Thomas Agrusti
Life
March 26, 2012
Society?
I can
quite honestly say that very little thought or care has gone into my personal
socio-political philosophy. If anything is to be said about my personal
beliefs, they would be primarily based on my existentialistic views on life in
general, along with the Beauty of Bureaucracy.
For the
former topic, I feel that all people, being fully true to themselves, work. Not
only that, but they work for specific gain, be it the righteous accomplishment
of building character and well-guarded spirit, or simply the common perception
of monetary gain. Therefore, I believe in a “reap-what-you-sow” philosophy: the
more optimally you work, that being swifter, harder, in with more creativity,
the more you will gain in the end; likewise, the less passion you put into your
work, the less you should therefore receive for said work. In this manner, I
would fall into the category of Libertarianism, which I feel is very well
defined by the historical writer, John Locke. I believe heavily in the ideas
that that which I earn, albeit time, money, or possessions otherwise, should be
spent and invested in means that benefit me. Not to say that I only want to spend
on things I see every day, far from it. I believe that the troops that protect
our borders, the police that protect my freedom, and the insurance through fire
and medical departments should be well funded and supported, and I will gladly
share my part to do so. However, I believe there are other federal actions that
the state selects to use my money for. I do not believe in paying for the “welfare”
of another human being. I feel that if I am not directly supporting myself or a
relative through education, then why should I pay for another family to send
their child? In this manner, one may call me selfish, but too many times are we
asked to spend out of emotional grief, sacrificing for the soul sake of conscience
so we “don’t feel guilty.” I believe that by relinquishing such vices we free
ourselves to be more active in our own lives.
Moving
forward to the latter topic, I have found that there is a certain beauty in bureaucracies,
bureaucracies being defined as any organization that holds to a certain mandate
of policies, rules, and regulations. This being a broad definition, the primary
difference between it and another party, such as a club which would have rules
and policies, is that many organizations are stagnant in their policies, and
are never quick to change them based on certain exceptions, unless those
exceptions pertain to expanding upon current set ups. Par example, I have found
that, in High school, students are allowed to leave the school premises with
the permission of a parent. Originally, this was meant to allow parents to pick
their children up in case of a medical or family emergency. However, this can
be applied as well to any day-to-day means. Add to this that the original idea
that a student will lose credit for too many absences becomes null and void if
the teacher decides that the student has a competent knowledge of the class
material to be given credit. As such, a high school student is able to leave
with the permission of lenient parents without penalty. In the same way,
observing company late policies is also a common practice I have taken a liking
to, knowing now that I don’t have to be at work at 4:00 per say, but at 4:09,
as well as my break not being 30 minutes but 39, giving me a minor edge to work
out my schedule. These may be viewed as minor conveniences, but it is through
these tiny victories that we learn to relax, our relaxation allowing us to
work, not only competently, but optimally. This optimal working life grants us
a good model in the eye of the supervisor, granting us trust, and thereby
giving us greater liberties in life, transforming what was once a few extra
minutes in lunch, to a day off when the modest employee claims “they might
still be able to make it to work on time.” Thus is the beauty of bureaucracy,
for as I have coined, “The overcoming of authority is not through force, nor
speed, but through confidence and nonchalance.” Through understanding how a
system works, you do not work out how to break it, but how to weave through the
cracks, and work around and through it that you truly succeed in life.
With
all such said, I wish you a merry day and a blessed life!
Living
in His Name,
Thomas
Agrusti
