Rebel Yell IV

Trey Smith

(Did you miss Parts I, II & III? You might want to read them first.)

My rebellious personality eventually made it near impossible for me to remain a Christian. For the most part, Christianity is a top-down hierarchical belief system. Commoners are instructed in how and what to believe by the priestly class. If an individual chooses to deviate from the norm ever so slightly, you often are labeled a heretic. Freethinkers generally are dissuaded from free thinking!

At about the time I really began to wrestle with my religious or spiritual moorings, it also dawned on me that a lot of people the world over were lodged behind the proverbial eight-ball. No matter what they did, there were few, if any, mechanisms for them to free themselves. An iron boot was planted firmly on the back of their necks and they struggled mightily only to catch another breath.

In the beginning, I was unsure what I believed was the chief cause of the chasm between a few haves and the many have-nots; I simply knew that the chasm existed. It wasn't until Grad School in the early 90s that I began to explore the world of political philosophy and stumbled upon Karl Marx. Marx's overall analysis rang true for me and pushed me to become, not only rebellious, but an avowed radical leftist.

As I studied the works of Marx and Engels, I grew to understand that the iron boot on the necks of the many was a direct result of the capitalist system. This system is built upon the edifice of exploitation and ruthless power. It replaces the various gods of religion with the unitary god of wealth. The goal of the capitalist class is to reap as much short-term profit as possible, while shifting as much of the costs onto an unsuspecting public.

This dynamic has been playing out the world over for years and has come home to roost in America right now. Wall Street is enjoying record profits, while the rest of the country is sinking into the muck of shattered dreams and ideals.

I should also note that another reason I came to embrace the Marxist analysis is that it favors the underdog and I always have viewed myself as one of those. It shouldn't surprise any of you as to why. When a person always seems out-of-step with the rest of the world, it can be a very isolating feeling. You feel like you are marooned on a deserted island and there is no reasonable way to get off of it.

You may make brief forays into uncharted waters, but society keeps pushing you back to the sparse rock in the middle of the ocean. For some, the isolation becomes unbearable and so they kill themselves or they numb the pain through insanity and/or intoxicants. Others -- like me -- eventually come to grips with it and learn to accept it for what it is.

Okay, I have now set the stage for what led me to embrace the Taoist worldview. In the last part of this brief series, I will attempt to connect the dots.