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Transcendence
Transcendence
By
Cognitive Dissonance
It’s a simple enough word and one that should be familiar. A quick check of an online dictionary reveals an obvious definition, especially when we consider the root word ‘transcend’. “Exceeding or surpassing in degree or excellence” and “to triumph over the negative or restrictive aspects of; to overcome”. Simple……right?
From the very beginning, well before I selected Cognitive Dissonance to represent my online personality and certainly before Tyler plucked me from the Zero Hedge peanut gallery (aka the comment section) and offered me the opportunity to become a ZH contributor, my one and only desire when I wrote was to add perspective, to offer up what I thought was a bigger picture point of view. That purpose remains just as pronounced today as it ever was. But I feel stronger headwinds than normal buffeting me and the collective anger and loathing is rising, dangerously in my view.
But please don’t be mistaken. Not for one moment do I consider myself the Oracle from Delphi, nor some wise and giving man here to shower you with wisdom and healing. Not in the least. What I’m actually doing is simple and in many ways self serving. I’m faking it until I make it with the hope that if I give away something that I don’t really feel is fully within me, that I may further develop my empathy, compassion and perspective muscles, that I may grow stronger by offering to others what I feel lacking in myself.
This concept, my method, isn’t as counter intuitive as it might seem at first blush. Of course I am quite capable of empathy and perspective. The problem isn’t necessarily a lack of ability, but rather at times a lack of desire. You see……I was, and can still be, a very angry man. A very, very angry man. And it was slowly killing me. It wasn’t an epiphany that compelled me to begin to look within, but rather raw unbridled desperation to find something, anything, that would relieve my inner anguish and pain.
The thing was that at first I didn’t realize how much pain I was in. All I saw was my all consuming anger and indignation, righteous indignation in fact, the worst kind because it ‘allowed’ me to wallow in my own self pity while nursing my hurt ego. How dare those bastards ……… fill in the blank, there are plenty of outrages to choose from. ‘They’ were subverting the American Dream and hurting me and my own in the process. It was horrible and glorious at the same time. No critical thinking needed, just point and shoot both barrels at once. But over time it was eating me alive from the inside, and I didn’t know what to do about it. Or even if I should.
The best analogy I can find of the damage done to myself by my slow burn anger is that it was similar to eating every meal at McDonalds. While our belly is full, it’s never really satisfying and we wind up feeling more and more out of sorts with each subsequent meal, somewhat sick to the stomach and bloated. Over time we grow fat and distorted on all those empty calories while simultaneously wasting away from the lack of quality nutrition. Keep it up long enough and we will degrade both physically and mentally, resulting in a shorter life span and a marked decrease in quality of life on the way to our early grave.
I could go on describing the fallout from my lingering dysfunction (yup, still there, though less so each day) but that’s not the purpose of this article. The point is to explain the measures I continue to embrace to overcome my issues and to warn my loyal readers that I am recognizing the same dysfunction in you. Zero Hedge has always been about letting go, of speaking truth to power and venting frustrations, of finding comfort when huddled with like minded others who share a common goal, to oust the corruption and return to a more fair and equitable social order.
The thing is that the longer the social order remains……well, disorderly……the more intense our inner personal dysfunction can become. But rather than believe that society is coming unglued because of the creeping (rushing is more like it) political and financial corruption, consider that the process is actually reversed, that as we personally come apart at the seams, so does our society which in turn pushes society’s dredges (aka sociopaths) to the top of the heap in the form of thieving bankers, abusive multinational corporations and too-numerous-to-count hanger-on’s, enablers and sycophants.
Regardless of whether you agree with my analysis of the source of the cancerous lesions or not, the purpose of this train of thought is not to be ‘right’, but to (re)gain our mental and emotional health and to make this our number one priority now and forever. Regardless of whether we feel we must ‘do’ something now (anything for God’s sake) or that it’s hopeless and futile (or more likely something in between) if our inner self, our essence, is not centered and at peace, at best we will be ineffective and at worst just a miserable person.
As well there is no going back, no unlearning or forgetting what we know, no return to blissful ignorance. In fact any attempt to go back to before, to forget all we know, will only feed our dysfunction and anger that much more. We cannot be plugged back into the Matrix, at least not without a frontal lobotomy. So let us acknowledge our inner madman and begin the process of self help and healing, then move forward individually and collectively.
02-17-2014
Cognitive Dissonance
Introducing a new portal into the mind of Cognitive Dissonance www.TwoIceFloes.com
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Having the "serenity to accept what I cannot change" is difficult for strong willed men of action. The struggle to come to terms with these times will continue. Made more difficult as the world and those around us obviously deteriorate.
"THus the wisdom to know the difference" part . fucks me up every time.
stfu
:) I jest. Thanks CD, love you tons. See you at wintery place...
Cog, you're angry because the social compact failed. You give; they take. Instead, give only to those who'll take and be grateful. All exchanges should have value to you, or they needn't take place. You recognize the failure of our social compact, but most others don't. Society's rules are this society's rules. You owe nothing to a social compact which you did not make and which is destructive to you. Our system is failing because the taker parasites are overwhelming their host, the productive. We have the 0.1% taking at the top. We have the EBT legions taking at the bottom. And, we have the pontificating compassionate government empowered takers taking their cut and then distributing our productivity to the 0.1% and the bottom. Why be their willing slave? The most powerful word is NO, but you don't have to tell them NO. Just don't provide what they want from you.
The .1% are willingly giving to the EBT legions in an act of self preservation. Of course it appears they're doing it from the "middle class" pocket, but I don't believe it to be true. They're doing it with smoke and mirrors ( ie. fractional reserve, debt and money creating). Also, one who is gainfully employed should carefully consider the nature of "productive". What is it being produced? Is it beneficial...sustainable?
The LIE is all incompassing. US/THEM is illusional.
well said!
"Cog, you're angry because the social compact failed."
There is no doubt that I have some anger there. But ultimately most of my anger is directed at myself for knowingly and willingly remaining in a state of denial for so long. I may not have know specifics about all that I was denying, but I knew something was wrong, deeply wrong, and still I chose, even if the choice was by way of default, to remain as ignorant as I could.
I was the problem, I am the problem and I always will be the problem.
CD - why would YOU always be the problem?
agreed, if you do not correct/improve yourself, and keep going to Macdonald's everyday; but if you follow REAPER's advice and DO NOT SAY NO, but just participate in exchanges where the other is grateful and appreciate what is receiving from your hard work; perhaps by doing it, one can find that happy center of itself when it can use its God given capabilities and be at peace with the thought that it is not being taken.
"CD - why would YOU always be the problem?"
If I am dysfunctional then I must correct (or at least be aware of in order to compensate for) my 'function' before I can effectively confront any external issue. We are remarkably dysfunctional as individuals and as a society. We live in an insane asylum for crying out loud, literally and figuratively.
I must always look within first to examine what are my (hidden) motives and triggers and why am I triggering. Once I have examined myself, a continuous and ongoing process, only then can I have any hope of effectively dealing with external issues. To some this process sounds like I am in a constant state of doubt and questioning. This isn't the case at all, at least not after a while.
A dull blade cuts deepest and the person cut is usually myself. I try to keep my blade sharp at all times. But unlike a steel blade that will wear down from constant sharpening, I grow from the process, not degrade.
And is the path you are takiing now going to make it better or worse. I suspect you have heard the phrase "if you want to keep it you must give it away." My own experience would be that pretty much applies to everything. I personally am not sure I llike that to much <G>.
I see many on this this site bitching about what is being "taken" from them. I am guilty. Just as I am guilty of all things. I do not see much of "what have I given."
Not talking about the feel good giving if I have it sort of thing. Talking about the this is really goiing to hurt me but I need to do it anyway type of giving. That is where the rubber meets the road.
Cognitive Dissonance,
I respect you and I can appreciate your writing. However the introspection pieces are probably my lesser favorites of the ZH experience. I guess I am a bit more of a data & analysis person.
Like I said, I respect you, and I read what you write, but I prefer different sorts of articles. Just my view.
Peace
No disrespect taken. Thank you for your frank assessment. The following is just an observation and I am not implying that it applies to you.
Sometimes I can hear something nine times and it is meaningless to me and I derive no value from it. Then I hear it a tenth time and suddenly it clicks. Usually it is because I am hearing it come from a different voice or my ear has finally been tuned to hear what is being said.
This is why I sometimes force myself to listen, read or hear that which I dislike or find useless. There is a message there somewhere because no information is "bad" or "useless", only my ability to see these quality of the information is presently impaired. If I am triggered by something I need to take a closer look at my trigger as well as what triggered me.
Cog, you have written much about confirmation bias.
"This is why I sometimes force myself to listen, read or hear that which I dislike or find useless."
Have you walked among those you dislike or find useless.
My lady and I use to supervise a program. We would spend hours trying to impart a message to our employees with little success. We brought hired a dude that had impeccable credentials, looked good, and could talk crap like you would not believe. He spent a week lecturing on the same themes we had been pushing. When he was done our employees came to us not believing what they had heard. Damn that was so awesome they would say. Yet it was nothing more than what we were saying all along. It's just that we were the enemy and they did not wish to hear it from us.
The same applies to our children. We can talk to them until we are blue in the face to no avail. But have a stranger tell them something and they come home wide eyed with new found knowledge.
Just as long as they get it, it doesn't much matter where they got it from.
Somebody once told me that he got goosebumps when he read my post on one of GW's 9/11 articles because my experiences so closely reflected his own. I am getting those same goosebumps now from reading your experiences and thoughts.
I don't know about you, but I've always had a keen sense of right and wrong. I think those of us who can summon up "righteous anger" share that affliction. Fairness, justice, rights - they are not just words to me, but something tangible that I can feel, that I can back up with cases and history with arguments between ethos and ethics, that drives everything I do. It might a consequence of my upbringing, it might be the injustices I suffered or inflicted on others when as a child. I don't truly know why I am the way I am, but this keen instinct for ethos has been both a lifelong burden and saviour which is still shaping and developing my sense of self and my outlook on the world. Unfortunately, that also means that I am my own worst critic and I have sleepless nights going over the mistakes of my past! Such is the price of a conscience.
We are the most dangerous sort of fellows on the planet. We are dangerous because we are reasonable men, who respect the rule of common law and wish it applied to all without exception. We are dangerous to those who resort to lies and exceptionalism to justify themselves on a daily basis, we are dangerous to the propagandists, the politicians, the thieves, and the gangsters with their facade of respectability because we love to apply reason backed with facts, and in a world that prefers selective amnesia and fantasy to facts, we can change the world by simply uttering the truth. Mr.Snowden, who I am almost convinced is a regular ZH reader, is proof positive of that notion. That attitude also courts danger of course, but what is life without the spice?
You may think there is no going back to blissful ignorance, but I think it may be easier for some than others. We are social creatures by nature: One quick way to unhinge any person is to put him/her in isolation. So the forces that govern herd behaviour (I've mentioned Solomon Asch's conformity experiments numerous times on ZH) are inherent and powerful enough to change anyone without conscious effort. You can't really blame people who haven't yet understood the so-called self-actualization process Maslow mentions when they are literally driven to believe in fantasies by their peers (the MSM) and their own biology. We pour scorn and disdain at the "Sheep", but if you have ever been at a sporting event, especially an international event, you will notice those forces at work in yourself as you get swept into the mood of the crowd. You may find yourself cheering at "Your side" when "Your" player commits a foul on the opponent, yet find it completely outrageous when the opposing side does the same. Any sense of higher justice, rules, fairness - they go out the window when the crowd beckons you to join in the lust for the collective win. I stopped cheering for my national side years ago at the Olympics and such, and it opened my mind to the marvels of human achievements and skills that can be fully appreciated without the petty distractions of nationalities. In fact, when I watch the Olympics, I keep the sound firmly off.
If there is a lesson here, it may be that we are, all of us, creatures prone to faults. And as such, even as we condemn those who commit crimes against us, it should be tempered with some forgiveness and understanding. I know, easier said than done, but better to try than lose our humanity altogether. For our sakes, not theirs.
I only wanted to post a simple thanks but it's hard not to respond to earnest efforts to provoke people into better human beings. Thanks mate.
I enjoyed your post, and CD's, you state that 'we' - those of use who have a hieghtened sense of justice are 'dangerous', but your assessment does not include the ultra-violence that lies just below the skin.
For myself, justice and ethics is an expression of the Law of Equilibrium - laws that cannot be abridged without consequence. Just as we cannot defy gravity by stepping off a cliff without consequence - so we cannot deny men justice without consequence.
For myself, doing justice is the only legitimate reason to use force - but given that reason, then there is no upper limit to the use of force - that it be applied in the most brutal, ruthless and utterly callous manner. Reasonable, compassionate and gentle men - ready to brutally slaughter those who oppose the very notions of justice, fairness and liberty.
Perhaps it seems a paradox, I find no conflict though - justice is portrayed holding scales, and a sword - and the sword is not there for decoration. While we can retain an inner calm, our frustrated desire to do justice through application of force will invigorate our internal world - but as CD asserts - this frustration can be a poison if not tempered with patience.
It wasn't too long ago, if slaves tried to run away, it was considered JUST to torture and/or kill them!
"Bringing justice" is fraught with peril.
What a nice thoughtful reply. Thanks.
I have found that those who can go back to sleep were never truly awake, but rather they were just sleep walkers/talkers who appeared to be awake.
Or they are faking their (re) sleep and are desperate to forget. Often, but not always, these are the ones who are deeply immersed in drugs or alcohol. That was the case for me. I desperately wanted to forget, or better yet not to have ever known, things from my youth and early adulthood. It is ultimately a losing battle. One who has been exposed to the truth (and truth in this case can be widely defined as any knowledge or knowing that we are rebelling against) can never go back to the sweet numbness of the (self) lie.
I'm glad I came back this morning to reveiw your posts, you just helped me too better understand someone that seems to be awake at times but always falls back into group think. You can add gambling to your immersed in line.
Glad to help.
While there are certainly differences between addictions, what we see on the surface (booze, drugs, sex, gambling etc) are just the symptoms of our dysfunction. The root dis-ease is our central dysfunction and I suspect it is spiritual..........though I am not talking about religion in any way, shape or form.
Yep. I knew a guru who once said, " Drug abuse is a form of misguided spirituality ". Many times people who abuse do so because they are desperately in need of relief. Relief from what, they've no idea. Only after hitting bottom, do the answers begin to appear. 12 step is very much rooted in mysticism, which is why it can work.
Bingo again. As a friend of bills I am a fervent believer in the program. THough I had to learn for myself the hard way. And I have to remember that Bill had great difficulty. I had to learn that it was only a door that opened to much more chaos. On my part anyway. I had no choice. I had to enter the chaos or lose myself once again.
Cheers
Learned about another tremendously successful tool used against us: Choice Architecture. Look it up. You'll see how it applies to all of the matrix decisions facing us daily, which are engineered so that as long as we keep playing, we cannot win.
I have seen that term used now and then. It is all part of the control system that until recently was pretty well hidden from view.
Choice Architecture is just the structure of the Hegelian Dialectic, the presented False Dilemma Paradigm, which serves to achieve the ends of some planner and manipulator somewhere.
The Foundation, upon which that Architecture is built, is that of the lie that is to be promoted.
Sorry, double saved. I hate iPads.
People's inner state, and much of their outer state allowing for extreme situations, is sourced from their beliefs. Sadly, most folks do not know what they believe as they derive said beliefs tacitly in ongoing agreements that result from expedience rather than a sincere search for truth.
I fell in love with truth from a very young age as it occurred very clearly to me that the truth was the truth. That all I could accomplish by saying it was otherwise was to confuse myself. At the same time I dedicated myself to objective thought as it seemed the most effective way of using my mind.
I won't bore you with all the paths I pursued in the process of trying to understand what is true, among other things I became highly trained in the sciences, but I will tell you that I eventually became a Christian.
I have come to understand that the closest man comes to truth is knowing what he believes... and please do not counter with the inherent incongruity of that statement as I am very much aware of it, and yet I will offer this up anyway as a life time of pursuing truth has led only to this conclusion.
Consequently I can not insist that what I believe is true, but I can tell you that I absolutely believe it... Ie, that the God I worship is in fact the God of the universe, that Christ is His son and my savior, and that I belong to Him.
So no matter what my internal state is at any given moment I attempt to keep my eye on the ball with the understanding that there is an eternal plan and that I am part of it.
Now I am not trying to sell you my Christian beliefs, but I am strongly suggesting that you identify your real beliefs or spend a life time driven by forces you do not understand, subjected to undercurrents of which you are not aware. You may be surprised at where that takes you, or you may just spend a life relegated to expedience.
"Consequently I can not insist that what I believe is true, but I can tell you that I absolutely believe it... Ie, that the God I worship is in fact the God of the universe, that Christ is His son and my savior, and that I belong to Him."
Why can't you insist your faith is true if you absolutely believe it ? Faith is a valid epistemological form of knowledge based on objective historical facts. Real faith revealed by the Spirit to our hearts must by His own integrity insist on the time/space death, burial and resurrection of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. Of course that presupposes that one has conviction of sin rather than "to wallow in my own self pity while nursing my hurt ego." No offense Cog, trying to put your presentation into my own terms in order to clarify the difference in point of view. Calling a spade a spade "to wallow in my own self pity while nursing my hurt ego", been there done that.
Faith is not a form of knowledge, faith is holding a belief despite the lack of physical evidence - it is a belief in the unseen - it is holding that internal experiences are as real as external physical experiences.
I dont have any issue with people having internal experiences, but they are personal - and do not constitute physical reality in any way. Truths derived from internal experience are personal truths, not universal truths.
The separation between our internal world and physical reality is self evident, to blur the lines is to cross into insanity.
The separation between our internal world and physical reality is self evident, to blur the lines is to cross into insanity.
Tell that to a quantum physicist.
2 Cor 4:
The Light of the Gospel
1Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God,a we do not lose heart. 2But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practiceb cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. 3And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servantsc for Jesus’ sake. 6For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
"Faith is not a form of knowledge, faith is holding a belief despite the lack of physical evidence - it is a belief in the unseen - it is holding that internal experiences are as real as external physical experiences."
Oh, it's far worse than that. Above a critical threshold faith becomes a system of mass oppression, especially of non-believers. But how could it be otherwise, since by definition only the faithful can ever possess the Truth?
ebear...
I am truly sorry you feel this way... this is very sad... Not sarcasm btw, quite sincere.
Don't worry about me, I'm doing fine. I'm just glad I wasn't born in an earlier time where I would have been burned at the stake, after being tortured into confessing my heresy.
The separation between our internal world and physical reality is self evident, to blur the lines is to cross into insanity.
Really? And I was under the impression that to blur the lines is to cross over into creativity. If one can manifest that idea, the thought, the concept within, into the reality of the Physical World then that is the essence of creativity.
Are you thinking inside the box?
If what you write is true then I will choose to be a raving lunatic.
The trouble with the difference between "internal experiences" and "physical reality" lies in communication. The trouble I face daily is that I am bombarded with information regarding "what is physical reality?". This is where having media become untrustworthy really bites us in the ass. Fukushima is blowing up! That is a physical reality. Is it really? Actually, that is information that I have seen posted on the internet, television, and radio. I have not experienced it, nor has anyone I know traveled to Japan and witnessed the site. I am left with a choice: believe what I read and the images I am shown or not? Most people don't even think about this choice. They simply believe some things and disbelieve others. But very little of what we "know" about the world is through direct experience. Modern media has put huge amounts of "information" out here, and ZH is largely about pointing out just how much of that "reality" we are shown is in fact complete fabrication. But of course, ZH is also just a messenger. Is what they say "real"?
Long story short, be very careful when you say that reality is "self-evident". We are actually directly (physically, experientially) in touch with a very small reality, yet we often feel entitled (I'm as guilty of this as everyone else) to comment on "realities" that we are told about through a variety of sources, all of which require an element of belief (which is the intrusion of our "internal world") for their acceptance.
Well, I am getting in deeper here, but...
All knowledge is founded on belief. People choose what they believe, mostly out of experience as most folks are far more interested in what they want rather than what might be true. This applies even to the sciences where folks pride themselves on rational thought, even though some of the most basic tenets of science are contradictory. In fact, scientist are some of the most fanatical believers.
More over, the choice of believes harkens to desire.
I have wanted truth, but ultimately I choose my truth, and have done so for what I perceive to be good reasons. But to insist upon that truth makes no sense for so many reasons. First of all it convinces no one. Secondly, I could be wrong as I can not possibly know. And more over if
I expect others to accept this regarding the beliefs they have accepted I am a poor philosopher if I do not where it myself.
Now, if you are a believer than you have an internal surety that appears to transcend this world... But experience is dangerous ground upon which to build faith, or as God puts it, 'it is a poor generation that looks for signs and wonders' and more than this, positing a world view that requires others to accept my experience as reason to change the things in which they placed their is disingenuous and unfair.
I have a profound experience of God, but I am very aware that the reason for what I believe is that I have chosen to believe it, for what I perceive to be excellent reasons, but a choice none the less.
On the other hand, I am very prepared to give good reasons for my faith. I tend to argue from the secular side as that is the starting point for most people, but I am quite prepared to argue from the perspective of the supernatural as well. But when all things are said and done, anyone with whom I begin a discussion will wind up choosing to believe or not based upon what they desire... Or to put this into context, God prepares the soil and we sow the seed...
Sorry to be so verbose today... Sure sign that my mind is exhausted... Hopefully there was some sense to what I wrote... If not, and you have actually read to the end, please down flag me as I no doubt will have deserved it.
"I have a profound experience of God, but I am very aware that the reason for what I believe is that I have chosen to believe it, for what I perceive to be excellent reasons, but a choice none the less."
Who choose whom? Perhaps, God choose you because.
Rom:28And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,h for those who are called according to his purpose. 29For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
Faith is a gift of grace, not your own doing Eph 2:
4Butc God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
God is at work in the world OBJECTIVELY and we are his workmanship.
An excellent point, and I completely agree... but a difficult jump for those who do not share our beliefs...
"All knowledge is founded on belief."
Perhaps, but not all belief is founded on knowledge.
ebear...
Another excellent point... and I would go further to suggest that none of it is...
All knowledge is founded on experience, at best. At worst, it is founded on interpretation of an experience. It's definitely a work in progress.
+100 John 18:37; John 8:32; Psalm 25:5; James 1:18; Zechariah 8:16; 1 John 1:8
I find it relaxing to realize that history repeats itself. All of the corruption, misinformation and ignorance in our society has existed for thousands of years. The solutions to these problems are nothing new either. Our problems are not unique, and neither are the solutions. Empires come and go, and history unfolds at a snail's pace. We crave instant gratification, but we won't see a revolution in our lifetime. But eventually the stench of corruption will be too much to bear, and there will be blood in the streets. THAT much is guaranteed.
Great article.
"All of the corruption, misinformation and ignorance in our society has existed for thousands of years. The solutions to these problems are nothing new either. Our problems are not unique, and neither are the solutions. Empires come and go, and history unfolds at a snail's pace."
I have thought about that a lot as well, and sometimes find comfort in this. The trouble, however, is that modern technology may not allow us the same solutions as were previously employed. Our current destructive capability, both intentional (warfare) and unintentional (Fukushima) may have fundamentally changed the game. One thing of which I am sure, the world will be just fine. It will continue to circle the sun until some divine force decides to change that geometry. Whether humans will continue to ride with it, however, is very much an open question.
Our problems are not unique, and neither are the solutions.
If the problems repeat themselves, then the solutions have not been found. Perhaps the "solution" is not as common as you think.
There is no actual solution to all the problems besdies extinction. As long as there is man, there will be man's foibles. Recognizing that will take people a long way to realizing government is not God. Spread the word.
Touche Mayhem.
I think the solutions are the same, but humanity is doomed to repeat the same mistakes when generations pass.
See the death of the first two official central banks as proof of this. 1913 rolls around and everyone forgot about the crisis of 1873. Rinse & repeat.