The Mutual Human Game: An Embarrassment of Riches

In the Human Game, we thrive by mutual support. We can define what it means to be alive in a world of people, free of selfish attachments and agenda. So much hardship has confronted everyone in my society near and far. This motivates me to upload my book, rather than let it continue to collect dust. My problems are very small, but in showing the commonness of the personal issues, I need to start with something I know personally.

I'm going to skip the Abstract here till the next page and start with a personal demonstration of ethical quandaries we all struggle with. I'm going to ask an off-topic question. "How do I retain my self-respect in a culture that is arrogant about issues of common welfare?" In discovering Facebook concerning my bodybuilding community, I'm in culture shock. The rigidity of social media interactions is one thing. I'm investigating my fellow bodybuilders on Facebook. I'm horrified to discover they're mostly rich men in premature male menopause. I know many of my athlete friends to be magnanimous and socially aware, self-objectification and narcissism are not the only constant. But the bodybuilding culture is rife with materialism, egotism, and misanthropy. THE OBJECTIFICATION OF THE ATHLETE AS MALE AND FEMALE OF THE SPECIES IS GROSS. White American bodybuilders are predominantly crackers who eat conspiracy theories with relish. Fortunately, my Black friends at my gym who are mostly Christians, and not hard right reactionaries. I understand now why my X has been telling rumors that I'm strung out on steroids. She's intensely liberal and the Bodybuilders are commonly pigs. However, I am actually a micro-stud, revenant, and a geriatric surprise. People used to ask me, "What are your training goals?" So I'd say, "I want to get laid." People's problems change, and so have I. The question is, even though I'm going to keep training to keep my manic depression under check, "How do I keep from being ashamed of my sexy embarrassment of riches?"

I'm living an exceptional life of personal success. "Exceptional people, have exceptional needs, and we get exceptional results." But, in resistance training, ego fragile bodybuilders often mistake themselves for immortal and mock the common lot for having normal human hardships. Physical training is supposed to be an all-inclusive super culture and not just another exclusively alienating subculture. Training is cultivating a broader experience we humans can share. The Culture of the Body is simply another medium for communication and not a goal or destination. But I'm seeing the reason people are hostile toward such conspicuous effects of consumer affluence. Beauty can be a form of gluttony.

I'll probably always feel conflicted about having spent almost all of my life in near-total solitude. But this is what allowed me to study, train, and provide educational arts and science media for the general public. Being embarrassed or ashamed accomplishes nothing by itself. But the only reason I'm moderately healthy and alive is because of the shared resources of others. "How do I keep my self-respect while not losing myself in a culture that often disgusts me?"