Rise of the Invisible Stick Theory

I was wondering this past week how it is that humanity has gotten to where we are today and the "evolution" of mankind as a social species. Homo Sapiens Sapiens appeared in Africa about 200,000+ years ago. To put that in perspective that's 100 times longer than we are away from the birth of Christ. We were a hunter/gatherer species that slowly spread its way across the world. "Out of Africa" humanity made its way across Asia, Australia and later into Europe and then the Americas. The majority of our species' history is scientifically speculative and certainly there is little specific information regarding man in the times prior to about 3700BC or 5700BP (Before Present). Recorded human history is about 2% of our entire species existence. For the lion share of the time prior to recorded history mankind was little more than small nomadic groups that followed the food supply.

So what's my point? For all of recorded human history, and presumably much further back mankind has struggled against nature; and yet we remain irrevocably the flesh animals of our earliest evolution. The struggle for survival pitted man not only against nature but inevitably against each other. Not merely survival of the fittest, mankind used his blossoming intellect to not only dominate his surroundings but ultimately to dominate others of his own kind. All things being equal between men the need for a tactical advantage arose...who knows when, but given our present trend of violence towards each other I imagine that conflict amongst ourselves was an early adopted trait. I surmise that the first way to dominate others was in fact by the use of tools, or simply, the man with the biggest stick gets to be the leader. But it's more than that, because men don't just go and get a stick and suddenly they're in charge. There's more to it than that. Men rule over other men not only because they can physically dominate them, but because they can also mentally dominate them. The fear of perceived strength is what I call "The Invisible Stick". This invisible stick is how man maintains his dominance over others. Once conquered, mankind does not need to be physically dominated in order to stay in line. They merely need to "believe" that they are dominated and their own insecurities and fears will keep them more or less in line. The invisible stick however is a delicate balance between force and benevolence. A man will only take oppression so long before he needs to free himself from tyranny. Our instinct to be free is strong and therefore rule through force and intimidation can only go on so long before the oppressed rise up to throw off their oppressors. Thus the evolution of both the "physical stick" and the "invisible stick" had to happen. Mankind used tools to both improve their lives and also to protect themselves from others. The stick evolved: Clubs, Spears, Swords, Bows, Guns, Bombs, etc. are all merely man's way of creating a better stick. To imagine that the invisible stick did not evolve also is foolish at best. I postulate that the invisible stick's evolution was much more subtle and devious.

Power. That's what man wants. Even more than survival man strives to dominate everything around himself. Once mankind dominated nature through agriculture they turned towards dominating others. Thus the rise of society. And how can a small group dominate those around them? Laws. The greatest breakthrough in invisible stick dominance came with the introduction of Law. Once again though, how does that work? Just because one person says something it does not necessarily mean that others will accept what they're told. The earliest invisible stick still needed a physical stick to maintain order. But what if the invisible stick could be backed up by another invisible stick? The invisible stick got a big boost from those who used deities as a way to create law. The "gods" who makes the sun rise and the rains fall must indeed have a very large stick because they can use their powers to control the entire earth. Link the two invisible sticks together and you get fear of a greater power. All manner of religions use fear in order to dominate. The perceived penalties for disobeying god/gods must be much worse than getting beaten with a stick. Physical abuse pales in comparison to the eternal torture associated with the afterlife for those who step out of line. This particular aspect of the invisible stick has lasted our entire recorded history and still exists today. It's a major part of the human experience...but it is not the furthest evolution of the invisible stick. Indeed the use of God as a way to keep man in line lost a lot of power in the last 400 years. During the dark ages and middle ages religions used the fear of God as a way to impose law onto the masses. Kings ruled because they were "divinely" appointed to be the rulers. It was a way for the church and secular leaders to maintian control. No man has ever been divinely appointed to RULE anyone. Those who subscribe to the Judeo-Christian traditions know that Jesus never ascribed to rule by force or even rule by divine appointment. The greatest commandments are these, Love God above all things and love your neighbor as yourself. God to man, that's the connection, it isn't God to government to man, although all governments would have us believe that they are above us.

The truth is this: The "invisible stick" only has power when we believe it has power...when we GIVE it power. The invisible stick is not wielded by the oppressor, it is wielded by the oppressed. We fear the consequences of our own capitulation to a system that is only in place because we allow it to be. Governments then use the "physical stick" as a way to insure that the invisible stick cannot be broken. That's what police/soldiers are for. To "Protect and Serve" has given way to "Enforce and Intimidate". And notice that the physical aspect of the stick is only used as a last resort. The threat of the use of the physical stick is what keeps most of us in line.

The best implementation of the "Invisible Stick" is one that does not require that we recognize it. If the invisible stick remains invisible man cannot react to it. If we don't know that we're being controlled and merely accept our circumstances as the De Facto way of life then we can't even recognize that there is a stick at all. I postulate that even those who actually wade through this theory will have a hard time accepting the truth; which is another evolution of the invisible stick. If one does not recognize that they're being controlled then one cannot throw off the oppressors because one does not recognize the oppression. We as humans have lulled ourselves into believing that fundamentally there is nothing wrong with one person or a group of people benefiting from the control of others. Here in the United States we all like to say that "All men are created equal", yet no one says that "All men remain equal".

We must not only see that we are being controlled but we must also KNOW that a system is merely a system because we accept it. Once we KNOW that we are free, nothing but the physical stick can hurt us. I could be shot and killed, but inside my head I was still as free as any person. Even locked away in a dungeon, my mind is still as free as those outside. The invisible stick cannot control a free mind.