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Guest Post - Conditioning: That Which Keeps People Subservient to Abusive Leadership
Guest Post - Conditioning
That Which Keeps People Subservient to Abusive Leadership
By
Peter Offermann
Try as we might to expand our view of the world, ultimately we can only see the universe through our own eyes. This is why I always enjoying reading other people’s point of view, particularly when that person has a completely different life experience than mine.
Peter, a premium member of Two Ice Floes, fits that bill perfectly. It was our hope when we developed Two Ice Floes to use the “Your Turn To Publish” feature to induce talented individuals to submit their musings for publication (you do not need to be a member to do so) in order to share their life experience and perspective.
While I have written on this subject before, Peter brings a fresh and more in depth focus to the issue. Thank you Peter. – Cognitive Dissonance
To subscribe to 'Dispatches', a periodic newsletter from Cognitive Dissonance and TwoIceFloes Creations, please click here.
Few who are paying attention to world events through a lens more precise than the Main Stream Media (MSM) would deny that the vast majority of humans are being badly abused by their leadership in a variety of venues ranging from local, regional, national, and international politicians and bureaucrats, financial managers, corporate controllers, religious leaders, media moguls and warlords.
The vast majority of humans appear to be oblivious to this abuse and passively accept what is being done to them. Why is that? In one word - conditioning.
The vastly increased access to information that the internet enabled is responsible for a large number of people at least becoming aware of this abuse. However even among this more aware group, taking effective action to stop the abuse is sorely lacking. Why is that? In one word - conditioning.
There is a much smaller group that are proactively attempting to counter the abuse through group protest, but they are losing the struggle. Why is that? In one word - conditioning.
At 68 I am getting on in years. I have lived a full life and have had the time to reflect back on my path through life. As a result I have come to realize that most of the conditioning we are all subject to did not incapacitate me nearly as much as it did most people. I believe the realizations I have come to regarding my seeming immunity to conditioning are a necessary foundation required for people to free themselves from the tyranny that enslaves them.
With that hope in mind I would like to share some experiences from my youth that illustrate the problem (conditioning), and hint at the solution.
Our conditioning begins at the moment of our birth. Although they are not conscious of it, our parents, and family members, begin the process. Our parents have been conditioned before us and all their ‘conditioned’ traditions are passed on to us without considering the consequences. How often have you heard the excuse, “That’s just the way things are, get over it!” There is a great book by Wilhelm Reich called, “The Function of the Orgasm”, that explains the form of, and reasons for, this early in life conditioning. Yes, our sexuality plays a large role.
It is widely accepted that our late childhood, and early adulthood, years are our formative ones and also when we are in our prime both intellectually and physically. Historically people took full responsibility for managing their own lives much earlier in their lives, during what we consider late childhood. There were once 14 year old admirals that oversaw large naval forces. The commitment of marriage and raising a family began much earlier. Pioneers struck out to discover and populate new mysterious lands before they reached their teens.
The most rigid and destructive conditioning is imposed on us during our schooling. That schooling is starting earlier and lasting much longer than previously in history and while we are being ‘schooled’ we are not considered full adults with the responsibilities and freedoms such status implies.
Why is that? Could it be that control in our society is much more rigid than ever before? Those that control us realize that a rebellion of youth is the most dangerous kind. How better to minimize the impact of people in their prime than by keeping their status at ‘children’ with little access to power until well past their prime years? If people cave in to ‘slave hood’ during their prime years, how likely are they to rebel once they are past their prime; especially if they are burdened with excessive debt from their education?
I will only touch on the subject of our schooling lightly here and point out what I see as the most debilitating habits we are taught. The subject is an immense one covered well by people such as John Taylor Gatto, author of, “The Underground History of American Education”.
Disclaimer: I quit school in the early 60’s while in grade 9, at age 14. The reason being I felt I was being made dumber instead of smarter. My parent’s response was, “if you don’t go to school we will not support you.” I left home then and took on responsibility for my own life.
Even though I chose a different path than most I did not really understand intellectually why I did what I did then until recently, about a half a century later. What I did then, I did intuitively, rather than logically while accepting full responsibility for the outcome.
I first spent a few years hoboing around Canada taking whatever work I could find whenever I needed it. No job was too menial or too challenging to accept.
At 17 I took on a job that turned my life around and led to my conditioning mostly sliding off me.
This job was as a fire lookout man with the British Columbia (Canada) Forest Service. For a number of years I worked and lived on remote mountain tops, by myself, for 3 to 4 months each year. Spending that much time completely alone, and removed from civilization, especially during my formative years, had a profound effect on my perceptions about life as a human being and how I fit into society.

Rendered by me from a photo by Kyle Johnson http://kjphotos.com/portfolio/outside
I didn’t have a camera in those days so the image above, which closely represents my situation, is used to illustrate the setting.
Below is a photograph of me taken a few years later in the same general area I spent time on the lookouts. The other photos interspersed in this essay are taken by me as I explored the mountains near my home after my lookout years.

In current society peer pressure during childhood, and early adulthood, is immense. To survive in this setting we must pay close attention to others around us for clues regarding what is and is not acceptable. Because of this pressure the bulk of our energy goes into human interactions and we are pretty much oblivious to everything but our immediate environment. “Use it or lose it”, is sage advice. Because of concentrating on human relations during their formative years, most people have little if any connection to the natural world.
Try to imagine what people would be like if, as youngsters, they spent time exploring and living in nature while being responsible for their own survival and actions instead of hanging out at the mall or partying with their pals.
Is it fair to say that those that hang with the crowd are unlikely to be aware of, or able to understand, large scale events not part of their immediate environment?
What about someone who is tasked with surviving in the greater world using only their own skills? Would they stand a better chance of grasping what is going on?
Is this phenomena related to the common use of a ‘rite of manhood’ by many cultures where young adults leave the security of their group to face the wilderness on their own?

Do the majority of people in modern societies never go through this enabling rite of passage and instead go from the security of their parent’s care to the security of the big brother state? Does this explain why some people never seem to reach adulthood?
Substantial time on the lookout, without peer pressure, made me realize how confining trying to fit into the crowd is. Most people don’t even sense this pressure because it is all they know. It’s like the air we breathe. It’s just there until it isn’t, then we die; unless we are prepared for an airless environment.
Most people also don’t realize how much of their time and energy it takes to be ‘social’. Being removed from ‘socializing’ is enormously stressful if it is all you know.
Many aspiring lookout men needed to come down off the mountains prematurely because they could not stand being alone. Those that adjusted to the isolation came to treasure the freedom of being comfortable for extended periods with just their own company. The amount of time that then becomes available for other, possibly more worthwhile pursuits, is substantial.
In the forefront of these benefits is having the time to look inside youself without constantly being subjected to the opinion of others. Building friendships takes time and effort and becoming your own friend is no exception. Most of us never get the opportunity to do this.
Those that desire to control human behavior understand that people that are not comfortable with themself are much more susceptible to being controlled because they are lonely and need to seek comfort and friendship outside themselves. Virtually every sales campaign, ranging from that of the door to door salesmen to world leaders, is then enabled to easily sell you a bill of goods by convincing you that what they have to offer is going to become your best friend and make your life less lonely.

Short excursions or holidays into nature, most often with others fitted into a busy schedule, do little to increase our awareness of the greater reality that humans exist within. Thanks to modern technology very few of these excursions actually take people far from the human controlled environment they are conditioned to.
It is one thing to climb to the top of a mountain, conquer it, and then immediately return to civilization. It is something totally different to stay in that wilderness environment for extended periods with the time to come to know those other species that are at home in those environs. It makes one realize that humans are not the 'be all, end all' of life on earth. Humility is born which serves us very well. In this environment one soon comes to realize those species include the earth itself. Seeing the constant breathing of weather and daily and seasonal shifts of energies makes one realize everything is made of the same stuff and ‘lives’ in its own unique way.
To assume the earth is a lifeless blob which we can abuse without conscious consequence is a very risky proposition.

Most people’s lives are lived out within an environment created by and for humans. Most; and more all the time, live in an urban environment.
When they holiday people generally take some technological means of travel which quickly takes them to the other place of human habitation they wish to holiday in. Because people’s travel experience is so brief, and misses the detail of the ground they pass over, most of which currently has no human habitants, it is easy for them to agree when told by ‘experts’ that human overpopulation is a crisis.
Yes there are many urban places on the planet that suffer from overpopulation, and many more places on the planet that are being strip-mined to support those urban centers. But all in all there is an enormous amount of free space capable of supporting humans, if only they were able to tear themselves away from the social centers they now depend on and cluster in.
In the early 1990’s while transitioning from life in Canada to life in Mexico I drove between Canada and Mexico every second week for 3 years while gradually weaning my clients off the services I had previously offered. I was a workaholic and saw the time on the road as my own and enjoyed it by taking different highways almost every trip. Eventually I was able to drive between Mexico and Canada while only passing through a very few towns, all smaller than about 10,000 people. Most of the distance on these trips was spent on very remote highways with no other traffic to speak of.
I can say definitively that between, Canada, the USA and Mexico there is enough uninhabited fertile land to accommodate the whole world without the residents being able to see their nearest neighbor.
This vision assumes we overcome our condition of needing to be part of the herd clustering in vast hordes, and also manage to disempower the laws of those that enslave us that currently make this land unavailable to us.

Humans are far more difficult to control if they live in small clusters, all over the place, while paying little or no attention to the MSM. The propagandists can then no longer create a single message that will motive the whole herd of humans to act identically by broadcasting their one piece of propaganda from a single location that reaches everyone.
Propaganda still works, but it must be tailored properly to fit each unique situation in order to get consistent results. If there is no central broadcasting service the message must also be taken to each unique location individually. This is an impossible situation for our rulers and is the reason we are all so heavily conditioned to….
Need to be in close quarters with other humans.
Need the approval of others.
Think alike.
Think we must be/are part of a team.
Become isolated emotionally from ourselves and each other, even while packed on top of each other, so only big brother can offer us comfort.
Desire specialized knowledge which results in only being able to survive as part of the ‘urban’ team.
To desire a ‘carrot’ of reward that only ‘winning’, at any cost(?), within the crowd can present.
Depend on centralized services, especially sources of energy.
Depend on the rule of ‘human’ law to protect us from each other.

The most destructive conditioning takes place in our schools, right at the time we are most susceptible to it, during our formative years. During that period we have little experience of our own to compare to what we are told, and raising questions about the validity of the taught ‘truth’ is ruthlessly punished in order to force us to depend on the wisdom of others instead of our own intuition.
We are ruthlessly regimented to follow orders so that we eventually become incapable of thinking for ourselves and become dependent on the ‘boss’ to do our thinking for us. The intellectual box we become stuck within is then defined by the boss.
Specialization in training, and limiting access to information, (compartmentalization) is critical to our conditioning. If we cannot think for ourselves, and only understand part of the puzzle, and are incapable of deducing or intuiting answers to unknowns, we are trapped within our dependence on others.
I have personally met a number of world shaker class intellectuals that are extremely brilliant in their own field, but figuratively can’t tie their own shoe laces. This situation is not accidental. If only the boss has the full picture, the boss becomes the only one who can act effectively. Everyone else then becomes totally dependent on the Boss. Specialization has its place, but having a well rounded toolkit of life skills is essential to individual freedom.

Being away from civilization where the boss is not handy to hold your hand is a disaster waiting to happen if you cannot think for yourself. Then, unless you quickly learn to identify problems before they destroy you, and also learn to fix problems you can’t avoid intuitively without an instruction manually from the boss, you will not survive long.
Lack of education plus much time spent away from conditioning influences and conditioned humans, has changed fundamentally how I solve problems.
When faced with a problem a conditioned human will go through the channels of historical solutions until they find one that works for them.
Instead I consider the elements of the problem in place, try to intuit the workings of the device/situation, and then pinpoint what is going wrong and consider what might fix it. No manual is needed; just the ability to think a situation through for myself.
Using only this skill I have managed to live my whole life well, if not always comfortably, while being considered an essential resource by many people with far more education than myself, even in areas they have expertise in.
No one is perfect and you will make mistakes when you think for yourself. Mistakes are often painful, but if you accept the possibility of making mistakes, and are willing to learn from them when you make them, you will eventually become a very robust and capable person. What doesn’t break you strengthens you.
If you are afraid of making mistakes you are stuck on the safe (?) road built by our bosses. You still might not be safe, but at least you can then blame your mistakes on someone else.
I have learned far more from my mistakes than from my successes. I am now very thankful for my mistakes, even though some were very painful to navigate.

This essay is getting long so I will end it with one last point about what I learned from my life on the lookouts.
While we are thrust into the middle of ongoing intense personal inter-relationships, especially during our formative years, our attention remains strongly focused on each interaction as it occurs and the rest of the world passes us by unnoticed. We see the trees, but are oblivious of the forest. This is most often a habit we carry throughout life and it is a very dangerous one in our propaganda filled world. We see each piece of new propaganda as a standalone piece of information. We have no perspective to see if how it fits into the forest makes sense. We are then at the mercy of those that would deceive us for their own purpose. All they need to do is grab our attention and they can then do with us as they like.
On a lookout tasked with quickly finding dangerous anomalies, within a vast vista of forests, becoming focused on each tree individually is not productive and makes it impossible to see the whole picture. A good lookout man eventually learns to quickly scan vast vistas without focusing on anything in particular. Taking this approach to finding required data points, such as suspicious smoke, allows our intuition to come to our aid. It always amazes me how glaringly anomalies stand out when using this method.
It works just as well in any other environment, including researching on the internet. When surrounded by questionable ‘news/propaganda’ the fires stick out much more obviously when we also are aware of the apparently unrelated surrounding information that is part of webscape. The ‘trees’ of propaganda do not distract us from seeing the whole situation. If there’s no smoke there probably isn’t a fire. Our intuition can see the difference even though we logically can’t. Following our intuition instead of remaining focused on the propaganda leads us to the information that will then allow us to make sense of the situation.
Although my prognosis of our situation appears very gloomy I am not pessimistic. I see light at the end of the tunnel.
For those who managed to slog through to this point thank you for your attention.
Peter
www.TwoIceFloes.com is unlike anything you will find on the web, a truly unique destination. There you will find distinctive Premium Members only articles as well as discussions on wellness and health, homesteading, spirituality & philosophy and most importantly ‘safe’ forums not found anywhere else. Come by for a peek and stay a while.

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The Public Be Suckered
http://patrick.net/forum/?p=1230886
This nitwit thinks citing the matricide pervert Wilhelm Reich is good support for his musings. Help! Suggestion: Read E. Michael Jones on Reich.
Optimusprime wrote: "Read E. Michael Jones on Reich."
Have you actually read the book or just other people's opinions of the man?
I have chosen this subject as the basis of the next ramblings I hopefully will be able to present here.
I'm calling it, "Conditioning and our Sexuality."
Sexual feelings/needs are among the strongest we have to confront as human beings. From a propagandist's view point they (sexual needs) are a prime target because of the control they have over individuals. Puberty is probably our point of least control. Propagandists would be idiots not to make use of this period.
Wilhelm Reich devoted much of his life to coming to understand the purpose of sexuality in our lives. That he is perceived as a 'pervert' has more to do with not being willing to play the game of restricting the knowledge he gained to benefiting the elite, than to his research. He was tarred and feathered in the media to make people avoid looking at what he had to say after he wasn't willing to play ball. Until that point he was the darling of the elite. I will include a brief history of this part of his life in the article.
It is curious that Wilhelm Reich, Sigmund Freud, and Edward Bernays (Father of Propaganda) were all part of the same small group acknowledged to be foremost experts in understanding human motivation. Freud and Bernays sold out and became hero's in the public eye, while Reich attempted to share with everyone and was destroyed for it.
As with all other material one does not need to agree with everything that a person believes in order to gain from some of the material.
Wilhelm Reich - Man's Right to Know
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNYmBDvSwOw (29:11)
Kate Bush - Cloudbusting - Official Music Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pllRW9wETzw (6:56)
serious.
POINTER SISTERS - Cloudburst
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehUnOKJjfIo
.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HP4tt81S8OI
.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ryh5hVC1iE&list=PLF1E8D0C9FCC937AF
dang doodle ....
Link please.
Try reading Libido Dominandi. The basic notion is that "sexual liberation" (of which Reich is the hero) functions as an effective form of social control. Germane to this article's concern for "conditioning" and to your overall interests. Jones shows how Reich's poisonous views have been used to destroy religious orders, destroy the family, etc, etc. He is a good researcher and a formidable polemicist.
Let me propose a link, too: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuum_concept
Similar ideas, but Jean Lidloff has a much better reputation than Wilhelm Reich (who in my opinion was right nonetheless). We've all been conditioned to check the messenger - instead of the message. [And it seems appropriate to cite Marshall McLuhan: "The medium is the massage."] ;-)
Thank you Peter and CD for another inspiring piece.
Removing chaos from our lives after so many years of encouragement to pursue wealth and success can be hard because it means changing ourselves. Our politicans and financiers have created fear and anger because of their abuses. This has caused an awakening in many of us. We know peace and happiness cannot be bought.
Enjoy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Va0PAMNWSis
Lynard Skynard -Simple Man
May also perhaps be confusion, inattention, misdirection, all of the distractions. Those can be from earning a wage or from finding additional ways to manipulate the system.
Good summary of the essential book: "Nudge". Cas and gang are proud that they can get this shit slipped through the normal filtering processes.
- Ned
Speaking of abusive leadership, something is going on here in Abq. I haven't been able to get any details, but there are protesters and APD has donned its riot gear. APD rarely comes out with riot gear for protests. I'm tempted to go down there just to see what's going on.
(No, I'm not the type to protest. But APD shoots first and asks questions later, and this issue WILL come to a head, one way or another.)
That protest was over Albuquerque Police Department's killing of James Boyd on March 16, and the general use of excessive force by APD.
That protest lasted for something like 15 hours, give or take. I showed up to watch towards the last 4 or so hours. As I was walking from my vehicle to the protest, I ran into a homeless man. He didn't ask me for money. He wanted a blanket. I didn't have one, else I would have handed it to him. All that I could offer was a cup of coffee, which he did accept. It's fucking disgusting to see that kind of desperation.
After that, I waited near the Frontier restaurant for the protesters to march by again. As it turns out, only half of them marched by after me waiting about 20 minutes. The other half stayed near UNM, so I walked closer to them. Just as I was getting close, I saw several SWAT teams pull up. While I didn't count how many SWAT guys there were, I wouldn't be surprised if it was somewhere between 50 and 100, and most were riding in on Bearcats/APCs wearing their gas masks. Many of them had cudgels, many had tear gas guns and several had M-4s. I could hear the cops over the loudspeaker telling everybody to disperse, with occasional yelling from the crowd about tyranny.
Eventually, sure enough, the tear gas came out, and people started running. I was far enough away that I didn't get hit with it. A news photographer did though. He was behind me when the cops started leaving to confront the other group of protesters who had gone down to the police station. I heard him shout something as one of the Bearcats rolled by with cops hanging from the sides, and saw a rather funny look on the cops' faces. I think he yelled "putos" or something of the sort, but I didn't catch it. The funny look was because he was flipping them the bird. He basically said something like "I'm a journalist that they tear gassed, I can get away with it. Fuck'em." Those weren't his words, but that was the gist of what he said, and he did use profanity.
After that, I was trying to figure out where the other group was, and was paying attention to where all of the cop cars were going. It was only marginally helpful, as Yackety Sax should have been playing. Cop cars hauling ass one direction, then hauling ass in the opposite direction. I then went back to my vehicle, got in and was lucky enough to see a KRQE vehicle hauling ass, so I followed. They have had the best coverage, so I figured that they were heading to where the shit was the thickest. I was right, and that led me to the police station.
As I was looking for a parking spot, I drove by the SWAT staging area with all of the big toys that those guys drive. It's one of those things where you think things like "overkill" and "police state." I found a parking spot in a residential neighborhood about 2 1/2 blocks from the protest, which was nice because I didn't have to worry about that street being blocked off if I needed to leave in a hurry. Once I got to the area, I got to get a sense of the crowd. There was a bona fide old hippie there that I chatted with who thought that the protesters were going about it wrong, and there was another guy there who has to keep track of the things that agencies like APD do as part of his job. We all agreed that being in the middle of that shit was not wise.
It seemed that all walks of life were there, but the two groups who were making the most noise were the hoodrats and people that I can best describe as neo-hippies. You know the type. Young with dreads and drums. I fucking hate it when those drums show up to protests. But whatever. After a while, the SWAT guys came marching in in formation. It was the same gig as what had happened by UNM, it was obvious what was going to happen next.
I should point out, that by this point, I had witnessed four different police agencies there. APD, BCSO, State Police and Rio Rancho PD. While I only saw Rio Rancho guys driving around, the state troopers were there with APD and BCSO, but they weren't wearing gas masks. And they were down wind of where the tear gas was obviously going to be deployed. I should also point out that I saw a fuckton of cops carrying M4s, many of which were NFA firearms on the basis of being SBRs. Again, police state.
Before this second crowd got tear gassed, somebody told me that earlier that one of the protesters was out there with an AK slung over his shoulder. That's perfectly legal in NM. But foolish, because unless you have at least a roughly equal number of armed people to cops, all you do is draw attention to yourself. (Yes, I was packing, but it was concealed, as were the extra mags. I wasn't there for trouble, I was there to observe.)
At this point, there was a line of cops, and a line of protesters facing each other. I didn't hear what the protesters said, but the response by the guy standing next to me was "Did they just challenge the cops to a game of Red Rover?" Then another guy came up and said "They just gave the ultimatum," and the next thing I knew, tear gas canisters were flying. People were running everywhere, but I just stayed where I was, because, you know, the wind was blowing away from me, and I had observed the police reaction the previous time. And yes, the state police without gas masks did get gassed. You gotta love APD ;) I asked one of them for confirmation on this, and he said that yes, some of them did wind up in the tear gas cloud.
The crowd then dispersed, and I went looking for where they were going to start up again. That happened to be 4th and Central, but by the time I got there, it was losing steam, so I hung around for 15 or so minutes and left. On my way home, I was passed by an APD officer who was probably doing 20 over the speed limit. Then, I saw him hauling ass the other direction. I wonder if something else flared back up?
It's fucked up though. It was a protest over excessive use of force by police, and how do they respond? With overkill. It vindicates the protesters when they do that shit, and it also fuels them. Yes, there were a few protesters who tagged a police station and carried out a few minor acts of vandalism. They could be dealt with as individuals. Showing up with maybe the mounted patrol and a few normal cops would have ensured that this thing ran out of fuel hours earlier.
It was surreal though. When I was trying to figure out where shit was happening when I was pulling up, traffic was backed up on Central, and half of that traffic was cop cars with their lights on. I have never seen so many cops in one place in NM in my entire life. This outdoes anything in my experience by a long shot. Getting to watch the storm trooper march with my own eyes was not exactly an eye opener because I've been aware of the police state for a while, but it was one of those "Yup, it can happen here" things.
While a lot of the protesters were retards, and the issue of James Boyd may be forgotten soon, I don't see APD getting better or nicer, except for possibly a slight and temporary "Oh shit! The sheep are mad! Maybe we had better behave ourselves for a while," the broader issue of police state tactics and abusive behavior is not going to go away. This shit will come to a head.
I'll repost this tomorrow or the next day when there is article that it fits in context, though it may be edited to fit the context.
Mom lives in Deming. Bro and family live in Gallup.
Hard to get real news about this situation. Thanks for the post.
One of the more mind blowing experiences of my life took place in civilization within hours of leaving a lookout after being alone for several months.
Image this:
A helicopter picked me up on the mountain one day around noon when it was shut down for the season. I got off at the ranger station and got into my vehicle and drove to an airport about 2 hours away. I jumped on a plane and about 4 hours later I was landing at LAX at dusk.
A friend picked me up at the airport and we drove directly to a small theatre in Hollywood which I believe was/is called the Aquarius Theatre.
It was the west coast opening night performance of the live play 'Hair'. The theatre was a small one and only the very upper elite in Hollywood got to attend.
I had a difficult time figuring out which were more interesting, the nude hippies dancing on the stage in full abandon or the prima donnas in the audience.
Lying in bed in Hollywood that night trying to fall asleep while trying to fit what I had just experienced into my state of mind from the previous month's of isolation was mind boggling.
A couple of things I've said to my kids since they were just about old enough to have a clue.
You don't know how much time you've got - you can't get any more - don't waste any.
If, when you are lying on your death bed drawing your last few breaths you can say it was a good ride and you've never deliberately hurt another person (other than in self defence) you've done better than most.
Both my kids are talented individuals.
Neither will be easy to herd.
I post what I really think and very rarely give any consideration to the views of others so every time I post here I expect a flurry of negative comments, and it always surprises me when I get positive feedback from other ZHers. Recently those supportive comments have been more frequent and it has put me in the embarrassing position of being humbled by their kindness. I usually point out that there are many more better contributors on ZH, and leave it at that. This is not a false humility - I genuinely think most of what I post is not unique, and I do worry that some people are overestimating my (questionable) virtues. Because sooner or later, I know I will disappoint them with a view that they will almost certainly disagree with. It is impossible to please everyone all the time, and I am certainly not perfect. I know there are few things more disappointing than seeing someone you respect betray your trust and support by voicing opinions you cannot accept in any form. I hope when that happens, they will understand that I have my own thoughts different to theirs and that perhaps it does have some merits upon second or third reading. I would be happier still if they took the time to be constructively critical and showed me the error of my ways. In this way we learn respect, although I don't discount the possibility that I will bite their heads off for their critiques. Figuratively speaking. :)
One of the contributors I always mention is, of course, our very own CD (GW should get a mention here too as I have long admired his prolific efforts to bring important issues to light), and I am doubly pleased that he has posted an essay from somebody else with different life experiences and views to share with us. And what an enjoyable and marvellous story of a life rich with experiences! Thank you both, Peter and CD, for sharing.
But here I am about to disappoint probably everyone reading this with my own experiences that is in complete contrast to this article. Because unlike many of the contributors at ZH, I really value my formal education. It had the opposite effect of what many claim going to higher education does to a person - brainwashed, indoctrinated, forced to conform, and unable to do or think outside the parameters set by society. That is not what happened to me.
I suppose I was always a difficult student. From a very early age, I was a teacher's nightmare who always questioned everything, even things that were supposed to be taken for granted and insisted that the reasons for these foundations in language & maths, and later in physics, and computer science, be explained to me in full. Insisting to my teachers to explain the fundamentals of their subjects, ie the history of science itself, did not endear me to most of them. Being called "Stupid" was quite a common occurance until the end of the year when the opposite proved to be true. But there were some great teachers in my life who delighted in imparting their knowledge of their subjects, and to these people I am eternally grateful. So while I truly appreciate that many experience the soul destroying mill of propaganda and debt that has become the education system in many countries, I think it has more to do with the characters that inhabit these institutions than the concept of schooling itself.
Formal higher education has given me the tools to argue with the highest authorities in a variety of subjects, and most importantly to figure things out for myself. It is true that many, if not all of formal education subjects can be self-taught. Arguably all education is self-teaching. It is as easy as buying a text book, going to the library or visiting an education website. But what you cannot ever have is the access to the real experts who can field your questions with their unique perspectives and experiences. Higher education, and I am not talking about something useless like hotel management (Sorry to hotel managers) or comparative folk dancing (Er, sorry to folk dancing doctorates), but in science subjects. I am obviously biased here, since I have degrees in Physics and Computer Science, but there have been moments, truly shocking revelatory moments in my life when I realised what a truly remarkable thing it is to be a lifeform in this strange rule based universe. How tenuous, beautiful, and ephemeral every single material called matter really is, underneath its solid reality. How convoluted and incomplete our explanations of the natural world is, because we are pushing the limits of symbol based language and our own neurobiology. My youthful cockiness about knowing everything about the world has been knocked about many times with my nose buried in the text books. You cannot understand, for example, how completely arbitrary our basic decimal system is, to be able to represent all the numbers in the universe with just ten symbols, until you have seen that you can do it just as well with two or sixteen symbols and make up your own rules about it. You only get that kind of opportunity to look outside the comforts of assumptions and foundations with formal education. You only get to question everything you have ever been told, when you know how it began in the first place.
Formal or not, education, knowledge is, in my opinion something akin to the values espoused in CD's series about Personal Sovereignty. When knowldge becomes a part of you, nobody can ever take it away from you. It cannot be stolen or cheated out you, but it makes you a richer person, a more valuable entity because of the potential to impart it to the next generation.
I want to end my long and boring post with something I wanted to share from the beginning. These days, I often have the feeling that I was a lot smarter when I was a child. I was one of those introspective kids who played well with others when the need arose, but much preferred to think of the big questions about life, the universe and everything holed up in my room, staring at the sky or the ceiling, by visualising avenues of thought with all the potential branches veering off to their respective conclusions, then pruning them until a core idea formed which fitted all the other questions. One such question was, "What's the meaning of life?". And the conclusion I reached when I was perhaps nine yrs old (Which disappointingly did not include the numbers four and two) was that for a mere mortal human, a creature of limited time and potential on earth, the best meaning could be had by leaving the planet in a slightly better condition than I found it. As I said, considering all the wasteful and destructive acts I've gone through in my adult life, I was a lot smarter when I was a child.
Agreed YHC-FTSE
Truth is where you find it - which is to say, everywhere if you look
Thanks. I like your posts and appreciate this one as well. I admire the author, but was wondering what life on earth would be like if more people just wandered about. I am not a fan of what is happening in the world today, but don't think this is path can be taken by many. Grizzly Adams x 300 million.
My university studies were Chemistry and Astronomy.
I made my living with a paint brush for many years as a sign painter!
I collect knowledge still, not stamps or coins.
I want to know everything before I die. I know I won't achieve that goal, but I'll get as close to it as I can.
I love Science. I love to create. I get a lot of pleasure from just knowing and understanding stuff, even if I never use that knowledge.
I've given up driving. I live at the edge of a smallish town and get out into the countryside as often as possible.
No TV for me, or cell phone. No debt either.
I see buying things that don't truly benefit me as failure.
I don't go for material things - stuff owns you, rather than the other way around.
If you have little, you have less to lose than most - quite a liberating concept once you get past the 'conditioning'
My university studies were Chemistry and Astronomy.
I made my living with a paint brush for many years as a sign painter!
I collect knowledge still, not stamps or coins.
I want to know everything before I die. I know I won't achieve that goal, but I'll get as close to it as I can.
I love Science. I love to create. I get a lot of pleasure from just knowing and understanding stuff, even if I never use that knowledge.
I've given up driving. I live at the edge of a smallish town and get out into the countryside as often as possible.
No TV for me, or cell phone. No debt either.
I see buying things that don't truly benefit me as failure.
I don't go for material things - stuff owns you, rather than the other way around.
If you have little, you have less to lose than most - quite a liberating concept once you get past the 'conditioning'
A formal education, as with most things in life, is just a tool to be used in many ways. I don't think many people here on ZH are actually blaming a higher education for the world's problems, but rather those who use that education to simply plug in, tune out and drone on.
While some here are pointing fingers anywhere they can except towards themselves, many here do realize that a higher education is not the problem. However, in the wrong hands the so-called "expertise' implied by a higher education can be quite (self) destructive. And there is no doubt that those who wish to control and herd others are using the education system to further their goals. This has been the case for hundreds of years.
I gave you an up arrow for a well articulated dissenting point of view.
Granted, Peter's wired differently than most. He recognized this early on and found a path for himself that satisfied that voice in his head, the one he thinks told him to exercise his free will. The voice in his head may have been entirely a deterministic function of the brain (see The Self Illusion by Bruce Hood). Free will is a concept, a hypothesis that has yet to graduate to the level of a theory, and at the rate of current neuroscientific quantification and analysis, may be moving away from this idea.
Those of us who also listened to "the voice" early in our childhood probably make up the majority of the posters here at ZH, you included Cog. As much as I love the sense of idealism the pictures evoke, regrettably I know what would happen if 100 million others thought likewise. That said, thanks to you both for giving us a brief moment of total idealistic escapism.
I know what would happen if 100 million others thought likewise.
Yes! Good things! VERY good things!!!
While I agree that this article might appear to be escapism, the overwhelming message I received from this piece is that our problems are caused by our state of mind and not from any external source. While there are outside influences that we allow to herd us into self destructive thought patterns, no one is 'making' us self destructive.
Rather than try to figure out how to change the world, maybe we should focus on how to change ourselves. The world will eventually follow our lead.
I cannot say I found this article was about escapism. Quite the contrary. Finding oneself can be done in the majestic mountains or the bustle of the city. It is simply more challenging in the city because so much is trying to hook your attention. If a mind is calm and clean, resistant to distraction it is possible. Every outer journey is always, for me, a journey within. I also prefer solitude and nature for contemplation but as I have progressed in my wanderings I have found I can achieve moments of peace in the harshest of circumstances. This is a personal victory. Others should make more of an effort and would be richly rewarded. The first step is turning off the noise which is the hardest I think. I know people who have a TV in every room including the bathroom. For me that would be torture. Strangely for them, it is a solace. However, I do know they are not joyous and live in stress. Sadly they cannot see the path out, I cannot help them and this reality does sadden me. We are essentially alone, be it on the mountain or among people.
Miffed;-)
I must respectfully disagree, Cog. We each have our own set of unique life experiences that govern our thought processes. I don't believe they're innate. Take Peter's first responses to the comments here. They were not at all what I expected. He has an undercurrent of needs he hadn't previously expressed and a burning desire to incite people to action. Certainly not what one would expect from an isolationist or a rugged individualist.
I can relate to the alter ego Peter. When I was a teenager every summer my best friend and I would drive up to the White Mountains and get lost for weeks. It was cathartic to finally be free of stifling parental control. The mountains were other-worldly. On occasion they tested our sense of direction and ability to adapt to rain, wind and cold, and surprised and rewarded us with brook trout and wild blueberries on others. Breathtaking views that defied description were commonplace. They are permanently etched in my psyche.
Regardless of Peter's desire to incite change, it doesn't invalidate his view about conditioning beginning with the children.
And what is wrong with Escapism?
.... is that our problems are caused by our state of mind and not from any external source. CD
Very profound statement CD, however, simply telling others their source of anger or displeasure is mainly a byproduct of their internal toxicity and may be modified is difficult to say the least.
As a health care provider, I am frequently called upon to tend to 'difficult patients' because most peers can't communicate with or control various personality disorders.
A body free of toxicity leads to a brain free of criticism and self delusion. Unfortunately, many items that we are conditioned to accept as food and drink that improve our well-ness are not. A few items people need to totally eliminate from their diet is soda, chips and processed foods of all types. Doing just this would increase the potential of clear thought. IMHO
Very good article, I enjoy reading your blog.
Thank you from Mrs. Cog and I.
Mrs. Cog has devoted an entire section of the Two Ice Floes website to alternative medicine, healthy eating and so on. It is a labor of love for her. She is voracious in her due diligence and the footnoting in the body of the text.
http://twoicefloes.com/mrs-cogs-corner/
inspiring article for this lifetime "city dweller".
thanks
Mrs. Cog and I have been living on the mountain for nearly 10 months now, and I am finding that while some of the 'city' afflictions are not as prevalent here among the locals, the children, while still somewhat grounded by a more farm and rural living, are still greatly influenced by 'social media" and the peer pressure epidemic.
well spoken words brother and so true. goddess bless u
I have been to be U.N. website and read Agenda 21, it clearly lays out what the plan is, basically to force people off the land using any means necessary,higher taxes, environmental regulations,you name it. It's there,go look. Amazingly most people I talk to agree with this plan. I can only wonder.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article30620.htm
I was isolated in grade school from my peers, one of the outcasts. I spent many a lonely recess, waitng for the day to end. But I learned to go places in my head, to fly across the landscape.
I also learned to distrust the system that created the herd, and to pity the herd itself.
This is a MUST READ for every 7th grader.
and you belong at Two Ice Floes
What a great Sunday morning read. "Conditioning", I hadn't really thought it that way.
From an early age I've taught my children to question everything. (Including what I say.) All of us are constantly being influenced by others idea and opinion, right and wrong. Simply put, we are told what others want us to hear.
More than ever, we all need to question. Especially the ones that have the most control and influence over us.
Thank you, Zero Hedge.
Thank you Zero Hedge for providing this web outlet and for allowing me unfettered access to post whatever I wish.
Thank you Peter for writing this great piece.
Interesting how the fight club knows when they're in over their heads.
First positive thing I have seen in a long time. Well written
I felt so as well. And written by someone who is walking the talk, which adds credibility to the information.
Conditioning = sink your self so deep in debt, you can never get out. A slave to the higher authority for the rest of your life.
I find myself wanting quiet more and more while in the midst of my 7th decade at 62 yrs. old. I no longer reach for the radio dial during short trips,, albeit partly due to the commercials that would be lacking with a pay service.
Isolated and remote outdoors where you really can feel and hear yourself think are cherished.
Simply dropping my drawers totake a piss with no worries makes me feel good, though technically I leave a piss.
Small pleasures of being alone without noise, letting thoughts flow and undulate with your breath
Roger that on 'leaving' a piss. :)
It is so quiet up here on the mountain that we can hear the cows mooing a mile and a half away, and cars whispering by on the Blue Ridge Parkway two miles away.
There is another ridge about 8 miles away from us from which I can hear activity now and then. And woodpeckers banging away on some tree a half mile down the road.
And don't get me started on how beautiful the night sky is. No light pollution at all.
hmmmmm gotta' meme outta' control here
if it weren't for light pollution modern
man would not know anything of light at
all, that is the plan.
CD and now Peter, as a long-time student of cognitive dissonance and Bernays Madison Ave propaganda, who lives between two fire towers, again applaud your work to liberate our collective mental straitjacket camisoles:
http://bit.ly/1i68Kvz
Bravo
Ultimately no one liberates us. We liberate ourselves from the mind chains that bind us to false promises and outright lies we wish to hear and believe. Although it is nice to hear from time to time how others are doing the same.
The problem is....how do we liberate ourselves from the tendency to herd without encouragement from the herd? We are conditioned to seek affirmation from external sources, and it is external sources that will help teach us to look within for our own confirming affirmation.
The old chicken or egg conundrum writ large.
Conditioning is a very fragile thing. One lie realized is all it takes to start on the path of breaking it. Uncovering one lie and questioning it soon leads to another until the whole tapestry comes apart. Helping people see that first lie is important and the internet has done that well.
The reason I think the internet has not been more effective at stirring people up is because almost all writers, including myself, have fallen for the propagandist's ploy of concentrating our efforts on disproving their lies. We get sucked into focusing on their propaganda. They need our attention to stop us from causing trouble.
I think the majority of folks that are inactive realize what is going on and it is not lack of knowledge keeping them pinned to their seats, it is fear and/or lack of visible alternatives.
One of the things the propaganda is designed to do is to make people fearful and to see the world as too violent to survive in without help from big brother. By constantly focusing people's attentions on all these frightful events we are actually helping the propagandist's cause.
The other big thing that is lacking in our approach is not making available alternatives to consider. You cannot run from somewhere if you have nowhere to run to.
Focusing on showing people a way to organize themselves that works better than the current system would take the focus away from 'fear' events while providing a possible shelter to run to.
We need to give people projects they can get involved in in order to get them active. The alternatives are many and need as many good minds as possible applied to defining and implementing them in order to succeed. Getting as many people as possible involved in that process as possible would help everyone.
It's been a long day so i'll stop here. Thanks for all the insight.
Peter