Prison-Seeking Programming

 

Why is collectivism so powerfully attractive to some people?  To anyone who values personal freedom at any level, the very concept seems repulsive.  I think most people don’t actually believe Communism is a good idea, even in theory.  But a lot of people do.

But why is it that, even with the mountain of evidence showing that collectivism in all its real-world examples has been a horrible failure – and I mean unbelievably horrible, not subjectively – people still gravitate to this concept?

Why do people join cults?  It seems so stupid and self-destructive to anyone being objective.

Why do a significant percentage of prisoners want to stay in prison?

All these questions point to the same human trait, which is “prison-seeking behavior.”  People say they don’t want to go to jail, but if you made the jail comfortable enough, eliminated the violence and cruelty and put in just enough things to give it the illusion of personal choice, a lot of people would gladly volunteer to live there.  Not most people, but a significant percentage.

This is prison-seeking behavior. 

Don’t believe me?  There are massive dorm structures going up on college campuses with no windows, thousands of students crammed into these things, and a waiting list.  China has waiting lists for multi-story apartments that are worse than some actual prisons, and there are people who want to create that reality in Europe and the US.  Cults still exist with no shortage of members.  A lot of people stay in the military for the structure and the rigid boundaries, or have difficulty transitioning to a more open-ended lifestyle.

This gravitation toward systems that deprive agency in exchange for predictability, conformity, structure, safety and lack of personal responsibility (basic needs are taken care of for you) is powerfully strong in some people.

It turns out this attraction is strong in people who grew up in “permissive” households where there were few if any boundaries.  This environment created an anxiety that makes being controlled very attractive.

And if you don’t feel that attraction, the prison mentality can evoke a visceral negative reaction – it feels like they’re bargaining away your freedom along with their own.  And in many cases, that’s true. The irony of the prison mentality is that it lacks personal boundaries, having never learned the concept as children.  They just assume, since they have no boundaries, neither do you, so they’re entitled to give your agency away as if it were their own.  They literally can’t tell the difference. 

This is why I say there is no bargaining with collectivists, or with the prison mentality.  They see their own freedom as a personal threat, so they see you exercising your freedom also as a personal threat.  You can’t bargain with people like that.  This is why standing for freedom often leads to conflict – the other side literally has no concept of personal agency or sees it as a form of evil, so free people have to constantly fight back.  And it’s why collectivist societies inevitably lead to genocide – the very concept of people having personal agency is so threatening to those living in the prison mentality they have to delete them and call it good.

Those outside the prison mindset – and that’s most people – can see the fallacy of collectivism in all its forms.  Ultimately there is a structure that sits above the prison mentality that manipulates them and benefits from their voluntary servitude.  A collectivist society with free people won’t work, because the free people will just leave or refuse to participate.  The prisoners can’t operate the prison because that would require making choices and taking responsibility, which terrifies them.  So the system naturally needs to recruit and cultivate a certain number of free-thinking people (who are inherently corrupt and often outright evil) to run the prison.  They benefit from the system and run the system while living apart from it (notice how all the Communist leaders live like excessively wealthy Capitalists without actually producing anything of value themselves, unlike the actual Capitalists they emulate).

Can people in the prison mentality free themselves?  Yes.  But not from within the structure, which reinforces the learned helplessness and low personal self-esteem that creates the crippling fear of personal agency.  They need to see that, yes, they can take care of themselves better than the group.

And by the way this mentality plays out in micro levels in codependent and abusive relationships, so don’t think just because someone votes Republican they’re immune from the trap.

And events can trigger otherwise independent people to revert to prison mentality out of confusion or fear.  Look at all the people who reveled in locking themselves away, masking themselves and standing in long lines for tests and vaccines during the “covid pandemic.”  This wasn’t a case of a few politicians making edicts, large numbers of people gladly went along and tattled on their neighbors for living normal lives.  Because they wanted the prison, and they didn’t want to be pained by the thought of others enjoying a freedom they were incapable of giving themselves permission to enjoy.

To those who recognized the lunacy of the lockdowns, the prison mentality people seemed crazy, cruel, stupid and downright evil.  And objectively they were those things – those are inherent qualities of Prison Mentality Programming, lets not mince words or be quick to dismiss evil thoughts and actions in the false name of equanimity.  That’s not the purpose or function of equanimity and we shouldn’t corrupt noble terms by blurring distinctions between fact and fiction or good and evil.

But dismissing the masses of lockdown fanatics as “stupid and evil” because it’s objectively accurate misses the deeper lesson here, and I’ll admit I’ve been guilty myself of overlooking the bigger picture out of revulsion for the behavior in front of me.

Another aside for those who think I’m being too harsh on my lockdown-loving neighbors.  I’m not saying their hearts are evil.  But it has been proven that a large majority of people will set aside their morals to do something cruel and wrong to another if directed by a perceived authority.  And among that large subset is a significant minority who will willingly and gladly do so if properly motivated.  So no, everyone who supported lockdowns is not evil.  A lot of them are, and all of them were being evil at the time. This is just an objective fact.  Can they find forgiveness and change their hearts?  Sure, but I’m not Jesus, that’s not my job.  I’m looking through the lens of “what is” in order to dispel illusions and help people find true freedom.  I’ll leave it to Jesus to handle the “what can be” and “what will be,” that’s not my domain.

So what to do about the Prison Mentality Programming?  I’m assuming if you’ve read this far that means you haven’t succumbed to this programming, because otherwise you’d have reacted violently, rejected this and either tried to attack me for calling out the truth or, more likely, gone away back to your prison.  The most important thing is to recognize the programming – after a while it’s pretty easy to spot.  Look for the physical and emotional signs of the “artificial hive.”  You can also spot the leaders, the people who are consciously exploiting submissive followers through manipulation without producing anything of their own.  They’re all over politics, but not just there, they’re everywhere. 

Notice it and guard yourself against it.  Just as you can’t argue with a hornet’s nest, you can’t reason with the prison mentality.  Avoidance and personal protection is your only really effective strategy. 

Also this will help train you to identify other programming, since this is one of the more prominent ones that exist, making it easy to identify and inoculate yourself from.

And also, we humans are complicated.  There might be parts of you that are attracted to a form of prison or commune.  Notice this feeling.  It is a compass guiding you to wounded parts of you, places where you fear freedom or severely doubt yourself.  You are capable of far more than you realize and you are stronger than your upbringing.  Remember that and keep walking toward the light of freedom.