The 50th Law

[strrrng]

Unfortunately, when browsing over the Huffington Post website this morning, a certain "beta travesty" was brought to my attention: Robert Greene and 50 Cent's new collaboration, a foolish spin-off of The 48 Laws of Power, titled The 50th Law. I felt compelled to examine the article before making a judgment, but needless to say, my suspicions were pretty much affirmed. The pop manual to material success, is based on the simplistic notion, Fear Nothing, and consists of an array of anecdotes from Jackson's life supplemented by general historical examples to solidify the basic premise. But, based on shit like this:

Understand: We are living through an entrepreneurial revolution, on a global scale. The old power centers are breaking up. Individuals everywhere want more control over their destiny and have much less respect for an authority that is not based on merit but on mere power. We have all naturally come to question why someone should rule over us, why our source of information should depend on the mainstream media, and on and on. We do not accept what we accepted in the past.

it becomes pretty obvious what the goal is: mutual wankery veiled in strategical knowledge.

...We are all corner hustlers in a new economic environment and to thrive in it we must cultivate the kind of self-reliance that will help push us past all of the dangerous dependencies that threaten us along the way.

The first sentence caps off the artificial tenor of this piece.

Anyway, I'm disappointed to see Robert Greene stoop to such a level, and debase his hallmark beta philosophies with someone, who in my opinion is a mere "wannabe beta," to gain commercial clout. The 48 Laws could be a masterpiece; this just betrays where Greene's motivations lie, and highlights the fact that whatever new-age autonomy ideas put forth in this work are nothing more than a recursion of the very trends it attempts to critique.

[Not A Communist Shill]

And yet it is quite clear that reality is a broken record record. A modern man in any generation will be able to find a way to shill the rubes simply by reworking the old...and often not even that...remember that people can never be too stupid to be conned.

[strrrng]

Indeed. Although, "shilling the rubes" seems hardly the case here, as the intellectual conning is primarily directed at a generation of self-help technocrats who are searching for the next business gem. No doubt, reworking the old can be done endlessly -- and if done properly, can be quite effective (i.e. Machiavelli). Robert Greene even did this in large part, with The 48 Laws, basically reinventing historical interpretations centralized around sociological and political premises; that was effective because of its originality, and occupation of a proper place in its realm. The 50th Law undermines the 48 Laws, not only in a literal, image sense, but also in an ideological sense -- one that is directly reflected back on Greene's reputation as a veritable political scientist.

[Not A Communist Shill]

Be wary of being carried away by your own hype though. You may be clever, but that doesn't mean you can't hang yourself or unintentionally have the bulls coming home too soon.

[strrrng]

What hype? Of course, anyone is prone to initially overstepping themselves, when pursuing an ideological viewpoint. That doesn't have any real bearing on the veracity of their position, though. And what does "have the bulls come home" refer to?

[strrrng]

I think you are incapable of making a dime.

[Spiro]

I hate books.

[FDG]

I think Robert Greene is a smart dude who knows how to make money.

Right.

[Not A Communist Shill]

What hype? Of course, anyone is prone to initially overstepping themselves, when pursuing an ideological viewpoint. That doesn't have any real bearing on the veracity of their position, though.

Anyone who has a position on anything creates their own hype. That is why it is important to have realism, not idealism. Even this may not save you, but then not everyone is interested in their own self-preservation even when pursuing their selfish goals. The key I think is to ensure that nonelucidation does not set in, perhaps by monitoring the extent of your own hyperpiesia. That way, you may be able to effract the proles while undershielding everyone's self interest.

And what does "have the bulls come home" refer to?

Well you don't want to have to deal with something dangerous before you have to.

[silverchris9]

Heh. I liked that 48 laws of power book. My dad had a copy and I stole it and read it incessantly. There was so much random historical crap that I sorta knew about because I read that book. I haven't read the seduction book, but I might pick it up at some point. However, based on that excerpt, I definitely won't waste any time on that 50th Law crap. But of course, almost anything associated with 50 Cent is in general tainted and usually bad. Except vitamin water. I like vitamin water.