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An Inconvenient Truth - The Truth Shall Not Set Us Free
An Inconvenient Truth - The Truth Shall Not Set Us Free
By
Cognitive Dissonance
There is a widely held belief among those who wish for ‘the truth’ to be exposed that once this is accomplished the insanity will begin to unravel and a new day will dawn. Unfortunately this belief is erroneous, delusional even, and by itself also a part of the insanity. The uncomfortable and extremely inconvenient truth is that ‘truth’, regardless of where it originates or whether it’s really truth or not, will never set us free because the official lies are not the ultimate source of our bondage. Instead the lies are just a small part of the overall control system, a system that relies upon our willing (some would say informed) consent not only to exist but to endure.
Hidden somewhere deep down inside any discussion of true and false statements by politicians, the Bureau of Lies and Statistics (BLS), psyops and disinformation programs, WikiLeaks or any other governmental, corporate or individual propaganda is a simple and fundamental truth that’s widely known but carefully ignored. We are being lied to by hundreds of entities about dozens of different subjects, all for the purpose of maintaining or increasing control and power over the masses. The truth of these fundamental lies is all around us and yet we are still not free.
The only way a relatively small nucleus of people can control a much larger population is through psychological manipulation regardless of whether it’s by way of brutality or baubles. Spending our days minimizing, dismissing or bargaining with these controlling lies is simply the process we use to avoid dealing with our own internal self deception. This is also a well understood and universal truth that is self evident, obvious even, to those who wish to honestly look. Yet it is denied as well.
We hide this fact from ourselves by differentiating between big and small lies, from their evil propaganda and our harmless little tales. And we always tell ourselves the ultimate controlling lie, that we don’t really ‘lie’ so much as we tell small fibs and half truths in order to feel better or to get through the day. We want to believe that we are different from ‘them’, that we know we aren’t really lying because we know ourselves and thus can’t lie. We all deceive ourselves into believing that to ourselves we are true.
The ugly truth is that we expend a tremendous amount of energy each day maintaining our extensive network of internal denial and self deception. The result is a mishmash of fact, fiction and fantasy we call our world view and the act of denial itself becomes such an integrated component of us that for the most part it’s seamless and nearly invisible. The control system enables our denial by feeding us a constant stream of ‘news’ and information that serves to reinforce this internal narrative while massaging our confirmation and normalcy biases.
Why do we need ‘proof’ of something that’s self evident, of something we know to be true? Exactly what sort of proof would satisfy us that we’re being systematically and consistently lied to? More to the point, what would we do once the perfect proof is offered that we would refrain from doing without it? So many of us fall into the trap of demanding specific and infallible proof before we’ll ever consider changing our beliefs, an almost impossible condition to meet and precisely why we require it. Others demand that the liars admit they are lying. What then? Do we forgive them for their past transgressions so we won’t need to confront them (or ourselves) the next time it happens?
What proof of truth (or falsity) do we need to receive in order to be absolutely certain? And will we ever receive enough proof to overcome our aversion to taking a stand and declaring that enough is enough? All of these questions are reasonable queries to ask, but we avoid them like the black plague because following them to their logical conclusion would sweep away all our self deceptions and delusions. Asking these questions, then candidly answering them, would force us to be honest with ourselves, an outcome we collectively and studiously avoid.
Clarity of Vision Contrary to popular belief clarity of vision, which is what truth and proof is supposed to provide for us, is the last thing we want because clarity removes any remaining plausible deniability we might cling to in order to justify hiding within the faceless herd. Clarity compels action in the same manner that a clear and present danger compels action. If we don’t act once we finally have clarity, especially after demanding it for years, then we must confront our own lack of moral courage. In effect we either deal with this cognitive dissonance or we kick the can down the road and bury our denial in another layer of justification and rationalization. For example, let’s say you’re startled awake at 3 AM by the apparent sound of someone breaking into your home. Are you going to roll over and fall back to sleep until you receive absolute “proof” of a break in or are you going to react to the information at hand no matter how limited it might be? While the answer might be obvious, the question is so simple it’s often dismissed as silly. I’m not talking about confronting the potential intruder, but simply acknowledging his or her presence instead of demanding more proof before rousting yourself from bed. Of course you’d acknowledge the potential break-in. Then you’d begin to react accordingly. What it really comes down to is not whether we receive enough proof to act, but rather how close we perceive (or deny) the danger to be in order to overcome our reluctance to deal with whatever it is we are avoiding. The noise downstairs demands our immediate attention because it’s coming from within our home at a time of night when we’re most vulnerable. It’s hard to ignore this frightening situation. However as long as we can successfully deny proximity we can avoid the singularity of confrontation regardless of the actual circumstances. And a skilful manipulator will encourage our denial using a variety of tools and methods. Consider that the Nazis took deliberate steps to enable the concentration camp inmates to remain in denial about their inevitable destruction. Most knew what was really going on, but the façade was convincing enough to enable just enough denial of proximity to keep the majority calm and under control. This was mutually beneficial for both parties involved, allowing the Nazi’s to use very few guards relative to the large number of inmates. Our master(s) benefit from our denial as well, thus they expend large amounts of energy to enable our denial rather than just forcing the issue. It appears to me that those who are unaware of, or outright reject, their inner spiritual connection are more likely to engage in fantastical thinking and denial framing all in an effort to deny proximity. Let me make it clear here that I’m not talking about a God or religious entity, but more like a centering or recognition of our presence and purpose within the cosmos. This ‘knowing’ helps us to maintain a realistic perspective and inner calm when others become deer in the headlights. Our masters are experts at frightening us with continuous fear based mental images of dangerous boogiemen while promising us that the danger will never be proximate to us as long as we do as we’re told. And we play along because doing so enables our own internal dishonesty. In the case of the downstairs burglar it rapidly progesses well beyond clear and present danger and has morphed into red alert proximity since we’re trapped upstairs and can’t leave without descending the stairs and moving even closer to the very danger we’re trying to avoid. But the insanity coming out of Washington, Europe, Libya, Japan or wherever today’s madness is emanating from is somewhere way over there, meaning not proximate to us and thus easier to push aside and deny.
Learned Helplessness
Until that is the danger is proximate and can no longer be denied. Of course once the obvious can no longer be pushed aside the next step is to trot out another inconvenient truth redefined in the form of an excuse, that the problem is so big that we can’t do anything about it. Intellectually we declare we’re quadriplegics trapped in our own wheelchairs and unable to do anything about the situation. This self victimization is called learned helplessness and it’s an example of how we actively participate in our own impotence and subjugation. And its use is not restricted to the uneducated and poor. In fact it’s a highly refined intellectual tool of the educated and professional classes who twist our self victimization into superiority or entitlement impulses.
What we really want, what we so desperately seek, is for someone else to shoulder the personal and emotional risk that comes with taking responsibility. We definitely want the good outcome, just not the sweat, tears and pain that might also come with it. Our insistence that we know exactly what happened, the so-called truth, followed by our never ending demand for even more proof, is simply our psychological defense to any assault upon our carefully constructed world view that we are just helpless victims and powerless to do anything except to be the perfect injured party and take care of ourselves. This is also the perfect excuse to abandon any sense of obligation to neighbor or community.
The beauty of being the unfortunate victim, of being a planned and intentional failure even if that plan is on a subconscious level, is that this condition is easily accomplished and usually requires little to no active participation on our part. Thus our needed plausible deniability comes from doing nothing, which then reinforces our apathy and justifies our inaction. It just doesn’t get any better than this. All that’s left to do is to construct an intellectual shield stout enough to justify our inaction, child’s play after decades of personal experience shifting blame to the spouse, sibling, boogie man, politician, dog or boss. Our ego immediately takes over and skillfully massages our lying eyes and guilt feelings.
Lost to Ourselves
It’s important for the reader to understand that I’m not necessarily speaking of professional, career or even political failure when I address the concept of being a planned failure. Ultimately these are all artificial constructs, fantasy representations of our denied inner being, the outward manifestation of an ‘us’ we wish to project to those around us for a variety of reasons and purposes. Instead what I’m referring to is our inner being, our spiritual entity, our essence, that part of us that might be called the soul which only we answer to.
This unique sanctuary, our own safe haven or refuge we can flee to when we wish to engage in contemplation and reflection, can be the source of our inner strength and moral courage in the face of hostility or our pitiful failure to be a moral person and spiritual entity. Because we cannot hide from ourselves while visiting our inner being, for the patently self deceptive this is a place to avoid at all costs.
The external ‘us’ often has little connection to our true inner self unless it is deliberately pursued and sought after. Our inner being doesn’t come looking for you or me, but rather the other way around. I have found that the more superficial our outer skin is, the further away we are from connecting to our inner truth and meaning, often described as our centering, knowing or intuition.
The weaker the connection to our inner self the more desperate we become to believe the self validating lie that if only we knew what really happened with unerring proof it would expose our external tormentor (and keep our internal one hidden as well) thus forcing other people to finally act. Is it really surprising that someone who lacks moral courage and strength would try to find others to do his or her bidding?
We convince ourselves that with absolute proof of the official lies in hand the illusion would be unequivocally exposed, thus compelling ‘we the people’ (meaning ‘other’ people) to reject them and it. This is the lie we tell ourselves to remain hidden from ourselves and safely within the consensus herd which acts as an extremely poor substitute for our missing inner communication.
We wish to believe that simply knowing the truth will somehow displace the lie, similar to Archimedes splashing water over the sides of the tub as he settles in for his weekly soak. Somehow this absolves us from the obligation to act because "the truth" is now known and the liars will wither away in the bright disinfecting sunlight of truth, justice and the American way. The ugly truth is that a ‘truth’ (as well as a ‘lie’) has power only when it’s embraced, not simply because it exists. Since we don’t wish to embrace the inner truth, we must support the external lies in order to use them to feed our plausible deniability. While we might not fully understand this form of self deception our masters are well aware of it and skillfully use it against us.
Many truths lay abandoned on the side of the road for years, decades even, because their abandonment serves the needs of nearly everyone, not just the official liars, to ignore their own culpability. Once a truth is exposed the liars have no control over the truth except in their (our) ability to convince us to ignore or distort it. The spin doctor’s only purpose is to enable our own self deception. They don’t ‘hide’ the truth as much as they help convince us that it’s in our own best interest to ignore or distort it. You really don’t want to look in there, do you? The con man never forces the mark, but rather skillfully leverages the situation.
Seductive Submission
This entire process reminds me of the quintessential seduction scene in a Harlequin romance novel. The women is ‘taken’, seduced in the arms of someone who may or may not have her best interest at heart. Very little is said about her willingness to believe the lies and promises, of her own desire to suspend disbelief and accept the attractive lies, other than to present the supposedly mitigating factor that she’s emotionally overwhelmed and thus ‘not herself’. After all if you’re not yourself you certainly can’t be held responsible for anything your ‘self’ might do, right? Naturally no one wants to ask where we might find the ‘self’ if it’s not ‘here’.
She’s being told what she wants to hear and its music to her ears. The incredible natural high we receive when our egoic lies are confirmed by outside sources, conceits we actively solicit precisely because they induce that endorphin buzz, puts to shame any man made pharmacological magic created to date.
Of course this behavior isn’t restricted to the fairer sex. Males are just as accomplished at self medicating as the female side of the species. I guess surrendering to passionate desire (and greed) is justification for any transgression as long as the emotion is pure, intoxicating and oh so good. We wouldn’t let our children get away with a bullshit excuse like this yet it seems fine and dandy for the adults in the room.
This is a classic example of self victimization, but it’s diplomatically presented as a near innocent who is being intentionally harmed by a scheming evil doer who’s only after her lying labia lips. Notice that it’s rarely pointed out how the liar would never be in her arms in the first place without her willing consent and active participation. We hear about his ‘power’ over her, but very little about her willingness to submit and let someone else be responsible for her (in) actions.
Layers of self deception this deep can only occur when we are patently dishonest with ourselves, yet this type of behavior is glorified in far more ways than just romance novels. Nationalism is a perfect example of the process we use to allow ourselves to be controlled by others, to surrender to the herd mentality and any responsibility for our actions. We’re all familiar with the seductive urge and the invisible pull to engage in herd behavior where the anonymity of the crowd washes away any personal responsibility for ones actions.
There’s nothing more we need to know, no other proof needed, other than the certain knowledge that we are lied to on a daily basis. This is obvious and widely known, but rarely openly acknowledged. Our need to know the truth and our demand for unequivocal proof that it is the truth, proof that we often insist must come from a person of ‘authority’ (usually one of the authorities who told us the lie in the first place) is a reflection of our inner reluctance to remove the liars from our lives, starting within ourselves.
Doing so would require us to move out of our comfort zone and face who and what we really are, co-conspirators and dance partners rather than helpless soap bubbles blowing in the wind. Our masters know this and to further enable our self deception they constantly shrink our comfort zones, giving us all the more reason to remain safely huddled within our contracting world.
We say we want freedom yet true freedom is just as frightening to us as truth itself. For the most part we are kept animals and as distasteful as this may be to our sensitive egos we like it this way. Many years ago I overheard one woman tell another that “Children like it when we set boundaries and rules for them.” I agree. Very young children want, in fact need, to know they are safe in a world that is capricious and unfathomable.
So it makes sense that externally imposed rules and boundaries would give children an artificially implanted sense of order and predictability, at least until their own conditioning is complete and they can maintain their own illusion of personal safety through denial. The same applies to us as adults. We all want our freedom just as long as it comes with a reasonably clear set of rules that thankfully keeps us from straying to far into personal accountability and responsibility.
Love Your Captivity
While few among us would actually admit this we are trained to love our hamster wheels and for the most part we do. Or more accurately, we fear having no hamster wheel because then we would need to be self sufficient and personally responsible for all our actions in a world that has no overall order imposed upon us. That’s the key difference here because presently the prevailing attitude amongst us hamsters is quite simple. Just show me the maze, hand me the rule book and I’ll figure it out as I go along. Or at least I’ll survive long enough to feed and breed. This is of course a crass oversimplification of our social order, but you get the idea.
Because we allow ourselves to be seduced by the rules of a world that’s created for us we are easily manipulated by the controllers and the control system. It does this by making the rules……wait for it……wait for it……capricious and unfathomable if we don’t submit to the whip. By surrendering our inalienable right (and I submit our inner moral and spiritual duty) to be free and independent souls in return for a set of externally created and manipulated rules and conditions we condemn ourselves to a life of predictable infantile responses that are easily controlled.
The cognitive barriers that define our comfort zone and the lines we claim we don’t wish to be violated are all an illusion presented to us. And after sufficient assimilation they are perpetuated by us. They are thus easily modified by us each time the line is crossed by the liar, affording all of the liars plenty of wiggle room. “OK, I’ll give you one more chance. But don’t cross this line or next time you’re really gonna get it.” The inconvenient truth is that the battle isn’t with the external liars; it is with us and within us. And our external liars, our masters, unquestionably know this which is precisely why the insanity is escalating as they pile lies on top of more lies.
As this spinning top begins to wobble out of control and despite our protestations and demands for the truth, we really don’t want the lies to stop because if they do the day of our own internal reckoning will also be at hand. The definition of collective insanity is our willingness to be destroyed as a group so long as we are not judged as individuals. Or worse that we are not forced to judge ourselves. But even this we’ll deny knowing in order to maintain our plausible deniability. Thus we begin to understand the reason for the continued lying by all the parties involved, victims as well as the victimizers, and why I constantly describe the insanity at its most basic level as self induced.
We talk about financial moral hazard on Wall Street and within the Too Big To Fail (TBTF) banks as central to their escalating greed and corruption. And yet we all participate in a similar social moral hazard that fully enables our abusers. We’re trapped inside this insanity because to acknowledge it means dealing with a life time of denial. It’s so much easier to accept one more beating by our master rather than to come to terms with a lifetime of self abuse.
Presumed Informed Consent
Tragically, because we willingly participate in our own subjugation, regardless of whether it’s occurring on a conscious or subconscious level, the abusers see this as informed consent and the green light to continue the abuse. This is why they often tell us exactly how they’re going to abuse us long before doing so. In our role as victim we declare the abusers to be sociopaths and ourselves as virginal bleeders in order to shift blame and responsibility away from ourselves. It’s all part of the dance of denial and the abuser will accept the role of the heavy in exchange for his or her own rewards.
We may say we want the abuse to stop, but our verbal and non verbal communication says otherwise. How is this any different from the Harlequin woman saying “No, please stop” in the arms of her seducer while returning each kiss with passionate urgency? This is the unspoken communication between the abused and the abuser that is witness to and evidence of the real insanity of the dysfunctional relationship, regardless of whether it’s between husband and wife, nation and citizens or Ponzi and the world.
By the way I am in no way, shape or form justifying or condoning the abuser, rapist or thief simply because I’m explaining the process involved along with our own participation. My position is simple. If we can’t even honestly discuss our own weaknesses and foibles, we are well beyond self redemption. I often say that we are only as sick as our deepest darkest secrets and examining how much of our world is considered verboten and not to be discussed demonstrates this concept superbly.
We’ve all been in relationships where the dysfunctional discourse goes something like this. I won’t ask difficult questions of you if you won’t ask them of me. And I’m not talking about being sensitive to someone’s unsightly mole or dandruff, but rather avoiding a healthy discussion about our spouse’s basic character flaws in order to be spared our own undressing.
This is the fundamental basis for all dysfunctional relationships, including the present one between an intentionally self absorbed and distracted population and our enabling and manipulative masters. As long as we are given the choice between believing the lies and rejecting them, the vast majority will accept the lie rather than risk the perceived emotional and psychological harm of challenging our victimhood which supports our fantasy view of how the world works.
Because we don’t wish to undergo a rigorous self appraisal or emotional unveiling, we completely blow out of proportion the intellectual and emotional harm we will suffer if we do so. This serves the dual purpose of creating plausible deniability while feeding our inner victim. In this way we fulfill both roles of the dysfunctional relationship, that of the abuser and the abused. I call this process a familiar circle jerk with me, myself and I. Add anyone else and the room would become too crowded.
The master’s lies are a direct and personal challenge delivered to us on a daily basis and our controllers know that as long as their lies are not seriously confronted they are safe………and so are we. So they work very hard at keeping the lies from being contested, expertly using a variety of tools including ridicule to turn public opinion against truth. In reality it’s really not that hard to seduce us with lies when so very few of us really wish to hear the truth to begin with.
This explains perfectly the assault upon Assange and Wikileaks from all sides. He’s promoting himself as a truth speaker and thus challenging the lies not so much by what he’s exposing, but by the very fact that he exists. He is a danger to everyone, not just the official liars. If he is accepted as a truth speaker, we the people must then do something about the truths he speaks of. We definitely don’t wish to be forced to confront those who lie to us because then we would be required to openly admit we participated in the lying. This is why we want them to lie, to allow us to remain out of harm’s way. “Daddy, tell me another lie so that I can believe it’s the truth.”
True or False, it Doesn't Matter
Assaulting the truth messenger also removes the need to know if he’s a disinformation agent or a real truth speaker. What’s missed entirely in this discussion is that it doesn't matter if he is or is not a psyops operative. It's the message of ‘truth’ he's delivering that’s the source of our power, not the actual revelations. The powers that be don’t fear the truth; they fear people embracing the truth. Ultimately this is the secret to our inner peace and freedom. Understand that it is not the truth that will set us free because we can free ourselves at any time. The inconvenient truth is that perpetually seeking the truth while doing nothing about the ‘truths’ already established is the crutch we use to avoid facing the original lies that begin within.
When we have abandoned the willingness to honestly look within for truth, when we are complete strangers to ourselves and no longer posses the capacity to 'know' something without the need for external affirmation we then desperately turn to poor substitutes from corrupted external sources. This is why there’s an increasingly desperate need by the population at large to seek 'proof', 'truth' and 'facts’ which must always be secured from those who are widely considered to be 'authorities'. The only authoritative source worth consulting when seeking truth lay deep within us, unless of course we are also hopelessly corrupted.
Once we are completely lost within our own insane world of distortions, lies and self deception we become obsessed with finding ‘truth’ everywhere else in order to validate and sanctify ourselves so that we may continue to perpetuate our own lying. This infantile need for affirmation after we have lied to ourselves and to others is similar to the child who has just lied, then seeks confirmation from the authority figure that the child is still loved. Often the adult knows s/he was just lied to, but chooses to say nothing to prevent opening their own can of worms. This in effect makes the lie socially acceptable and further cements the bond between the two dysfunctional parties. It’s also how we teach our children the art of self deception.
The pathological liars and self deceivers we have become serves to compel us to continuously seek external affirmation that we are not a ‘bad’ liar, meaning socially unacceptable, precisely because we can’t provide that ‘proof’ internally. We can’t hide from our own lies since the one thing we always know is the source of them. As was so wonderfully illustrated in the movie ‘Inception’ we know where the root of the lie originates, thus we must dig ever deeper into our own insanity in order to bury our self deception. This in turn just compounds our raging dysfunction. Because everyone engages in this behavior, yet no one talks about it, everyone’s insanity is considered to be a normal part of human nature.
This is the pathology of our insanity and precisely why it must be vigorously dug out and then thoroughly rejected. A quick splash of paint or a rough wall papering will not suffice. If this is not done, ultimately we revert to worshiping Golden Truth Idols and false True Gods as saviors of our lost and abandoned souls. If we are honest in our desire to seek truth and we begin a fearless search within, we eventually come to realize that the external seeking of ‘truth’ is immaterial and all just part of the control system we gratefully embrace in order to hide from ourselves.
04-10-2011
Cognitive Dissonance
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There used to be this wild radio show out of SanFran called "One Step Beyond" They did an entire series on these events and mind control and such. Brilliant research.
Is that still around n the web anyone?
and dear dear Allen was appointed to the Waren Commission, to investigate the assassination of the man who had fired him by the man who succeeded him. I have hoped someone would publicly call out Arlen Specter for his participation in the cover up and political coup. Both have earned footnotes in history that no amount of rewriting can ever sanitize. I occasionally wonder if there might be a black hole somewhere that draws energy such as theirs into a crushing maw for eternity.
Warren Commission is a really good place to start if one wishes to research the figures and connections behind the control mechanism circa 1963 but relevent to present day as well of course.
For more than 15 years, from 1991 until his death on December 26, 2006, Gerald Ford was the last living member of the Warren Commission.
No.. the energy occasionally coagulates in the form of Dick Cheney types.
Read "The Secret Team", by Prouty.
These C'Ser's flew the U2 without Eisenhowers knowledge, weeks before a crucial summit.
Bay of Pigs caused Cuban Missle Crisis.
They were in Vietnam since 1954.
Are they financing coverts with drug dealing?
Crack epidemic is directly tied to their fun.
It looks like they killed JFK and RFK.
WAKE UP.
Someone Please give Us our country back?
Is the Pope a Catholic? Does a bear shit in the woods?
The root of the problem is right here, in this tiny phrase.
The country belongs to those who took it. It can never be given back - only taken. "Please" is monstrously alien in this scenario.
"Please" is monstrously alien in this scenario.
That's why I feel like a monkey every time I stand in line to get in the "voting booth". I walk out of there and I get a little American flag sticker that boasts "I voted".
Blech...
Support our troops... We'll need them to take back our country.
@Malachi:
Although you will have to discover this for yourself inside - some one who knows "self" probably will not just "take", they offer to exchange what they have for that which they want, and are willing to respect a "no" as long as the other party is in just possession. Where that other party has first "taken" unjustly, then there is the issue of adjudication to settle that status before one is entitled to RESTORE what has been unjustly taken in the first instance, and that is not the same thing as "take". Unbiased adjudication, (with a free market in adjudication/arbitration being the closest thing approximating it that I know of), allows the original "taker" as well as the other folks in the neighborhood, to understand why something needs to be "restored". If an intruder is coming into your house in the middle of the night, you are in a position to be judge, jury, and if absolutely needed, "executioner". But to do things this way when someone has already made off with the goods can create problems for the others in your community who maybe do not understand what has happened until the information becomes available and subject to verification by adjudication.
When a large enough "mob" in a nation feels they are strong enough to "take" their country back, if they just go and do it, they will in all likelihood end up with another tyranny later down the road just like all other examples in history. Till they first "know" themselves and stop lying to themselves, they will not be able to establish justice that can endure among consenting adults in a new and genuinely "free" society.
Nicely put in philosophical terms. But a pipe dream in historical terms. Remember the debate between Socrates and Thucydides about the consequences of Athens's hegemony : "your are for us or against us" they said to the Melians. The Melians replied " We are for ourselves and against nobody". The Athenians killed every male Melian. Thucydides called it "reasons of state" ('real politic' got invented right there!). It started the Peloponnesian war as Sparta took cause for Melians against the hegemony of Athens's Delian league. Socrates argued that Athens's position was wrong as : "there cannot be two types of justice, one for the victors, one for the vanquished". This debate started the notion of political science, and marked our entry into the rational age. So its a recurrent theme: Does this equilibrium between individual rights and state requirement exist anywhere "when push comes to shove"? We stay the sons of Sisyphus in this eternal upward climb. After each 'statist'/'oligarchic' reversal of individual freedoms. Both types of totalitarian rule end up the same place by curbing individual rights beyond the "written rule" of collectively agreed "constitutions". Sacred text on official paper goes back to being...paper virtuality.
Mismanagement and grief:
We must suffer them all again.
Where lies truth in the silence of the onlooking hills...
@falak:
The answer lies within. If we have individually learned nothing since Athens, then of course I would conclude that more experience will be needed. If "might" still makes "right", then, reboot "civilization" and wait another 10,000 years or so for another chance to meet our neighbors in the stars?
And if there is a "next" time our life spans may be that much shorter if the background radiation is much higher that next time around. As CD mentions it is a question of cycles. At some point you grow beyond the cycle or things change in such a way that the the particular cycle no longer exists. This planet appears to be a schoolhouse and the "school master(s)" appears to be VERY patient.
People like me cannot agree with you. Even if there were only 2 of us in the entire human race, (or even just myself), we still could not agree. There is no such thing as "state requirement". Only individual rights and what individuals choose to do either within or in breach of those rights. When you know who "you" are, you know what you can not and must not do to your fellow humans!
So my advise is "know thyself", then make your choices and live with the consequences.
Everything you have just said goes completely against the fight or flight response that nature has given us. It goes entirely against nature to just sit there as the Visgoths overun your position and poke several spears through your heart.
Might may not make right. But, given the fight or flight response built into us by nature, might can make you scurry away if you are not on it's side. (The need to fight or flight in the face of advancing might could be considered a "State Requirement". The State is triggering a bodily function, which is forcing you to do something.) Or, it might help you grow weary of scurrying away and cause you to finally take a stand against the might and fight it.
If you are willing to just sit there in all of this, you might go get your fight or flight response checked by a doctor. You might need vitamins or something.
You truly be Buddha's son if you go the whole hog! Hat's off!
Immediately after its creation, one of the CIA's first acts is the launching of an illegal war against the citizens of the United States which it calls, ironically, Project Mockingbird.
Mockingbird is designed to deceive and manipulate the American public by controlling the content of American newspapers, magazines, books, movies and the broadcast media.
A secret CIA memo unearthed by the Church Committee in 1975 says that “newsmen are cheaper to buy than a callgirl”.
CIA documents reveal that more than four hundred American journalists were/are on the CIA payroll.
Among senior mass media executives who were/are CIA assets are CBS president William Paley, CBS News President Sig Mickelson, who will later be president of the CIA propaganda fronts, Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty, Time Magazine owner Henry Luce, New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger and James Copley of Copley News Service.
The “liberal” New York Times will provide cover for CIA agents between 1950 and 1966.
Project Mockingbird is headed by Rockefeller cousin, Nazi shyster and Hitler Project organizer Allen Dulles with the help of Frank Wisner, Richard Helms and Philip Graham, a graduate of the U.S. Army Intelligence School and publisher of the "liberal" Washington Post.
The Post itself becomes the CIA's premier media asset.
Eventually, the CIA’s media assets will include ABC, NBC, CBS, Time, Newsweek, the Associated Press, United Press International, Reuters, Hearst Newspapers, Scripps-Howard, Copley News Service and more.
By the CIA’s own admission, at least twenty five major media organizations will become direct CIA assets.
In reality, virtually the entire U.S. mass media apparatus is nothing more or less than a gigantic propaganda and disinformation machine masquerading as a free press.
In the same way as the revolving door between the U.S. government and the arms industry, a revolving door operates between the CIA and the mass media. CIA Director Richard Helms was a United Press International correspondent, CIA Director William Casey was the major shareholder of the owner of the ABC television network, Capital Cities. Journalists Edward R. Murrow and Carl Rowan both worked as Directors of the CIA front U.S. Information Agency. NBC news anchor John Chancellor was a director of the CIA’s radio propaganda network, Voice of America. CBS Vice President Joseph H. Ream is a former deputy director of the National Security Agency (NSA).
Holy Mighty Wurlitzer, DavidPierre!
Do your really believe that the OSS was terminated, and the CIA created to purge "anti-nazi" elements?
Would you care to define the word "nazi"? Maybe then we could understand the difference between German National Socialism, Rooseveltian Keynesian Socialism and whatever came after WWII.
@DavidPierre
Very interesting stuff about the control system, but how does this relate to the theme of the article - Finding the actual "self" within? Have you done this?
Well, I have a request of Tyler. He (they) should have a feature that allows a kudos flag (vs. "junk") I would click on it for DavidPierre's post...
+2Quadrillion
I don't know what to believe anymore.
Thank you for your honest declaration. I felt the same way for a long time. Then I reversed my thinking and asked myself a simple question.
Why must I believe anything?
We taught from an early age that our being, or self worth, is determined for the most part by what we 'know' and what we 'believe'. We are conditioned to believe that without a belief system we are just a computer without an operating system, useless and non productive.
I realized that to adopt beliefs that are not my own is to adopt someone else's programming. Beliefs lead to actions or in actions. If I have adopted someone else's beliefs I am in effect controlled by someone else and I am compelled to react the way someone else wants me to.
The purpose of looking within is to strip away the programmed exterior and discover who and what we really are. Only then can we begin to form our own views. Otherwise we are simply regurgitating whatever garbage came in with the operating system. Garbage in, garbage out.
I felt the same way for a long time. Then I reversed my thinking...
Some have called this "backwards planning" and it is often a KEY ingredient to actually getting somewhere worth going
We are what we have become...
So do you believe that their is nothing to believe?
or do you believe that belief is a falsehood?
or do you believe that truth is false?
or do you believe that what is false is true?
or do you believe that truth does not exist?
The reality is we all have a belief system, the only question is what it is and how we attained it. There is no "neutral" non-belief system, there is no way a human can cognitively operate without a set of beliefs. There are many logically inconsistent belief systems out there held broadly by many, that results in individual and societal Cognitive Dissonance. We are all responsible for our set of beliefs and the consequences of our actions and choices based on those beliefs. Only children get a "pass" and only children would think they should get a pass.
I fully agree that I have a belief system. The question is how permantly bound to it am I. This is what I meant when I asked why must I believe anything. I try to approach life by being flexible in my thinking and beliefs.
Instead of dragging around a heavy and stifling belief system I instead treat it as I would a butterfly in my hands. To use anything more than a gentle touch would crush it. By the same token by holding it very lightly it is free to leave at any time, to be replaced by another one that is more suited to where I am in life at that moment.
"Instead of dragging around a heavy and stifling belief system I instead treat it as I would a butterfly in my hands. To use anything more than a gentle touch would crush it. By the same token by holding it very lightly it is free to leave at any time, to be replaced by another one that is more suited to where I am in life at that moment."
Interesting statement. Most of it simply describes "embracing the scientific method." Real science - as opposed to the many perversions out there that claim the title - is continuously embracing the answer that best explains the observed facts, and leaving behind old answers, without regret, that don't do the job as well.
So I am a little wary of the last line, in which you adopt a belief "more suited to where I am in life at the moment." I would prefer "better aligned with the observed facts" even if the belief quite frankly DOES NOT suit me. Or perhaps I am misunderstanding your statement.
Cog, great piece as usual. Thanks for sharing.
Do you have an email where you could be reached? I'm sure you have posted it before, but it's a bit difficult to search for here on ZH.
Thank you for your high praise. Here is my contact info again.
zhcognitivedissonance at gmail dot com
Yes, CD. The 'battle for souls' (particularly our own) is an enterprise fraught with peril... and clearly, the repercussions of both collective avoidance and personal refusal to grapple with these questions lead to normatively worse outcomes, overall. So, yes - provided that we take care to avoid stumbling into 'labyrinths of solipsism' - if the ultimate goal is enlightened self-actualization then, peril or not, it behooves each of one of us to take that first step. And, of course, re-examining 'beliefs' is always a good place to start.
I would add only that we must take care to ask the right questions. The important questions.
And there it is. Thank you again, CD for another great essay.
I agree. But at first we are so lost that while we might think otherwise we really don't know which questions are important. I don't claim to know. So if that is the case and we sincerely wish to learn then any question is the 'right' question as long as it leads to even more.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxY31-FcDVA
;)
Good work, CD. One of the things I've learned above all others here at ZH is that there can be many "truths" on quite a few topics and situations. That's what makes the world go 'round. There is much BS here, but in the long run one's world view will be widened -- whether the experience is welcomed or not.
I believe I'll buy some more silver now.
Great writing CD.
Agreed - it's (PMs) about the only thing a person can believe in - Big Ben Prints more, Ag & Au price goes up. Everything else is a rigged casino.
Have the strength and/or wisdom to believe what YOU believe - any external force is only trying to shake your foundations, don't let it do so.
DavidC
Bravo! Nice comment.
Americans can not handle the truth. They are afraid of it. They are still in the denial stage.
The classic saying that you learn the truth from the insane and the children.
That's why we teach our kids to lie and we comit and lock those who tell the truth.
For those of you who remember the 80's classic Dudley Moore movie "Crazy People" ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxZz-nXTeCs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96iJsdGkl44&feature=related
and same as it ever was:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dktVJ3qRGS0&feature=related
That is so true. Children are the ultimate empiricists, and have to be trained to lie, and accept their subjugation. And the 'insane', 'psychotic,' 'antisocial' etc. are those who recognized the truth and spoke out about it. Those who didn't know how to deal with it end up losing it completely, unable to reconcile the lies they've been told from the newly discovered reality.
A recent study suggested that children who, early on, master the art of lying will become successful adults...Lying is probably a "natural" skill and is not taught...
(Actually, I am lying.)
Paradigm Shift. This is the equivalent of a 9.0 mental earthquake. I dont care how much pressure (truth) builds between the plates of insanity that I choose to hold in place, because if the plates start to slip, my "sanity" will crumble. So I will let pressure off here and there with tremors (half truths) but nothing more.
I'll continue to be an insane child then - thank you very much.
DavidC
Phone rings:
Mommy told me to tell you she is not here.
The word is 'masturbate'...
DavidC
Thank you, DavidC - the child's spelling needed to be corrected.
Sheesh, you try to add a little levity and humor around here and all you get is groupthink insults and spelling zionists.
Please explain the logic of the term 'spelling zionist'.
DavidC
Inner truth sets you free. There are a lot folks that justify (lying to self) over important issues in their lives and freak out once their beliefs are proven wrong.
TPTB need to distract to control. Collective awareness is harmful to their ponzi system.
On an individual basis, looking for truths is alot of work. Then, once you find truths, then you have no fix that you can get the collective to work on, because everybody is so distracted and usually don't give a shit.
Humans have trust issues, and for good reason.
You shall henceforth be known as JunkMeister (44 +17 and counting), or JunkMaster,........or JunkMastur