The Commodification of Man

 Society is always wrong, and you are always right

You might read this article's title and come up with a lot of labels to describe me. Misanthrope. Weirdo. Freak. If I'm being honest, I have been called a lot of those things before- in fact, I even embrace it. There's a lot to dive into here.

Peter Thiel, the libertarian tech billionaire, once spoke of the high rates of autism amongst some of the most successful people he's ever met- Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and even himself. He gives a delightful explanation of why these people are the ones that changed the world in unfathomable ways - autists don't conform to social pressure the way most 'normal' neurotypical people do. If a normal person proposed a crazy idea, like starting a private space company to compete with NASA(SpaceX), he would've been laughed at, and would have caved in to the social humiliation and quit before even trying out his idea on his own. This person probably did all the right things growing up - got good grades, went to a great university, respected his teachers and authority figures, etc. But someone like Elon Musk, who is a high performing autist, doesn't seem to listen to what people say, nor does he pick up on the social cues like a neurotypical person. This has cost him dearly in the earlier stages of his life - he had trouble making friends and connecting socially in a very macho masculine South African society - but it also made him immune to the social pressures that would've dissuaded him from pursuing one of the most incredible challenges any person in mankind has ever undertaken. In the process he has single handedly changed the trajectory of the human species. What does it say about our society, that most of us are dissuaded from pursuing our wildest dreams, and you need to disassociate from social approval, almost to the point of being labeled an autist, in order to make a dent in human history?

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If you observe society closely, patterns begin to emerge. Let's start with the modern form of stasis, which is the force dragging us toward mediocrity. I call the first force the societal pull. This is the pressure to conform: go to college, land a stable job, pay your taxes, be a “good” citizen. Obey the government and its institutions. If you follow this script, you’ll notice something: people - parents, teachers, peers - will leave you alone. You’ll become invisible, accepted, unchallenged. As long as you stay within the lines, no one questions you.

But where does greatness live?

Every act of greatness is a rebellion against that stasis.

Start a business, and you're fighting against the inertia of the market, the rigidity of the economic system. Try to break into music, and you’re not just competing with other artists - you're pushing against an entire cultural apparatus built by them: the norms, sounds, aesthetics, and expectations that dominate the industry. Think of The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967) or 808s & Heartbreak by Kanye West - both initially dismissed, yet each tore open new creative frontiers and reshaped their genres. Their greatness came not from fitting in, but from breaking the mold.

Even getting in shape is a revolutionary act. It’s a middle finger to junk food conglomerates and their battalions of coders and data scientists - all working to hijack your biology, trap you in craving loops, and keep you soft, tired, and compliant.

Every political revolution begins the same way: a rising “hero of the people” vows to dismantle the establishment and return power to the masses. But what happens when that hero seizes control? He becomes the establishment. And soon, the cycle begins again - because for any nation to remain vibrant, it must be in constant tension with its rulers. Without that struggle, stagnation sets in. It’s inevitable. All systems drift back toward stasis.

Look at Erdoğan in Turkey, or Lenin in post-revolutionary Russia - both emerged as champions of the working class, only to evolve into the very forces they once opposed. Is this paradox avoidable? No. Whether it’s a single organism or an entire society, sustained health requires resistance - against complacency, against unchecked authority, against the gravity of decay.

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