The Power Game Volume I

By Jeff Katzman

The Top 10 Main Ideas in this Book

1based on years of research studying the timeless elements of the human condition, this authoritative book illuminates why we employ the strategies we do as we all play the power game of our lives
2how to strategically employ the five grandest institutions -- the church, the economy, the state, the academy, and the family -- to win the power game
3humanity's discovery that we die gave birth to civilization and rapid technological innovations
4the complexities of modern civilization are driven by postponing death for as many people as possible for as long as possible
5the church -- religion seeks to fill in the void ripped open in us by death consciousness, and faith fills in this void
6the economy -- the effort and energy individuals expend playing the mating game fuel the economic engine
7the state – the state aims to create as much freedom as it can for as many individuals as possible and uses the threat of the legitimate use of force to make this happen
8the academy -- death consciousness encourages us to use knowledge and technological innovations to battle the forces in this new, dangerous, and frightening world
9the family -- social behavior is based on the pursuit of procreation possibilities -- for each individual to make the most offspring with as many mates as possible
10the companion volume -- The Power Game Volume II -- explores the timeless elements of the human condition from the perspective of the individual toward society

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jeff Katzman
• Release date: Jul 18, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310997488

Jeff Katzman

Jeff Katzman is the founder of Prometheus Enterprises and has been working on The Prometheus Project for over 25 years. Jeff has been a writer, a public speaker, a professor, a Vice President of Operations, and an economist. His motto is read classics and travel. Jeff wrote the companion volumes The Power Game Volume I and The Power Game Volume II. He is also the author of the companion volumes Prometheus Bound and Prometheus Unbound, Parts I and II of The Prometheus Trilogy. He is currently working on Part III of The Prometheus Trilogy -- Prometheus Triumphs.

Book preview

The Power Game Volume I

Copyright 2016 Jeff Katzman

Published by Jeff Katzman at Smashwords

Version 1.2

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Table of Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter 1: Nature

Chapter 2: Life

Chapter 3: Human

Chapter 4: Humanity

Chapter 5: The Church

Chapter 6: The Economy

Chapter 7: The State

Chapter 8: The Academy

Chapter 9: The Family

Chapter 10: The Power Game

About the author

Dedication

I dedicate this book to the five most influential people in my life:

To Mom, goddess of inspiration.

To Dr. Bellon, god of encouragement.

To Courtney, goddess of beauty.

To Nicki, goddess of love.

To Jill, goddess of wisdom.

Acknowledgements

Most of all I would like to acknowledge Prometheus -- the Greek titan, god, and muse who represents the treasure trove of all past human achievement. When we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us, we stand on the shoulders of Prometheus.

As a species, humanity still would not be all that interesting if each generation were only passing on its limited experience to the next verbally. We only became interesting when we switched from conversing amongst ourselves to conversing with the ancients. The best of these conversations are the ones in which the wisest men and women who ever lived followed the great chain of being and wrote collections of the best ideas of all time.

I too have followed this great chain of being starting with Homer and following it to the present. In particular, I would like to thank Nietzsche, Thoreau, Hesse, and Emerson for being the best guides in my life and providing me with the wisest ideas on the timeless elements of the human condition.

Cover art: Power is represented by a power plant. The game is represented by the estates of the church, the economy, the state, the academy, and the family.

Introduction

What is this crazy game called life all about? For humanity, life is a game -- a power game. The Power Game Volume I aims to come as close as possible to hitting the nail of reality on the head by exploring the timeless elements of the human condition from the perspective of society toward the individual. This authoritative book illuminates why we employ the strategies we do as we all play the power game of our lives. This volume shows how to strategically employ the five grandest of grand institutions (or estates as I like to call them) to win the power game of life. It is my hope that readers will learn how the church, the economy, the state, the academy, and the family battle one another in an attempt to achieve dominance over each other and all of humanity. In turn, these five estates also attempt to achieve dominance over the individual.

Since the dawn of civilization, these five estates have affected and made an impact on every individual in all cultures around the world every single day. Even the order of the presentation of the chapters is meaningful: when we wake up each day, we decide whether to be or not to be (The Church); then we get something to eat (The Economy); then we want to be safe (The State); then we want to quench our desire to know (The Academy); finally, we want to mate, procreate, and raise children (The Family). This volume examines the forces beyond our control that command us, while The Power Game Volume II concentrates on the forces within our control that we command over the course of our lives. Ultimately, it is my hope that taken together Volume I and Volume II will show you how to apply the powers of the five estates to win the power game of your life.

Why am I an expert in these ideas and ways of life -- because I made myself an expert. My adolescent period was hell on earth -- I was clearly traveling the path of misdevelopment without any role models. Neither of my parents was fit to serve as a role model for me. I decided that it was necessary for me to search elsewhere for role models in my life, and I determined that seeking the best ideas from the wisest men and women who ever lived would be the ideal way for me to make the transition to a wise and productive adult.

Originally, I had no intention of writing a book summarizing these ideas. I simply applied these ideas to my life and steered myself along a more original and adventurous path. However, while in graduate school I observed that I had a comparative advantage over my fellow students in providing executive summaries of the books, journal articles, and models that we read. Oftentimes I felt that I could summarize a writer's book even more cogently and succinctly than the writer could. Upon graduation, I decided to write these two companion volumes and share these ideas with as many people as I could so that you too could have a clearer model and better understanding of the power game going on around us. These two volumes represent the executive summary of my entire research and education -- this book is Volume I of the one book that I wish I had had access to when I first set out on my quest for knowledge when I was a freshman in college.

My research took me through thousands of hours and hundreds of books following the great chain of being -- the string of ideas linking the distant past like Homer's The Odyssey or The Old Testament up to the current prevailing wisdom of our age. So, rather than you having to read hundreds of books containing the best ideas of the wisest men and women who ever lived, you can read this brief executive summary of all of my executive summaries of those books.

In a world laden with forces beyond our control where the five estates rule over each of us, our educational system concentrates on teaching us a great deal about one particular field of expertise while teaching us next to nothing about the game of life going on around us. One of the major goals of The Power Game Volume I is to fill this void in our educational system and provide an executive summary vision or model of the power game that each of us plays. While all college students specialize in only one subject, this title would prove invaluable for those students who want to have a clearer picture of the other social science and humanities disciplines and how they interact with one another. Volume I aims to offer a high level summary of the remaining subjects of a social science education. This book would also help other adults who want a clearer understanding and more in-depth analysis of this crazy game called life going on around us every day.

As you read The Power Game Volume I and The Power Game Volume II, picture an eagle soaring high in the sky. The eagle starts circling thousands of feet above the earth and slowly spirals down. The eagle starts in Volume I, hovering in the lofty realm of nature; then it spirals down through life; then through man's ancestry; then through humanity; then through the five estates of the church, the economy, the state, the academy, and the family. Finally, the eagle hones in on you and explores your deepest depths in The Power Game Volume II.

May you too fare well on your journey through life as you master the art of living and yourself.

Love,

Jeff

Chapter 01: Nature

Nature is force -- a carnival of clashing forces continuously colliding and connecting with one another. Nature has no beginning and no end. It has always been; it is; and it will always be. It has neither goal nor purpose, unless cycling around in the same circle is a goal or a purpose. The forces rise and fall -- an endless building up and breaking down. The vision that comes to mind is that of the sea, of the waves breaking on the rocks, of the water endlessly rushing in and flowing out, only to rush back and to flow forward once again. We are surrounded by the ebb and flow of nature's perpetual motion, of its infinite movement over infinite time across infinite space.

Nature is infinity. Nature transcends time, lying beyond all of humanity's attempts to categorize and control it. Time's current passes through us, but infinity remains when we have flowed on by. From cosmic to atomic forces, the universe forever expands and contracts, endlessly orbiting around itself.

Nature is perpetual presence. Each passing moment is unique, though sometimes amazingly similar to what has come before. The past is always forgotten, even deleted -- only that which is still to come remains significant. Amongst this perpetual movement nature remains forever the same. Let's return to the edge of the sea -- the water surges and succumbs and yet it is always there; it is always the same and yet every moment it is new, renewed, recycled.

Nature is power -- an endless rise and fall of power. Picture a river, a river accelerating as it flows through rapids on the way to a waterfall, where it hurls itself over the edge with all of its momentum, discharging all of its energy on the rocks below. The world is in perpetual flux -- everything flows; everything moves; everything passes. Nothing remains still; nothing lasts; everything becomes and then vanishes -- everything.

Nature is energy -- a grand orchestra of energy. The sound rings of cacophony most of the time. However, on rare occasions and with the most fortuitous alignment of random forces, nature conducts a masterpiece.

Nature is chance -- an infinitely complicated collection of coincidental forces. Nature is becoming and becoming has no goal, no purpose, and no design. Pure chance guides all events; each moment unlocks a cabinet of curiosities; each passing day delights us with a new series of surprises. The earth is a dance floor for accidents, a table for dice and dice players. The god destiny controls our fate, and his dice are always loaded. Yet, just as often as the dice throws are the source of sorrow and defeat, they are the source of joy and triumph.

Nature is creator -- an artist that gave birth to itself eons ago. The earth is a special place, a faithful vessel through a sea of space. Every part of our whole planet is locked in orbit like the earth around the sun. The moon circles the earth, forcing the seas to gravitate towards it in its wake. A tilted axis stabilizes the climate, keeping the earth warm enough during the night and cool enough during the day. The earth basks in the warm, caring glow of the sun, which casts an overflowing abundance of energy in our direction.

Nature is destroyer. Nature is that from which we spring but also that to which we return. Nature lives on itself -- its excrements are its food. The wind carves through glaciers, which melt and form rivers, which dislodge and carry boulders, which smash bridges and houses below. Every end is a beginning -- offering a fresh start and renewal.

Nature is innocence. Through all of its destruction, irrationality, immorality, irresponsibility, and indifference, Nature is neither good nor bad, neither true nor false, neither real nor apparent, neither right nor wrong, neither cause nor effect -- Nature just is.

Nature is holiness. Each day is holy, each day a mini-eternity -- the morning is spring, the afternoon summer, the evening fall, and the night winter. During a single day in the mountains we walk through all the seasons -- we ascend from the valley of summer along the slopes of spring to the majestic alpine peaks of perpetual winter, only to descend in the evening air of autumn. The great annual cycles occur and recur forever -- from the mating season, as every living thing on earth comes out to celebrate the emergence of spring from the depths of winter, to the playful summer, to the fruitful harvest, to the enclosing atmosphere of winter.

Nature is beauty -- a kaleidoscope of color. On Nature's infinite canvas unfolds the purple and orange blossoms bearing the rebirth of life in spring, the green blanketing of the earth beneath a blue canopy in summer, the ripening of brilliant crimson and golden fruits in autumn, and the melting away into minutely different shades of gray in winter.

Nature is repetition. Everything cycles and circulates. The sun evaporates the sea; the wind scatters the vapors; the vapors combine with dust to form clouds; the clouds accumulate moisture; the moisture overflows as rain; the life-giving water drains into rivers; the rivers deliver the water to the sea. Animals live off the waste of plants while plants live off the waste of animals. Stone becomes soil, which becomes part of living flesh, which turns back to stone. Nature has long been everything and always is everything. As the pressure in the atmosphere shifts with the weather, all the fluids on the surface -- the ones around us and the ones within us -- either expand or contract. Everything is interconnected; the whole earth is alive.

Nature is interconnection. Every action that happens is inextricably intertwined to that which has happened and to that which will happen. A piece of infinity resides in all that exists -- that is to say is a necessary