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Cry Havoc and Let Slip the Dogs of War
Cry Havoc and Let Slip the Dogs of War
By
Cognitive Dissonance
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I am not a classically trained man, having successfully avoided Shakespeare most of my life. But even an ignorant man, such that I am, is eventually exposed to Shakespearian clichés during the normal course of his life. The title of this piece is one such example that has crossed my path on several occasions, the latest being last night as Mrs. Cog and I watched the final episode of the second season of Netflix’s “House of Cards”.
What interesting propaganda that ‘programming’ is; the depiction of husband and wife sociopaths as almost human, possibly even endearing, certainly flawed and vulnerable at times. While sharing this series with Mrs. Cog over the last few weeks, what continuously fascinated me was how they both were able to near seamlessly cast aside the ‘normal’ confines of morality, duty and honor for political expediency and the pursuit of power.
This included at times an open marriage, though not necessarily simply in pursuit of mindless carnal pleasure. Each marriage ‘partner’ understood their own role in the marriage ‘business’, and while it was obvious that they loved and were devoted to each other, they both understood that ‘political expediency’ required certain sacrifices or undertakings unique to their sex, position or capability.
When called upon to do so, both understood that it was just ‘business’ (though there was nothing wrong with taking a little pleasure in your business) and in fact at times the act itself, whatever it may be, was discussed and planned between the two partners prior to being executed. Of particular note, there were often veiled references to an agreement between them made years, decades, ago that each would from time to time be called upon to step outside the traditional bounds of marriage, law, and what you and I might refer to as ‘common decency’, in order to further their shared goal………power.
If anything this non-traditional approach seemed to bind them even closer to one another. The very actions that might tear a ‘normal’ relationship asunder seemed at times to strengthen theirs, apparently because they both shared a common goal and understood that in order to succeed, or at least to greatly improve their chances of success, they would need, individually and collectively, to do what nearly all others would not.
Interestingly, what you and I might label as flaws of character they saw as assets to be used against those of us more encumbered by social graces and a disabling moral conscience. As I was once told by someone who was trying to ‘inspire’ me, successful people do the things unsuccessful people will not. Of course he wasn’t advocating transgressing moral or legal boundaries, just picking up the damn phone and making another cold call, thus the true reason for my abject failure in life. Clearly I have no killer instinct.
While most who watch this couple in action might consider them horribly dysfunctional, and I most certainly would not desire a relationship such as that with Mrs. Cog, the process as depicted of single minded pursuit of power by those whom we would label as sociopaths was fascinating to watch. And judging by what I see, hear and read coming out of Wall Street, Washington DC and multinational corporate boardrooms, as well as other centers of power all over the globe, this fictional portrayal is completely believable.
We morally self constrained peons are in so much trouble.
The phrase “Cry ‘Havoc!’, and let slip the dogs of war” was uttered by the principal character of “House of Cards” at a critical juncture, when it became clear that after years of careful planning, backstabbing, shifting political alliances and general mayhem, all in the pursuit of power, everything was in jeopardy of falling apart. The choice was clear; to throw caution to the wind and put it all on the table, or be cast aside as useless debris, expected collateral damage among the mid level omnipotent during the never ending War between the Gods.
In an earlier scene, when informed by the husband that the situation was precarious and he was losing control, the wife, indignant that the husband was letting her down, angrily told him that he was scared and to do whatever it took to make it happen. This was clearly an equal partnership and one of the partners had just dressed down the other. It was business, no more, no less. Get to work!
Fortified, emboldened and now fearless, a plan was cobbled together and flawlessly executed not to wrestle power from the hands of another, but to enable it so that the ‘other’ willingly, almost gratefully, handed power to him. In the end, the now self deposed leader thanked the sociopath for all his help and support as he handed the reins of power to his ‘friend’, blissfully unaware of what actually had just happened and who the enemy really was. Simply brilliant and so familiar to anyone who carefully watches the modern day social control systems in action.
I did a little research into the “Cry Havoc” phrase this morning. While the context in which it was spoken essentially defined the meaning, I wanted to understand where it came from and how it was originally used. William Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” is where this particular utterance originated, though it seems there are several interpretations as to what exactly was being said.
‘Havoc’ was, and hopefully no longer is among ‘civilized’ war machines, a military order permitting the seizure of spoil after a victory. It could also be seen as simply a metaphorical use to declare that war or combat had begun. To ‘let slip’ meant to unleash or release, while the ‘dogs of war’ could either be a literal interpretation of ‘war dogs’ or more likely the release of soldiers of war from ‘moral’ and/or legal constraints in order to rape, pillage and plunder.
After all, one must ‘pay’ the soldiers any way you can if you don’t want them to turn on you. Doing so in this manner centuries, millennium, ago was an accepted ‘business’ practice and just the way the world worked. In fact, while I may for the most part be ignorant of Shakespeare (I watched “Shakespeare in Love”….does that count?) I am not uninformed of world history over the last several thousands of years…….at least the widely accepted ‘written-by-the-winners’ version disseminated by the education control system.
Even if certain events or outcomes as outlined by mainstream ‘history’ textbooks did not actually play out as outlined, the methods used and the mindset adopted by the participants was, and is, very real. “We the People’ bemoan the corruption, lawlessness, cronyism, collusion, deception, the wholesale rape, pillage and plunder by the 1% for the 1% as abhorrent and entirely unacceptable. Seen from the perspective of world history, such a point of view might be a tad naïve.
Are the present-day actions of the 1% so outrageous that they should be hung from the rafters, or the nearest stout oak tree limb if a glorious public spectacle is required, for their egregious transgressions? Or have “We the People” been slowly and carefully domesticated over the last few centuries, psychologically conditioned and genetically bred for mindless passivity in the face of danger, then recently fattened up (literally and figuratively) for slaughter because killing time is near?
All I truly know is that my only defense in the face of such destructive behavior by those presently in power is to face them with a clear mind and a strong heart. And to do this I must shed myself of many, if not all, of my preconceived notions of how the world works based upon how I was propagandized into believing it should work. If I feed at the trough, because that is what all cattle do, then I will be slaughtered in the killing house, because that is what all cattle do.
There are no magic bullets to load, no red pills to swallow, no charismatic leader to follow to the Promised Land. We have been, and continue to be, leveraged in such a way as to willingly, gratefully even, hand over our own sovereign power to those who, in turn, will use it to lead us into the slaughter house. I, for one, am no longer willing to do so. How about you?
Free the mind and spirit, and the body will naturally follow.
03-18-2014
Cognitive Dissonance
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Don't recollect him offering one to you. Why do some people get so offended over someone elses opinion?
history has more told the story of the Goddies getting not just offended over a different opinion, but downright murderous. Combined with the fact it is the sanitized belief in the unprovable which then further posits that "sacred" books filled in "God's" instructions, further nonsense, I think he can be excused for not signing on to the "God" bit.
Which God, of course, is generally the Devil in the details.
Johnny, God is Nature- they are one, and the same. Religion would like us to think otherwise, creating seemingly endless conflict. There is no conflict in nature that is unnatural, it can't be unnatural, it is Nature. That which we perceive 'evil' is Nature, as is that which we perceive as 'good'.
It's a false dichotomy. Good would be meaningless if not for evil. If we somehow abolished all that Johnny Cocknballs perceives as evil tomorrow, the world he knows would cease to exist. It is this tension, this quest for balance, that makes us alive.
Absent that, we perish.
Is it stupid that I upvoted both of you? You're both making sense to me at least.
Gott ist tot! aber so wie die Art der Menschen ist, wird es vielleicht noch Jahrtausende lang Höhlen geben, in denen man seinen Schatten zeigt. — Und wir — Wir müssen auch noch seinen Schatten besiegen.
God is dead; but given the way of men, there may still be caves for thousands of years in which his shadow will be shown. — And we — we still have to vanquish his shadow, too.
Nietzsche had just a few too many loose screws for me :)
The consuming majority clamors for equal rights, without the responsibility, something for nothing, seeking a scapegoat for the outcome, which is always the producer, in a bait and swap, with the revolving majority leadership…which is the top or bottom 1% depends upon perspective.
I worked for one for 17 years, i understand exactly how they think...
meet the enemy. edit; gut and bleed, interesting, as my situation was simple, i was a bag of money and we both won, but a complete control freak that i would say fuck you to, in his face knowing he wouldn't fire me (just use a tad of tack and not in front of others).
When you run across a true sociopath in real life, it's a deeply frightening experience. The first time it happened to me I remembered the part of the novel "Dracula" where the protagonist realizes that the charming and cultured Count Dracula was in fact a vampire. Once he knew, he couldn't un-know it, and couldn't act as though he didn't know it, and then Dracula knew the guy was onto him, and the really dangerous part started.
War is great for sociopaths. All the limits and boundaries of normal, civilized human life, which don't come naturally to sociopaths and which they don't really understand the way the rest of us do, are out the window and all that counts is speed and power. That's the sociopath's truly native state. They excel at that. The rest of us have to lose our carefully nurtured inhibitions to function that way. We don't really want to. That's why military training is always evolving; it's actually hard to get human beings to pull the trigger and kill one another. They have to atomize their own psyches to do it, and once they start doing it, it's hard to get them to stop, much less to return to "civilized" society and function properly.
The sociopaths I've encountered have been active in business. That's an area where they can hide, and their aggressiveness can flourish. They have to be mindful of the laws and practices we've imposed on business, which does not come naturally to them. The less-clever sociopaths get hung up and caught on those obstacles. The really smart ones manage to keep these boundaries front of mind, and at least nominally observe them, enough to not get caught.
I don't know how to deal with people like that. I've fled, in my history. One time I fled after having let the sociopath know if he pursued me, I had the goods on him, so he did in fact leave me alone and let me flee. I got lucky that time.
It's really damned scary to feel the realization dawn and spread over you that so-and-so might do ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING to get what he wants, without niggling remorse or compunction.
As you say, "All I truly know is that my only defense in the face of such destructive behavior by those presently in power is to face them with a clear mind and a strong heart." I'm not sure I have the courage to face them. Clear mind and strong heart, OK, but running and hiding are attractive options. I'm not proud to admit that. But I don't operate well, or clearly; nor am I very productive; in fear for my life. All that adrenaline is not conducive to level thinking. I'm not a sociopath.
By the way, you don't have to apologize for not being conversant on Shakespeare. I am, actually, and love that body of work. I've read arguments that there is actually a very small, perhaps single-digit, number of distinct human stories. The vast number of stories we have are just contextual reinterpretations of this small pool. What makes Shakespeare so valuable is that in just his body of work, we get pretty much all those stories in one batch. He was also very good at writing speeches that are fun to say, and at creating multi-dimensional characters in whom we can see aspects of ourselves with all our strangths and flaws. And some really filthy jokes, if you know how to interpret them, as his contemporary audience no doubt did. Reading Shakespeare is sort a Cliff's Notes for Western culture. You can be very learned indeed in the ways of humans without having read Shakespeare. Were you to go see a production of Shakespeare, it would all seem very familiar, once you got past the 400 year-old language. I haven't seen "House of Cards," but I think it's a lot like "Macbeth." See how few unique stories there are?
Also by the way, I love your longer-form, more reflective writings. It's great watching a smart person think.
Just a hunch, but I think when Shakespeare re-incarnated, he came back as George Carlin and Bill Hicks.
@ ..."a lot like mcbeth." also my thought when i watched.
in the next season the dame will go mad to wipe out the stain
of her soiled then lost humanity, but that is theater. in real life
the lizard lady laughs all the way to the bank or banks of
power. watch, and just a guess, not to take anything away
from the bard or make pretence to having superior scruples
to those of the lizard people when push comes to shove or
between the rock and hard place.
I can honestly say the greatest sociopath I came across at the prosecutors office was the elected official
or the high level, veteran bureaucrat.
actually, the veteran part is not even required.
throw in large lease and land holders and or
owners to fill out the picture.
It was good to read how Selco at SHTF described the shift that occurred in Bosnian society when the SHTF there, and how important it was to recognize the signs of when it first happens, because if you're late detecting the change from rules, to no rules, then it's often fatal.
He also described pretty well the way the sociopaths come out to play, at that point. People he knew who were 'normal' when the rules applied, and delivered the milk or something, but then when the no-rules came, they absolutely thrived (assuming they lived) and tended to quickly takeover an area via violence and murder, and acquired all assets and people they wanted, effectively as slaves, etc.
Then after the rules returned, these people used this acquired wealth, assets, and connections with their slaves from that time, to become the big and magnanimous charismatic persons within the community, to get elected, or to run the police, be the mayor, etc.
So the really nasty murderous thieving torturing scum were thus the people in power in a normal society structure, and these became the respected pillars of society. He said you usually could not pick them until the no-rules had already arrived, but then it was like a switch is flicked, and the real person appears immediately and can adjust without needing time to, so had a huge advantage over others, who all had to psychologically adjust to function in the rule-less condition of a failed state.
Anyway he said a lot about group dynamics too, so well worth reading.
As to the current situation, I feel quite calm about it. It doesn't look that dangerous to me. Lots of posturing and bluff, but the aim is of course a direct challenge to Washington's stranglehold on western geopolitical strategy and power, so I maybe should be a little concerned about that process.
But I'm not.
Describes TPTB in America quite well:
History of American power and wealth is laced with blood
"When you run across a true sociopath in real life, it's a deeply frightening experience."
I worked with one for two months. He 'knew' that I 'knew' who and what he was. And he let me know under no uncertain terms that I was on his 'gut and bleed' list. His words exactly. I had no desire to stick around any longer than it took for me to find other gainful employment.
"Also by the way, I love your longer-form, more reflective writings."
I have a very long piece in the wings that I just can't seem to finish. Something isn't quite right yet and I will not publish anything before its time.
It is more 'old school' Cog, but with a bit of an angry voice. Three chapters at this point, though it might actually be broken into four. I pull it out, work on it a bit, then stuff it back in the musty old draw to age a bit more. One of these days.
Don't mean to offend but your entire article was about what u should do. Finding a way to put a bullet into sociopaths head is quite a noble thing to do, now he is still running around unchecked.
Martha Stout says there are 12 million American sociopaths. That is 4% of the population.
You might be a tad busy with your bullets bro. I suspect there will be one on the other end of the bullet that eventually takes you out, having been labeled a 'terrorist' after the first shooting.
I am but a speck of sand. I will have left the world with one less sociopath left behind. Dont u think the world would be a better place without that that sociopath boggey man u r so affraid of. We all gonna die
Its the most important question u have to answer. What am i/you willing to do to fight for ur survival. I truly believe those in power r cowardly sociopaths that never get their hands dirty. I believe the only advantage we have other than our numbers is to get our hands dirty and fight the cowardly sociopaths
if i wanted to get my hands dirty
i would have joined them long ago.
kudos for a timely piece of 'off the top of your head journalism'!
edit-i'm blown away by this post-EXCELLENT, and the humility-did I say EXCELLENT!
Mrs. Cog is most pleased that I was able to conceive, create, decorate and publish in under 6 hours. A new record for Cognitive Dissonance.
<Her praise was so effusive that I felt like I was being potty trained all over again.> ;-)
Watch out she wants something mate.
Perhaps the toilet seat down when done? :)
sometime up, sometimes down, just depends because we are soul mates...
little fun goes a long ways in those dull moments :)
like she said, "i'd take a bullet for you"-seat down.
I'd kill or be killed to protect you-seat down.
enjoy the moment(s) as 'things' can change:)
Nicely said Cog.
3,500 miles later (and 2 weeks), I concure that all is not well. I too watched and had almost exact thoughts! cog, don't feel alone at all, I hated those cold calls and that was why working the model home solved that issue. but, fear not in the moment of NEED, i suspect you or i will be able (and willing) to kill. no practice needed, just morality and basic instinct...
The two Greek gods of war, from the excellent book The Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson.
http://markpasc.org/blog/gems/athena.html
What of the complicating of simple things? What if those in charge of media were out- to destroy Christ? What if this were actually stated in their "mission statement"s so to speak? I suppose you would then have to be a Christian for that to have any real meaning for yourself, yes, no?
I wonder if the Christ is merely the most recognized denizen of the Panopticon to visit Earth. His peers may, or may not be:
Quetzalcoatl
Buddha
Tutankhamun
Whoever wrote Bhagavadgita
Just wondrin'.
nice piece.
Thank you...coincedentally two friends and I had a conversation on the essence of your post this morning. "Surviving, thriving in this world without feeding the beast, or becoming the meal".
Synchronicity perhaps?
The more I notice it the more I see it. I suspect some of that is because I am actively looking, and some of it is because I am actively creating it. There is a symbiotic relationship there.
The cosmos is speaking. We just need to turn on and tune in our hearing aids.
"Free the mind and spirit, and the body will naturally follow."
And I will be freeing the voice of Cognitive Dissonance as well. This Friday night at 8 PM EDT my 2 hour audio interview with TMRN will be posted for all to hear.