The U.S. invaded Panama (effort) and punished Noriega (attainment of goal). Thus the U.S. went through the power process and many Americans, because of their identification with the U.S., experienced the power process vicariously. Hence the widespread public approval of the Panama invasion; it gave people a sense of power. [15] We see the same phenomenon in armies, corporations, political parties, humanitarian organizations, religious or ideological movements. In particular, leftist movements tend to at- tract people who are seeking to satisfy their need for power. But for most people identification with a large organization or a mass movement does not fully satisfy the need for power.

   • Nick (nou@poa.st)'s status on Saturday, 17-Jun-2023 00:11:58 JST Nick

     in reply to
     @thatguyoverthere Almost like humans are immutably social animals and the Randroid fantasy of complete atomization is entirely out of touch with reality.
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   • Disinformation Purveyor :verified_think: (thatguyoverthere@shitposter.club)'s status on Saturday, 17-Jun-2023 03:27:45 JST Disinformation Purveyor :verified_think:

     in reply to

     • mike805
     @mike805 Then I think Uncle Ted would say your power process is more focused on achieving greater autonomy. In this context, the power he is referring to is the power to actualize goals, although when applied to a group those goals can become quite grandiose
   • mike805 (mike805@fosstodon.org)'s status on Saturday, 17-Jun-2023 03:27:46 JST mike805

     in reply to

     @thatguyoverthere I've found it feels a lot better to just be detached from the state of this world. Not my circus, not my monkeys. There are very few things in the world that are actually worth caring about, and power seeking is not one of them.

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   • mike805 (mike805@fosstodon.org)'s status on Saturday, 17-Jun-2023 03:38:47 JST mike805

     in reply to

     @thatguyoverthere Yes, autonomy is worth seeking. I see some people saying "oh we're all slaves of the banksters" and think "speak for yourself." If you can GTFO of wherever you are, you are not a slave. If you have people who will help you in an emergency, you are not a slave.

     If you feel like the state of the world is your personal problem, you will be miserable. It's not my world, and I have little in common with most of the creatures in it.

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   • Disinformation Purveyor :verified_think: (thatguyoverthere@shitposter.club)'s status on Saturday, 17-Jun-2023 03:38:47 JST Disinformation Purveyor :verified_think:

     in reply to

     • mike805
     @mike805 I think you are right that we are not slaves, but we are limited in our autonomy by various factors, and for some people those limits can seem unbearable. Also I have found the more autonomy you achieve the more visible the boundaries seem to be.