"will to affect the distant"

“in the morning when thou risest unwillingly, let this thought be present. 'i am rising to the work of a human being. why then am i dissatified if i am going to do the things for which i exist and for which i was brought into the world? or have i been made for this, to lie in the bedclothes and keep myself warm'. but this is more pleasant, dost thou exist then to take thy pleasure and not all action and exertion? dost thou not see the little plants, the little birds, the ants, the spiders, the bees working together to put in order their several parts of the universe? and art thou willing to do the work of a human being and dost thou not make haste to do that which is according to nature?" marcus aurelius__________________________ “western mankind, without exception, is under the influence of an immense optical illusion. everyone demands something of the rest. we say "thou shalt" in the conviction that so-and-so in fact will, can and must be changed or fashioned or arranged conformably to that order, and our belief both in the efficacy of, and in our title to give, such orders is unshakable...in the ethics of the west everything is direction, claim to power, will to affect the distant. here luther is completely at one with nietzsche, popes with darwininas, socialists with jesuits..." oswald spengler. decline of the west________________________ why would i be “dissatisfied”?...well…first of all no one has ever actually given me a final definition of what the “work of a human being” might be…there seem to be manifold definitions mostly engendered by those who believe that ”the efficacy of” and their “title to give, such orders is unshakable”…belief, like truth, is utterly subjective and entirely capable of being misplaced…from politicians to executives to the clerisy ( whether religious, academic, op-ed pundits, or any of a string of inane youtube “influencers” ) there are any number of the unshaken who believe they know how i should comport myself in the face of “the work of a human being” and i am forced to question exactly who might benefit most if i fall into line with their thinking…ozzie has a valid point about that “immense optical illusion” foisted on almost all of us…old marcus was, aside from a miserable stoic, the emperor of rome and one suspects that his “work of a human being” was to maintain and expand the privilege of himself and his bastions of hangers-on…so who benefitted most from his “work”?...when i clock in who is the winner?...i earn money and so gain access to goods and services…that is fact…and who benefits more from those transactions?...myself or the shareholders and top tier of the corporation?...i have my suspicions…I also have the numbers that confirm my suspicions…you could find an algorithm to do the ceo’s job at considerably less cost…we’re back to ozzie’s “thou shalt” delivered in imperious tones and backed up by a raft of specious reasoning from those theologians of greed called economists ( and let’s not leave out the clerisy )…so i awoke before the alarm went off this morning and as an act of defiance of the “system” and as a posthumous affront to the dead emperor and the entire , miserable stoic project ( an evasion of addressing life on all its levels and a philosophy that smacks of quietism on the best day it ever had…epictitus and that slum-lord seneca can get bent ) i shut it off before it went off and stayed “in the bedclothes to keep myself warm” for another hour…then i got up and took the dog out which was to the sole benefit of the dog and myself…that was reasonable “work of a human being”.