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Guest Post - Conditioning: That Which Keeps People Subservient to Abusive Leadership

Cognitive Dissonance's picture




 

Guest Post - Conditioning

That Which Keeps People Subservient to Abusive Leadership

By

Peter Offermann

peter@oceanfalls.org

 

 

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.

 

The Watch Tower

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.

Self Portrait

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?

Scenery Three

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.

 

Scenery Four

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.

 

Scenery Five

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.

 

Scenery Six

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.

 

Scenery Seven

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.

 

Scenery Eight

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.

 

Scenery Nine

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.

 

Scenery Ten

 

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Mon, 03/31/2014 - 17:18 | 4611934 Liberty2012
Liberty2012's picture

"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."

Quite true

Sun, 03/30/2014 - 18:15 | 4608612 New_Meat
New_Meat's picture

CD:

"... how do we liberate ourselves from the tendency to herd without encouragement from the herd?..."

Pick the right herd is the practical answer.  'cuz individual actions will be to scattered to be effective.

'twas so in the first revolution.

- Ned

Sun, 03/30/2014 - 23:04 | 4609404 Pinche Caballero
Pinche Caballero's picture

Mr. Cog and other guy, I would tend to disagree, that it is not a chicken or egg conundrum. In my black and white world, it is all very clear. However, I implore you to please understand, the following thoughts are difficult to express in words. I freely admit, it makes my head hurt to think too much like this.

It is a matter of social conditioning, and many fail to avoid the trap. The clock runs out, and many approach Death feeling they haven't really lived, and they know it's too late to do so. With tears in their eyes, I have watched as they've met their Fate. Not that I myself am quite prepared to die just yet...  Though I have experienced some near misses, I have so far managed to avoid that final head-on collision.

I appreciate the dramatic vistas in the images above. I am fortunate that again today I had the opportunity to gaze with my own eyes upon a similarly grand view probably taken for granted by locals in a place where I am only passing through. Such sweeping landscapes remind me of my own insignificance in the overall scheme of things. That relative insignificance is an important thing to be aware of. For me, that is the ultimate check upon my own reality.

I am often amazed by the seemingly vast numbers of people (usually Westerners) who wish to be a part of something much larger than themselves, or are concerned with their "legacy" and how they will "be remembered". Look at the success of social media (Facebook, Topix), online forums such as this one, the addiction to the state of "being connected" via technology, i.e., Blackberries, Iphones, 24 hour t.v. Consider also our workplaces, the social groups we each are part of, the communities we live in, the Churches we each attend, our homes and autos and the other material status symbols in our possession which reflect who we are or wish to be, the image we have of ourselves versus how others perceive us or we wish they would, and so on and so forth...

Confidence in one's own abilities comes from within, the result of a sense of accomplishment. That sense of accomplishment comes from experience, and experience means having done something. I mean to say, one has to actually do something to achieve something, challenge one's self a little more,  to prove adversity can be overcome. Leave what's familiar. Armed with self-confidence in ones own abilities, the peer pressure of the group or the individual desire to conform for others' affirmation tends to be minimized in the daily walk. Many years ago now, I also ventured off to find myself. I didn't find myself, but I learned everything would be okay, that I would make do just fine, no matter where I ended up. That first venture over the proverbial horizon has enabled me to live a well-rounded and wholesome Life filled with adventure, adversity, and awe-inspiring memories. All this, despite the naysayers who felt I wasn't conforming. Now that I am much older, and maybe a little wiser, my "conforming" is much more on my terms. 

Sometimes in Life, there is hardship that can't be overcome, or lack of success, or even outright failure. Understanding one's own limitations is also crucial when taking stock of one's own self-worth. I don't have to pretend to be capable and/or competent in all things. I can concentrate more of my efforts at being effective at what things I can do. Others can do what they are good at.

Armed with confidence in my own abilities, and (sometimes painfully) aware of my own limitations, I have been able to accept who I am, even regardless of how others may see me. Having accepted myself for who I am, I no longer am as concerned with any such nonsense as a legacy or how I may be "remembered". Do you know your parents names? Do you remember your Grandparents names? What are the names of your Great-Grandparents, and the names of their siblings, or even their Parents? How many Westerners have no ability to recall past two previous generations, yet are themselves concerned with how they themselves will be remembered? I ask, remembered by whom?

In reality, the vast majority of humanity is but passing through. Take the road less traveled? Could be. Pick the right herd? Maybe. Model yourselves after others whom you admire? I dunno. Fall prey to the group? M-m-m-m-m, not so much. Rely solely on others who provide for you whatever "X" is, as long as you conform to their pressures and demands? Nope. 

Not happy with the terms available to you in Life? Educate yourself. Work to effect the desired change. Or, in other words, work to affect the desired outcome.

There ain't no rocket science to it much.

 

 

Mon, 03/31/2014 - 12:19 | 4610877 petero
petero's picture

@Pinche Caballero Thank you for sharing that wisdom.

My parents started a business before I left home. It was an extended care facility. It started very small and we had little money being recent immigrants to Canada. For the first few years we lived in the basement of a converted large house with patients nearing the end of their lives living upstairs. The business grew rapidly.

Everyone in the family including myself worked in the business. My sister and I started in the kitchen when I was about 8. I was also the janitor much of the time and got to know and appreciate the patients very much.

I became aware of one phenomena that was common to all those contemplating their imminent death, and dying.

They could be grouped into two rough categories.

First, but a minority, were people that were still very aware of and accepting of their surroundings. Many were actually joyful. They went to their deaths peacefully without a struggle.

The second group had lost touch with reality and were extremely agitated and unhappy most of the time. Most ranted over and over about some single event that happened during their lives that they had never resolved. To me they appeared fearful of their approaching death because they had unfinished business.

This set me on the path I took where I decided to not have any regrets about my life and to deal with issues that bothered me when they occurred, rather than letting them fester unresolved.

I haven't been completely successful but overall I am actually looking forward to my death. Even if I die today I go to my death with the comfort of knowing I did my best and my life was a worthwhile experience.

I don't know what happens at our death but I know  energy doesn't die, it only changes form. I am going to go to my death attempting to comprehend that transition whether or not I survive it as the personaility I am now.

 

Sun, 03/30/2014 - 21:32 | 4609153 petero
petero's picture

I am going to propose in further writing that many small groups or individuals acting independently, from many different places, but with a common goal of freedom for everyone, can succeed at putting a stop to the current insanity.

Sun, 03/30/2014 - 14:28 | 4608055 Future Jim
Future Jim's picture

Abusive leadership could be solved by The Transparency Amendment.

 
The Transparency Amendment

Government is not the solution. Government is the problem.

More specifically, government is, and always will be, the tool of those who cause the problems.

Better legislation does not work.

Eternal vigilance does not work.

Better candidates does not work.

Transparency works. In the eternal war of makers vs. takers, the only way government can be anything better than a force multiplier for the takers is transparency.

Transparency works, which is why we don’t have real transparency. In fact, the lack of curiosity in the media is truly breathtaking. It seems almost as if the establishment media exist solely to create a sufficient illusion of transparency to prevent revolt.

Given the entrenched forces resulting from so many generations without transparency, extreme measures will be necessary for about a generation. Therefore, I propose The Transparency Amendment.

The Transparency Amendment

The President, Vice President, and every member of the Congress shall wear a device to capture the surrounding video and audio every second of every day while in office. Failure, for any cause, to publish all content to every citizen within one hour of capture by the device shall constitute forfeiture of office. Publication to a web site shall be considered sufficient to meet the requirement to publish to every citizen. Once published, such content shall remain continuously accessible to every citizen in perpetuity. Intentional or accidental removal or disabling of the device, by any cause, shall constitute forfeiture of office.

 

This amendment shall also apply to the Chairman and governors of the Federal Reserve, to all federal judges, and to all justices of the Supreme Court.

 

This amendment shall take effect sixty days after ratification.

 

This amendment shall expire twenty years and sixty days after ratification.

Sat, 04/05/2014 - 15:21 | 4628428 dizzyfingers
dizzyfingers's picture

Future Jim I've been cynicized over my 7 decades to sincerely believe that if that were passed, then twenty years and sixty-one days after it takes effect (in other words, one day after if expires), the whole damned thing would begin agian. Perhaps not soon, but the cycle would inevitably begin, because those who weren't alive to experience bad things cannot know why some things should be forever prohibited. The children of the last generation who lived during the problem era cannot know what happened during their parents' lifetimes, and certainly not their grandparents' lifetimes, and therefore the majority do not care.

The onset of decisions that bring on debacles often are innocent; it's the unintended consequences caused by actions and reactions to UCs that lead to debacles, collapses, wars, etc.  

Wars, peace, conquest, countries' waxing and waning are cyclical, never-ending; possibly the time of the US ias we've known it s over. If so, something else will take its place, but I think the belief that passing laws fixes things "forever" (or even for two days or two weeks) should be examined in the light of history... and not just history of, say, 100 years, but from time immemorial.

Mon, 03/31/2014 - 17:33 | 4611969 Liberty2012
Liberty2012's picture

As long as people live in groups, there will be leadership / government in some form. The only way to spot abuse is to look for it. Hence, eternal vigilance is required.

Vigilance is required for all things... great or small.

Transparency and vigilance are the same thing.

Sun, 03/30/2014 - 15:10 | 4608171 logicalman
logicalman's picture

Governments claim to represent the people.

The employee never gets to watch the employer - big clue right there.

Absolutely, government is the problem - compounded by the bureaucracy that it produces.

All their offices should have glass walls too!

 

 

Sun, 03/30/2014 - 14:58 | 4608118 daveO
daveO's picture

End the FED. Their current theft, by suppressed interest rates, is proof of the mental conditioning (They're doing it for the economy's sake). 

Sun, 03/30/2014 - 14:47 | 4608066 ATG
ATG's picture

Does this mean Truman will be elected?

 

http://bit.ly/1h9eP8h 2:20

Sun, 03/30/2014 - 14:23 | 4608048 kurt
kurt's picture

Pretty pichures.

Is this guy trying to condition me?

Sun, 03/30/2014 - 14:31 | 4608067 Bearwagon
Bearwagon's picture

That shouldn't be a problem. If anyone wants to condition you, which you probably can be sure of, the best thing to do is participating it by conditioning yourself. Maybe that was also the author's idea ...

Mon, 03/31/2014 - 02:42 | 4609749 Dr. Sandi
Dr. Sandi's picture

Now that I've been conditioned, I find my thoughts are full-bodied, smooth and silky.

Sun, 03/30/2014 - 14:20 | 4608039 Gusher
Gusher's picture

We have always had lying politicians trying to con us and condition us. Whats different this time is the national press has joing in with those in power. You can't even get Nightline or CNN to cover the Obamacare health care insurance disaster.  Let alone 50 million unemployed and on food stamps

Sun, 03/30/2014 - 14:35 | 4608079 ATG
ATG's picture

And 37 M eligible civilians not working, but paying at least 115 taxes, 20 of them new with 0Care, along with 16,000 new IRS agents on the government payroll at taxpayer expense:

http://bit.ly/1rsaXrQ

http://bit.ly/1of40v9

 

 

Sun, 03/30/2014 - 13:52 | 4607972 Kassandra
Kassandra's picture

The best thing my Dad ever did was haul us all up to the remote high country in the Rockies for three weeks every summer to camp. Packed all the food in, found potable water and dug our own latrine. Then cleaned it all up and left no trace that we had been there, other than the spots where the tents had been. This was in the 60's. No phone, power, nothing but us. We learned about ourselves and how most of what we had back in "civilization" was unnecessary. It is a tradition that all of his children have followed through with their children. It reminds you where you came from and it reminds you what is important.
We'll be taking his ashes up there this summer.

Sun, 03/30/2014 - 16:22 | 4608283 DavidPierre
DavidPierre's picture

I've taken my young 'uns and their friends to many different wilderness areas along the coast of BC over the past 30 years.

One of my favorite haunts was the Broken Island Group and the Hot Springs in the Pacific Rim National park.

http://joshmcculloch.photoshelter.com/image/I0000kVQDHmWZUxI

http://www.inner-reflections.ca/hotsprings-tofino.jpg

I even ran a 'Hoods In The Woods' program in the early '80s for "Juvenile Delinquents"... (those teens that just did not fit in).

The place I built in 1994 on Vargas Island in Clayocout Sound...(my 120 sq.ft. Monastic cabin).

http://www.vargasislandinn.com/photos/z-beach-studio-entry-l.jpg

{ ^ must copy and paste this one to see it}

Now I'm back up in the Mountains of the BC Interior and taking the grand kids up into the lakes. My home lake.

http://www.ourbc.com/travel_bc/bc_cities/thompson_okanagan/photos/sorrento/shuswap_lake_03_640.jpg


 

Sun, 03/30/2014 - 14:18 | 4607995 Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance's picture

Unfortunately so many of us, myself included, have mixed up the difference between needs and wants. Being up here on the mountain with no opportunity to dash down to the local store for some forgotten item has help right size in my mind what is really important.

I have had several email conversations with Peter since he submitted his article. He is restoring a cabin out in the woods by himself. It is remote territory and it's remarkable what he has accomplished essentially by his own two hands. When finished he hopes to spend months at a time there.

Edit: Peter just gave me permission to post the link to the long article of his with lots of pictures of his abandoned cabin restoration. Set aside an hour or two and fall in.

http://www.oceanfalls.ca/forum/index.php/topic,3.0.html

Mon, 03/31/2014 - 18:44 | 4612192 Liberty2012
Liberty2012's picture

Beautiful thank you for sharing

Sun, 03/30/2014 - 14:43 | 4608100 ATG
Sun, 03/30/2014 - 13:43 | 4607964 RockyRacoon
RockyRacoon's picture

An excellent, thought-provoking article.  My only regret is that it will be, for the most part, preaching to the proverbial choir.  Those who can finish the article and absorb the message will be those who already have been on a similar path or those who would be likely to take the same journey.  On the other hand, there is a large segment of the populace for whom this article would be gibberish.  For those there is no salvation.

Sun, 03/30/2014 - 19:17 | 4608763 bigkahuna
bigkahuna's picture

Plant the seeds and scatter them far and wide. The propaganda is the wind that will sweep them away, but statisitcally speaking, no matter how strong the wind - some will germinate. 

Never give up and very incrementally, critical mass will be achieved - we have to take the long view as those who desire to control the masses have. 

If you investigate their tactics, you will know that they have been at work for a very lengthy time - and never accepting defeat, they have managed to become very powerful. We have to take the long view in order to break them. It will be a while - just don't give up planting the seeds, they didn't.

Sun, 03/30/2014 - 17:39 | 4608524 LongMarch
LongMarch's picture

Good point Rocky. Luckily, however, this is where artists like WB7 come in.

Sun, 03/30/2014 - 14:27 | 4608054 Bearwagon
Bearwagon's picture

Depends (as mostly everything) on the point of view. There could be a few , who find said salvation though they think of it as gibberish, and even if it would be just one person, it was worth the effort, wasn't it? ;-)

Sun, 03/30/2014 - 16:32 | 4608377 RockyRacoon
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It most certainly is worth the effort.  Getting even one wandering soul on the right path is gratifying. On the other hand, I see lots of like-minded people trying to convert the unwilling and the unable to the cause of liberty.  As for myself, after a few attempts at tilting at the windmills, I tend to mark them down as those to keep out of the fold.  I'm all for helping those who would, if able, help themselves.

Sun, 03/30/2014 - 21:46 | 4609195 petero
petero's picture

Those of us concerned about helping others, including our families, come to realize what is happening to all of us, need to look at our approach if we aren't getting the message across. I wrote extensively on the internet for a number of years but a couple of years ago I realized that even though the choir mostly praised my efforts I was not getting through to the congregation.

I stopped writing for about 2 years to think through how else I might get these ideas across. I now feel ready to give it another try. This article is the first attempt at using the new approach. The next few things I write will try to explain to those of us who are awake already the way I think we can reach others more effectively.

Mon, 03/31/2014 - 11:25 | 4610684 grady8
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The genisis of Two Ice Floes stemmed partiallyfrom CD's desire to expand and further his own journey of understanding. I can't thank him enough for having the ability to attract the likes of petero to a place where minds like ours have a home.

Mon, 03/31/2014 - 11:33 | 4610728 Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance's picture

Sanity loves company. Just sayin'.  :-)

Mon, 03/31/2014 - 10:32 | 4610474 RockyRacoon
RockyRacoon's picture

That would be helpful.  Some thoughts on how to stir the dozing ones.  I have many names in my email file but very few to whom I forward articles on "doom and gloom", AKA, reality.  Everyone has a threshold that is the personal line over which they must cross to begin to help themselves and take the current situations seriously.  Helping them do that requires different levels of coaxing and selective references so that the threshold doesn't become the ledge of a building or the wrong end of a firearm.

Mon, 03/31/2014 - 19:08 | 4612256 Liberty2012
Liberty2012's picture

I don't doubt you; however, I have no understanding of it. I don't see how some can feel no connection to anything.

Lost or fearful is one thing, but complete denial of any beauty of life is quite another.

Even if you are too afraid too speak, there is always someone to listen to, there's always something else to consider, always something else to see.

Sun, 03/30/2014 - 17:17 | 4608478 Shad_ow
Shad_ow's picture

Absolutely.  Those of us on a similar path are inspired by experiences shared.

Sun, 03/30/2014 - 14:02 | 4608001 Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance's picture

I tend to agree. Those we are reached with the message are already looking. This is why the sleepers will sleep and there is not much we can do to awaken them.

But there are many who are beginning to stir and those are the ones we can help along. I never assume my messages will go unread and my email confirms that perspective.

Sun, 03/30/2014 - 20:05 | 4608898 spinone
spinone's picture

True, but the choir needs to keep up our spirit, for the fight is long and the spirit is weak.

Sun, 03/30/2014 - 18:25 | 4608638 UselessEater
UselessEater's picture

Even for those who are awake or awakening benefit from reading personal perspectives like this one. For some of us it clarifies a number of thoughts and ideas simply and elegantly. It articulates what I, for one, can't do so well without getting bogged down in emotion and at times overwhelmed by many 'facts' from personal research and new information.

Usually, after reading articles like these, I feel annoyed/worked up/pissed off. Reading this article was a pleasure and much was said by this gentleman in a gentle way, I actually feel more positive and confident about the life changes I am making as a result of awakening so-to-speak.

Thank you.

Sun, 03/30/2014 - 13:30 | 4607939 onelight
onelight's picture

Interesting, thoughtful perspectives, Peter & CD - thanks for putting them forth.

Sun, 03/30/2014 - 13:45 | 4607967 Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance's picture

I thought so too. Peter introduced himself to the Two Ice Floes membership and mentioned that he had spent several years as a very young man performing solitary lookout duty. I asked him if he would like to submit an article on that topic for consideration to be published on "Your Turn" on Two Ice Floes and this piece is what he submitted.

Clearly a very talented individual.

Come on boys and girls. You don't have to be a member of Two Ice Floes to submit something or to read what others have posted. Everyone has something to say so give it a try, you have nothing to lose.

There are some rules folks, so please read this first.

Sun, 03/30/2014 - 11:19 | 4607656 Laughing Stock
Laughing Stock's picture

Fucking outstanding!

Sun, 03/30/2014 - 11:02 | 4607626 whatthecurtains
whatthecurtains's picture

"Humans are far more difficult to control if they live in small clusters,"

 

Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds... learn it, live it, love it

Sun, 03/30/2014 - 13:35 | 4607952 disabledvet
disabledvet's picture

"we return to the forest."
That's why we skipped over the "Great American Desert" and headed straight to the West Coast.

"They had trees."
And when humans are threatened...they head to their forests.

We live under a State that not only practices but condones terrorism.
It practices and condones this practice on its own people.
It broadcasts said behavior to the world and does not think how this may make us appear to that world as a consequence.

"legally speaking" we are a terror state...it just hasn't been defined as such yet...nor has it been in this article either. those are nice pictures though.

Sat, 04/05/2014 - 14:59 | 4628380 dizzyfingers
dizzyfingers's picture

disabledvet  "We live under a State that not only practices but condones terrorism.

Yes, both "at home" and around the world.

One answer to the problem is to refuse to participate and refuse to hate those who refuse.

Sun, 03/30/2014 - 15:26 | 4608223 manofthenorth
manofthenorth's picture

I second the motion to recognize the Empire builders as "terrorists".

I have already withdrawn investments and initiated sanctions.

STARVE THE BEAST

Sun, 03/30/2014 - 13:32 | 4607947 gdpetti
gdpetti's picture

More difficult to control, but not conquer, and that is an essential point not mentioned in this piece. Ask the 'Native Americans' what a lack of knowledge means when confronting the unknown... who smiles in your face, but speaks with 'forked tongue' and later stabs you in the back... who will psychopathically stop at nothing to get what they want, and unless you are ready, willing and able to kill this disease, it will kill you.

IMO, the key is knowing who/what you are, and where/when you are... how doesn't hurt either, but will come in time if you survive long enough to learn more about your opponents as well as yourself. If you don't learn, you are easy prey to these human predators.

Sun, 03/30/2014 - 19:37 | 4608819 petero
petero's picture

Hello gdpedtti... This peice was already 3000 words long, far past what most people are willing to slog through. One of the readers suggested I was trying to condition them with the pretty pictures. They were right in a way.  :) I figured I needed to reduce the eyestrain at intervals so people could get through to the end.

You make a valid point about small groups being easier to conquer. What I see as a solution to that is also lengthy to flesh out, but it is high on my to do list. In the meantime in a few words.

A few small groups facing a large army are easy prey.

What is needed is a massive number of small groups.

Countless groups facing a finite army have the safety of numbers on their side.

Yes some, and probably many, indivdual small groups will be destroyed, especially early ones which will have no cover.

History suggests it only takes  7 to 10% of the population to create a successful revolution.

The army actively attacking it's own citizens on a large scale will likely set off a revolution.

Setting off revolutions is destructive to many innocent people so this needs to be thought over and discussed very carefully. 

 

Sun, 03/30/2014 - 23:37 | 4609474 Pinche Caballero
Pinche Caballero's picture

I would say it has already been fleshed out. No need to start from scratch.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Guerrilla_Warfare

You may find some of your points not completely accurate, as proven throughout history.

Again, makes my head hurt. Probably because all this stuff is beyond me.

 

Sun, 03/30/2014 - 13:54 | 4607984 hidingfromhelis
hidingfromhelis's picture

The saying, "As crowd size increases, collective IQ decreases." also explains a lot.  

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