Let's talk about being anti-establishment.

I have this default attitude of challenging any sort of authority. The 'authority' often shifts from person to person.

At a young age, it was my parents and family who were the authority. In school, it was my teachers, in my job, it's my bosses or whoever is paying me.

And ultimately, the authority is now the Government.

But I've been wondering for a while what was the origin of this anti-authority attitude.

The first answer is in my childhood. I was a terrible af student, didn't really excel at anything and I always felt like adults hated me. So I hated them back.

Second answer is in power structures. Since I really didn't have any real power or felt like I had any, it was always a game of taking power away from others.

My attempt is to Redistribute that power to people who need it.

Now I can detect a power hungry human being from miles away. Earlier I used to slink away and not really deal with them, but now I actively seek them out.

Now I try to chip away at that power they have accumulated over the years and give it to other people who don't have any.

In my head, nobody deserves to have insane amount of control over other human beings.

Pretty much explains my attitude towards everything.

There is an element of saviour complex here, of course. But then I also think about how privileged I am that I am able to even think like this.

That too is power, in its own way. Knowledge IS power. So if you are an anti-establishment person like me, understand that you're not alone.

Hi5!

@Memeghnad The need to re-balance power comes from basic human wiring. Research on paleolithic human tribes indicates that one of the key aspects of successful hunter-gatherer communities was the way they kept power fairly balanced.
Quoting: "anthropologists report that many of the remaining hunter-gatherers are “fiercely egalitarian,” deploying humor to subdue the ego of anyone who gets out of line."
When you smell power, you're really smelling ego. And inflated egos are a danger to the tribe.
@hackiechan @Memeghnad
That is so interesting. Is there a book on this I can read?
@Lawandemotions @hackiechan Try Sapiens. It touches upon this theme.
@Memeghnad @hackiechan
I've read Sapiens. But it doesn't talk much about this tribal power balancing tactics. I'm wondering where I can read more on that
@Lawandemotions @Memeghnad I'm trying to think of one good book that focuses on power dynamics and relationships in ancient tribes, but no one thing comes to mind.
I'm just connecting bits and pieces from various articles and papers that I've read over time, including Sapiens.
The Humanoid Stain | Barbara Ehrenreich

Cave art, with its faceless humanoids and capacity for silliness, seem to know something we now strain to imagine: better ways to spend our time.

The Baffler