My European Trip, Part 7: The Rearden in Theory
Yesterday I discussed the current phenomenon of beta male confrontation, where we live in a society of passive-aggressive men whose default mode for dealing with conflict, no, the world in general, is through a constant stream of snark and sarcasm. And like I mentioned yesterday, the ways most people choose to deal with it are all less than satisfactory.
The guy I described yesterday who was full of backhanded compliments and subliminal insults I just chose to stop hanging out with because it was so annoying and toxic, but I realized I needed to find a way to deal with that type of behavior because in big cities like NY you’re always going to encounter it again. What makes it so tricky is that it’s barely aggressive enough to leave a sting, but passive enough that if you react to it you look like you’re blowing things out of proportion and he can always plausibly deny guilt. I find no shortage of advice on how to deal with tough guys, but nowadays they’re becoming a dying breed, especially in the big, civilized yuppified city so the advice doesn’t come in handy as often as you’d think.
There’s a theory that if you pose a problem to your subconscious mind and sincerely want to solve it, you’re subconscious mind will work on it in the background until it comes up with a solution. It’s a theory I’ve subscribed to since first hearing it (can’t remember where though). But I think that was the mechanism at play when I was rereading one of my favorite books Atlas Shrugged and everything clicked. It was during one of the most pivotal scenes of the book, The Trial of Hank Rearden. Hank Rearden is a successful businessman who has become a victim of class warfare and is subjected to a sham kangaroo court trial by the government, which is determined to punish him for defying their excessive restrictions and socialist efforts to redistribute his wealth (parts in bold emphasized by me are the parts most relevant to the Rearden technique):
JUDGE: “Are we to understand,” asked the judge, “that you hold your own interests above the interests of the public?”
REARDEN: “I hold that such a question can never arise except in a society of cannibals.”
“What … do you mean?”
“I hold that there is no clash of interests among men who do not demand the unearned and do not practice human sacrifices.”
“Are we to understand that if the public deems it necessary to curtail your profits, you do not recognise its right to do so?”
“Why, yes, I do. The public may curtail my profits any time it wishes – by refusing to buy my product.”
“We are speaking of … other methods.”
“Any other method of curtailing profits is the method of looters – and I recognise it as such.”
“Mr. Rearden, this is hardly the way to defend yourself.”
“I said that I would not defend myself.”
“But this is unheard of! Do you realise the gravity of the charge against you?”
“I do not care to consider it.”
“Do you realise the possible consequences of your stand?”
“Fully.”
“It is the opinion of this court that the facts presented by the prosecution seem to warrant no leniency. The penalty which this court has the power to impose on you is extremely severe.”
“Go ahead.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Impose it.”
The three judges looked at one another. Then their spokesman turned back to Rearden. “This is unprecedented,” he said.
“It is completely irregular,” said the second judge. “The law requires you submit to a plea in your own defence. Your only alternative is to state for the record that you throw yourself upon the mercy of the court.”
“I do not.”
“But you have to.”
“Do you mean that what you expect from me is some sort of voluntary action?”
“Yes.”
“I volunteer nothing.”
“But the law demands that the defendant’s side be represented on the record.”
“Do you mean that you need my help to make this procedure legal?”
“Well, no … yes … that is, to complete the form.”
“I will not help you.”
The third and youngest judge, who had acted as prosecutor snapped impatiently, “This is ridiculous and unfair! Do you want to let it look as if a man of your prominence had been railroaded without a –” He cut himself off short. Somebody at the back of the courtroom emitted a long whistle.
“I want,” said Rearden gravely, “to let the nature of this procedure appear exactly for what it is. If you need my help to disguise it – I will not help you.”
“But we are giving you a chance to defend yourself – and it is you who are rejecting it.”
“I will not help you to pretend that I have a chance. I will not help you to preserve an appearance of righteousness where rights are not recognised. I will not help you to preserve an appearance of rationality by entering a debate in which a gun is the final argument. I will not help you to pretend that you are administering justice.”
“But the law compels you to volunteer a defence!”
There was laughter at the back of the courtroom.
“That is the flaw in your theory, gentlemen,” said Rearden gravely, “and I will not help you out of it. If you choose to deal with men by means of compulsion, do so. But you will discover that you need the voluntary co-operation of your victims, in many more ways than you can see at present. And your victims should discover that it is their own volition – which you cannot force – that makes you possible. I choose to be consistent and I will obey you in the manner you demand. Whatever you wish me to do, I will do it at the point of a gun. If you sentence me to jail, you will have to send armed men to carry me there – I will not volunteer to move. If you fine me, you will have to seize my property to collect the fine – I will not volunteer to pay it. If you believe that you have the right to force me – use your guns openly. I will not help you to disguise the nature of your action.”
Rather than just spell it out for people, I’d rather let it marinate in your heads for a bit before describing it in action.
Next: The Rearden in Action
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Hehe, just what I thought when I read about the Rearden strategy first. Meta the Beta
You’re on a roll, T. Keep going, this is going to be good….
Tschafer
One of my favorite books as well.
If only we had more Hank Reardons. Unfortunately, many of the business leaders of today have abdicated the high ground and become a dangerous chimera of Reardon and the looters you describe in this passage.
Bill Gates was a Reardon. Dick Fuld was not.
Hmm, I like where this is going.
Mr. Rawness,
Great writing again. Do you know that your site is presenting big ads for the Church of Scientology? What’s up with that?
Here’s a cute moment from the life of Scientology’s founder:
I thought it was terrible, inhumane and barbaric. Some of the people on the course were middle-aged women. Julia Salmon, the continental head of the LA organization, was fifty-five years old and in poor health when she was thrown overboard. She hit the water sobbing and screaming. L. Ron Hubbard enjoyed it, without a doubt. Sometimes I heard him making jokes about it. Those were the moments when I came closest to asking myself what I was doing there. But I always justified it by telling myself that he must know what he was doing and that it was all for the greater good.
?Hana Eltringham, speaking of L. Ron Hubbard?s practice of having recalcitrant students thrown off his ship while in port, from Bare-Faced Messiah by Russell Miller
Wonderful roll you’re on here. I think I know where you’ll take this, and waiting to see if I’m right.
one way that works with betas is to physically intimidate them without making too big a show of it. stand too close, put your hand on their head and give them a little push — in short the physical equivalent of what they are doing. “i was just kidding around, sorry i scared you”.
alternatively, you can just mock them openly : “spoken like a true beta”.
This is exactly what I mean when I use the phrase ‘Every parking ticket carries behind it the threat of death.” It is a sign of the true depth of the intellectual disconnect involved in this matter that at best I am dismissed with a “that’s a ridiculous slippery-slope argument” and, usually, get a blank stare because they literally don’t understand what I am saying.
Incidentally, cjm, I’m probably a beta. Almost certainly, in fact. But if you put your hand on my head and give it a little push to show me who’s boss, one of us is sleeping in a hospital bed tonight. Might be me, might be you. But as a man observed, even cobras should take care with the furry little rodents they prey upon, because every so often, one of them’s a mongoose.