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without the state, all economic activity would be defined as black market activity without the ego, all activity would be defined as meaningless activity both the state & the ego justify their existence as the source of legitimacy and meaning but all they really do is label

this doesn’t mean they are bad or useless. labels are incredibly important. it’s when the label is confused for the content and all the energy spent on arguing about labels that it becomes a burden rather than helpful

an example w the state is the war on drugs or terrorism. by labelling certain activities as bad rather than trying to understand them, they ironically perpetuate the conflict and even create cartels/terrorist despite all the money spent

an example w the ego is the desire to be better. self becomes an enemy to destroy and transcend rather than accept. but b/c self can never be more than self by definition, this creates a constant desire to be more than what is