Sheeple, look out! The scape-goats are falling from the sky!
There should be a complete field of study based on Idiot-ology, because all of us are treated like idiots by every ideology. Humans spend billions on manipulating others on a daily basis. Of course political ideology, just like religious ideology, and any other ideology, is used to make all of us idiots.
Advertisers do not dominate every billboard, magazine, newspaper and television program because marketing doesn’t work. It works well! People are basically so easily led and used, that it is really a wonder that we have survived such nonsense as crusades, inquisitions, civil wars, scape-goating of every new face on the block, be it someone of our own human race, or other species. Every movement since the beginning of time has begun with part fact, and large portions of made up propaganda.
In the USA, we are in no way immune to constant promises from every politician that the time has come for change. This time, we will work for peace and prosperity. Once in office, even the most sincere politician finds they must contend with a system based on back room deals, special interests, competing programs, an inflexible two party system, and just plain abuse of power and the ever present influence of money and corruption.
We see and hear constant, and more extreme scape-goating as things go from bad to worse. If you examine history and see how every war ever launched was based on some perceived injustice, to which whole blame was laid at the feet of the enemy, we can learn something about just how gullible and self destructive humans as a group are willing to be.
Hitler’s Germany, Stalin’s Russia, and Mao’s China, it must be remembered were all based on high ideals of the good, and just, triumphing over the inferior, or the elite, or some version of the “other.” Never mind that every bloody regime ends up murdering many thousands of their own people. In fact, despite racism in the world being very real, most murder is committed by immediate family, and neighbors.
History reveals Romans killing Gaels; Germans killing Polish, French, and English; Hutus killing Tutsis. And so it goes. There are also these insidious things called civil wars, in which we all must learn to hate, in order to kill, our own kin. The agenda of late is that you should hate Muslims, immigrants, non-patriots, gays, and anyone who is not part of the one percent wealthiest people on earth.
Don’t ever delude yourself for one moment that you are not capable of being considered the bad guy, or that you will not stand by while horrible things are done on your behalf. All of us are capable of being corrupted, and all manipulation depends upon that. Curiously, however, as soon as we are aware of it, the very fact of our susceptibility diminishes. It is almost as though seeing the mama grizzly bear with an AK47 on your front porch is a signal to go back into your house and lock the door. When we identify the threat we can step away.
Ideology is an ideal that quickly turns to pure manipulation as soon as people need to sell the great idea to the general public. How can you tell you are being manipulated, how will you know a politician, or a spokesperson is misleading you? That is easy. Their lips move. And there is lots of swelling music, flag waving, emotional appeals about how so and so has done you wrong and must be voted out of office, or how so and so, is a pure person of the people, and will fight for you and your “ideals.” When it is non specific and no real issues are raised, only emotional hackles and accusations, you can be certain you are being manipulated.
After September 11, 2001 movements swept in that took every opportunity to garner public support for lifting regulations on corporations. Wall street had a field day and began to believe a myth of infinite “growth,” the administration expanded powers of office while restricting more rights of common people, and made every effort to invade other nations on the pretext of being patriotic. Although thousands of innocent civilians and our own troops died, the price paid was not to the public good, but to private concerns. When greed finally toppled the wealthiest of the wealthy, we were tapped to pay those bills as well.
Progress is a curious thing to try to quantify. We measure progress by such things as the economy, and production of material goods. Looked at from the point of view of those that lose their land, such as Native Americans, or from the factual decline of all resources that are finite, progress is not the right word. In fact from the point of view of all exploited resources, and peoples; progress could be termed conquest, or even aniliation.
In the over all shape of life on earth, however, a profound change has occurred that questions whether using up every natural resource, and fully exploiting to the point of exhaustion, every fuel, forest, and frontier is civilized, or just plain stupid. The sheeple are beginning to look up.
Once they see past all the scape-goats raining down on us from a barrage of ideological double speak, we see which part of the sky is falling, and which part is intact.
You will hear a lot of babble about climate change being a hoax, or about scientists making up data. Don’t listen to any hype. Judge for yourself if you think it is wise to pollute a planet, put short term profits before long term life, or make food and water fresh, clean and affordable for living organisms. Always question the motives of say a major polluter who wants to protect energy “jobs.”
Green jobs are legitimate jobs too; clean, renewable energy deserves a chance to at least be attempted.
Follow the money. If you see that the money is benefiting you, in better health care, education, regulation, non-wasteful defense, sound infra-structure and so on, good. If you can’t find where the money went, such as what vanishes into insurance companies, giant corporations, and roaring political machinery, demand your say in where your labor and toil goes, and what you gain from it.
