I also perfectly understand your frustration with the sort of hive mentality that large parts of society works in (thrives on?). That and the degree to which it has been decided that the dollar is ALMIGHTY angers me quite a bit. I would love to see more of your thoughts on the issue.

I will try to get up a Superiority vs. Worth post tomorrow or Thursday.

The point you brought up on the jester and the shaman peak my interest greatly. In a way they still exist in society just not as they did in the Royal Courts. You may find the quality of a jester in many people in the entertainment business, talk show hosts, film directors, etc. They all display their own bit of self and views that normally wouldn’t be tolerated and could cause dramatic debates.

When it comes down to the machine functioning, it’s understandable that society has to submit and play it’s role. I personally don’t agree with this though; the idea of being a colony of worker ants really annoys me. We’re self-proclaimed super-predators on top of the food chain who have such a massive intellect that we don’t refer to ourselves as animals and we don’t compare ourselves to any other mammal short of gorillas due to their human like traits. Yet we still follow basic structure and adapt to our environment or make our environment adapt to us. I just don’t see why everything should be completely ordered and dollar signs be placed on things to prove it’s value.

I look very forward to discussing more of this with you and can’t wait until we get into the superiority versus worth topic. It will prove to be most excellent.