Round Peg Revolution

How about we change the system to fit all of us? What kind of world would that look like?

A system that makes you pay to exist, compete to eat, and obey to survive is not a civilization; it's a prison with shopping privileges. —Anonymous

Round Peg Revolution

by C.A. Matthews

There’s an old saying that goes, “You can’t fit a square peg into a round hole.” When I saw the above meme, I was momentarily taken aback. In this instance it’s the “round pegs” telling the “square peg” that they’re not going to change to fit the “square hole” or system. The round pegs insist that it’s better if the system is changed to fit all pegs. No peg is left behind that way.

Wow. That’s pretty deep, isn’t it?

What is the “system” these pegs are talking about? Could it be the system of government or a political system the pegs live under? Could it be the economic system the pegs have to work in? Could it be the social system that dictates what is considered moral and what isn’t in peg society? Could it be all three?

For ease of argument, let’s say the pegs’ “system” includes all three dimensions—social, political, and economic.

Now notice the square peg’s countenance and gesturing in the meme. It’s frowning and pointing. Its demeanor is disapproving and demanding. The square peg is shown carrying a briefcase—sure evidence of a closed mind if there ever was one!

I’ll admit I’m jumping to conclusions with the scanty facts presented, but you’ve got to admit that any peg which has sharp corners, carries a badge of honor for business-types (the briefcase), and displays a stern, condescending attitude toward others who are different from it is probably not a very nice peg person.

I believe the technical term for this type of peg would be an “asshole.”

The round pegs, on the hand, seem friendly and outgoing. They’re willing to work with the square peg to build a better system—a better world, you could say. Their willingness to think outside the box—or rather the “square hole”—and include a wide variety of pegs in their system demonstrates flexibility and their ability to handle a greater range of experiences. They’re not stuck with four sides and four corners. They’re “fluid” not “rigid,” open to change and desiring that all pegs thrive in their system.

Square peg with its briefcase and finger pointing tells us that it’s “The square pegs’ way or the highway!” The square peg system is unyielding. All pegs must re-shape how they think, how they act, who they are, and what they do to survive in order to fit into the square peg system. There are no options, no consideration for individual differences, talents, or tastes apparently in a square peg world.

If you don’t follow the square peg’s rules, you won’t make it for long under its system. The square peg system doesn’t look like the kind that comes with much of a social safety net to me. One tragic event in a peg’s life, such as an accident, serious illness, lost job, environmental disaster, a war or genocide and that’s it. You’re soon a dead peg. Likewise, if you speak out against the square peg leadership too much you might find yourself imprisoned or executed.

The square peg’s social system encourages behaviors like competition, one-upmanship, and perhaps cheating or manipulating others in order to survive. Because of its inherent lack of flexibility or forgiveness, if a round peg can’t keep up in the square peg’s system, there’s a good chance that round peg might resort to negative behaviors such as becoming a criminal in order to survive.

The penalty for committing a crime would be severe in the square peg system. The system’s rigidness would offer no other option than to force a criminal peg into becoming a square peg so it could be allowed back into square peg society. Sides and angles would have to be brutally lopped off until the desired peg shape is achieved.

In extreme cases, criminal pegs could be executed so their lack of “squareness” wouldn’t be seen as an option for other pegs or a challenge to the square peg system. But wouldn’t even some square pegs also act out in such a unforgiving system? Wouldn’t some pegs speak out or protest? It’s possible.

Square peg leaders would probably have a plan to deal with dissenters. Lock them up, deport them, force them into making a confession that it’s “Great to be a square peg!” Pledges of allegiance and symbols of the square peg system would proliferate in its society, possibly even becoming mandatory for the “good” of the system in time.

Square peg leaders could implement preventative programs to keep pegs in their correct hole within their system. Square peg propagandists with a tacit control over the mainstream media outlets would allow only the approved narrative to circulate among the pegs. If the square peg leadership doesn’t want the peg populace to know certain facts or events happening in the world, it possibly would teach false ones. That way every peg thinks alike and is kept in obedience to the leadership. What the round pegs of square peg society don’t know can’t hurt them, right?

The prospect of life in the square peg’s system sounds rather dismal, doesn’t it? I believe the round pegs’ idea of a system that welcomes all pegs is far superior to the square peg’s manipulative and colorless one.

Now, let’s change the name of the pegs’ systems. Let’s call the square peg’s system “capitalism” and the round pegs’ system “socialism”, shall we? Can we draw the same conclusions with these two hot button terms slapped on the two peg groups? Let’s try it and see.

Capitalism has a “winner takes all” philosophy. Competition is king. The very idea of making “exceptions” for those who can’t compete is anathema to the true capitalist. All problems in life are due to DEI or diversity, equality, and inclusion according to modern capitalists. If a person is incapable of competing or simply can’t keep up with the competition, that person “loses” and is out of the “game”. Another term for loser in capitalism is “the poor.”

In a capitalist system, losing (poor) persons could find themselves in a world of hurt. If they become homeless and hungry, they might feel forced into a life of crime or begging in order to survive. In an extreme or “pure” capitalist system that doesn’t believe in any government-run safety nets, about the only help the poor can expect to find is from begging for help from private charities and individuals.

Of course, there’s no law saying these private actors must help others in need. It’s up to them to help out when and if they feel like it—and it’s perfectly acceptable for charities and private individuals to discriminate against the poor based on such things as race, religion, gender/gender identity, or place of birth.

Some “losers” are more worthy of charity than others, right?

Over time in a pure capitalist system it might become seen as old-fashioned and ill-advised to help the losing or poor crowd. You could imagine the “winners” shouting: “Let the poor starve! Let’s bomb them and wiped them out and take their land, possessions, and homes! We the winners are superior, and we should have it all!”

Can we say the same about a socialist system? By definition, a socialist system puts the needs of the people before corporate or private profit. If a person in a socialist system comes upon hard times, they aren’t forced to beg or steal to survive. There are system-wide programs to provide them with food and shelter as well as education to learn a new job skill.

With universal health care, people in a socialist system can take a chance and start their own business or pursue a life in the arts if that’s where their talents lie, confident that if they should ever become sick or need medical treatment health care will be there for them. In a socialist system people don’t go bankrupt or lose their homes in order to afford health care.

With all pegs—people—guaranteed food, shelter, health care, and education, there’s no longer a need “to peg” people into categories such as “winners” and “losers” or even “working poor” and “middle class”. All people are considered equals and entitled to basic human needs.

There’s no need for manipulation or competition among people to drive society in socialism because cooperation serves this purpose. Cooperation is the better impetus, in my opinion, because it doesn’t create ill will among society’s members. Cooperation strives for the betterment of all and not only a few. There are no “losers” or poor folks. Everyone “wins” in the socialist system.

This article doesn’t claim to be an extensive or academic comparison of socio-political/economic systems. I just wanted to make you stop and think: What if we had a system that fits all of us?

What if we put aside our petty jealousies and hoarding proclivities and freely shared our talents and resources with each other? What if we extinguished our fears of others and learned to cooperate with each other instead? What kind of world would that look like?

Would we be violently competing for limited natural resources such as oil, uranium, and lithium? Would we be destroying our environment with strip mining, over-logging, and fracking? Would we be causing devastating climate change events such as massive flooding or droughts in the process of these resource grabs? Would we be poisoning our waters with the effluence flowing from massive factory farms (CAFOs), where thousands of heads of livestock are inhumanely crammed into small areas and force fed unhealthy foodstuffs in order to make more profits for capitalists?

Would we allow a live-streamed genocide to happen in real time if we lived in a system that exhibited a spirit of cooperation and altruism instead of manipulation and competition? Would we live in constant fear of nuclear warfare breaking out whenever a tiny handful of old assholes got a bee in their bonnets and a desire to outdo all the others?

You tell me.

What if we human beings had a system that fits all of us? Maybe all of us would survive and thrive and simply live in peace, the way God and nature intended us to do all along. Now, that’s deep.

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