Welcome To the Insane Asylum – Our Collective Psychosis

By Cognitive Dissonance

An Exploration in Five Chapters

This series was originally published on www.ZeroHedge.com during the

month of June 2010. After you finish the series, may I suggest you consider
reviewing the voluminous comments left by hundreds after reading each of
these articles in situ and which weren’t reproduced here? Sometimes there’s
more to be gained from reading the collective consciousness than there is in
reading the author.

This series was not professionally edited so please grin and bear the
occasional lapses in spelling and grammar. I’m an amateur in every sense of
the word. As well, this series was crudely broken into five (more or less)
equal parts and the flow and tempo suffers from my butchery.

Thank you.

Cognitive Dissonance

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/welcome-insane-asylum-%E2%80%93-
our-collective-psychosis-chapter-one

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/welcome-insane-asylum-%E2%80%93-
our-collective-psychosis-chapter-2

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/welcome-insane-asylum-or-how-we-
learned-stop-worrying-and-love-big-lie-chapter-3

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/welcome-insane-asylum-%E2%80%93-
making-reality-fresh-daily-chapter-4

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/welcome-insane-asylum-%E2%80%93-
seeking-moral-courage-chapter-5
 Chapter 1

All Aboard the Crazy Train.

All amusement park rides have one characteristic in common. Regardless of

the twists and turns of the experience, the exit is always at the end. This
examination of our collective and individual dysfunction, our insanity, follows
a similar path. We start with the identification of a few of the bigger picture
issues, then move closer for a critical inspection of several of the individual
and cultural dynamics and end with some guidance towards the lighted exit
sign and one possible way out.

I’ve never been more confident in humanity’s ability to finally throw off the
chains that bind. But (and there’s always a “but”) this can only be
accomplished using the powerfully disinfecting sunlight of awareness and
understanding. This is usually achieved through self reflection, self
actualization and eventually enlightenment. A common misperception among
many is that the general population is not intelligent enough to become
aware and enlightened. The awakening process has nothing to do with our
IQ and everything to do with our EQ or Emotional Quotient.

If we can be conditioned by fear and narcissistic naval gazing to be self

destructive, we can be encouraged to be emotionally and spiritually healthy
as long as we don’t look to our leaders for guidance. In fact, we must not
transfer the responsibility for our own well being to others for this is simply
an invitation to manipulate and extort us. There’s no single solution, no
magic button to be pushed that makes everything better, allowing us to go
back to our comfortable insanity. Ultimately our own unique journey is a
deeply personal and individual experience and while the direction is clear,
the path is customized by each journey.

There is no softer easier way, no short cut through the maze and no one to
walk the path for us. I know this because of my long and at times difficult
personal experience overcoming self erected obstacles as well as those
placed there by my culture and country. I’ve tried every path I could
possibly imagine before eventually settling on the only one I could find with
an exit. That alone should be encouraging to many because until a few years
ago I didn’t think there was a way out.
And I’m not alone because many people I talk to still feel it’s hopeless. The
question (in my mind at least) is no longer can we save ourselves but what’s
the process that must be followed in order to make the lasting changes
needed to not only survive but grow and prosper. Make no mistake about
what I’m saying; there will be pain no matter what we do or don’t do. But
there is pain during healing as well as pain during destruction and we have a
choice.

Swimming in the Shipping Channel of Life

The answers are deceptively simple, which makes it difficult for most people
to accept when we’ve been conditioned to believe that complexity requires
complex solutions. Nothing could be further from the truth. When one finds
they’ve dug themselves into a hole, the first rule to follow is to stop digging.
Since we’ve been trained all our lives that digging’s what we do, it’s almost
heretical to ponder anything else. Considering how our narrow view benefits
certain select “others” we should question everything we believe once we’ve
stopped digging and are looking for a way out.

As with all my work, I ask the reader to consume it in it’s entirely, in the
order presented and to leave all sections in context. I’ve broken this essay
into multiple parts (5 at this point) for easier consumption. But it really
doesn’t work unless it’s read as a continuous thought process. So I suggest
you read each section in order because this isn’t 5 independent articles, but
rather one article broken into 5 separate pieces.

Each section won’t necessarily make sense on its own unless you’ve read the
preceding sections. Even then it might not make any sense, but I’m only
responsible for my insanity. You’re on your own. This silliness started out as
a one or two page blurb but quickly morphed into Godzilla like proportions.
Consider it the insane leading the insane and have some fun while
expanding your mind.

May I also suggest that you read each section twice, something I usually do
when reading anything new? Reading it the first time trips all the objections
my ego comes up with, which exposes my deep conditioning and
indoctrination. My ego always defends my consciousness from the inevitable
cognitive dissonance I experience when I read something that contradicts
what I think I believe.
Basically my ego lies to me and then defends those lies using the pain of
cognitive dissonance. The first reading clears out all those trip wires and
leads the way for the second reading, which talks directly to the reasoning,
common sense and empathy centers of my consciousness. If I really enjoyed
what I’ve read, it gets a third reading for the pure joy of it. And of course to
make sure the new conditioning has been properly assimilated.

Have you ever noticed how upon reading something a second time, you’ll
often find words, sentences, even entire paragraphs you somehow missed
the first time around? It’s amazing how blind we are when our ego gets in
the way. Since this essay discusses subjects that are not exactly consensus
opinion, expect to experience a few ego elevator drops.

I also swim pretty far from the pier of the commonly accepted understanding
of “reality” in the later sections of this essay so expect some disorientation
and wrinkled fingers and toes. The good news is that I’m beginning to find
physicists and various other scientists swimming in the “what is reality”
discussion philosophers have had to themselves for centuries. So at least we
won’t be alone as we tread water near the shipping channel buoys. I do
hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it. I’m sure you’ll let
me know in the comments section.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

In an alternative universe such as Disney’s Magic Kingdom or Baum’s

Wonderful Wizard of Oz, it’s always easy to distinguish the good guys from
the bad, the truth from the lie. It usually has something to do with horned
red devils and fire breathing dragons, with cotton tail bunnies and bizarre
flying monkeys. We were weaned from mother’s breast with mythical tales
of gallant white knights and long haired princesses, ancient stories originally
intended to inform us of life’s wisdoms, pitfalls and hazards.

But our modern myths and fairy tales only serve to obscure, propagandize
and pacify. Rarely do we question the content of anything we consume that’s
entering through our five (six) senses. If a new offering appears to be
reasonably consistent with what was recently consumed, access is granted
with little or no critical assessment. Just go with the flow dude because it’s
coming straight at you in torrents. After all what harm could a few TV
sitcoms and dramas do to us, let alone the news? I certainly know when
someone’s pulling my strings don’t you?

Most of us rarely consider the possibility that much of what we “know” isn’t
actually based in reality, but is in effect a shared illusion, an unspoken and
shared understanding between the natives. Our modern world is readily
accepted and acted upon simply because there’s no serious consideration
given to alternatives. After all, someone’s watching the store, right? We’re
placed on an endless tread mill beginning around age 5 (some would say
even earlier) and we’re assured this is normal and natural and everything
that can be expected.

I know what I know because my parents and teachers taught me, my

government and corporate approved propaganda reinforced it and now my
TV and Internet are reinforcing the reinforcement. So it must be true simply
because it all adds up to a staggering preponderance of evidence. We’re
assured it’s all as real as an eighteen wheeler hard on our ass and trying to
pass. Besides, everyone else pretty much believes the same thing we do
with only minor variations. They can’t all be wrong! So don’t fight it, just go
with the flow.

However, upon closer examination, much of this evidence is validated

through circular logic, with Alpha supporting Beta which supports Alpha
which supports Beta. On those rare occasions when contrary information
enters the system and startles our consciousness, it’s quickly washed out as
an outlier or fat finger. Madness and insanity, or dysfunction for those faint
of heart who object to strong terms, is always self reinforcing, self
perpetuating, self replicating and tolerates no contradictions. It is pure in
form and function.

Unfortunately the world we live in isn’t quite as black and white as our story
books, moving media and authority figures would have us believe. Instead,
like some choking coal smoke that settles into every crack and crevice, we
see nothing but endless permutations of gray wherever we gaze. It’s not
very satisfying, is it? Where are the clear cut boundaries, where good begins
and evil decays? Where are the brightly colored super heroes to contrast the
dark evil villains? We can’t always tell them apart when they’re all covered in
shades of gray.
I Can See Clearly Now, the Gray is Gone.

But wait, I think I know how to see through the haze. All it takes is an
adjustment to my perception, a new set of spectacles for my senses. Like an
old black and white TV, our most important sensory control knobs are
brightness and contrast located between the ears. Between the two,
everything can be brought into sharper focus. I’ll just be the good guy and
everyone else can be bad. I can see clearly now, the gray is gone. It’s gonna
be a bright bright sun-shiny day.

A consistent theme in various articles and comments are the angry

denunciations of those (never ours, always they or them or those) evil
bankers and corporations, the complicit mass media, a compliant regulatory
authority and droves of corrupt government officials at the highest levels.
And don’t forget the dead-to-the-world great unwashed masses. We
complain they’re all engaged in an unprecedented (at least for modern
times) take no prisoners thieving and feeding frenzy of those very same
masses. And somehow we’re different, separated from the masses and the
evil doers by our understanding and awareness of the fix that’s in.

Of course (we tell ourselves) this is being orchestrated by the powers that
be, which can usually be found cowering behind the heavy curtains of the
control system. They’re the ones pushing the levers and pulling the puppet
strings, enslaving us with their fiat currency pushed by the black banking
cabal without our consent and against our will. Here’s the proof, in black and
white. Can’t you see it, there’s Professor Plum in the parlor with the
candlestick?

And all of this may very well be entirely true. In fact, I believe much of it is.
But it’s also mostly irrelevant to the one thing many of us are searching for
in this filthy stinking mess. While it’s not voiced very often in the articles and
comments, the great unanswered questions of this epic disaster are basic.
Why is this happening? How are “they” able to get away with it? What is it
about man that permits this cycle of greed and corruption to build to a
climax and then recede, endlessly repeating the same cycle since well before
Christ the Son of God or Ra the Sun God?

When will we accept that “they/them/those” won’t fix anything and it’s up to
us to lead so that our leaders can follow? In the biggest paradox of them all,
the underlying presumption is always that the machine itself works
reasonably well if only the madmen were removed from the controls. But
who put them there in the first place and won’t they just be replaced with
more? We don’t question the basic systems, only the perceived faults of
individual parts and mechanisms. We fiddle with the wires, connections and
duct tape while the bomb is still ticking, collectively oblivious to the obvious.

I assure you with absolute certainty that I don’t have all the answers. But I
can also assure you with equal certainty that we’ll never find the answers
unless and until the questions that really matter are not only asked and
examined, but that it’s done honestly and openly. In a world gone mad,
sanity won’t be embraced or embodied until we examine our own insanity.
Otherwise all we’re doing is soothing the savage beast within until this cycle
ends and the next cycle of madness begins, bringing with it the next turning
of humanity upon itself. While the reader may complain that I ask too much
of us, that the problems are too big and the powers too strong; consider that
it may only appear that way because we see the issue as one huge problem.
This is an illusion.

Icons of Insanity

I’m using the words insane and madness in this essay not only to grab your
attention but because I believe those are the proper words to use. But the
inherent problem in using them is that the popular perception of insanity has
been shaped by novels and TV. When one sees or hears the words insanity
or madness, most people instantly visualize a serial killer randomly stalking
victims before slashing them to pieces. Or maybe one thinks of a totally
dysfunctional asylum inmate zonked out on Thorazine, specks of spittle
clinging to his lower lip while drool drips down the side of his mouth. Our
popular culture is chock full of these images, from A Clockwork Orange to a
Freddy Krueger. For the purposes of this essay, wash those images from
your mind because our collective insanity is much more presentable and
socially acceptable.

Despite these image problems, I’m still going to use the words repeatedly
because the reader needs to understand that I do mean deranged, not fully
aware, acting strangely or at cross purposes to one’s own long term survival.
Some of the words used in the definition of mad or insane help to explain
my meaning further, such as mentally disturbed, extremely foolish or
unwise, imprudent, irrational, confused, extreme impulsiveness, unsafe,
wildly impractical or foolish, ill-advised, dangerous, senseless, reckless,
unsound, maniacal, angry or ill-tempered. You get the picture.

I expect the reader’s ego response to being accused of insanity might be

immediate and visceral and quite possibly insulting. I ask that you push past
that initial impulse and understand that there are various levels of insanity,
including high functioning and socially adapted. If you’ve come this far in the
essay, let’s go the rest of the way. It’ll only hurt until the Thorazine kicks in.

Our Cultural Insane Asylum– Welcome to the Machine

The economic, social and political atrocity we’re not only witnessing but
living isn’t their insanity, it’s our insanity; individually, collectively and
culturally. This insanity, our insanity, is being outwardly manifested in
individuals and groups, effectively in all of us to some degree or another. We
our engulfed by our insanity in the same manner some wretched character
in a Greek or Shakespearian tragedy is consumed by an angry God, the devil
or some other ill-tempered spirit. Today’s modern calamity is the compiled
manifestation, expression, reflection and symptom of all the ugly lies, half
truths, spin and self deceptions our society leaves unsaid, does not discus,
hushes up, hides from view and buries in the back yard of our minds.

Our inner dysfunction, while most certainly affecting us personally, is also

expressed outwardly through us individually and collectively and in varying
degrees and manner. And sometimes it’s focused within certain people
and/or groups of people. Or more accurately, our collective insanity is acted
out by or within certain people or groups of people. Does this concept sound
farfetched or even crazy? Why is it so easy for us to recognize someone
else’s insanity or to see that a group of people are acting crazy or insanely
and yet not see it within ourselves or in our own culture? Why can’t we
recognize that we might very well have the same insane or unstable
tendencies as those we’re pointing towards? Are we pointing our fingers
away from us so that we may deny the source?

Why do we so easily accept the concept of herd mentality, that people,

either physically grouped into crowds or scattered throughout the world, can
act as one (think of the markets) yet we reject this concept when it comes
to madness, insanity or dysfunction? Why do we readily accept the phrase
“The world went mad during WW 2” yet not think it was our own individual
madness that we and the world were acting out? Why do we always exclude
ourselves in part or whole from those or them?

Maybe we do accept the statement but don’t see how it relates to us. I know
a few people who easily accept the idea that the world can/could/did go mad
but not him or her. So are we saying it was everyone else that was insane
but not us? If so, does this not illustrate our own dysfunction, to think we
would be immune and not affected by what’s tormenting the entire world?
We seem to have this serious mental and emotional block that prevents us
from seeing the obvious. Of course, it’s our ego that’s blocking our vision
and awareness, a subject I’ve examined in more depth in a prior article.

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/end-empire-waking-zombie-nations-
psychology-consciousness-and-egoic-mind

Precisely because of our intellectual and emotional inconsistency, helped

along by our self deception, we can delude ourselves into thinking we’re OK.
Often we’re encouraged in this self deception by outside forces that fan the
flames of self delusion for control and manipulation purposes. One of the
many ways is through the display of individuals who are obviously and
intentionally different from us. They’re usually close enough to us for easy
comparison thanks to TV and the Internet. But don’t dwell too long on the
comparison because that might ignite self reflection. So the control system
relies on quick glimpses that satisfy our need to feel superior, and thus
separate, before the next manipulative image is presented.

Cultural Insanity Reinforcement - American Idol Style

Consider that a key component of the American Idol talent “competition” is

the initial programs, where fool after fool is paraded before us. The canned
laugh track encourages us to laugh and mock their inferiority and non
conformity, thus enabling us to feel comfortable with our homogenization
and normality. This concept is ripped from the pages of 1984, where the
carrot and stick approach is used to corral us into the hamster pens to work
another day.

The carrot is acceptance by the welcoming and nurturing hive, where group
think is rewarded and uniformity and conformity is applauded. The stick is to
publically ridicule anything that the hive considers abnormal and thus
subhuman, which of course can’t be a part of the hive. It’s unthinkable to
suffer this, a fate worse than death that of banishment from the hive. See
how abnormal those dancing and singing fools are? Only a crazy person
would allow themselves to sing that poorly or act that stupidly on TV.

Carefully mixed in with the fools are the soon to be “discovered” hidden
gems, which look just like you and I. Our mediocrity is validated because
those gems look just like everyday people who escaped from the streets.
“Oh look honey, another slave has escaped. I could as well if I practiced
harder on my clarinet and got that boob job. If I work some overtime for the
next few months at the hamster wheel factory ………”

I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the more talented contestants aren’t

seeded into the show by the producers. There are many ways to do so.
Regardless, the result has the intended effect; wonderfully talented but
tragically and unfairly ignored men and women (invisible nobody’s like you
and I) are finally discovered, their hidden talents recognized and validated
by the world. They’ve hit the big time and they fulfill every person’s fantasy
through emotional transference, thanks to perseverance and our 50” HD
surround sound LCD TV.

And the fools, after being stripped naked and displayed for the crowd to jeer
and stone, are thrown out of the hive as unwanted trash, not even worth the
nickel deposit, their part of the charade now complete. Later, as some of the
formerly hidden gems rise up the ranks (watch carefully how they’re steadily
transformed with coaching, makeup and costumes) we allow ourselves to
follow along, nurturing our fantasy that this too could be us. Thus we ascend
God like into the glow of the adoring public, enabling us to feel superior
while we wallow in our mediocrity.

And don’t forget the text voting, that wonderfully democratic principal that
allows us all to participate in the crowning of our next plastic Idol on the
dashboard of life. It must be true that I’m a singing fool because my fellow
slaves elected me to the throne. The genius of American Idol is not in the
music, costumes and coaching, it’s the magic that happens in the editing
room and the manipulated voting.

Would Goebbels Like Reality TV?

There’s an extremely good reason why “reality” television shows are so
popular. While we’re encouraged to suspend reality while watching regular
TV dramas in order to enjoy the program, we consciously know it isn’t real,
though unconsciously we make no such distinction. But with “reality”
television it’s real, right? It not only could happen but it is happening. Isn’t
that the entire concept of “reality” TV, that it’s real?

Leaving aside the understanding that “reality” TV is highly choreographed

and elaborately staged; the illusion is that it’s real. This allows the viewer to
be swept up along with the contestants as they morph from cocoon to
butterfly, taking fictional character empathy and self identification by the
viewer to much higher levels than previously thought possible. Goebbels,
who until now had been the anointed master of the “Big Lie”, must be
screaming in a jealous rage as he rots in his grave. And you thought this
was just a talent show or a competition of “survival” on a tropical island.

This method of cultural conditioning is highly effective even when the viewer
is aware of the dynamic, just as long as that person is somewhat dissatisfied
with their life and is searching for meaning and understanding outside of
themselves rather than within. And the higher the IQ and financial earning
power of an individual, the higher the likelihood they’ll be searching,
particularly among those who are growing weary of our consumer culture.

Some are beginning to recognize that we’ve been conditioned to believe

happiness can only be found in an automobile or an iPhone. But where do we
look when the hive actively discourages exploring anywhere but on the TV.
After all, isn’t that the purpose of American Idol, to inform you of what’s
acceptable and what’s not?

Look at the viewer demographics of American Idol for the proof. The average
Idol (Idle?) viewer is anything but run of the mill in nearly all the
demographics, with higher than average IQ and better than average income.
This is you and I folks, not simply the average blue collar beer swilling Joe
we like to point to as the problem cattle in the mindless herd. I’ve seen the
cattle and the cattle are us.

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

We as individuals, as a culture and a society, are only as sick as our deepest
darkest secrets and lies. And all those buried and unspoken falsehoods
surround us like an endless unmarked and unexplored mine field. On top of
that, the lies we tell ourselves and each other in order to ignore this mine
field add to the dishonesty that we live with and within. They fester inside
our psyche, like swarms of virus bots consuming resources and destroying
perceptions and pathways.

Have you ever wondered why confession, the purging of the “soul” of past
transgressions, is so therapeutic and cleansing? How could this be unless lies
and self deception truly are harmful to the mind/body harmony? I’m not
talking religion here, I’m talking inner balance. If one is to believe in
personal evolution, isn’t rigorous honesty beneficial to a long and healthy
life? When navigating the jungle of life, you won’t last long if you’re in denial
of your situation and are intentionally oblivious to that saber toothed tiger or
that inner city bus. Though I guess that’s two ways to ineffectively scatter
your seed.

So does it really matter whether the dangers are physical or spiritual if the
damage is ultimately as severe? I’ve spent some time studying indigenous
cultures and very few (if any) developed such a dishonest and deceptive
culture as ours is today. These indigenous cultures flourished for hundreds if
not thousands of years and many would still thrive today if they hadn’t come
into contact with us. We came in peace, my childhood textbook claimed,
written by the “winner” if that matters. All we wanted was everything we
wanted. What so bad about that?

Ours is a culture that honors the glory and sanctity of God and humanity.
And we constantly remind ourselves of this as we hack our way through one
culture after another in a desperate attempt to rid the world of the cancer
their sanity and harmony with self and nature represent to our own world.
Our culture mocked their medicine men and shamans as primitive witch
doctors at the same time we were bleeding people of evil spirits and burning
witches. Oops, did I say that with my out loud voice? That’s sacrilege after
all, with the penalty now my choice, that of being burned at the stake or
excommunication from the hive.

The indigenous shaman was by far the most important member of their
culture, healing sickness they believed could be traced back to a
soul/body/spiritual imbalance. But they also guided the individual and the
tribe’s consciousness forward, teaching their fellow man of the dangers and
pitfalls inherent in any culture that worshiped self above all else. They
warned their members of the hazard of endless accumulation and ego
domination rather than harmony with a world in which they must co-exist or
perish.

Their spiritual and cultural histories often reached back thousands of years
and taped into an ancient wisdom and understanding that withstood the test
of time, evident in both their healthy existence as well as the environment
they lived within, not on or in spite of. Sounds like deep and valuable
wisdom from where I stand and precisely why they were killed as quickly as
they were discovered. They were heretics and would act as strong antibiotics
if they were introduced into the European and American cultural virus. We
couldn’t even take the chance of trying assimilation, instead relying on the
tried and true extermination.

Kill Baby Kill

We as individuals and as a culture simply cannot destroy living beings, be

they human, animal or plant, in such large quantities and with such speed
without imbibing a daily dose of lies and self deception to kill the pain of our
own sickness and insanity. To actually comprehend the death and
destruction by our own hand with even a minimal level of empathy or
compassion would assure its immediate cessation. I wonder if that’s why our
soldier’s bodies come home at midnight and the wholesale killing is either
sanitized or completely missing from our TV and other mass media.

I certainly don’t have the stomach for this business and I suspect neither do
you. While I understand I cannot covet my neighbor’s wife and daughter, I
feel no discomfort if I covet his oil and other natural resources. So as a
society we ensure the resulting blood doesn’t splatter us and that death
remains at a safe distance when we forward position our home grown
madmen to oversee our neighbor’s destruction. Kill baby kill.

And so slowly but surely, helped along with generous portions of self serving
propaganda, the dehumanization of those “savage and primitive races”
(today aka as terrorists) is complete and our population is infected with
blood lust and material infatuation. And the rest, as they say, is bloody
history; though you won’t find this version in any acceptably sanitized school
text book.

Our culture is plagued with school shootings, serial killers (government

sponsored or otherwise) conducting mass murder, state sponsored genocide,
fast food obesity and pill popping to kill our emotional and spiritual pain. And
of course don’t forget the constant mindless consumption to placate an
emotional and spiritual emptiness that can never be soothed by material
balms. But we can die trying, can’t we? And we call ourselves sane.

The shaman was a healer in the broadest since of the word and the spiritual
center and source of wisdom and guidance for the tribe. The indigenous
cultures were dependent upon their shaman to remain spiritually centered
and physically healthy. Once they were gone, any surviving tribesmen
quickly succumbed to the insanity of the Europeans once their spiritual
anchors were uprooted and destroyed.

Have you ever wondered why there are hundreds of stories of early
European and American settlers in North America that willingly lived among
and within these “primitive” cultures? Once the non natives (the white man)
had been thoroughly assimilated into these cultures, why did so many of
them want to stay and even fought against their old countrymen in order to
remain within their adopted cultural families? These cultural adoptees talked
about being the happiest and most fulfilled they’d ever been and how for the
first time in their lives they felt at peace, both with themselves and with
those around them.

How could this occur in a culture that supposedly had nothing to offer the
modern world? What could these “backward” cultures possibly offer the so-
called “civilized” Europeans and Americans that would be more attractive
than what they already possessed? Is it possible that our culture has lied to
us about these things and potentially much more? Could it be that our
culture isn’t healthy for us, is in fact killing us? Might it be we’re being used
and abused by our own culture for the benefit of others, that this isn’t a
natural state for humanity and that this disturbance we feel is the source of
our insanity?

I find it very revealing that the North American Indian has the highest rate
of alcoholism and drug dependency in this country. It makes sense when
you consider that once stripped of their cultural support and defensive
systems, their shamans and nurturing culture, the original source of their
strength and spiritual health, that they would seek a substitute elsewhere.
Consider how you would feel if you visited heaven and felt the warm
embrace of peace and happiness, only to be ripped from its breast kicking
and screaming and deposited into hell. Maybe we should have their
descendants consult our technology Gods to find a solution to their spiritual
unhappiness and mental illness. You know what; I bet there’s an app for
that.

Cognitive Dissonance - 06/02/2010

Welcome To the Insane Asylum – Our Collective Psychosis
Chapter 2

By Cognitive Dissonance

Materialism as Suicide

I’m always fascinated how I’m able to maintain two (or more) contrary views
or beliefs in my mind, often without being aware they represent opposite
positions. This of course makes them illogical and unsustainable. Inevitably,
when I find myself troubled or irritable, a careful inward search usually finds
a cognitive dissonance creating havoc in my mind which is often deliberately
hidden from me by my ego. The sign of this dissonance is invariably the
emotional pain or trauma I’m feeling at the moment. Sometimes I
experience it as a fight or flight sense of panic that suddenly takes hold.
Wow! Where’d that come from?

Why is it that every time I find some hidden cognitive contradiction or

discord, it’s nearly always being promoted or obscured by my ego? There
seems to be constant conflict between my unconscious, which is all seeing
and knowing, my ego, where much of our daily business of living is
conducted, and my conscious awareness, which now-a-days isn’t all that
aware.

Why is my ego constantly shielding me from perceived dangers that may or

may not really be harmful? Don’t I want to know the truth, to be aware of
my world? Often when I explore these conflicts I find that some of these
dissonances are trivial, almost like little white lies. But the ego doesn’t hide
each conflict as a self contained unit, intact and in one place. They’re
scattered all over the place because each piece is often used in multiple
distortions and deceits, almost like an intelligent operating system
conserving scarce resources and hard drive space. Only in this case, the
intelligent operating system, aka the ego, intends to self deceive by way of
subterfuge or outright lies.

It seems so contrary to common sense for the ego, which is clearly not well
suited to managing our affairs on a daily basis, to be front and center 24/7.
This conundrum led me to research the subject and much has been written
on this by many authors to date. An interesting theory is that some
catastrophic event or trauma experienced by our ancestors thousands of
years ago catapulted our ego forward from its former reserve status as
emergency manager in waiting. Julian Jaynes published some ideas on this
subject back in 1976, ideas that are finally receiving the attention they
deserve, principally because the science of imaging our brain while
performing tasks has substantiated many of Jaynes suppositions.

The many suspected reasons for this egoic change are beyond the scope of
this article. But it does seem clear that earth’s biological system has suffered
severe damage because we (our ego) aren’t cooperating with nature. As I
said earlier, our insanity doesn’t appear to serve our ultimate evolutionary
purposes, though there are plenty of people who will argue that human
activity is quite natural and normal. Ironically, insanely, we’ve convinced
ourselves we’re normal when our actions might best be described as self will
run riot. Many have inferred that our materialism is directly related to our
egoic mind.

I’ve often wondered if the sequence isn’t the other way around, that as
certain human cultures became more materialistic over the past three or
four thousand years, they became increasingly toxic and ill from their
growing self centered materialistic way of life. For the sake of this
discussion, assume that materialism is ultimately unhealthy for humans for a
whole host of reasons, a view I feel is unquestionably correct. If so, then the
ego would see this materialistic “condition” as a continuous emergency,
requiring the ego to remain front and center in order to “save” our
consciousness and body from ourselves by shielding us from our most
destructive tendencies.

This would be similar to our immune system rallying to protect our body
from toxins that enter the body, even if we accidentally or intentionally
ingested the toxins. The immune system (ego) protects itself by protecting
the host, meaning us. Without the host body, the immune system (ego) has
no function or ability to exist, thus it defends us from all attacks, even
suicidal attacks by us against ourselves, either individually or collectively.
The ego would be acting in much the same way the computers on those
Mars rovers do, where various failsafe modes kick in when things start to go
wrong. If nothing else, live to fight another day, even if the one we’re
fighting is ourselves.
Our immune system doesn’t make value or moral judgments of the crisis or
the host and neither does our ego. Nor would we want our emergency back-
up system, the ego, to make value judgments in order to determine if it
should step in or not because it might just make the wrong one. When its
only purpose is to keep the system (us) alive, nothing else matters if the
system is under attack. Maybe the ego is shielding us from our madness in
order to protect us for as long as possible from our insanity?

Egoic Moral Suasion

Interestingly, from another point of view, this could all be a positive

feedback loop gone terribly wrong. Maybe it was some ancient trauma that
brought forward our formerly waiting-in-the-wings emergency manger to full
time duty. But by being up front all the time rather than in the background,
the ego is causing terrible long term destruction and distortions within us
primarily because of the extremely blunt and unbalanced tools (mostly fear)
it uses to control/influence us. We must remember that our ego sees itself
as a separate entity and not necessarily “us”.

As the ego tries to clean up or control the mess caused by its constant
presence, maybe it turned our natural tendency to store supplies for lean
times into a materialistic obsession as some sort of a diversion from the
chaos. The captain always makes sure there’s plenty of work to keep the
crew busy, particularly during unsettled times. Remember that the ego is not
bound by logic or rational reasoning, only by the desire for both the ego and
the host to survive using the equivalent of moral suasion. Mostly this means
fear, which can manifest as greed, lust, gluttony and other not so obvious
fear based emotions. I’m basically talking about the 7 deadly sins.

The result might explain our current mad dash into materialism, which is
promoted by our ego in order to distract us from the damage caused by the
ego being in constant control and doing a poor job of it. In my view, our
insanity is caused in part by our out-of-control ever present ego and partly
because we have so completely separated from our center, our core being
that for yens of thousands of years lived in harmony with nature. These two
causes are not mutually exclusive and actually fit quite well together.

An example of this distraction would be the way we attempt to distract a

crying baby with sounds, music or moving objects to divert their attention
from their discomfort or trauma. Consider all the brightly colored toys you
dangle in front of your son or daughter to quiet them down when they’re
loudly letting you know they’re unhappy. The impulse to do this is definitely
present in all of us, even if we don’t have children. Sit behind a crying baby
on a plane and you’ll do anything to calm the infant short of jumping off the
plane or physically hurting the child. This includes silly faces for the baby
and angry faces for the mother.

Regardless we need to explain, or at least to understand, man’s suicidal

obsession and addiction to materialism if we’re going to cope with our
present condition. While there are many people on both sides of this
argument, from my point of view man clearly does not co-exist with nature.
This is contrary to the actions and behavior of nearly every single plant and
animal species on earth, at least those who have not passed into extinction,
a path we seem to be following.

I’ve always had a great distaste for the popularly held concept of evolution
as “survival of the fittest”. If we look closely we see that in nature, it’s
“survival of those who fit best within the whole” that best describes how
Mother Nature works. And also our best chance for long term survival. Our
delusion that technology alone will save us from ourselves is the best
example I can use to illustrate our insanity. Nature in my opinion is the
ultimate cooperative effort for the betterment of the whole, an egalitarian
state if ever there was one. Passages in the Bible instructing us to hold
dominion over the earth, including everything on it, seems to be a
rationalization for breaking the sacred contract all inhabitants of Earth are
bound by.

Let me step back to the original thought of our ego protecting us from our
materialism. Since the ego is the emergency manager of the consciousness
and the host body, it would make sense for the ego to see this unnatural
materialism as a threat, both to itself and to the host body/consciousness.
Because the ego is currently untethered, the ego would handle this situation
the best way it could, using the only tools at its disposal, that of fear, self
deception and self deceit. Humans (as we currently are) have existed for
tens of thousands of years. So from the ego’s point of view, this short period
of insanity (the past couple thousand years) must simply be suffered
through until our collective sanity returns. Maybe our ego really is protecting
us from ourselves until we get better. I went insane and all I got was this
lousy T-shirt and a megalomaniac ego.

The native cultures of nearly all the continents were rarely as materialistic as
the Europeans and Americans, despite possessing equal if not greater
intelligence. And, at least for the North and South American native cultures,
equal access to natural resources. So what happened? Why did the
Europeans tribes diverge from hundreds of similar cultures scattered
throughout the world thousands of years ago, forsaking a more natural and
homeopathic relationship with the earth for the naval gazing narcissistic
materialistic approach that eventually destroyed (and is still destroying) all
those cultures unlucky enough to be blessed with our presence?

Since every other culture had the same opportunity to break off, and for the
most part did not, what came over the Europeans? Why were they afflicted
with this insanity? From this point of view, our “Material Girl” culture might
truly be a mental/spiritual sickness or illness as I’ve been suggesting when I
call us insane. The native American Indians (to name just one indigenous
culture) express exactly this opinion, calling it the white man’s disease.
Consider that the duties of the shaman were to teach his people how to keep
the ego under control and in the back seat of the canoe. How and why did it
all go wrong in Europe? It appears that this materialism truly began to fester
as Europe came out of the Dark Ages.

While the entire world was also immersed in this Dark Age, the other
cultures did not seem to be as afflicted as the Europeans. Look at the Muslim
Middle East, the Far East of China and Japan; even Africa and the Americas
didn’t suffer as Europe did. These regions exited the dark ages more or less
intact. Was this where the ego virus finally took control and infiltrated the
human mind, in Europe during the dark ages? If only we could call upon
Sherman and Mr. Peabody and their WABAC (“wayback”) machine for a trip
back in time. I suspect we would find that our (winners) history books would
need to be revised.

It’s Not Me, It’s You.

Regardless of the reasons for our insanity, the biggest and most destructive
lie of all is the one about those/they/them being the evil perpetrators and
me/us/we being the innocent victims. We cannot see, let alone conceive,
that living among and within our secret lies, self deceptions and illusions is
what’s driving us mad and thus how false the perception of “us” and “them”
are. We’re all part of a living breathing economic and social system and
while on the surface there are definite distinctions, we’re all co-dependent.

Since nearly all of the intellectual, cultural and religious reference points that
supposedly show us we’re sane were constructed by our insanity to feed and
reinforce our insanity, how can we trust them? I suspect this alone would
drive us all quickly mad if not for the inner resource we all posses, the
capability to recognize and understand “truth” at our very core.

I’m talking about our sixth sense, our gut, our instinct, that natural or innate
impulse, inclination or tendency inherent in all of us to one degree or
another. And which we’ve been conditioned to ignore, even reject, in favor
of a “higher” influence, that of technology by way of cruise ships and cruise
missiles, of central air conditioning and central government. This isn’t an anti
technology statement, this is a pro human statement.

Technology itself is neither good nor bad; it’s how it’s applied and the people
applying it and using it that I have a problem with. When discussing
technology, advocates fail to recognize that humans have used technology
for tens of thousands of years. The problem has always been bad cell phone
reception. :>) All kidding aside, any tool is technology. Reed baskets to
carry food or possessions, fire to cook and heat, carefully crafted stones
used to cut, grind or pound, beasts of burden used to haul or plow the fields
or as transportation, nets to catch fish or animals, fur or treated animal
skins used as clothing, spears and arrows with stone points and so on. So
the argument that technology is killing us is wrong and missing the point.

I’ve often felt that technology helps hide our growing distance from both
each other and ourselves. One need only witness two people texting each
other while ten feet apart to understand that statement. Consider how many
of us are desperate for human contact yet will phone, text, chat and blog
rather than walk outside and meet the neighbor we’ve been living next to for
the past 4 years and don’t even know by name. Is this not the definition of
insanity, of our collective madness? I relocated 12 years ago to the region I
now live in. After moving in, I walked around to my nearest neighbors,
knocking on doors and introducing myself. You would have thought I was a
rapist asking for willing victims the way I was treated.
Worse, I’ve related this story to easily a few hundred people over the past
12 years, including friends, family and clients. And every single person
shakes their head in agreement that it’s crazy I was treated this way, as if
they never ignored their unknown and unnamed neighbors. It’s always
someone else who’s showing signs of insanity, not me. This is sheer and
utter madness; self centered narcissistic naval gazing taken to the suicidal
level. It’s the cumulative concentration I’m talking about, not the individual
incidents, which can always be easily explained away, thus maintaining our
own denial.

Welcome to the Insane Asylum

The only way we can sustain our existence while surrounded by this self
deception is to lie even more about it, which only serves to drive us deeper
into our madness in an endless positive feedback loop of insanity. We’re all
on an exponential curve to hell of our own making, nurtured by our insanity
and perpetuated by our denial. First we deny, then we deny our denial, then
we forget we denied our denial. Welcome to the insane asylum, where all
are welcome and no one may leave, where everyone is both medical staff
and suffering patient.

While in theory attendance in the asylum is voluntary, in practice it must be

mandatory. However, in order to feed our delusion of freedom, our presence
is seductively promoted as optional and cleverly disguised as choice.
Attendance must be mandatory because any sanity within the madness acts
as an antibiotic, eating into all the intertwined self deceptions and delusions
that form the basis for the madness virus. Sanity quickly disperses the
madness by cutting away the illogical and irrational threads that loosely bind
our insanity together. Thus the reason why we never step back for a big
picture point of view and why so much is left unsaid and unasked.

Sanity is a mortal danger to the collective insanity and must be cut out and
removed if at all possible. Or at the very least, any sanity must be repressed
at all costs. Aberrant thought or acts, defined as anything outside the range
of 45 to 55 on a 1 to 100 scale, is quickly cauterized and rushed off the
American Idol stage of life. Welcome to the machine we all claim to hate but
from which we derive our subsistence and support. We have become
psychotic cannibals eating away at our own sanity in order to remain
comfortably insane. Oh the inhumanity of it all.

Just a few people living and acting sanely function as a “sane” super
antibiotic powerful enough to kill off a much larger number of the insane
faster than a wooden stake to a vampire’s heart. Insanity simply can’t
tolerate reason, logic or compassion in precisely the same way truth
becomes extremely dangerous to those whose intent is to deceive or to
thieve. The leverage gained from a small number of sane people acting to
counteract the insanity will be discussed in an upcoming chapter of this
essay because it’s one of the keys to our Escape from New York.

I’m Certified Sane. What about You?

To deny that this cultural insanity is a part of us, to deny that it must be
recognized and then treated collectively by us is equivalent to claiming that
the open cut on our arm isn’t our problem because we didn’t ask for it, didn’t
cause it and don’t want it; thus we most certainly aren’t responsible for it.
So we ignore it as it progresses from open cut to festering wound to stinking
puss filled gash to gangrenous mass to agonizing death. Since everyone else
acts the same way, the herd reinforces our individual and collective behavior
as the one and only proper conduct allowed and acceptable.

We’ll ride our righteous indignation, which we concoct to rationalize and

justify our inaction, all the way to our grave, screaming at the top of our
lungs as we reach for the white light at the end of the crazy train tunnel
“See, I told you I wasn’t responsible for it”. Madness! This is madness
masquerading as normalcy. And perfectly understandable when you consider
that the madmen with the butterfly nets, meaning you and I, are making the
rules and running the show. Why would we possibly endeavor to stick our
heads out of our protective shells long enough to be decapitated. The genius
of our insanity is breath taking, both figuratively and literally.

When considering our (human) behavior, I often apply what I’ve coined the
“space alien observer test”. Animal behaviorists study their subjects over
long periods of time in an effort to discern not only what’s going on but often
the hidden reasons why. If we attempt to apply these same techniques to
the study of ourselves, how does one study humans (us) if we’re all insane?
If we accept that much of our behavior is natural and thus reasonable and
logical, how can we see anything wrong with what we don’t recognize as
abnormal? If you don’t expect to find abnormal behavior and all you do see
is “normal” behavior, I suspect most everyone is going to get a passing
grade.

The “experts” are particularly susceptible to falling into this trap, having
been conditioned and indoctrinated by the very same system they’re now
expected to critically examine. I’m a so-called expert, having earned the full
gauntlet of personal financial planning and security analyst certifications. All
that this extensive training and testing succeeded in doing was to teach me
how to recognize what’s considered “normal” by the consensus and how to
remain hidden in plain sight. Additionally I’m accepted by the other financial
experts as one of the chosen. Until recently I was regularly invited to the
club for drinks and dinner until I exposed myself (by dropping trousers) as a
heretic and non believer. Damn, I’ll miss those Cuban cigars.

But all those calculations and charts are extremely convincing and unless I
can regurgitate them come test time (and for continuing education) I won’t
receive my accreditation as a “sane” expert financial planner/analyst. I
occasionally make fun of my officially sanctioned and accredited sanity by
saying “Hi, my name is [CD] and I’m a recovering financial planner. It’s been
12 years since I last planned.” Life’s good since I got clean and sober and
interestingly my clients are better off as well, at least financially.

All experts have an inherent conflict of interest. Since experts are officially
considered by the hive elders as “sane” they must be the best judge of
insanity, right? “Yup, that looks fine to me. Where do I send the bill?” Brings
to mind a few Outer Limits programs where the poor sap is left to prove he’s
sane after being diagnosed insane by insane people. The only logical (sane?)
way to examine humans is to use non humans as observers, thus the
reasoning behind my “space alien observer test”. Of course, this is (for now)
simply an intellectual exercise unless any aliens passing as human among us
want to volunteer for duty. :>)

Watch yourself carefully for a day or two. You’ll be shocked how nonsensical
most of your behavior is and how difficult it would be to explain and
rationalize our behavior to non humans, let alone your spouse. While we
believe we spend the day actively engaged, thinking, weighting and
considering, it’s surprising how much of our waking moments are spent on
auto pilot and disengaged. This is when we’re vulnerable, when we’re
distracted and dazed, when any remaining sanity slips and our programming
takes over. I suspect the average person will quickly abandon our little
experiment after he or she comes face to face with all the little dissonances
and incongruities of daily living. It really is more comfortable back in the
ignorant bliss of the collective insanity.

The Sliding Scale of Our Insanity

Many of us saw the 2008 crash coming well before the general population
and we should acknowledge our insight and awareness. But this doesn’t
mean we’re significantly smarter, more aware or better able to see other
“truths”. And it doesn’t excuse us from our responsibility to fix our collective
problems. In fact, our awareness instills in us the responsibility of the first
responder. Just because we were the first to spot the burning house doesn’t
excuse us from volunteer firefighting duties when the paid firefighters don’t
show up. We don’t get to brandish this honor like a multiyear long insane
asylum hall pass or a get-out-of-the-insane-asylum free card.

How many other lies can we truly be aware of if we won’t examine the
primary lies within? For many, it’s too frightening to closely examine what
we “know” because then we might be required to act. I know this not just
from speaking to others but first hand after deep reflection and some soul
searching. For a number of years I cooked up one excuse after another to
justify doing nothing, including becoming a self appointed Paul Revere and
riding from person to person spreading alarm and panic and doing absolutely
nothing constructive.

But what a show I put on and it certainly was a soothing balm for my
dishonesty. Waking people from their slumber without offering constructive
and actionable pathways out of the train crash is cruel and unusual
punishment after the fact, something I’ve been guilty of in the past. My
actions were equivalent to performing surgery and removing the anesthesia
half way through the operation. In many respects, waking the slumbering
without offering a way out can’t be justified morally.

I’m about to experience a car crash and my spouse is sleeping in the

passenger seat. Do I wake my spouse to witness the crash or do I ask her to
help me navigate around the disaster? If all I have to offer is awareness to
the impending disaster, I might as well let her sleep. Or I can grow up and
accept my responsibility and lead the way out since I’m already awake.

BTW the slumbering mass instinctively understands the inherent danger of

waking in the middle of major surgery. They also seem to understand that
the vast majority of us really don’t understand the problem and have no
viable solution to offer. Thus it appears to them we simply want someone
else to enjoy the show with us as we view our collective suicide. This is why
we’re regularly rejected by those we’re trying to awaken. I don’t blame them
because given the choice; I’d remain asleep as well. We must be the solution
and they will naturally awaken without any prodding by us. More on how this
can be done in the later chapters.

So, are we simply a sub herd of the insane, tightly packed together for
warmth in a corner of the insane asylum, our territory carefully marked out
in gold to identify the Zero Hedge tribe? Speaking only of myself, I have a
tendency to create mountains out of mole hills to justify my inaction, to
prove to myself and anyone else who asks that I’ve considered all the
variables and I’ve concluded that to do nothing is the best course of action.
This is truly a self serving conclusion if ever there was one and I’m proud to
say I worked hard to achieve it.

I suspect we’re convinced of our sanity simply because we can see more
than those who wear hoods instead of blinders. I think, therefore I’m sane. I
hate to break the news to everyone, but some of our leaders are certifiably
insane by any standard. And yet many of them are extremely good thinkers,
brilliant as a matter of fact. We’d better find a new test for (in)sanity
because the one we’re using has a few flaws.

Satan Lives Next Door

The ultimate and most seductive form of hubris is that which is exhibited by
the insane as we revel in the supreme confidence of our sanity. Anyone who
has truly visited the depths of severe emotional instability will tell you that
the climb back to sanity must be continuous with no pauses of any
significance. It’s during those dangerous lulls that the backsliding begins and
the vicious undertow of insanity pulls us back into the abyss. Simply stated,
for those returning from the depths of hell, it’s either surface or drown. I
seriously doubt we would recognize this process if it were reversed and we
were sinking, as we currently are.

I’d say we’re already in the bowels of hell, which I describe as our madness,
and our eternal punishment is no knowledge of our own insanity. Satan is
my neighbor and I’m Satan to my neighbor. I’m certain that given the
choice, I’d convince myself I’m in heaven to relieve the awareness of the
pain of hell. Are we sane if we know at times we can be insane or are we
insane if we know at times we can be insane? Maybe I have too much time
on my hands, but these are questions I often ask. A life unexamined just
might be an insane life disguised as sanity.

On that sliding scale of 1 to 100, where 1 is stark raving sane and 100 is
stark raving mad, what’s the real difference between 29 and 39 or between
51 and 74? I submit that just because we saw the economic insanity in 2007
(or whatever date we use to label our awakening) doesn’t mean we’re now
firmly planted at 1 or 5 or even 10 on the sane/insane scale. To think this is
the case is to substantiate my thesis that we’re insane. The definition of
sanity is not that we saw the insanity of the economic collapse coming. It
was always obvious to the sane, considering the creation of the Fed in 1913
was this countries third stab at a central bank. This is an extremely low
hurdle to overcome.

Isn’t saying we awoke to the insanity implying that we were insane at one
point? Are we so sure we’re fully sane now? How can we tell? The first step
is to ask the question and answer it honestly, since personal dishonesty
leads to public dishonesty. There’s plenty more to see and learn. Now that
we can clearly see some of what the insane cannot, maybe we should
consider that the bar is set suspiciously low. While it’s personally satisfying
to clear those hurdles, we’re only fooling ourselves if they’re only 12 inches
off the ground. When an insane society selects the parameters to
differentiate between sane and insane, it will select those parameters that
include the greatest number of insane within the group declared and
sanctified as sane.

I contend that the only qualifying parameter of sanity in our culture is simply
membership in the majority, with the lowest uncommon denominator the
line where we set the border fences. As far as I can tell, given the problems
outlined above in determining our own sanity, maybe the best we can hope
for is to say that out of all the insane asylum inmates, the measure of
insanity is to identify those who have adjusted well enough to their insanity
that they can’t tell they’re insane. It sounds to me like ignorance is bliss and
madness is nirvana. I sure as hell hope they’re serving pina coladas there
because I’m ready to party.

I’m also fairly certain that 90% of the world’s population would read those
last few paragraphs and be confident of a few things. One, that I’m the one
who’s insane and two, what does it matter if there’s nothing we can do
about it? Leaving aside the first item for my therapist and me to work out
(he’s certified sane so he won’t kick me out of the hive as long as my
insurance pays the bill) if the second item were correct I would agree. What
does it matter? But since quite a few of earth’s inhabitants (including the
plants and the other animals) don’t seem very happy living under present
conditions and this seems to be a cycle that endlessly repeats itself, then it
does matter and it can change. Or at least that’s my delusion.

We create our world on a daily basis based upon the image we collectively
hold of what we believe it should be. Since our perception is the only reality
we know, it isn’t surprising that our reality matches our perception. Thus a
perfectly formed circle of circular logic is created along with our reality.
Conditions in the insane asylum are the way they are either because this is
the way we want them to be or this is the way we think they should be or
this is the only way they can be.

I would suggest we can change anything we wish as long as we can perceive

and conceive it, for perception is reality. Saying we can’t change anything is
just another symptom of our collective insanity. Let’s explore this further
before you dismiss me as a madman. Which, based upon my own argument,
I am.

Toxic Waste Dumps

We all have toxic waste dumps in our back yards which we individually and
collectively allowed to accumulate for decades. We even have some of our
own toxic waste buried there. But we won’t discuss it because if we don’t
talk about it, it’s not real. Those whom we claim should be responsible for
this mess are doing nothing about it. And I promise you they’ll continue to
do nothing about it, regardless of the lies we tell ourselves concerning all
those indictments, law suits and subpoenas suddenly cropping up all over
the place, because we’re doing nothing about it. It’s all coal smoke blown up
our collective butts because we’re doing the blowing.

“They” (meaning us) are stalling, acting out our insanity in real time. They
won’t stop until we stop because they’re following our script and our lead. It
hurts to admit that we’re the architects of this madness, that we have
anything to do with this mess. So we deny, then we deny our denial, then
we forget we denied our denial. I love circular logic because it’s so logical
and to the insane (us) our insanity is wonderfully logical and reasonable.
Madness is always pure in form and function. Any loose ends are quickly cut
adrift because insanity makes it up on the fly. Insanity is not a slave to rigid
logic, which makes it deliciously attractive and extremely well attended.

The Ponzi amusement park ride won’t dismantle itself simply because we ask
it to do so for the hundredth time. BTW, don’t forget to ask nicely because
we can’t have social unrest. Which if we think about it would be us acting
out against us because we’re angry with us. (That was fun to write.) Nor will
it stop even if we hang a few patsy leaders. There are always more swine
ready to belly up to the trough after one is dragged off to the butcher’s for
taking more than its share. The spectacle of the slaughter satisfies our sense
that something needs to be done with the troublesome swine (not me
though) while at the same time not derailing the consumption machine that
feeds our own comfortable insanity. We just wanted to blow off some steam,
really, and the ham and bacon are welcome by-products.

It appears there’s a colossal struggle going on right now. The powers that be
are attempting to maintain their denial (our denial) of a deflationary debt
collapse and escalating political and social conflicts. They (we) attempt to do
this with their endless printing of fiat currency, bailout and bailout, public
debt creation and private debt assumption. Their (our) efforts fly in the face
of the inevitable collapse of all social, economic and political systems
dependent upon the false realty the powers (we) are attempting to maintain.
This battle has ebbed and flowed back and forth for centuries, but now
appears to be headed for the largest global explosion mankind has ever
created. An explosion many will not survive, though there’s still time to turn
the ship to prevent total catastrophe.

Mirroring this state of affairs (or if you accept my argument, the source of
this state of affairs) is the human race itself. We’re engaged in a titanic
struggle with ourselves. As we’ve drifted further from our inner natural
spiritual consciousness and authentic life, we’ve repudiated our responsibility
to live in peace and harmony with all of earth’s living inhabitants in a
sustainable and equitable manner. We’ve driven ourselves insane and we
face imminent murder/suicide by our own economic and social creations. In
effect we’ve been taking more from one side of the equation than nature and
we are adding to the other side and balance is beginning to assert itself.

This is more than an oil or technology issue or event. This is a tale about our
effort to reject everything we were, are and could be in a mad dash to
extract more and more material pleasure from a physical and spiritual
universe that has only so much elasticity. It’s not about finding new
worldwide energy sources in order to continue our materialistic life style. We
are in denial of our true inner source of strength and power. We have
allowed ourselves to be seduced by the illusion of receiving something for
nothing for quite some time now. We’re a willing participant in our own
madness and while we know this, we signal our denial by claiming it’s
someone else who’s the guilty party.

Man is addicted to far more than just cheap energy and technology. We’re
hooked on the superficial power of Gods at the expense of everything else
around us, including ourselves. Like an addict who no longer scores to get
high but simply to stave off the pain of withdrawal, the thrill is gone and the
old glorious highs of yesteryear are just a fuzzy pain filled memory. Our deal
with the devil, with ourselves really, is coming due and we’re rapidly slipping
into total madness to avoid the recognition that we’ve met the demon and
the demon is us.

Even if the reader doesn’t agree with the thesis I’ve offered, there’s little
doubt the big picture I’ve sketched is accurate. The fecal matter is clearly on
an accelerating trajectory towards the fan. So what am I going to do about
this? What are you going to do about this? What are we going to do about
this? If not us, who? If not now, when? These are legitimate questions that
must be asked and answered regardless of our righteous indignation over
the unfairness of the burden. We are the one and only solution to “we” the
problem.

Do we really think we can step aside and watch the insanity work itself out
to some unknown conclusion and not be splattered with stray brains and
fecal matter? Worse, do we think this is someone else’s problem? When it
really gets bad, we can’t escape to some off world safe house as
intergalactic tourists, where we mingle with the friendly natives until the fat
lady sings it’s time to return. This is not sane thinking. If it is, then beam
me up Scotty because I’m sure as hell ready. Maybe while I’m visiting I can
sell those aliens some iPhones. Wait; doesn’t that make me the alien?

Up to now we’ve been working diligently to avoid responsibility. And the

principal method we employ is our intellect, which is used to identify the
surface problems and point to the culprits. We helpfully use labels like “they”
or “them” to avoid acknowledging each of our small but critical parts in this
ongoing charade. It appears that we’re just sitting around waiting for the
end rather than rising to the challenge and meeting this crisis head on.

Incredibly, we seem to think our collective insanity will see the futility of its
insanity and simply quit acting out its insanity. That the bull won’t break
anything important to us while lose in the china shop. We really are
expecting someone to step forward that we can quickly embrace as the
savior. Whom do we suppose will pull us back from the brink? Is this not the
ultimate in false hope seeking and wishful thinking? I’m pretty certain that
sanity will be the last thing we demonstrate without first recognizing our
own insanity. And without immediate intervention, the patient will die; only
the death won’t be mercifully quick. Where’s our moment of clarity, that
point of no return where one sees without a doubt that death is coming if
everything doesn’t change?

Dis-Ease

Please don’t mistake my critical questions as blanket criticism. Nor that I’m
above the fray and that I’ve had nothing to do with this. I’m fairly certain
I’m contributing my fair share to this insanity. However, we must begin to
ask the tough questions of ourselves as well as each other. We’re not
innocent victims here and we need to recognize this. We shouldn’t feel
terribly uneasy simply because tough questions are being asked unless we’re
unable to answer them honestly. A healthy mind and body can always
withstand a thorough self examination and often grows as a result.

Our modern society considers the definition of health to be the absence of

disease. While I strongly disagree with this simplistic definition, for now let’s
stick with it. The word disease breaks into “dis” and “ease”. A healthy mind
and body is in a state of “ease” with itself and the world while an unhealthy
mind and body is in a state of “dis-ease”. We express this condition by
saying the mind or body has a disease or is diseased. If we’re going to point
fingers at the lies of the Ponzi as proof of its “dis-ease”, we’d better be able
to withstand the same assault or crumble in the face of our own hypocrisy
and insanity.

It seems to me we’re reverting further and further into infantile behavior in

order to avoid accepting any blame, however insignificant that might be.
And damn if we’ll accept any responsibility for cleaning up a disaster we sure
as hell didn’t cause. “Who’s responsible for this mess” we bellow in righteous
indignation? “Not me” we reply. “I was in the bathroom when it happened.
See the urine stain on the front of my pants. That’s proof I wasn’t there.”
Well, that worked for me in second grade so why not now? “It’s not fair.”
And on and on in an endless cycle of hide and go seek.

I agree! It’s not fair. It sucks. It bites the big one. We’ve been screwed,
royally and repeatedly and without a reach around and a kiss on the cheek.
The game’s rigged and the deck’s stacked. What can I say; we’ve been
screwed, as in past tense. This is of course assuming we’re all victims with
no personal involvement whatsoever. Exactly who is the abuser and who is
the abused since many of us have from time to time benefited from the
screwing of others, either directly or indirectly? Need I explain how we
benefited? But for the sake of this sub-argument, let’s say we’re the victims
and we now stand victimized. Now, what are we going to do about it?

What exactly are we waiting for? Or maybe I should say who exactly are we
waiting for? I suspect the vast majority of people would laugh if I said I was
waiting for the Green Lantern or Superman to save the day. So who do we
really expect to step into this mess and pull our asses out of the meat
grinder? At this point it doesn’t appear it’s going to be us. But that’s exactly
who has to step up because there’s no one else.

How Do We Begin?

So let’s begin to turn this corner. How does one begin to talk about our
collective insanity, about the things that are better left unsaid? Well to start,
we begin by cleaning and disinfecting our wound, even if we don’t believe
it’s our responsibility. It’s our wound and we’ll die if we don’t clean it. It
doesn’t get any clearer than that. We must look for the exit and disembark
from the crazy train. We must begin to discuss our crazy Aunt Alice, who’s
been locked in the attic for decades. We must begin to acknowledge her
existence with more than just whispered words of conspiracy. “Psst, it’s your
turn to change the sheets for you know who.” We must begin to push
through the pain of our collective cognitive dissonance, releasing all the
emotional pain we’ve been desperately avoiding by denying poor Aunt Alice
is alive and breathing.

Like a Jenga game gone mad, we stack lies upon lies in the insane belief
that by applying more to the stack, we’ll lessen the burden and increase the
stability. Each of us takes our turn preparing and serving Aunt Alice her
meals, cleaning her clothes and brushing her hair. Yet we don’t discuss Aunt
Alice among ourselves. How does one even recognize what truth is when
we’re living a lie, when we welcome additional lies in order to be shielded
from our earlier lies? Our insanity is that we believe we know what truth is
when we’ve rarely seen it and have actively rejected it most of our lives.

In a society and a world as dysfunctional as ours, the only way to begin to

seek the truth is to tell the truth, first to ourselves and then to others. But
how can we do this when we can’t trust our own lying eyes or each other?
We do so by rejecting what the external and internal control systems are
telling us (lie, lie, lie and lie some more) while seeking a higher truth within.
And by demanding those we deal with not lie, either to us or to anyone else
around us. While doing so might cull a few friends from our calling circle, we
need to start somewhere. And I understand this requires courage because
we’ll be swimming upstream and against the current.

It’s of the utmost importance to understand that what is sustaining the lie,
including the “Big Lies” our government perpetuates, is the unwillingness to
question the lie. Unquestioned or unchallenged statements (aka lies) made
by known or suspected liars (beginning with ourselves) become truth by
default in the eyes of those who don’t wish to be honest. This starts with us.

If we aren’t rigorously honest with ourselves and those immediately around

us, we’ll always succumb to the seductive call of lies that are more
comforting than truth. “Daddy, tell me another lie so that I may pretend it’s
the truth.” Additional lies have one purpose and one purpose only, to directly
or indirectly support previous and/or future lies. What do we do when we
find ourselves in a hole of lies? We stop the cycle of lies supporting lies by
applying a novel solution. Demand the truth, both from ourselves and from
those around us.

This is precisely the purpose of Zero Hedge. Tyler, Marla and company stand
on the soap box in the middle of our cultural town square and repeatedly cry
foul regarding every lying utterance of the control system. This includes lies
perpetuated by the keepers of the myth, our so called main stream media
and their talking head “experts”, along with various other sycophant hanger-
on’s and enablers. But it’s not enough for Zero Hedge to fight this battle
single handedly.

We’re deluding ourselves if we think that reading and commenting on Zero

Hedge is fighting the good fight. And we’re also deluding ourselves if we
think we can just sit back and watch it all burn. That cut on our arm is
starting to smell a bit putrid. We might want to consider some self
treatment. We must do more and it must begin within. If we’re only willing
to accept the truths that we’re comfortable with or those that neatly fit our
worldview and ignore anything that creates a cognitive dissonance, we’re in
effect enabling the continuation of the public lies and myth making and are
no better than “they” or “them”.

Cognitive Dissonance 06/04/2010

 Welcome to the Insane Asylum or: How We Learned to
Stop Worrying and Love the Big Lie
Chapter 3

By Cognitive Dissonance

The Public Lie

Chapter 2 ended with us discussing how a lie unchallenged becomes by

default the truth for those who wish to believe the lie, or at least not fight
the lie. And the vast majority of us go along to get along, rationalizing or
ignoring just about anything in order to go with the flow and not stick our
necks out. Not only does this set up a continuous conflict within ourselves,
but we become just another part of the herd we’re always complaining
about. Let’s dive into what’s going on here while looking at an actual
example of bucking the trend and getting results.

How wide spread is the practice of accepting public lies and of not being
truthful? Answering that question would require a book, but let me offer just
one small public example of the insane amusement ride. And in the next
chapter we’ll explore one possible exit. Last year a friend attended a county
commissioner’s meeting, something he does every month. At that meeting
he witnessed the most astounding exhibition of collective dishonesty and
cowardliness he’d ever seen in a group of people. Rather than back away
and go with the flow, his small but courageous act turned the meeting
around and pointed the group towards an exit from their collective
dysfunction and insanity. All this resulted from sticking his neck out just a
little bit to make a difference and lead the way.

One of the commissioners made a statement that flatly contradicted

something she’d said the previous month and which was on the record. It
was a bald faced blatant lie and was done to gain political advantage for
certain favored business supporters by spreading additional tax revenue
their way. Everyone in the room, including the other commissioners, knew
this. It was a lie that would become truth if it went unchallenged. And yet no
one said anything. My friend told me that as he looked around the room he
saw a bunch of very uncomfortable people. Of note, this commissioner is
quite combative and a known intimidator.

This wasn’t a trivial lie, the so called white lie that supposedly doesn’t harm
anyone. It had to do with setting the local property tax rate and her lie
would have increased the rate 4% more than the huge interim increase of
16% set the month before. Since he had the official transcript of the
previous meeting in his hand (everyone did) he interrupted the proceeding
and read it back to her. He was courageously challenging a statement he
knew to be untruthful (better known as a lie) and he was doing it all alone.
This meant sticking his neck out and it was going to be uncomfortable, scary
even. But what followed was surprising and instructive for everyone.

Of the 30 or so taxpaying citizens in the room, at least a third were publicly

hushing him, urging him to sit down and not make a “scene”, presumably by
embarrassing the commissioner by outing her lie. They were hissing at him
for at least 5 minutes while he read from the transcript. Think about that for
a moment. The taxpayers did not want him to embarrass the liar. They
wanted him to effectively enable the commissioner to feel comfortable in her
lie by not calling the liar (her) to task for her lie.

Of course, what they were really saying is that they, meaning the taxpayers
in the audience who’ll be paying the higher tax that results from the lie they
weren’t challenging, didn’t want to be forced to publicly acknowledge and
confront the lie they’d just heard. If the lie isn’t challenged, we can all
pretend it’s the truth and not a lie. This is the process by which public pixie
dust is used to turn a public lie into a truth. I shall repeatedly return to this
county commissioners meeting for more insight.

Defending the Public Myth

What’s not well understood by many is that psychologically once we witness

a known or suspected lie, particularly a public lie by an “official” or person of
perceived “authority”, and we don’t challenge it, we become silent co-
conspiratorial keepers of the lie. It’s now our shared lie and we must defend
it as we would the truth. Or at least not attack it, because for all intents and
purposes it’s become the accepted public truth. We in effect become public
myth keepers. Of course, I’m talking about unpaid public myth keepers.
After the lie’s become an unchallenged part of the public myth for a while, if
the lie is questioned by anyone and the challenge is upheld, we’d be exposed
in our complicit support of the lie, even if the exposure is simply to
ourselves. We hide our lies from ourselves, thus we can’t expose our lies to
ourselves. This simple understanding is important to accept if we’re to begin
healing. We must continuously remember that we’re always and forever first
hiding from ourselves. Thus we often will defend the lie as the truth or at
least remain non committal regarding its veracity. This is the power behind
official propaganda (lies) that aren’t challenged. We empower the
propaganda by not challenging it.

As the public lie ages and it becomes further embedded in the public myth,
we often incorporate the lie into our own worldview. To continue to reject it
internally in the face of our public acceptance would create the pain of
cognitive dissonance, something we naturally wish to avoid. Better to accept
the lie into our internal web of myths, truths and lies we call our worldview.
Of course, this increases the need to defend it even more.

Even further down the line, our personal defense of the lie, along with its
endless public repeating, sometimes serves to convince us it really is the
truth. We begin to believe the lie, which is now our lie, and even adopt it as
our own truth. For those of us who never believed the public lie or never
accepted the lie as a truth, this process is extremely frustrating and even
frightening. Our mind quickly grasps the power of this deceptive dynamic
and how it could seriously hurt us if we stood in its way. The same
realization settles over those who awaken later to the lie, further impeding
those of us who wish to expose a well established and publically digested lie.

The BIG LIE

A perfect example of this dynamic in play is the manner in which many of us

publically and privately resist any credible examination of what really
happened on 9/11. This subject is a publicly (and for many a privately)
closed door and cannot be opened at all, not even a smidgen. If the door is
somehow forced open a crack, the governmental, public and private keepers
of the myth rush in to apply damage control. And if we’re confronted with
obvious contradictions of fact or common sense, while we might publicly say
we support looking a little closer, secretly many of us are desperate for this
door to be quickly slammed shut once again, for the implications are too
disturbing to contemplate.

From my conversations over the last 3 years with at least 20 people who
have slowly come to realize there are serious problems with the official 9/11
“conspiracy theory”, nearly everyone has admitted to me they’d always had
problems with the official story. And while many suspected there was much
more to it than they were being told, they didn’t want to think about the
ramifications if their suspicions were true. The clincher for many to remain
silent and in denial was that no one of public “authority”, be it on TV or
newspapers or magazines, seemed to be questioning the official story. In
essence, the leaders of the herd, the hive hierarchy, were (and are) not
accepting any questioning of the 9/11 public myth under any circumstances.
This had the effect of stifling questions from those who would normally be
somewhat critical of the government.

Now combine this personal uncertainty and doubt with government and
private myth keepers publicly and viciously attacking anyone who
questioned the official story and we have what could reasonably be called a
hot potato. Meaning no one who’s publicly certified as a “sane” person
(meaning accepted by the hive) with anything to lose would possibly touch
it. The myth keepers rarely attack public doubters on actual scientific or
logical grounds, other than to hold up the disgraced NIST reports as proof.
This is because the official conspiracy theory cannot withstand an unbiased
and logically consistent examination without massive inconsistencies
becoming readily apparent.

Instead, the preferred method used to “discredit” anyone asking questions

when they can’t defend “facts” are extremely effective ad hominem attacks,
which directly threaten a person’s status within the hive. For most people,
particularly those in the public eye or of substantial wealth and privilege, but
even middle class Joe and Jane who work in private or public companies and
mingle daily with other hive members, it’s public suicide to invite these
attacks by asking questions. Thus self censorship is alive and well in
America, helped along by clear instructions from the hive authorities that it’s
best not to ask questions.

The people with silent questions about the official conspiracy theory see the
public beatings received by other doubters and quickly determine the softer
easier way is just to shut up and whistle past the grave yard. These
techniques have been used for thousands of years but have been refined
over the past 100 years in an effort to maintain the illusion of a
representative republic and “freedom”. In particular, this applies to the so-
called freedom of the press, which is a farce any way you slice it. Any
serious study of the main stream media will inform you of their consistent
support of the hive hierarchy.

The powers that be who wish to squelch troublesome inquires can’t exactly
move directly to outright jailing or even execution (at least not yet) so the
myth of a benevolent government and freedom for all is maintained using
other methods. These techniques include public browbeating and
harassment as well as the psyops crowd favorite of ridicule, innuendo and
rumor mongering spread close to home and work. And for the more
persistent questioners, the tried and true outright verbal and physical
threats, IRS “investigations” and so on are in the tool box ready to be used.
Of course, “accidents” for those “terrorists” who are gaining real credibility
can always be deployed. One only need spend some time reading up on this
subject to become familiar with how this is done.

The herd quickly learns that to question the official myth(s) of the hive
means immediate and extremely public excommunication or worse. Since
many people are already filled with conflicting lies that create continuous
internal turmoil, most don’t have the internal stability and conviction to
withstand this type of character assault. It’s extremely difficult to swim
upstream when you’re all alone and you can’t trust yourself to overcome the
current.

Moral courage to act against the herd and your government isn’t “found”
within most people; it’s developed over time and begins with deep personal
convictions which often include basic honest assessments of themselves and
their world. To believe and then parrot what the herd believes or what the
powers that be want you to believe is not defined in my book as moral
courage, unless the belief itself is capable of standing on its own as
independently provable and self evident. This is rarely the case.

If the only thing backing the moral courage is the ability to bash someone’s
head in, meaning raw power, this is actually a demonstration of cowardliness
masquerading as patriotism or courage. I’m not talking about rushing the
machine gun nest type of courage; I’m talking about deep moral convictions
based upon personal awareness and deep understanding of oneself and
others. There is a shameful explosion of moral cowardliness these days from
the very top all the way down to mom and pop.

The Herd Polices Itself

Following this dynamic down to a more personal level, when others would
question the official conspiracy theory in their presence, many of the people
I talked to who privately doubted the official story would actually defend the
official story in public as a way of publicly declaring to the hive that they
were on the correct side of the line in the sand. Others would just remain
silent. Three of the people I talked to at length expressed deep shame and
regret for actually attacking public questioners of the official myth with name
calling and ridicule, precisely the techniques they feared would be used
against them of they opened their mouths to question.

This is a perfect example of the herd policing itself after the conditioning and
indoctrination has been set. When I asked them how they felt while they
were attacking the questioners, two of them admitted they felt excited,
almost like an adrenaline rush, even while they were feeling guilty or
ashamed. I’ve talked before about the pain killing drugs and chemicals the
brain releases into the blood stream when we hear, see or even speak
information that confirms our biases and prejudices, even if we don’t really
believe them.

This subject can and will divide families because the validity and believability
of the questioner goes a long way to supporting the credibility of what
they’re saying. Since it’s very important to attack credible sources to
maintain the myth, and family members often have higher credibility, in
order to stay in our denial or to protect our hive status, we will (viciously)
attack family members if need be. One cannot over emphasize the lengths
we’ll go to when trying to hide our fear of being rejected from the hive. As
I’ve discussed in other articles, the fear we all have of standing alone
against public opinion, even in a one on one basis, is often determined by
our perception of the danger to our standing in the hive, not by any moral,
ethical or legal grounds or factual correctness.

The public beatings tell each person who doesn’t wish to buck the trend
exactly where they should stand on this subject. In effect, the master’s boss
has told the slaves what their opinion should be regarding slavery’s benefits,
not only to the economy, but to the slaves themselves. Here’s the story;
slavery is good, poking your nose around 9/11 is very bad, not shut the hell
up and get back to work. And don’t forget to spend and consume, which will
help kill the pain of your voluntary servitude.

This dynamic plays out in many different ways depending on how well the
person is coping with life in general. There’s no average or normal way for
people to deal with this type of personal dishonesty so that leaves everyone
an out, saying to themselves that they’re special, that it doesn’t apply to
them, that since things appear to be normal it can’t be that bad, whatever.
The excuse isn’t important and doesn’t even need to be believable. And it
applies to all public and most corporate policy, not just 9/11.

Some common methods I’ve personally seen used by people to avoid the
entire mess and disown responsibility for “it” is to say “Look I’m really busy
right now with a lot on my plate so I’m not going to deal with this.” Or my
favorite “I’m not an expert on these things so I’d prefer to leave it to the
people who know” which of course completely repudiates any personal
responsibility to make any effort to know what’s going on. Once we accept
and then begin to assimilate the lie, it takes on a life of its own. And in order
to continue to lie to ourselves, we must defend the lie to others. Obviously,
this level of public and private deception cannot occur in a healthy nation or
within healthy individuals.

When thinking about this subject, I’m constantly reminded of an old saying.
“You can’t con an honest man” because the con requires self deception by
the mark, the person being conned. In order for the con to work, the
“victim” must participate in their own fleecing. By definition and design,
there are no “innocent” victims in a successful con, just poor traders in a
market of greed, lies and self deception.

Keeping Me, Myself and I Separated

When I talk about disclosure or exposure of the truth or lie, I’m not
necessarily talking strictly about public exposure. I’m ultimately talking
about exposure of the truth to our consciousness, to us, to the inner
monologue. All information, all “facts”, are held in our sub consciousness
which always knows everything. Uncomfortable truth or awareness can and
does surface to the conscious level for a variety of reasons, where it’s often
quickly suppressed by the ego.

How we actually react often depends upon the web of lies we’re carrying,
along with our intellectual capacity to construct plausible alternative realities
that will allow the lie to (co)exist with truths and other lies. In this way, high
intelligence can actually work against us for it allows us to construct
massively complex and convoluted stories, each containing layers of lies that
support other lies with enough truth mixed in to remain plausible. The
capacity to concoct lies is only limited by our imagination and desperation to
avoid the truth. Jeez, sounds like the Ponzi, doesn’t it?

However, average or below average intelligence is more than adequate for

the task of creating self deceptions. We’re all quite capable of creating our
own alternative universe where everything makes sense, just as long as we
never pull it all together into one big comprehensive package. To do so
would be emotional suicide because all the contradictions would suddenly be
readily apparent to us. The genius of the BIG LIE, personal or governmental,
lay with both its plausibility and its ability to be understood and adopted by
the lowest commoner. “The terrorists did it because they hate us. Now shut
up and get back on the hamster wheel.”

Sometimes the ego creates what could be considered multiple split

personalities (but isn’t exactly) in order to keep the various lies and self
deceptions separated and away from our conscious mind. While the ego is
constantly attempting to keep the truth buried, sometimes it can’t for
various reasons. For example, maybe a truth must be present consciously in
some more restricted form in order for us to function at work. So barriers
are erected in our conscious mind that allows us to hide these truths in plain
sight without acknowledging them.

When considering this dynamic, I often think of those porous Chinese Walls
our friends on Wall Street construct as an example of this. The so-called
Chinese Walls allow everyone to participate in the public myth that both
sides aren’t talking to each other and neither side can see what the other’s
doing. The exact same thing happens in our consciousness. We see
examples of this on ZH and elsewhere where people leave nonsensical
statements using contradictory information to “prove” a point. They really
don’t see the problem with their declaration. They’re blind to these
contradictions because in their mind, it all makes sense. Their “facts” aren’t
connected to reality in the same way as others.

Ignore that Cognitive Dissonance

You may remember an earlier article of mine where I described how the ego
uses a powerful but narrowly focused spotlight to illuminate small portions of
our mind to our conscious awareness, but never all of it at the same time.

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/end-empire-waking-zombie-nations-
psychology-consciousness-and-egoic-mind

This allows for the continued existence of facts that contradict each other
without causing a total collapse. But this can and often does create a great
deal of instability which can be overcome by holding extremely strong black
and white opinions and views. This allows one to hold unproven, nonsensical
or contradictory opinions that can’t be challenged because they’re set in
stone and thus secure. This is functionally equivalent to the infantile practice
of covering one’s ears while hollering “Na na na na, I can’t hear you”,
something we’re all guilty of from time to time. This is an important tool for
the serial denier.

This occurs regardless of how ridiculous the opinions may be because the
strong black and white opinion is not intended to be based upon irrefutable
facts. Its real purpose is to act as a buffer from the truth or other lies and
self deceptions. We can see this occur all the time in ourselves and in others
if we honestly look. Just peruse any discussion board for examples of this on
public display. This also allows for changing troublesome facts once the
light’s been moved. If information comes to light that changes pieces or the
entire picture, simply change the “facts”. This also provides for the use of
one fact to “prove” contradictory points or multiple views.

This explains how people are able to contradict themselves numerous times
during a 10 minute discussion or even in the same sentence. Since there’s
no central clearing or ethical standards board within ourselves to prevent
double counting or misuse of facts, anything goes in the mind that deceives.
After all, if we’re lying to ourselves, aren’t we the ones who determine if
we’re really lying or not? Don’t we determine what our own (internal)
personal ethical standards are? Who’re you calling a liar?
We all do this. The real question is to what degree do we lie and how
“flexible” are our internal controls or personal ethical standards? Is it really a
lie if we believe what we’re saying is the truth? What if our ego is so strong
and effective at suppressing the truth that we can’t consciously remember
our own lies? Are they then lies? Were they once lies but no longer since I
can’t remember them? Is it a lie if it can only be accessed through
hypnotism? It really is amazing how much we lie to ourselves. The only
solution I’ve ever found to this vicious circle is rigorous honesty, starting
within.

When these artificial barriers that separate lies or self deceptions begin to
slip or collapse, we experience a painful cognitive dissonance (created by our
ego to provide “incentive” not to look too closely) which often manifests in
the form of a disembodied fear or anxiety. We’re not exactly sure what’s
bothering us because we still haven’t consciously acknowledged the issue
that’s causing the conflict. But we’re extremely fearful and have a terrible
sense of foreboding, which is created by our ego to compel us to reject
whatever it is that’s upsetting our carefully constructed worldview. We
become extremely anxious to rid ourselves of this feeling as quickly as
possible. The fight or flight impulse kicks in.

After creating the pain of cognitive dissonance, our ego then rushes in to
apply damage control in the same way the public keepers of the myth do. In
the rush to alleviate the emotional pain we’re experiencing we’ll often grasp
anything we can that will displace the cognitive dissonance and it’s
accompanying pain, including more lies. Considering the landscape I just
described, it’s a testament to our capacity for self deception and tolerance of
accumulated pain that we can even make it through the day. Increasingly
we can’t and this escalating collective dysfunction, our insanity, is being
outwardly expressed through our public leaders, legislators, regulators and
corporations.

Psychic Firewalls

The dynamic I just described, but only touched the surface of, is not well
understood beyond the field of psychiatry and those who forge and
manipulate public opinion, including government and Madison Avenue.
Spend some time reading about Edward Bernays and the influence he had,
and still has from the grave, on advertising and propaganda worldwide.
Many things we think we know about ourselves and our world are myths we
were told and now tell ourselves in order to avoid or soften the truth. We’re
much more susceptible to manipulation than our ego is willing to admit. In
fact, much of this manipulation depends upon our own egoic insistence that
we aren’t that easily manipulated, thus leaving us wide open to the very
manipulation we deny being susceptible to.

Because we remain willfully ignorant to the capacity of others to influence

us, we spend our day wide open to subtle and not so subtle messages and
influences. This is similar to how susceptible our computer would be to
hackers and viruses if we turned off our firewall and antivirus and browsed
the Internet. I’ve read articles describing how wide open computers are
attacked within 30 minutes, swarmed like mosquitoes in the Bayou. Pull up
the detailed log of the firewall activity on your computer and be ready to be
shocked by what’s going on in the background.

Now consider how many TV commercials, billboards, radio spots, magazine

advertisements, Internet messages and “placement advertising” inside the
actual television programs you’re exposed to on a daily basis. Not to
mention the wide use of subliminal messaging everyone denies using, but
yet somehow it still finds its way into commercials and political advertising of
all types. This is occurring psychically to all of us on a daily basis even as we
insist it can’t and doesn’t happen.

We’re sitting ducks to daily psychological assaults, yet we’ve become so

conditioned to it (or we simply deny it) that we passively assume the idea to
purchase that yummy MacSnot burger is our own home grown idea. In 30
seconds, the TV tells us not only that we’re hungry and but that the MacSnot
burger with fries and a coke is precisely what we want…..now. It even tells
us how to feel about it. “I’m Lovin’ it!” Watch the commercials closely
because there’s an entire story played out in 30 to 60 seconds using images,
voice, text and music.

As simplistic as this all sounds, imagine this message pounding away at your
psyche 3 or 4 times a day for years. Now multiple this one message by the
hundreds of large corporations and thousands of small companies scratching
and clawing each other for 30 seconds of your ears and eyeballs and it’s no
wonder we’re all zombies to some extent or another. Pull up some research
reports on the fast food, automobile, soda, beer, and other Fortune 500
companies and take a look at their advertising budget. We are outnumbered
and overwhelmed.

In fact, if you sit down with the family for an evening of TV viewing without
a basic understanding of how your family is vulnerable to these influences,
you’re in effect having unsafe psychic relations with every single slime ball
advertiser and political or corporate propagandist the network can sell time
to. And this doesn’t even take into consideration the social conditioning and
predictive programming underway during the endless hours of mindless TV
consumption we subject ourselves to each week.

And yet we convince ourselves its all good clean fun, harmless really. After
all, we know the difference between fantasy and reality, right? Nobody is
forcing us to buy those big screen TV’s and MacSnot burgers. I’m doing it of
my own free will. Well, I contend we’re not. Consider spending some time
reading about subliminal messaging and the advertising and propaganda
industry and then we’ll have a discussion about free will. I promise you the
average person will spend no more than half an hour reading about this
manipulation before s/he throws the book out or clicks on another web page,
declaring it too crazy or scary to be true. In fact, it’s a little too close to the
truth for our comfort.

Our insanity is worrying about the PG-13 rated movie our 5 year old might
catch a glimpse of while allowing his or her still forming mind to be assaulted
and conditioned by everything else. Are we nuts? Well, funny we should ask
because we are. And the movie rating system is brilliant reverse psychology
because it infers that if something is rated G, it must be “good”. I know
that’s not exactly what they say but that’s the psychological takeaway. I’ve
always found it interesting that they don’t rate commercials. Which means
all the commercials we see must be rated “G”, as in good and wholesome.

To sit down in front of the TV, radio, magazine, book or Internet without
your psychic firewall fully engaged and updated is madness. And I contend
that this continuous bombardment of conflicting subconscious messaging,
social predictive programming and conditioning is contributing to our
escalating insanity, which is reflected outward in the form of the Ponzi and
the collective madness.

Stockholm Syndrome
The behavior displayed by the people at the commissioners meeting can’t be
dismissed as on par with someone farting in public, with everyone hoping to
ignore the stench so as not to embarrass the poor gaseous fellow or
themselves. In my opinion, what was exhibited might be considered a form
of slave mentality, that of a conditioned mind that doesn’t wish to confront a
perceived superior for fear of being psychically or emotionally traumatized.
And of course, always lurking in the background is the silent but implied
physical threat, in this case by the armed sheriff standing guard next to the
commissioners table.

As my friend told me how his fellow taxpayers urged him to protect the liar,
I immediately thought about the Stockholm syndrome. This term was first
(widely) introduced into the public consciousness (and then rapidly buried as
too uncomfortable) when Patty Hearst was kidnapped and then allegedly
conditioned by the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA). I’m not passing
judgment on the SLA or Patty Hearst, just explaining the process and how
we’re all subjected to the Stockholm syndrome.

Here was Hearst, who was forcibly taken against her will, and yet within two
months had not only come to speak positively about her captives and their
cause but then publically demonstrated her acceptance by robbing a bank
with her captives. At least that was her defense at her later trial. Regardless,
the Stockholm syndrome is very well understood by those who wish to use it
against us.

Just look at the public’s reaction to the Ponzi for parallels. While many
people are angry, many others believe what they’ve been conditioned to
believe, that we can’t survive without the big banks. And there are quite a
few people who can spout from memory the banking cabal’s talking points in
an elevator minute.

The public’s behavior exhibited at the commissioners meeting also showed

the characteristics of abused spouse syndrome or battered person
syndrome, where the battered and abused spouse is desperate to avoid
upsetting or angering the abuser for fear of receiving additional beatings.
The battered spouse will not only suppress him or herself in order not to
disturb or anger the abuser, but will also suppress or even attack others that
threaten to disturb or anger the abuser, which was exactly what was
happening in the commissioners meeting.
There are even strong parallels to the behavior exhibited by inmates in WW2
concentration camps. I’ve read easily a dozen books discussing the
psychology of the people leading up to and including their internment and
eventual execution. Most people don’t realize that many nationalities were
sent to these camps and an in-depth reading shows a broad cross section of
personalities, cultures and nationalities exhibiting the same symptoms in the
face of systematic and calculated brutality.

It’s not a pretty subject to study and I’m in no way condemning or

condoning their behavior. No one can ever say how they’ll ever truly react
under any circumstances until they’re inside the madness. I was sickened by
what I read, of man’s inhumanity to man, and I can only hope I’d be able to
display the level of courage many exhibited leading up to and during their
captivity and, for many, execution. But the sad fact is that these brave
individuals and families were often fighting their fellow sufferers as much as
the Nazis. And for those who believe it could never get this bad in America,
that’s exactly what they (Germans, Jews, Polish, French, Russians etc) said
to themselves right up to and past the point of no return.

We can also find examples of similar behavior in the terrible dysfunction

evident in families of severe alcoholics or drug addicts, where enabling or
calming behavior is repeatedly offered by the spouse and family. Lies and
broken promises are frequently not (directly) challenged by the spouse
and/or other family members in order not to upset the alcoholic or drug
addict. This is done time and time again in the false hope that he or she
won’t drink, drug or abuse if encouraged to behave.

Many times, family members will come to believe that they’re the ones
causing or triggering the behavior of the abuser or addict rather than
anything the abuser/addict is doing. They’re told this by their tormentor (the
Ponzi says the consumer is saving instead of buying, the people aren’t
borrowing, the unemployed don’t want to work, etc) sometimes followed by
a verbal or physical beating (recession, bailouts with taxpayer money,
obscene bonuses etc) to cement the conditioning. Unfortunately the victim
often assumes responsibility for “fixing” the problem (higher taxes, less
services, no cuts for military or the elites etc) yet they can’t fix something
they have no control over. The victim’s effort to “fix” is intended to placate
and defuse the situation, which simply enables all the parties involved to
avoid confronting themselves and/or the abuser/addict.
This makes sense when we understand that the family believes they can
control the situation by controlling their own behavior, since the addicted
person is clearly out of control. No one wishes to admit that the addiction
itself has total control over everyone. Many spouses of drug addicts or
alcoholics will even go so far as to make sure there’s a supply of drugs or
alcohol on hand at all times to placate the insanity. “I don’t want to upset
my spouse or he (she) might beat the hell out of me. It’s better to keep him
(or her) drugged or drunk so I can deal with the rest of the family.” I’m not
mocking this type of behavior at all for I grew up in this type of
dysfunctional family. I’m intimately aware of all the dynamics of this type of
insanity, having suffered from its effects for decades.

Looking at the bigger picture of our economic system and our political
leadership, we’re only participating in our own insanity if we won’t first
recognize this dynamic and then talk about it. But to do so requires opening
Pandora’s Box and we can’t do this because the first victim we must placate
is ourselves. Many of these “ism” diseases are diseases of denial. The drugs,
alcohol, food, abuse, sex etc are simply the outward symptoms of deep inner
dysfunctions, many of which I suspect trace back to and are expressed as
our larger social ills. We can’t separate our personal problems from our
cultural and social problems. We are all co-dependent.

National Suicide by Suppressing the Natural Survival Instinct

Consider that the behavior outlined above is being exhibited by the general
population with regard to Congress, the Executive and the Judiciary, the
banking cartel, the nation’s corporations and the regulatory agencies. The
list is endless. Like the battered and abused spouse or the spouse of the
alcoholic or drug addict, we constantly and falsely embrace hope that our
country and culture will get better despite overwhelming evidence to the
contrary.

We as individuals and collectively as a nation cling to any false hope offered

by our abusers rather than gather our courage, stand our ground and
declare no more. Our thoroughly conditioned and abused (collective) mind is
almost totally incapable of defending ourselves from the abuser as long as
we remain in denial. In our mind, denial appears to be the “sane” (or the
least insane) way to survive in exactly the same manner the Jews, Poles,
Gypsies and Russians (to name just a few) of Europe denied it would ever
get as bad it as did. This is a horrible illusion, albeit a persistent one.

The battered and abused spouse/person must either stand his/her ground
or flee not only to survive but regain some measure of physical, emotional
and spiritual health. Since we can never flee from ourselves we use denial to
flee while still occupying our body. No wonder we’re so screwed up. We must
ask ourselves what is it that’s compelling us to use denial to suppress our
basic and ultimate instinct, that of survival? It doesn’t matter whether I’m
talking about the battered spouse or the family and spouse of the alcoholic,
drug or food addict (the list of addictions is endless) or the government and
corporate abused citizen.

As far as I can tell, the mechanism used to defeat the survival instinct we
should all be exhibiting NOW is centuries of conditioning of both the culture
and the individual. And that conditioning is accelerating on an exponential
curve because the body/mind/spirit is rapidly becoming unstable. Like a
leaking quart container of oil that’s extremely slippery, our grip (and the
conditioning) must grow stronger in order to maintain control. However, this
additional force increases both the leak and the potential for a catastrophic
loss of control. Without dealing with the leak, the end game is certain and
inevitable.

We are the victims and the perpetrators of our own madness. This vicious
and suffocating positive feedback circle of our insanity might simply exhaust
itself like so many cycles before with only a few tens of millions dead if we
didn’t also possess weapons of mass destruction, be they derivative or
fusion. I’ll save that topic for another time. But I will say that only an
absolutely and totally insane culture would not only produce these weapons
in quantities dozens of times greater than needed to kill (again, be they
derivative or fusion) but also produce a strategy of Mutual Assured
Destruction (MAD) or Too Big To Fail (TBTF) in order to protect ourselves
from ourselves.

One of my favorite scenes in The Matrix, which was a wonderful examination

of our individual and collective insanity, is when Cypher’s eating dinner in
the restaurant with Mr. Smith at his table. Cypher is negotiating his re-
assimilation into the hive, aka the Matrix. He says “You know….I know this
steak doesn’t exist. I know that when I put it in my mouth the Matrix is
telling my brain that it is juicy and delicious. After nine years you know what
I realized? Ignorance is bliss.” Mr. Smith then states “Then we have a deal.”
Cypher demands “I don’t want to remember nothing, NOTHING. You
understand? And I want to be rich, you know, someone important….like an
actor.” Mr. Smith, eager to please and seal the deal, replies “Whatever you
want, Mr. Reagan.”

Sounds like the conversation we have with our ego and our leaders on a
daily basis, doesn’t it? “I don’t want to remember nothing, nothing. You
understand?” Our ego and our leaders are telling us whatever we wish to
hear and believe. And the most important thing these lies create for us is the
blissful ignorance we all crave in order to escape from our own insanity. So
we fuss and cry a little until mommy brushes her nipple near our mouth. We
know what to do from there, don’t we? And the selection of an actor as
someone who’s important was priceless, since we’re all acting as sane
individuals on our way deeper into our collective insanity.

Finally, one must laugh so as not to cry at the double dose of insanity of first
demanding we not remember anything and yet requiring we “be someone
important”. Even though we won’t remember if that order was actually
fulfilled, even this final contradiction isn’t enough to prevent our willing
embrace of the coming psychic numbness that ignorance will provide us
during our suicide. Upon achieving blissful ignorance, Karma may place me
in the bottom of a septic tank on clean out duty rather than playing second
lead across from Marla Singer, but what does it matter because ignorance is
bliss? You just can’t make this shit up because it wouldn’t be believable, a
term which describes a measure of our intolerance for slices of the truth.

The standing of our ground must begin on an individual basis before it will
ever materialize in the collective. The country/collective as a whole will not
suddenly grow a set of balls overnight if we as individuals don’t posses them
to begin with. Courage and power flows up from the individual, not down
from the group. Just ask any military officer if this basic concept is true.
Each soldier is conditioned to fight for his or her fellow soldier, not for him or
herself.

This conditioned act of selflessness is what creates the collective

consciousness of the fighting force and emboldens the group, which acts as
a positive feedback loop that also feeds the individual. Each soldier willingly
submits to the group, contributing to and feeding from the same source. But
it all begins with the individual. Each individual must accept and surrender to
the group in order to gain strength from the group, which in turn
strengthens the individual.

Breaking the Conditioning

Breaking the conditioned mind is not as high a mountain to climb as you

might think. Let me continue the story of the county commissioners because
there’s more to be learned here. While my friend didn’t enjoy being
ostracized by the hive members nor admonished by a few commissioners for
daring to speak truth to power, he was able to “embarrass” the
commissioners into upholding their sworn duty and talk about the lie.

And the tax rate wound up being set where it was supposed to be, at a 16%
increase rather than 20%, admittedly a small but still vital victory. It wasn’t
the ultimate tax rate that mattered; it was the fact that there was a fight for
the truth that was of utmost importance. He had set a small but important
precedent that could now be followed and hopefully repeated.

As he left the meeting, many of the very same people who had publicly
shushed him inside stopped him and expressed their gratitude that he spoke
out at the meeting. They were genuinely happy he’d stood his ground,
despite their initial misgivings. Rather than be vindictive (and my friend
assured me that his urge to verbally slap them was nearly overwhelming) he
thanked them and then gently asked them for support the next time this
happened.

These people weren’t country bumpkins or undereducated blue collar

workers. He counted among them a lawyer, a professor at the state college,
the local pediatrician and various business men and women mixed in among
the “common” folk. And surprisingly the local county judge, along with other
well dressed and obviously professional people he didn’t know or recognize.
These were average to higher educated people who supposedly were well
informed and highly motivated. This shows that we can’t hide in the myth
that our problems are caused by the great unwashed and uneducated
masses. It’s simply not true and shows our own unwillingness to speak truth
to ourselves.

Many of my personal experiences are similar to my friend. I find that it’s the
more highly educated and more financially well off (the middle to upper
middle class) who perceive they have too much to lose by upsetting the
apple cart and speaking truth to power. Thus they have a greater tendency
to self censor, stuff their opinions and allow themselves to be intimidated by
perceived higher powers. They are their own conflict of interest when
protecting their own interest and will often bargain with themselves in order
to keep what they have. Thus they willingly lose the small battles in the
hope they’ll win the big battle, never considering that it will always be just
small battles and they’re conceding every single one on the way down the
slippery slope of denial.

While the poor and undereducated no doubt have their own delusions to
contend with, for the most part they fully expect the better off to lie, cheat
and steal and get away with it. They’re more realistic about their being
victimized and thus they’re often less intimidated by power. I suspect some
of this has to do with having very little to lose. I’ve said before that those
with a great deal to lose will only act like they have nothing left to lose when
they have lost it all.

Mother Nature’s Nose Candy

The poor and lower middle class are not the ones who are directly
supporting the insanity in the same way as the middle and upper classes,
which today might just mean anyone with a job. Zero Hedge readers must
remember that we’re more likely to be the (small) exception to the rule
merely because we’re visiting ZH trying to broaden our understanding. We
can’t measure society based upon our views. But neither can we make broad
and sweeping generalizations simply because we assume others are
different, thus not as intelligent, motivated, aware etc.

I’ve made (and still make) this mistake myself and its seductive because it
offers easy and compelling answers that conveniently mesh with my
worldview. The solutions and answers I arrive at are telling me exactly what
I want to hear. The endorphins and natural pain killers released by the brain
when we hear or see what we want are dozens of times more powerful than
that junk we can buy on the street corner or at the pharmacy.

No street pusher or head doctor could ever match Mother Nature’s selection
of nose candy. And her “natural” high is mainlined directly into our blood
stream faster than we can say Keynesian economics. Our insanity has made
us natural junkies, wandering the intellectually barren streets for any
information whore or economist pusher who’ll sell us anything that’ll confirm
our perceived sanity, all so Mother Nature will release the good stuff. We
blindly stumble back and forth from an arousing emotional high to an
extremely painful cognitive dissonance to our next desperate fix to kill the
pain. We’re no better than the filthy junkies we step over on our way to our
hamster wheel in the corner office. Hold all my calls Martha; I’m getting high
on Keynes.

Reinforcing Changed Behavior

Of course, at the very next commissioners meeting, a similar situation came

up. But this time when my friend spoke up, a number of people immediately
joined him in vocal opposition to the item on the table. Yes, he still had to go
first but now he had some support. The abused had learned they could resist
the powerful and live another day. And there was strength in numbers. My
friend now reports that this flexing of citizen muscle has been growing for
nearly a year and is to the point where people are engaging in other areas of
the community.

It’s now spreading on its own and without his guidance. His fellow citizens
found an exit from the madness of self censorship, of stuffing their
objections and of feeling powerless. They escaped their subservience to their
abuser and the self hate that comes from the groveling. And as an added
bonus, the commissioners have been brought to heel. Everyone’s so intent
on stopping the madness at the top that we never stop to consider that it all
flows from the bottom, with ourselves on the first rung of the ladder.

While he didn’t turn lambs into lions, the conditioned mind these people
previously exhibited had been broken to a small degree. And every
subsequent time they act against their conditioning, they become more
confident in their ability to do so. They’ve begun to believe in themselves.
They never liked being subservient but felt powerless to change their current
condition because the herd, also known as the public collective
consciousness, was acting the same way as they were and thus not
supporting any desire they had to change.

We must remember that while we still retain the illusion we’re all free and
independent thinkers and actors, in reality we’re highly codependent upon
our masters for permission to do anything. This is why the conditioned mind
will rarely break free on its own. It takes real courage for the abused mind
to escape the psychological chains that bind. It’s not just the master that
has control here but the entire cultural system and its psychological
reference points that influence us, with all of them telling us we can’t fight
back.

If you look critically at the messaging we’re receiving, we’re always told that
it’s easier to go with the flow and to leave the driving to someone else.
We’ve received no encouragement from the herd to overcome the risk of a
lashing from the master if we resist. When my friend showed up and put his
foot down, the others were at first frightened that blows were sure to follow,
but then quickly became energized when they did not. He put an end (on a
local scale) to an extremely powerful positive feedback loop that was acting
negatively against the herd.

I’ve experienced similar results within my small community simply because I

stepped forward and then asked others to help. The asking for help is
extremely important because by doing so, we’re asking the others to invest
in their future, to become active rather than passive, to be responsible
participants and citizens rather than future victims. Asking for help also
relieves us of the “oh oh, what did I get myself into now” buyer’s remorse of
endless and thankless guard duty with no relief in sight. Finally, because we
walk away with a sense of community healing and personal satisfaction,
we’re more willing to stick our necks out again and again.

Cognitive Dissonance - 06/07/2010

 Welcome To the Insane Asylum – Making Reality Fresh Daily

Chapter 4

By Cognitive Dissonance

An Equal and Opposite Force

The power that our conditioning and the Ponzi/government/Fed has over us
is essentially an illusion, one that while we may support, is growing weaker
by the day. As the Ponzi falls apart, as we fall apart, as the illusion begins to
lose its focus and clarity in our minds and thus in our reality, the support
structures become increasingly unsteady. Its hold on us rapidly diminishes
on an exponential basis.

The more unstable the Ponzi becomes, instability that’s coming from layers
upon layers of lies, deceit and deception, the more force must be applied
simply to remain in place or slow the decline. The same can be said about
ourselves. As we begin to lose our links to reality, as our insanity increases
exponentially, the more force of will we must apply to remain functioning. As
the systems fail, the collapse progresses rapidly and exponentially. The end
comes quickly. Let me explain by using an example from my childhood.

My brother and I were horsing around one day and we starting pushing
against each other from opposite sides of a door. Quickly we ramped up to
the maximum force we could apply and it became a stalemate, with neither
having the power to overcome the other. And we were both rapidly tiring.
Since there were no reserves left in either of us, there was no way to quickly
escalate and win the battle.

Because we were both at maximum power, even a small drop in effort by

either side would quickly be overwhelmed by the other. In this case, I was
the first to tire, so I tried to let go and get out of the way at the same time.
The door quickly crashed into my face and chest, knocking the wind out of
me and bloodying my nose.

The same dynamic is playing out worldwide. Maximum effort is being

expended by the Ponzi and its support structures (various governments,
banking cabal, Fed etc) in an effort to remain in place. Only in this case, the
Ponzi (which is a reflection of our own madness) is fighting against the
inevitable collapse of the madness itself. In effect, the Ponzi is being
consumed by the escalating effects of the Ponzi, just as we’re being
consumed by our own insanity.

The markets are very cognizant of this fact and are eagerly searching for
any perceived weakness in the system while at the same time fearful of a
total or partial collapse. The participants believe they can somehow not only
profit from the destruction but then successfully escape with their gains, just
as we believe we aren’t part of the madness and can avoid it’s destructive
death throes. Escape with what and to where; by what means and when?

The first sign of any real substantial weakness will start a cascade and bring
the system crashing down, which doesn’t necessarily mean governments will
fail, though anything goes at this point. But it does appear at the very least
that the fiat currency and possibly the economic system’s days are
numbered. The real question is when.

To think we can safely escape at the last minute is as delusional as someone

waiting until the water is 3 feet deep before trying to escape from the
hurricane. The recent flash crash showed us the speed that the stock
markets can and will fall. And you can safely assume the government will
put a halt to security sales and money distributions and transfers when it
gets real bad. Desperate Ponzi men will do desperate things.

A similar battle is occurring between our ego, our conscious mind, outside
systemic influences and our subconscious. While the great systemic control
forces being applied to the population appear to be overwhelming and
controlling, in fact the system is highly unstable and susceptible to a crash if
one side gains just a small advantage.

So the logical question is who or what has the ultimate advantage? From
where I’m standing, the survivors will be those who retain or regain some
semblance of sanity and who’ve already done much of the difficult internal
work of finding emotional and spiritual centeredness.

Control through Apathy and Conflict

Let’s return to the citizens at the commissioners meeting. Once they saw
that the impossible was in fact possible, that they were able to resist the
commissioners, they made this new possibility, this new perception, “real”.
And they created this new reality again and again simply by believing it’s
possible. Nothing else changed other than their faith and belief in their own
ability to effect change for their own benefit.

They made this new perception their own reality primarily because they
wanted it to be their reality. So in effect they created their own positive
feedback loop to benefit those inside the loop rather than be exploited by
others. Either we create our own reality or we live within someone else’s
reality.

Since our perception of reality directly affects how we interact with “our”
reality, in many ways we make our reality fresh every day. Only we often
make it exactly the same way as yesterday because our perception hasn’t
changed. The people at the meeting were previously apathetic in response to
their perceived powerlessness brought about in part by their fear. But now
they created a positive feedback loop beneficial to them (with initial help
from my friend) which helped them to subvert their old conditioning.

One could say this is literally the power of positive thinking or belief, which
is another way of saying the power of the herd mentality working in and for
the best interest of the herd. This local section of the herd is becoming
sentient, self aware of its ability to change its reality to something more
agreeable and beneficial. The power has always been there. They’re simply
harnessing it for the first time.

Apathy is an emotional defense mechanism used to deal with one’s own

perceived weakness. “Whatever, who cares, same ole same old, nothing we
do matters so go with the flow and take care of yourself.” In a way, this also
applies to those of us who are caught up in the endless cycle of fighting
among ourselves. We don’t dare challenge our abuser, but we want to
release our anger, so we attack each other instead. Our apathy is acted out
as aggression against anyone other than those whom we really wish to
attack and topple.

Once we enter the devastating cycle of apathy, we become bound within our
own gravity well of helplessness. We’re rarely able to break free because the
only energy we can muster is used to increase our apathy and the force of
the gravity well itself. In order to free ourselves, among other things we
must admit we supported the very system that enslaved us, an extremely
uncomfortable and emotionally charged proposition.

This is one of the reasons social violence is rarely directed at leadership and
often back at ourselves. The submissive slave mentality, the frozen
apathetic mind, simply can’t revolt to any significant degree against the
master. So the mob acts out it’s aggression on other more vulnerable
groups. On a personal level, depression could be considered inwardly
directed violence repeatedly applied. We reenact being traumatized again
and again, often unable to break the vicious cycle. We do this because
unconsciously we’re unable to face the root of our own trauma, our own
victimization of ourselves.

To break through this pain means not only that we must accept that we
can/could have resisted, but we must also take responsibility for our part in
the mess. We won’t push through this pain unless we can see a quantifiable
benefit, sometimes just a way out, which requires narrowly tuning our
internal radio station to “What’s In It For Me” (WIIFM) at least for the first
push out. As nice as it sounds to say we did something for others, at this
early stage in the centering, we must be acting solely for ourselves. Nothing
focuses the mind quite like the certain knowledge of imminent death or
great pain, which removes all the clutter and excuses in one quick swipe.

We begin this emotional and spiritual tuning by looking inward and

conducting an honest appraisal of our own part in this dance of self
enslavement and servitude. We must clean house internally if we’re to begin
the healing process. If we study 12 step recovery programs (alcohol, drugs,
sex, abuse etc) we’ll find that this is the heart of an early and long lasting
recovery. Very few stay clean and sober long without this internal cleansing.
Once the foundation’s been repaired, then the rebuilding can begin. But
leave a shaky foundation in place and we’ll have lifelong problems. Or more
likely, we’ll simply continue our downward spiral.

By starting small with something easily understood and achieved we build

courage, which in turn helps us to push through further pain. We must all
build upon our small victories, which develops the experience necessary to
go bigger and bigger. How do we move our personal mountain? The answer
is devastatingly simple, one wheel barrel at a time. The key is to narrow our
gaze and see only the task directly in front of us, focusing just on that one
wheel barrel we’ve now loaded with dirt and are pushing away from the
mountain.

The control system has convinced us we can’t move mountains. And the
control system’s correct. We can’t……in one big push. That’s the illusion
that’s promoted by us and others to keep us immobilized; it’s all or nothing.
But we don’t need to do it all at once. We can move the mountain one wheel
barrel at a time. Anyone can. Once we push through this falsely perceived
and promoted high hurdle, and we do this through the application of
rigorous honesty, we begin to understand that it’s us who control the chains
that bind us to our servitude.

This cleansing and rebuilding starts small, with our own personal affairs and
those of our friends, neighbors and community. It’s entirely realistic thinking
to believe we can change our conditions by our own hand and for our own
benefit. The powers control us only by our consent, usually through active
encouragement of our apathy. Remove or reduce our apathy and empower
the individual through rigorous honesty (and a push in the right direction)
and we’re no longer held captive to the lies, be they internal or external.

Our overall freedom begins within each individual, not in any mass
movements, riots or strikes. The only strike we need to call is our own
personal strike from self deception and false hope seeking. We’re easily
controlled when we self deceive. We in effect blackmail ourselves.

It’s quite simple really. We’re playing a game with ourselves against
ourselves. We know what cards we hold but we pretend we don’t know.
Consider playing a game of cards between you and your ego. Your ego
knows all your psychological triggers. You, the conscious you, will
consistently lose, which is precisely what’s happening.

Rethinking the Problem and the Solution

At one time, I thought the only way to “win” was to raise large armies of
enraged citizens who would then storm the walls of power and wrestle “it”
back. Though I admit I was never quite sure exactly what I would be
wrestling back. I believed I needed an army because I’d been conditioned to
believe I needed to move the mountain in its entirety and all at once.
And I was conditioned to believe this so that I would never even try;
logically assuming I could never accomplish the task. It was only after I
realized that we’re always powerful and will forever be powerful and that on
a daily basis we’re conditioned to surrender our power that I recognized any
massed assault against the perceived walls of power was unnecessary.

The towering walls are merely an illusion we’ve created (with plenty of
outside help) in our own minds. If you think about it, twenty years ago the
federal government was considered much less ominous. So dealing with the
occasional corrupt official wasn’t that difficult. Now, after twenty years of
escalating governmental and corporate misdeeds and abuse, it looks nearly
impossible to get anything done. Incredibly, we support this illusion in order
to kill the pain of our impotence and enslavement.

And we mustn’t forget that the people working for or in government are
affected in the same manner. We need to stop, step back and consider why
people continue to work for entities that are clearly working against their
own best interest. We can’t simplistically assume these government workers,
along with the rest of the Ponzi, are just “bad” or dumb or incompetent and
walk away with an “understanding” that supports our desire to believe we’re
powerless.

I don’t care how much we protest we want things to change. As long as we

declare we want change but can’t change, either us or the system, we’re
caught up in our own insanity. We need to reexamine the problem with fresh
eyes, starting with basic assumptions. Since we’re not aware of many of our
lies and self deceptions, we have no idea where they are or how far they’ve
infiltrated our thinking. So it’s back to the basics. We question everything,
which has the effect of establishing a base for clear and logical thinking.

The more we’re abused, the bigger we make the mountain. We see no way
out, in the same way a battered spouse sees no way out of her prison while
looking out her open front door. From her point of view, it doesn’t matter if
the door is open, there’s no way out. In effect, we’re self medicating using
self deception and the comfort derived from ignoring choices. “I can’t do
anything about the abuse so I might as well make the best of it.” Since we
aren’t happy with our enslavement, but we’ve been (self) conditioned to
believe we can’t do anything about it, we must establish mythical but
plausible reasons for not acting to save ourselves, thus increasing the spin
of our insanity.
This desire to self deceive, created in order to deny the pain any real self
awareness of our condition would bring us, leaves us wide open to all sorts
of other lies and conditioning. We don’t need to break these illusions down
from the outside; we simply need to stop supporting them from the inside.
But this can only be done if we reject the self deception and lies that are the
basis of both the internal and external control system. This is why I always
say “we” are the control system. We are the foundation and building blocks
of the very walls we wish to bring down.

An understanding this simple must be, and always will be, dismissed
as crazy, unrealistic, unworkable and fantasy by those who have
bought into the illusion.

To accept any idea contrary to our illusion is the kiss of death to our illusion.
Or more accurately, to those of us who have become emotionally and
physically dependent upon the illusion, there can be no alternative to the
illusion. Our own reality cannot accept any alternatives, for in our mind to do
so would be suicide. We’ve built up the problem to such enormous
proportions that a simple solution that requires our own actualization rather
than blame shifting is totally unacceptable.

This is what I mean when I say we’re co-dependent. The amazing thing is
that the illusion dies on its own without our support. No need to storm the
walls since we are the walls. And we buy into the illusion by supporting its
lies with our own lies. We validate the illusion by making it our own illusion,
by making their reality our reality with the power of our own belief.

Wow! Who was That?

If the power of another’s belief is extremely strong, it often overwhelms and

controls ours, particularly if we’re uncertain of our own belief or desire. This
in a nut shell is the power of the herd when scattered or the mob when
concentrated. This is also the power emanating from some individuals that
we describe as “presence” or as “charisma”. This can’t be faked or
substituted, though that’s precisely what the political and corporate image
makers are trying to do.

And we’re susceptible to this image making manipulation because we’re all
searching for this very power within, though I contend many of us are just
acting like we’re searching. Careful what we wish for, right? The problem
with being a success is that we can no longer acceptably fail, meaning the
standard has been raised by our own hand, thus we can’t hide any longer by
failing to succeed.

Because we constantly find ourselves lacking through (self) conditioning and

indoctrination we’re much more willing to accept artificial imitations as
genuine (imitations). The same applies to many human created religious
movements. We’re seeking religious salvation and divine answers outside of
us because we don’t have the desire, courage or faith to find them within.

We empower our religions just as we empower our governments and

corporations. The sad irony is that not only do we fail to see within us the
power we possess, but by failing to see the obvious we then empower and
embody into an external entity all that we wish to find within. We give away
what we claim we don’t posses. Which makes sense because then we aren’t
responsible for the use (and abuse) of that power. Let someone else do the
dirty work and receive the blame while I sit back and reap the rewards.
There’s no risk on the hamster wheel.

The very power that we can’t find or see within ourselves is then projected
onto and into an external entity. We deny having the very power we transfer
to others. Once we’ve been conditioned to fail, success is much more
frightening than to “naturally” fail. Failure breads more failure and we
actually derive some pleasure from succeeding at our failure, particularly if
we’re emotionally rewarded to fail.

Making Our Realty, One Pill and One Bill At a Time

Let’s look at a phenomenon that illustrates the power within, which is easily
measured by the pharmaceutical industry. Of course, I’m talking about the
placebo effect. Someone’s given an inert pill or capsule for an illness or
malady and told that the “medicine” in the pill will make them feel better.
And for a mathematically significant number of people, they do feel or get
better.

How can this be? How can something that’s not a “medicine” act like a
medicine? Is that really what’s going on here or is the “reality” offered or
invoked by the “medicine” accepted by the patient as “real” and thus the
patient adopts the, or conforms to the, new reality.

Interestingly, when these inert pills are shaped and colored like other
medications rather than left as a simple round white pill, the effect is even
greater. And when neither the patient nor the care giver knows this actual
pill is a placebo, the placebo effect becomes stronger. When both the patient
and the care giver truly believe the inert pill is a “medicine”, the placebo
effect is greater still. What’s going on here?

Part of the effect seems to be tied to the patient’s belief in the fake
“medicine” and part is tied to the care givers belief in the fake “medicine”.
Symbolically, the taking of a pill for an illness could be considered an
acceptance of both the reality of the illness and of the power of the
“medicine” to affect the reality of the illness.

And the placebo effect changes for unknown reasons, varying from day to
day and person to person. While the dynamic behind the placebo effect is
not understood, the effect itself is so well known and so completely trusted
to be “authentic” that it’s used to measure the effectiveness of actual “real”
medicines. If the “real” drug is no better than the “fake” drug (the placebo)
the “real” drug is considered ineffective. But no one dares to look too closely
to see what makes the “fake” placebo effective because that might just open
a can of worms.

Yes, there have been studies but very few. It’s clear an industry dependent
upon selling drugs doesn’t wish to fund it own destruction if they were to
prove inert pills could “cure” disease and illness. Nor will a government fund
a study that might undermine its illusion of power. Understanding the
placebo effect just might empower the individual. Can’t have a bunch of
empowered minds asking difficult questions as they wake to their own
power, can we? Even the doctors concede that the patient’s will, desire and
belief are often the difference between healing and dying.

While there might be numerous explanations for some of what’s going on

here, it seems pretty clear that the power of one’s belief, and the combined
power of two or more people’s belief, either has the power to alter reality or
the power to convince someone to alter their own reality. In the face of this
and hundreds of other anomalies, outliers I like to call them, how can we say
that reality is static and unchanging and we can’t affect it? At least the
scientists hedge themselves when they say the placebo effect doesn’t seem
to conform to the “known” laws of nature.

From the Pill to the Bill

The placebo concept blends nicely with our belief in symbolic paper “money”
or currency as “real” and of our acceptance of the reality of money when we
agree to accept it in return for our “real” labor. We then “spend” the real
money for other goods and services, thus perpetuating this reality.
Accepting and spending money is our symbolic acceptance of the fiat
currency system and of our part in the economic/social/cultural illusion. It
really opens the mind when we begin to follow the rabbit down the hole,
doesn’t it?

Let’s look closer at this “belief” concept from the currency point of view, one
that we’re more familiar with. Just as our currency is only as strong as our
faith and belief in our currency, the powers that be are only as strong as our
faith and belief in the powers that be. If we believe in our currency, if we
believe it’s strong, it will remain strong. As well, if we believe in the powers
that be, if we believe they’re strong and powerful, they will remain strong. It
doesn’t matter if we hate them as long as we believe they’re strong, or at
least stronger than you and I.

Slightly off topic, while I believe Gold is much more than just an element
on the periodic table, Gold’s detractors try to demean the power of Gold by
saying it’s just a piece of shiny metal, a barbarous relic as they like to say.
In fact, it can and has been seen in the past as exactly the same thing as
fiat currency, a symbol of the ultimate strength or weakness of our faith and
belief in it. The difference is that humans have believed in Gold for
thousands and thousands of years.

And this belief is universal, crossing cultural and language barriers. Fiat
currencies come and go but Gold has always been seen as “real”, meaning
either Gold is more than an illusion or this illusion is extremely persistent.
This is the ultimate power of Gold, its universal acceptance as a store of
value and its ability to continuously attract and embody our faith and belief
in its stability and power.
A few years ago on a hunch I conducted some unscientific experiments with
2 infants just a few months old using Silver and Gold coins as well as Gold
plated coins. When I displayed the various coins to the infants, always giving
them a choice between two different coins, the two infants most often
reached for the real Gold.

This occurred even when I controlled for weight by not letting them hold the
coins, controlled for inscriptions by using coins of similar size and engraving
and controlled for left/right bias by switching hands. Somehow they even
understood the difference between plated and solid Gold. There’s something
about Gold that can’t be explained and those that deny this “power” are
denying themselves or talking their book.

They Need Us

Ultimately the government’s power is a derivative of our own real and

natural power, which is expressed and quantified as our belief in the
government’s power. Because governmental and elite power derives from us
we can easily withhold our consent and belief in “them” and collapse them in
the same way our currency would collapse if we simply withheld our belief in
it. There are of course consequences for our actions. But doing this doesn’t
mean the entire system would collapse, though the powers that be
constantly tell us this would indeed happen if we removed them from power.

This same false promise of collapse is promoted by the abusive male spouse
when he tells the battered wife she can’t live without him. Of course she
can, just as we can live without our abusers. The abuser (aka the
government, Fed and private banking and corporate interests) has conjured
up an emotional and intellectual spell (to use an old maligned term) or an
imaginary meme, which can also be called an alternative reality. And the
battered spouse (we) has agreed to accept, consciously and/or
unconsciously, the power of the alternative reality/spell/meme. We are the
active ingredients that can break the cycle of violence and abuse quickly,
though we often see it as nearly impossible.

The insane spouse abuser (aka government/Fed etc) is entirely captured and
controlled by his insanity and rarely stops the cycle of abuse. We often hear
an abuser say that he didn’t know what came over him and that he just
couldn’t stop. Of course, he often blames the abused for his actions. I
suspect he really is a bit surprised and confused by his own behavior, just as
many recovering alcoholics and drug addicts admit they also were very
confused by their inability to stop. Regardless, the insane abuser is going to
continue to abuse anyone he can control just as our government and private
corporations will continue to abuse anyone they can continue to control. We
are willingly giving our abusers their power by remaining under their
control/spell/meme.

I understand that the reader may chaff at my use of the word “willingly”,
which is the reason I’ve spent page after page explaining the concept and
manifestation of our insanity. Speaking for myself, I know that I will seek
refuge in the comfort of self victimization so that I don’t have to do the hard
work of self examination. I’ve often found that I set myself up to fail by
placing unrealistic barriers in my way or by enabling precisely those I say I
wish to break free from.

From where I stand, that’s the definition of willing, though I understand

there are mitigating factors. That’s the reason for this long dissertation, to
explain the nuances. But if we can’t examine this dynamic honestly and
recognize our part in the dance, we’ll never break free from the insanity.
What I’m really saying when I use the term “willingly” is that we don’t wish
to exercise our innate and natural power to stop the abuse for a variety of
reasons. And that’s a bitter pill that our ego doesn’t wish to swallow.

I need to make it absolutely clear here that I’m neither victim bashing nor
blame shifting. I was subjected to terrible abuse for many years and I’m
intimately aware of this dynamic. It’s abundantly clear that it’s the sole
responsibility of the abuser to stop the abuse and that we must demand
every single abuser stop their abuse in every single case of abuse.
Period! But we must also find the courage to discuss why the abused
remains inside the cycle of abuse. We must do this because this same
dynamic is at play within our culture and our country.

When we remove our support of the powers that be (abuser) only the
powers that be (the abusers) running the machine (this reality) will collapse,
just as the people at the top of government always collapse when half the
population shows up in the streets. The people in the streets are removing
their faith and belief in the current powers and the powers collapse. The
exchanges, banks, governmental services and the economic system all
remain in place and operational to a greater or lesser extent after the fact.
They need us; we don’t need them. We have bought into their lies regarding
their value to us and the system they’ve constructed to enslave us. For now,
all we really want is for the structure to remain in place after they’re gone.
We need to detonate our own psychic neutron bomb, killing the powers that
be, but leaving the system intact. Once they’re gone and our sanity begins
to return, then we can begin to change the systems. It doesn’t all need to
change tomorrow. That feeling of urgency is false.

When we’re apathetic, we don’t resist or directly support the powers that
be, and thus we willingly and consciously relinquish our power to them. We
don’t actually hand our power over to them as much as we don’t apply our
power against them. They don’t need to resist that which is not brought to
bear against them. This has the effect of reducing our collective strength
which is equivalent to adding to theirs.

I sometimes think of this concept in military terms. Ultimately an army is

only as strong as the amount of force it can muster and bring to bear
against an opposing army at any one time and place. A solider not available
to fight doesn’t need to be opposed by the enemy. How we prepare
ourselves, how we perceive our role, our readiness and our mission directly
determines our effectiveness and thus the reality we project or accept. If
we’re missing from the battle, the other side doesn’t need to fight as hard or
bring as many troops to bear. Ever wonder how 5% of the population
controls the other 95%?

It’s not What you have but How you Use It

Let’s revisit the commissioners meeting one last time for our final lesson. A
year later, the number of people attending the monthly meeting remains at
around 30. But of those 30, easily 20 or more are now active participants in
the governing process. Their apathy has been replaced with a belief in
themselves and each other. And it isn’t always the same 30 people at these
meetings.

As new people rotate into the meetings, they learn the lessons publically
demonstrated by others in the herd of what an engaged and proactive
citizen’s responsibility is. Since more of the citizens at these meetings are
proactive, this essentially makes the same force (30 citizens) much more
effective. Essentially they’ve leveraged their power while still using the same
number of people. The herd is naturally teaching others in the herd through
demonstrated public behavior.

While the commissioners see the same number of faces this year as they did
last, those faces are now asking questions and demanding answers. And the
commissioners are now much more responsive and accommodating. Their
arrogance has been replaced with respect and even enjoyment now that
they feel they’re working with the citizens rather than in a vacuum. It’s no
longer a thankless task.

One commissioner told my friend last month that he now enjoys the
meetings even though he still doesn’t like being challenged. The leaders are
being retrained and reenergized. The commissioners, after their initial shock
and resistance, have conceded to the changed reality and have accepted it,
thus conforming to and confirming the new reality. The reality changed
because the citizens wanted it to change. The citizens led and the
leaders are now following.

It’s our apathy that empowers them. A dam that doesn’t need to withstand
very much pressure doesn’t need to be very strong. Pull up pictures of
beaver dams if you don’t believe me. And since 95% of us are either fighting
each other over the dwindling scraps or sitting on the sidelines in abject
apathy, the “towering” walls of the powers that be need only resist 5% of
the population. Their walls are only as strong as our apathy is strong.

Energize just 1% more of the population, from 5% to 6% of total population,

and we’ve increased the pressure on the powers that be by 20%. Energize
5% more of the population, from 5% to 10%, and we’ve doubled (100%)
the pressure on the powers. This is why it’s so important to them to keep us
dazed and confused and thus unaware of the power and pressure we can
quickly bring to bear against them. As they lose control, they’re rapidly
ramping up overt control techniques because they’re fully aware how
precarious their situation is.

Remove our apathy and we remove their strength. They feed off our apathy
and indifference as well as our infighting, which is why our control system
encourages our apathy and division. This is done by way of our own
narcissistic self indulgent behavior and by diversion tactics used to divide
and set each upon the other. To overcome this, all that’s required is the
spark, particularly now that the control system is extremely destabilized.
The kindling and firewood for the spark to ignite is all around us. Or like I
said in an earlier article, the snow to create the avalanche is already in place
everywhere we look. If we act, we’ll begin the process of teaching the herd
how to teach itself. If we continue to disempower ourselves, we cannot
empower the others. Thus we, meaning me and you and him and her and
them and those, must empower internally before we can disempower the
powers that be. This is why we must first find ourselves, then find the
others. Once we begin our healing, it will rapidly spread to others.

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/avalanches-and-tipping-points

Fear the Nailman

OK, so now what do we do? Well there are two final concepts I wish to
discuss, that of critical mass and the catalyst. But before doing so, we must
discuss our own fear. No matter what psychological games I play on myself,
that mountain appears to still be in front of me. And I don’t know if I have
the courage within myself or others to do the hard work that will enable me
to see the illusion.

Or we might say “yes I understand the mountain’s an illusion, just as the

walls of the powers that be are an illusion. But I’m frightened and unsure
what to do”. Fair enough, so am I. The first step is to talk about our fears.
By doing so, by dragging the monster out from under the bed and the
boogeyman out of the closet, we go a long way to disarming our fear.

I said way back in chapter one that we’re only as sick as our deepest darkest
secrets. Well, we’re also only as immobilized as our deepest darkest fears.
So before I begin with the final two concepts, let me relate a personal
experience about fear. It’s often easier to create our own reality when we’ve
seen others do so. And “fear” is simply a reality we can both empower and
disempower at will.

I’d worked in residential construction for nearly 20 years, from when I was
16 to my mid 30’s, encompassing the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. Towards the end
of this period, I found myself working for someone else on a crew of one and
a quarter building a house. In other words, I was doing 90% of the work and
he would show up when I needed a second body to lift walls and place floor
joists.
As usual, I was working alone one morning, on top of a step ladder with a
compressed air gun nailing down the double top plate of a wall. I was
reaching with the gun in my right hand while pushing the wall in place with
my knee and left hand. A strong gust of wind pushed me off balance while I
was just about to nail the top plate next to my knee. I missed the top plate
and shot the 3 ½ inch glued and barbed framing nail into my left leg about
six inches above the knee. Can you say Ouch?

From what little I could tell, it was the perfect shot, directly through the
center of the leg at a slight angle, through the center of the leg bone and
out the other side but not through the skin on the back side. The only thing
that prevented it from going through and out of the other side was the head
of the nail. I’d just shot myself, nailing the leg muscle to the leg bone, and I
was all alone and unable to walk, barely able to get off the ladder. And this
was before cell phones.

Then I got lucky. I expected to be working alone all day, but my boss
showed up 30 minutes later because he’d forgotten something. He quickly
called the ambulance and along with the fire department they got me off the
second story and into the emergency room in about an hour and a half, the
delay caused by the lack of stairs in the unfinished home. Once the
emergency room doctor saw the x-rays, the on-call orthopedic surgeon was
summoned.

Unfortunately, for reasons never fully explained to me, the surgeon took
over two hours to show up. Personally I think he was off in a motel
somewhere. The ER doctor didn’t want to order pain meds because I’d been
handed off to the missing surgeon. So I was basically abandoned medically
while call after call was placed for the MIA surgeon. I’d been in pain now for
over three hours with what was effectively a gunshot wound through the
bone. And quite frankly I was getting very worried and was nearing panic
when suddenly almost all of the pain disappeared.

This lasted about 2 or 3 minutes and I was baffled. At first I thought

something bad had just happened, that maybe I was going back into shock.
But I felt OK, not dizzy or cold or disorientated. I was thinking clearly and I
was fully aware of my situation and my surroundings. I’d just decided to
start hollering for someone to come into the exam room when the pain came
blasting back. Oh my, now that was a shock.
For about 5 minutes I was stunned and somewhat befuddled. What had just
happened? What the hell was going on? And then a realization and
understanding swept over me. It wasn’t the pain that had disappeared and
then reappeared; it was my fear. The fear I was experiencing (where the hell
is the doctor, what are they going to do about this nail, will I be able to
walk, will I be able to work) was creating a emotional positive feedback loop
that exaggerated the pain which exaggerated the fear and so on.

Basically my emotional state was more of a problem than the nail, at least
as far as the pain was concerned. Since I knew that it was now possible to
be fear free, meaning the “reality” of no fear had just been demonstrated to
me, I decided to try it on my own, in effect to experiment. I knew I could be
without fear because I’d just experienced this reality for a few minutes.

Rather than try to understand why it happened, I wanted to focus on making

it happen once again so the pain would go away. So I decided that I had no
fear. I’m not talking about hoping or wishing or thinking or praying or trying
not to be afraid or trying not to have fear. I decided fear was not present
because it did not exist at that moment and time.

This is an example of how something becomes real or a part of our reality

simply because we have “proof” it’s real, regardless of how silly or
impossible it might seem. I consider this the central core to our madness,
this constant need for proof of our reality before we accept our reality. Or
let’s reverse that sentence. This is an example of our denial of certain
realities if the “reality” can’t be proven to be “real”. Let that concept sink in
for a minute.

Consider how much we depend on others, mostly authority figures of every

kind, to tell us whether something is real or not. And if we’re told it’s not
real, we dismiss it from our minds and thus our reality in the same way I
dismissed the fear from my reality. If we’re told something is “real” we
believe it pretty much without question. “They attacked us because they
hate our freedom; now shut up and get back on the hamster wheel.”

I knew the absence of fear could be “real” because I had just experienced it,
in the same way we know our feet will touch the floor when we roll out of
bed in the morning. We never even consider that the floor won’t be there
when we swing our legs off the bed. We don’t question it because it’s there,
it’s real, with such a huge degree of certainty that there’s no doubt
whatsoever.

This “reality” has been “proven” to us repeatedly each and every morning.
We don’t doubt it because it’s “real”. This isn’t just an intellectual exercise.
We approach so much that’s in life in exactly the same manner, thus making
real something that might not be real if we hadn’t been told it was real. For
example, every source we turn to tells us that the towering walls and powers
that be are impossible to bring down. This is not true yet the vast majority
of us believe it to be true, thus making it “real”.

It wasn’t even that I knew I had no fear. I simply accepted the condition of
the absence of fear as I would the condition of the floor under my feet and
the examination table under my butt. I created the reality by expecting it to
be there, which is not the same thing as hoping it will be there or expecting
the fear to go away. The fear simply wasn’t there because it did not exist. I
can create and empower the fear from within or I can choose not to create
and empower the fear from within. I have the inner power to make the fear
“real” or not.

Do. Or Do Not. There Is No Try.

When I related this to a friend a week later, at first he laughed. But then he
said it reminded him of that scene from Star Wars where Yoda is training
Luke. Luke has just failed to lift the star fighter out of the swamp muck and
Yoda scolds him after Luke said he would try again. Yoda says “Do! Or do
not! There is no try!” I understand using this movie reference sounds
somewhat “out there” but I need to emphasize that there simply was no
“try” to be without fear. There just was no fear. It did not exist and it
never existed. In fact I had made the absence of fear so “real” that to
actually feel fear at that precise moment would have been a contradiction of
reality because there was no fear to feel.

I experimented a few minutes turning my fear on and off, of turning the

reality of my fear on and off, until I felt I understood how to do it. I was
literally going from lots of pain to very little and back again. It was very
surreal. The key was to assume total and absolute responsibility for my fear
or the absence of my fear. There was no “this situation is making me
afraid” or “that nail in my leg is making me frightened” because I make or
don’t make whatever reality I want. Nothing makes me do anything. I and I
alone control myself and my reality. Only I can “make” me do something.
I’m accepted my responsibility for creating my own reality. Nothing else is
responsible for making my reality, no matter how uncomfortable it is.

Consider how often we use the word “make” when describing our reality, in
particular our emotional reality. You make me mad. I made her angry. She
makes me happy. I made my son angry. They made me upset. The actions
of the powers that be make me furious. The bankers are making me very
upset. Obama makes me furious. In each situation, we’re abandoning our
responsibility for our own emotional response. Thus whatever response we
present is not our fault. The other person or entity then owns us, which is
another way of saying controls us, because we hand over control of our
emotional state. This inevitably leads to our physical control.

All there can be is the simple and absolute understanding of the experience
of the absence of fear, of being without fear. For example, you’re reading
this now. You’re not thinking “I don’t want to be afraid” or “I want this fear
to go away” while reading this. You simply aren’t thinking about fear
because there’s no fear present. I was creating that condition in my mind.
Actually it “felt” like I was turning on and off a switch that was literally
located in the back of my head. Something had shown me how to create an
alternative reality. And like the good student that I am, I followed
instructions.

Suddenly the surgeon walked into the exam room with a bunch of people in
tow. After 10 minutes of looking at x-rays and examining my leg, he turns to
me in the most matter of fact manner considering the situation and lays out
two choices for me. They can rush me off to the operating room, cut my leg
open and extract the barbed and cemented nail from the center of my leg
bone. This choice could subject me to infection risk as well as a long
recovery time because of all the cutting and possible sawing.

“Or we can take care of it with these.” He turns around and in his hands are
two very shiny and beautifully crafted vice grips, one large and one slightly
smaller. He didn’t need to tell me what he wanted to do because it was
obvious. He wanted to grab the head of the nail with the vice grip, lock the
jaws closed and twist it out. I was a bit shocked that one choice involved
surgery and the other involved a pair of vice grips.
I asked about the danger of pulling the nail out in the exam room and he
spent a few minutes talking about ripping open an artery and hemorrhaging,
breaking or shattering the bone from the torque applied when twisting the
nail out and even tearing the muscle with the barbs. “No big deal” is how he
summed it up. I asked him for his recommendation and he flashes this big
smile and says “I’m here, you’re here, let’s get the party started.”

After a few seconds of thought I told him to go for it. He asked me if I

wanted a shot for the pain and I said no, I had the pain under control. He
asked again about the pain, then looked at me and said no more. I did say
I’d need a minute to prepare before he started. Five minutes later he said he
was ready and I went to that place and flipped that switch I’d just learned
about, where there is the absence of fear because there is no fear.

As it turned out, the “extraction” was much more difficult than he expected,
what with the barbs and cement. After about a minute of twisting and pulling
the nail as one would a corkscrew, he finally was able to pull it completely
out. Both he and I (after it was done) were astounded that I was able to
bear the procedure without crying out in pain or using the second pair of
vice grips on his ear or nose in retaliation. BTW, 25 years later I still have
the nail and the x-rays and I regularly pull them out (pun intended) to
remember that important lesson.

One week later, when I visited his office for a follow up, I asked him if he’s
normally that cavalier and forthright when talking to patients under similar
circumstances. He said no, he doesn’t normally and he’d thought about it
often, wondering what came over him. He said he didn’t do anything
different than he normally would, meaning the same choices would still have
been offered.

But when I persisted with my questions, he did say he felt the emotional
situation was “light” and “easy going” and he “felt” (I remember he had a
confused look on his face when he said this) he should act the same way. He
seemed to be genuinely surprised by what he had experienced. This brings
to mind the concept of mirroring, how when talking to someone I mirror
their actions or they mirror mine, such as if I cross my arms the person will
often do so as well.

The surgeon had unconsciously been mirroring my lack of fear and my calm
demeanor. He didn’t walk into a crisis situation. I’d created in him an
alternative reality simply because he was exposed to my reality. This is part
of the dynamic of herd behavior on an individual basis. Understanding the
concept of mirroring is important because it can be used as a source of
strength and inspiration when we rally those around us or when we seek
support from those around us.

Obviously the point of this story is to illustrate to the reader the power of a
belief or awareness of a “truth” or “reality”. More to the point, the
understanding of the power I already had and still have within myself, which
I used to create an alternative reality (in this case the absence of fear) or to
alter the reality I was experiencing. What helped me to believe an
alternative reality could be possible was simply that I had already
experienced it when the fear disappeared for those 5 minutes.

It’s important to understand that regardless of whether or not I had

experienced the lack of fear beforehand doesn’t mean I could or could not
create the absence of fear now or later. The “proof” had nothing to do with
the alternative reality, other than to build conviction in my mind that the
alternative reality could be “real”, thus I could make it real. It was the belief
that was the active ingredient here, not the proof. The power was and is
always there. We simply chose or don’t chose to utilize it.

Our fear is entirely under our control because we make it real or not. No one
makes us afraid or fearful, we make ourselves afraid or fearful; the other
person simply presents circumstances that we’re conditioned to believe the
proper emotional response is fear. Understanding the root of the power of
our fear is the key to dealing it, just as one understands that the power of
our currency is our emotional response to it.

To quote Albert Einstein “Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a persistent

one.” The illusion appears to be so “real” that we’re completely seduced by
its form and function. We don’t ever consider that something is not real,
that something might be an illusion. We use the same words to describe a
house or a rock as we do to describe an emotional state of being. Thus it’s
“real” simply because of our utter and complete acceptance of it as real.

The power of our minds to create this illusion in all its magnificent detail and
depth is so overwhelming that we believe the reality we’re creating is more
“real” than that which is actually creating it, our consciousness, our mind,
our spiritual being. Sadly, we’re so thoroughly lost in the woods that we use
the “proof” of our everyday reality, which is created by us, to disprove the
power of our reality’s creator, our own innate and natural power. We are
mistaking the finger pointing to the moon as the moon itself.

Note: If you’d like to explore more on the subject of the dream like nature
of reality and how we manifest our reality, then I urge you to spend some
time visiting the web site of Paul Levy, who has devoted most of his adult
life to exploring this question. Paul Levy has studied Carl Jung for decades
and interprets Jung’s writings and philosophy in a very unique way. By way
of disclosure, I (Cognitive Dissonance) am not Paul Levy nor do I have a
business relationship with Paul Levy, other than to use his private practice
services from time to time. Everything on his web site is free including an
extensive library of articles.

http://www.awakeninthedream.com/

Cognitive Dissonance - 06/11/2010

BTW, I pulled out that x-ray of the nail I shot into my leg which I talked
about in Chapter 4 and I thought you might be interested in seeing it. It
really was amazing how well it all worked out. The orthopedic surgeon told
me that if I had shot the nail an inch or so lower I would have blown out the
back of my knee or worse. And if the nail had entered an inch further left or
right, I would have split or shattered the leg bone. He said in all seriousness
that if I was going to shoot myself in the leg, I couldn’t have picked a better
spot. Simply amazing and something I’ll never forget. It was definitely a
learning opportunity. Please see below.
 Welcome To the Insane Asylum – Seeking Moral Courage
Chapter 5

By Cognitive Dissonance

Fear Is the Mind Killer

We rarely consider that fear is not only used by others to control us, but that
we use it to control ourselves. Fear lowers our frequency of awareness,
locking us into the here and now and shielding our minds from other
possibilities and realities. We’ve been conditioned so thoroughly and
completely from birth that now our fear response, which manifests in
obvious and not so obvious ways, is the primary force in our universe. If we
were to spend just a little time examining our actions, we’d find that fear is
at the root of nearly all we do. Many “positive” emotions are actually fear
based.

Not only do we immediately recognize fear for the power we’ve given it, but
we’re conditioned to react in the same predictable and programmed manner.
Fear, anger, rage, greed, lust, jealousy, envy, hate, indignation; these are
all controlling emotions. Of all the things they have in common, the most
important for the purposes of this discussion is that they narrow our
perspective and shut down our reason, logic and empathy centers.

Of course, we can’t be controlled if we’re acting in our own best interest. So

fear is used to disable our natural protective instincts. This sounds contrary
to the belief that fear is what saves us when we’re in danger, the example
being a lion, tiger or bear (oh my) that’s about to attack us. We’re
repeatedly told fear mobilizes our body for fight or flight. And while that
might be so, in our reality there are rarely wild animals around every corner,
only the falsely projected perception of imminent danger all the time and
everywhere we look, designed to shut down our higher awareness and
coping mechanisms.

The fear response fully engages our ego, pulling the emergency manager
even further forward to take total command. Our ego immediately disables
our ability to engage in wide ranging intellectual movement, in the same
manner martial law physically and mentally confines us and with it much of
our capacity to act for ourselves. Our focus becomes fully on the here and
now and we think no further ahead than hours or days at best. Everything
becomes black and white, good or bad, right or wrong. There are no gray
areas in an emergency and very little freedom of thought.

Our fear keeps us in the immediate moment and fully on ourselves, which
doesn’t allow for a larger and healthier perspective. In effect, we become
infantile when we’re fearful and we look for others to fix whatever it is that
we fear. Of course, that would be whatever “authority figure” is attempting
to control us, often family members, employer or co-workers, corporations
that use fear extensively in commercial advertising and of course our own
government. But equally often, we are both the controller and the
controlled.

As I’ve explored in prior chapters, we place roadblocks in front of ourselves

that give us an easily recognizable excuse to fail or even not to try. Often
these impediments are constructed in exactly the same way as the external
ones are, using fear as the template. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve
projected into the future an entire sequence of events, discussions,
circumstances and results that always conclude exactly the way I wish.

In the ultimate self fulfilling prophecy, my wish is usually to do nothing or to

confirm that doing nothing is the correct and proper action to take. Carefully
mixed into my own false projections are those our society and our
controllers also use, resulting in a subtle confirming feedback that
everything is as it should be and I’m helpless, just a poor victim without
control or power.

The reason I talk about fear and reality is because of the direct connection.
Let’s look at this a little closer. Fear narrows our view and perspective and
limits or eliminates our capacity to think. Fear is the mind killer, which
brings to mind a wonderful quote from Frank Herbert’s brilliant novel “Dune”
where Paul recites the Bene Gesserit litany against fear. “I must not fear.
Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I
will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when
it is gone I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone
there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”
In effect this is what I did with my fear in the emergency room. I let it pass
through me because I realized I gave it the power and I could disempower it
as well. I recognized that fear was the controller only if I gave it the power
to control and then removed that same power several times. Most people,
including myself, have been trained from birth to fear our fear, to run away,
to avoid or bargain with the fear rather than face it for what it really is,
simply a manifestation of our inner confusion and uncertainty because the
“reality” in front of us is not to our liking.

Deflation of the Mind and Spirit

I often think of fear in terms of deflation. It condenses, makes smaller,

reduces in scope and ability and diminishes existing reality to less than what
I perceived it was prior to when I became afraid. The reality I’m
experiencing is shrinking in size and scope and my understanding and
awareness shrinks as well in an exponential relationship as my fear
increases.

The constant stress I feel from living the inauthentic life, of constantly lying
to myself in order to ignore my insanity and that of everyone and everything
around me leaves me shrunken and disabled and open to manipulation and
exploitation. The absence of fear, the state of being without fear, is the
natural state we’re born into. An infant just born is only frightened of loud
noises and falling, as are most animals. Every other fear response is taught
by us to our children, including our own phobias and conditioned responses.

This understanding was brought home to me with crystal clarity one day
over two decades ago when my son was very young, barely 11 months old
and newly toddling. One day while wobbling near a wall, he quickly turned
around and walked directly into the wall. He bounced off but somehow kept
his balance and was mostly startled though not hurt in the least. He looked
over to me with what appeared to be an inquiring look. “What do I do now
Dad?” My wife was just walking into the room and caught a glimpse of what
had just happened.

I smiled and laughed and told my son that all was well and to carry on,
saying “You’re OK, there’s no problem”. It was my tone of voice and relaxed
expression that he was looking for, a signal from dad showing him how to
deal with the reality that wasn’t what he expected and not really to his
liking. He immediately relaxed and sort of looked around to get his bearing.
There was no pain or fear in his face, just confusion because he was
surprised by something he didn’t expect.

My wife quickly rushed up to him in great distress, which was written all over
her face and in her voice as she quickly picked him up and began checking
him out. My son immediately took the visual and verbal signs as extreme
danger and began to cry his lungs out, which frightened my wife, which of
course frightened my son even more. Once again my son had been
conditioned to be fearful of something, in this case the unexpected. And he’d
just received another of what would be a long string of life lessons in fear.
Be surprised or startled, become frightened and then cry like hell, reinforcing
the fear.

And the most important part of his conditioning was the act of being
comforted when he was frightened and crying. I couldn’t help notice that as
my son screamed his head off; he was trying to reach for my wife’s breast.
My son received affirmation for his actions from his mother (and vice versa
for my wife, who filled the role of nurturing protector) in the form of
attention, such as being held, rocked and caressed. This was quickly
followed by soothing words once my wife had calmed down and topped off
with a reassuring bottle and a nap. Lesson learned.

We spend the rest of our lives seeking comfort to sooth every little bump,
bruise and disappointment as we fulfill our (self) assigned life roles of
husband, wife, employee, boss, thinker, baker and candle stick maker. The
root lesson is that we don’t cry unless we’re hurt and if we’re hurt, we
should cry and seek comfort. Pain is to be avoided at all costs, including the
“legitimate” pain that is part and parcel of the inward search to answer life’s
questions and which comes from a realistic searching assessment and
understanding of oneself.

Instead of being the best we can be, we practice pain and conflict avoidance,
always alert to potential dangers we’ve been conditioned to expect and
which are usually way overblown. Regardless, our emergency manger ego
likes it this way, always in demand, always useful. We all understand the
terms “comfort food” or “comfort shopping” and I suspect we’ve all engaged
in this behavior at one point or another. Simple lessons anyone can and
does learn very early and very quickly. It’s now gotten to the point where we
seek comfort just to make it through the day. The boss just yelled at me and
my 4G iPhone won’t be here until Friday, where’s my nipple?

I was quickly admonished by my wife for not rushing to check on our son,
whom she claimed could have been seriously hurt. To this day she still
doesn’t understand her role in our son’s conditioning because she doesn’t
want to understand. There’s a mental block preventing this reflection with a
neon sign that reads “This way only leads to pain. Stay away.” She was
simply passing on to our son her conditioning, just as the rest of the tribe
teaches its newest members the only thing we know. If we don’t open our
minds to other possibilities, we can never grow as a species. And like the
well trained hamsters we are, we’ll climb back on the wheel once we’ve been
sated and comforted.

Critical Mass and the Catalyst

The title of this section brings to mind those high school chemistry
experiments we conducted where we’d create a solution and then let it cool.
Suddenly as if by magic the liquid would be filled with solid crystals. You can
create the same effect yourself by pouring lots of sugar into a glass of hot
water and stirring it until it all dissolves. Then set the glass aside to cool.

If you watch carefully, the process happens relatively quickly. When the
temperature reaches a lower point, suddenly more and more of the
dissolved sugar can no longer be held in suspension. It appears that a
critical mass is reached and much of the dissolved sugar reforms. It
precipitates out of the solution and back into a solid. Forgive me if my terms
are incorrect, but it’s the concept I’m after.

There seems to be a point where, when enough people become aware of

something, suddenly nearly everyone becomes aware. Or at least we’re
more likely to become aware, as if cognitive roadblocks are lifted. It’s almost
as if the collective consciousness reaches a critical mass and rapidly
explodes into the awareness of nearly every individual conscious mind. This
point seems to be reached when about 5 or 6% of the entire human
population (or the sub group directly involved or affected) becomes aware of
something. This also appears to be the dynamic behind the herd mentality.
Now let’s consider the power of the catalyst. Thinking back to those
chemistry classes again we all remember mixing up a solution and then
placing a few drops of another chemical in it. This was the “catalyst”, that
additional force, stimulant or irritant that seemed to be perfectly suited in
every way to dance and intertwine with the existing solution. The catalyst
started a chemical reaction that precipitated change. We all remember
seeing a (sometimes clear) liquid turn into a jar of wet but solid crystals as if
by magic.

My prior discussion about looking within and re-discovering our natural or

innate power was written to illustrate that just as all matter has the capacity
to change if given the correct stimulation or “incentive”, so too do we
humans. The difference is that our power lay not only in understanding this
concept, but that we can initiate it at will and even control the outcome.
Since we shape our reality by way of our perception, this isn’t surprising
when you step back and look at the big picture. Each of us has our own path
to follow and so the strength of our understanding, and thus our power,
varies greatly from person to person.

But not just power varies. We all react differently to others and our
reactivity will change as we grow in our understanding and comprehension
of our nature and ourselves within the greater collective. To illustrate this
concept, think back to that chart on the wall in the science lab of the
Periodic Table and remember that all the elements were classified by atomic
weight or number as well as different “groups” of elements. There are some
elements that are extremely stable and others that are reactive or unstable.
My point is that some elements (people, concepts, realities) have a much
greater effect upon our current reality, meaning they’re more reactive to
those around them than others.

It’s Alive

Remember how the people at the commissioners meeting became not only
active, but they began to teach those around them. Members of the herd
became more “reactive” to others in the “universe” or herd. The herd began
to learn from other members as they changed their composition and moved
from being a passive element to that of a much more reactive element. So a
form of leverage is realized here as the awareness grows in the collective
consciousness of the herd. And awareness in oneself acts as a catalyst in
others, which acts in an exponential manner to accelerate the group’s
learning curve.

As our awareness and understanding grows, we move from an inactive,

passive or self defeating consciousness to one that has become more aware,
more informed and thus re-active. We in turn influence other people who’re
orbiting us, such as family, close friends, co-workers or those who simply
come within our sphere of influence, such as people around us in a store, on
the bus, in the plane. Some of us who are very strong willed even have an
aurora, charisma or a presence.

We’ve all been around people such as I’m describing. They have a presence,
they move the room they’re in and people gravitate towards them. I’d love
to hear the scientific explanation for this effect, this magnetism to borrow a
term. Isn’t it interesting how our culture has words, and a broad
understanding and awareness of what those words mean, for something that
supposedly doesn’t exist scientifically or that science can’t or doesn’t wish to
explain.

As this process progresses and awareness leads the individual to grow

emotionally, spiritually and intellectually, their learning curve grows
exponentially. But their composition also changes to that of a more reactive
element, which in turn destabilizes those passive elements around them,
thus precipitating out of that passivity more awareness. And the reaction
continues as if a wild fire has exploded under drought conditions. The entire
herd’s awareness moves up the exponential curve until awareness quickly
peaks and encompasses everyone. This is that 5 or 6% critical mass number
I talked about earlier.

While on the surface it may appear that a light switch is flipped and the herd
goes from 5% to 100% awareness, what’s happening is a good old fashioned
exponential curve dynamic in play. This is also the curve our madness
follows and once again a careful study of history shows this to be true. The
cycle in and out of the insanity is not a circle but more accurately an
extremely elliptical orbit or an elongated oval, with madness on one side and
the highest awareness (for this cycle) on the other side.

The public consciousness is already moving on its own. The exponential

change in our collective insanity, which we’re already exhibiting and acting
out, is evidence of this change. The change is already here and more is
coming. This cycle is already in motion, has always been in motion. There is
nothing new to learn or believe regarding this cycle progressing because it’s
self evident and self explanatory. This is happening and it’s happening now.

You and I see it coming in the form of stock market gyrations, bailouts and
greed, tension between the haves and have not’s, North Korean torpedoes
and US aircraft carriers around Iran etc. The question is can it be affected by
you and me? Can we change the path already in place? And the answer is an
unqualified YES. But we cannot consciously influence what we don’t clearly
see. And we must understand its composition and properties before we
begin.

Changing Our Influential Orbits

Even the largest objects in the universe, galaxies, can and are affected by
other objects in the universe. While the biggest effect comes from other
larger or smaller galaxies, in fact everything affects everything else to some
degree. The Hubble telescope has shown dramatic pictures of galaxies
spinning around each other in massive multimillion year dances. And our
own solar system rotates around the center of our own galaxy.

On a smaller scale, inside our own solar system, both the moon and the
earth directly and continuously affect each other even though they don’t
ever come in contact. Our entire known universe is one big dance of cycles
within cycles within more cycles. Of particular note for this discussion are
comets and small asteroids which can be bumped or influenced out of their
elliptical orbit (and into a different orbit) by another influential mass, again
without ever making contact.

The take away here is to understand that the current cycle of insanity can
also be bumped into a different orbital path very quickly if a mass of
sufficient size is brought to bear. Remember that insanities mass is already
there, it already exists, in the form of our current escalating madness. This
path or orbit of madness is already playing out, but it can be influenced by
either a reduction in the rate of growth of our insanity and/or in the rate of
growth of our sanity. We either live within our own insanity as passive
players or we change our own insanity.
The momentum is already there, the mass is already present, there simply
needs to be an incremental change of energy in our orbit to effect overall
change. All the components are already in the jar of fluid in our social
experiment and the introduction of a small catalyst will effect a massive
change quickly. Another example would be the way rockets are vectored
towards Mars or other planets. By making small changes and using velocity
and time to their advantage, the rocket scientists can effect big changes in
trajectory with little energy inputs once the mass and velocity are already
present. The components are already present and we have the power to
effect change. It really is that simple.

Imagination Opens the Mind to the Possible

Just as fear contracts and closes our conscious mind and spiritual being,
there’s an opposite state of mind that powerfully expands ones awareness
and understanding. It inflates the entire mind and body and opens our
consciousness and spirituality to any and all possibilities. When using this
tool, which is so easy a child can and does use it, we find it brightens and
fills from within that which was barren and empty. Consider this as you
would the concept of inflation, which grows “reality” larger than the prior
state and encompasses more than what was “real” before.

This can all be accomplished when we use our imagination, when we imagine
a thing or a state of mind or an emotion which did not exist for us in that
moment until we created it within our mind and gave it form and function.
Consider that everything and anything is first imagined within man’s mind,
that it’s formed in our conscious and unconscious minds well before it’s ever
created by our hands. Thus, without our imagination, there is no reality in
the same way there is no reality for most animals. For them, there just is.

Consider that its man’s mind that creates (significant) reality out of the raw
material found around and about him. Yes, I understand some animals
intentionally change their environment, such as a beaver building a dam or
other animals when nest building. But this building is accomplished by
animal instinct, not imagination. It’s almost as if these animals are
genetically imprinted and are simply following an internal map.

What I’m talking about is an exercise in imagination of our imagination, the

ultimate source of all creativity and creation. This creation is both in the
literal sense, where tools are fashioned in the mind first, which then directs
the hands, which then creates what was not prior but will forever be now
that it’s been “created”. And also in the figurative sense, for do we not
create our Gods, our evil spirits, our demons and our madness within
ourselves before they manifest in the reality we’ve created and that we’re
creating right here, right now.

Every part of our reality was imagined prior to its creation. Or might I say
that every part of our reality is first imagined within the mind before it’s
fashioned by the hand. If this is so, then what exactly is reality if not a
figment of our imagination? I believe this is what Einstein was really talking
about when he said “Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent
one”. And it remains persistently our illusion, our reality, for that is what we
wish and want. Or at least we know of no other reality, so it cannot be
anything other than what we know as our reality. It’s our reality, simply
because we know of nothing else that our reality could be. It’s real because
it appears to be real, making it real.

While relating this concept of imagining reality to a friend, he asked me how

I would explain the cave man creating cutting tools by “discovering” that
sharp broken rocks could be used as knives after accidently cutting himself
on a piece of sharp rock. I replied that it still required the cave man to
imagine using the sharp edge to cut something else, even if the instigation
for the imagination was accidently cutting himself with the sharp edge.

Cutting yourself doesn’t automatically lead to cutting deer meat. But also
notice that I didn’t say the person who actually discovers or creates
something was the person who first imagined it, just that it needs to be
imagined in order to be created in this realty. Once something is understood
by enough members of the tribe, it’s known by all members of the tribe,
even if every single member isn’t consciously aware of the knowledge.

The Highest Peak in the Deepest Valley

The entire idea of linear progression of man’s intellect doesn’t mesh with
known history. It’s always assumed that today’s world of cell phones and
automobiles is the height of human development. And the fact that people
lived in grass, mud or stone homes 5,000 years ago means they were less
“advanced” than us. Why does everyone think we’re now at the apex of
human progress? That the only way to measure “progress” is with our own
currently devised and constructed meter stick?

I can’t think of anything that demonstrates the incredible level of hubris our
culture exhibits than our belief that we’re at the height of human
development. But of course we must think this way, because to do
otherwise would force upon us some overdue self reflection and
examination. We simply can’t doubt or even question ourselves when that
hamster wheel beckons and the replacement for the B-52 bomber is waiting
for funding and future pilots.

So with absolute certainty we declare we’re at the top and everything that
came before us was/is inferior. If so, why is it we still can’t explain how the
Egyptian pyramids were even built (a new theory is offered monthly for
those who care to look) let alone most of the other huge stone and earthen
pyramids throughout the world? I’ve followed this subject for over 45 years
and we’re still no closer to explaining the construction process than we were
150 years ago. Lots of patched together theories are all we can offer.

Nor can we explain why they were built. Everything I’ve read regarding the
various reasons proffered is based upon the belief that the builders were
primitives, which is an incredibility narcissistic approach to take when trying
to understand cultures long gone. All this point of view succeeds in doing is
to feed our superior attitude. I come from a family of structural engineers
and architects and even one I’ve talked to tells me it would be extremely
difficult to replicate many ancient monuments today, even though they were
made 5,000 (or more) years ago by so called “primitive” people.

And what’s with those massive ancient earth works all over the world,
including North America? And let’s not even mention things like the
Antikythera mechanism. The list of the unexplained is extremely long and
growing. Interestingly you find very little mention of these “outliers” in the
text books, other than the cursory backhanded dismissal by those experts
who won’t consider information that disproves their fully funded theories.
Can we say institutional bias on a grand scale? If one cares to peek, there’s
a whole universe of alternative thought available if we simply look to either
side of our narrow narcissistic point of view.

My point is simple. We’re trying to explain our reality looking through a small
hole in a large piece of cardboard that’s facing an even bigger universe. We
don’t know what we don’t know we should even know to begin knowing.
There’s no evidence that “proves” there were or weren’t (more) advanced
civilizations 15,000 or 40,000 years ago other than our own conceit and self
righteous assurances that we’re at the peak. An assurance we must believe
if we’re going to keep spinning our hamster wheels.

And there’s plenty to suggest that there might have been earlier civilizations
that did not need or want “technology” as we know it today. It’s well within
the realm of believability that prior civilizations could have used different
technology (spend some time studying Cymatics or Tesla to name just two
“outliers”) even more advanced that ours today that they used to live full
and happy lives. Notice I didn’t say “productive” lives, a distinctly 19th and
20th century word and concept creation. Is not expanding my mind, my
personal universe, my spirituality the ultimate productive activity? Or is the
real measure of our lives “X” number of units produced per (wage and debt)
slave?

The so called “rigorous scientific process” leaves little room to stray very far
off the beaten path. That alone doesn’t mean it’s bad if only science would
admit that most of what it “knows” constantly changes. We need to
remember that science is simply one method of describing our current and
potentially future “reality”. Just like “terrorism” isn’t an army or a person,
“science” isn’t reality; it’s a specific description of reality.

We could travel this road for a long time coming up with what ifs. And that’s
precisely what the imagination is for, to imagine what if. The insanity of our
current cultural mentality is that if our machines can’t count it, weigh it or
measure it, it doesn’t exist, even if it’s right there in front of us. There are
clearly things in our world today that don’t fit into any scientific box, but
nonetheless they “exist” and thus are real. Is it possible that the insanity I
spend page after page describing is actually blinding us to what reality really
is or could be?

I find it extremely disturbing that so many highly educated people claim they
“know” certain things with absolute certainty when what we “know” is being
revised on a daily basis. Displaying such arrogant hubris and certainty in
light of all this uncertainty might be an excellent definition of insanity,
wouldn’t you say? We should spend our days saying “why not” and “what if”
instead of “it can’t be” or “prove it” or ”this is the way it is”. Humility in large
doses is always an excellent prescription to higher enlightenment and
greater happiness.

Skynet is Sentient

What’s happened to the imaginer in today’s culture, those people who spent
all day just thinking about possibilities, the Buckminster Fuller’s of the
world? I find it deeply satisfying that as our physicists reach the boundaries
of their machines, they’re turning to philosophy and (science) fiction for
answers. Or at least they’re looking for inspiration and possibly confirmation.

I’ve often wondered if our technology is not some bastardization of our

imagination for it appears as if the process of reality creation has been
removed from our imagination and handed to machines that make other
machines, effectively where machines make our reality. But of course this
isn’t so; it’s just another illusion of our imagined realty.

However, because we no longer have conscious “control” over the machines

making machines, I wonder if the effect is similar to the stock market
running without circuit breakers, with the high frequency trading machines
running wild. Maybe our technology is a mechanical imitation of our
imaginations, which is tapped into the power of our imagination. But without
the soul, spirit and creative spark human’s posses.

Maybe Skynet is sentient, only we’re Skynet and Skynet is acting out our
insanity. A mechanical machine lacks the essence of being human, that of
spirituality and creativity. And I wonder if this is behind the soul sickness
humanity is afflicted with. In our madness, we create the machines that
poison ourselves, effectively completing our suicide without having to
personally pull the trigger. Near underestimate the brilliance of our own
madness. After all, we’ve got our best minds working on it.

One of the dangers of too much reliance and belief in technology is the
abandonment of greater understandings, of knowing something without
having or needing proof. Isn’t proof only needed when doubt is present? Do
you doubt your own self, your own existence? Do you need proof you exist
and are here, are real and sentient? Then why do you need proof that
humans are all powerful and that this power comes from within? Isn’t it
interesting that as we have drifted further from the truth of ourselves, we
demand more and more proof of ourselves?

I’m not talking about faith in “The One” saving me from myself as many
religions teach us. This religious faith in the one goes a long way towards
immobilizing us by creating a brain freeze that stops us in our tracks. Thus
we shift responsibility away from those who have the power, “us”, to those
who wish to acquire the power, “them”. What I’m talking about is a loss of
faith in us, in ourselves, in our own natural power to move mountains.

While our leaders are constantly invoking this power in their speeches, what
they’re really saying is that we should hand over our natural power to them
so that it can be squandered and misused, so that a few can hold the power
of God’s without the wisdom that’s required to accompany it. While we may
hand over our power to others, the wisdom to use this power is naturally
generated and shared by all and can never be given away or repudiated,
only ignored and abandoned. This disconnect, this separation of soul,
spirituality, wisdom and natural power is the source of our collective and
individual insanity

We’re told that humans have occupied this earth for tens of thousands of
years in our current state of evolution and millions of years in lower forms.
Yet tens of thousands of year ago, our ancestors seemed to have survived
quite well without leaders of the type we have today. They trusted
themselves to know what was needed and to understand when it was
needed. They reacted instinctually without any real thought or plan. They
were as plugged in to the collective consciousness as we are not. Our
advancements have come at a terrible cost and it shows. Just open a
window and use your eyes.

As long as we view our past, our natural history, through the narrowly
focused narcissistic insane eyes of our current reality, we’ll always fail to see
anything of value to be learned and utilized. I believe this blinding is done
deliberately and that our loss of insight is not only debilitating, but
ultimately self destructive as well as sad to behold and to live within.

We read how sick animals seem to naturally know which plants or minerals
to eat that will replenish or supply what their body needs. Somewhere along
the line we humans, in our rush to divorce ourselves from “bad” nature, to
supposedly become more perfect and better formed, have rejected that
which we are by nature; sentient beings that are conscious. Do we hate
ourselves so much that we would deny what we are? Is that not insanity?
Are we not driving ourselves insane by repudiating our very selves and our
natural abilities?

Taking a Stand and Declaring No More!

I soundly reject the notion that man is “naturally” corrupt and evil, that
we’re selfish and antisocial. Please note the emphasis on “naturally”. Left to
our own devices and without distortions externally imposed and then
internally adopted, we’ll always act for the greater good of our individual and
collective selves, just as every other animal and plant on earth naturally
does. By our nature and the nature of all on earth, we seek balance both
within ourselves and with everything around us.

I’m not saying that everyone will hold hands and sing songs of love and
togetherness, most certainly not in our current insane condition. This natural
balance can’t occur when we’re subjected to exploitation by the strongest of
the weakest, when we’re subjected to constant warfare with the have-nots
compelled to fight each other to benefit the haves.

Who can truly say what is “natural” when humans have been under artificial
external and internal stress for millennium. This is why I examine older
indigenous cultures for a glimpse of what man was and is capable of being
before he was emotionally, mentally and physically subverted and
constrained.

Just because something currently “is” a certain way doesn’t mean it always
“was” and always “will be” this way. I find it telling that man’s “written”
history coincides with man’s forced or induced decent into the hell we’ve
found ourselves in over the past 5,000 years. People talk about man being
naturally violent but a careful reading of ancient and modern history shows
that the “average” man will usually only fight others in large organized
groups to the death when we’re either bribed, coerced, conditioned or
tricked (patriotism, conscription, money etc) into fighting.

Starve some dogs while intermittently beating them for weeks, then throw
them into a fenced circle surrounded by screaming people while the handlers
prod them and is it any wonder they’ll fight each other? Does this mean dogs
are “naturally” vicious and killers? When a population is conditioned over
hundreds of generations to act in a narrow range of responses and then it’s
claimed this response is natural is beyond illogical and nonsensical.

The argument falls on deaf ears when presented as self evident, yet we hear
and read similar explanations for mans behavior by so called intelligent
people and entities. These explanations are plainly self serving for those who
benefit from a controlled and subdued population. Who benefits most from
the hamster wheel? And please don’t insist that the hamster’s “living
conditions” are better. Let’s pull up some charts on infant mortality, obesity,
mental illness, psychotropic drug prescriptions filled per year and on and on
and on.

However, there’s no doubt that if these massive outside influences were

suddenly released, man would violently rebound and struggle and many
would die. This reaction can’t be considered “natural” behavior either, but
simply the consequence of distortions being flushed from the system. These
“natural” arguments are always put forward to justify doing nothing or to
rationalize continuing or increasing the distortions, usually by the oppressors
or by those who profit from the oppression, including many of the
oppressed. We are after all our brother’s keeper.

I believe our government, and to a lesser but no less important extent our
religions, tell us we’re “naturally” this way so that we can be more easily
controlled. It makes it easier to justify the destruction and exploitation of
everything and everyone we come in contact with. It’s the only way we can
justify ideologies such as “manifest destiny” or the white man’s taking of
black and brown slaves and other so called natural or political rights. This
“natural” argument is the ultimate justification for taking what the powerful
want and to hell with everyone and everything else.

It’s only when we surrender ourselves to mindless manipulation by nefarious

forces, when we reject our responsibility to ourselves and to others, only
then do we embody this insanity and begin to act against the greater good
of our body and mind. To deny this self evident fact means either the denier
is the manipulator or is deeply and mindlessly engulfed by the manipulation.
To say that we cannot free ourselves from our own chains because man is
naturally [fill in the blank] is to openly declare our own insanity.
Reject the Artificially Imposed Limitations of Self

I reject any and all external and internal limitations on my natural power.
Nor do I accept any limits on the ultimate source of my natural power,
wherever and whatever that might be. Someone may place a gun to my
head and physically force me to do whatever they want. But they have no
control over my free will, my imagination, my thoughts and emotions, unless
I give that power to them. The powers that be know this intimately, thus
they use deception and illusion to induce us to hand over to them that which
they cannot take.

Consider also that most so-called Gods (at least many of the Gods explained
and expressed by manmade religions) demand of us by our own free will
the innate and natural power we all posses. It’s generally understood by all
that something that’s taken by force has much less value compared to the
same thing given freely and willingly. Never again consider yourself
powerless when it’s clear you posses something of such immense power and
wealth that it’s constantly being manipulated and seduced from your hands.

We must return to our inner self, our spiritual roots if you will, and re-
discover the power which lay within. It’s our denial of ourselves that’s
driving us mad. And this madness is being expressed by us in our reality. I
don’t need to say anything more than this because from where I’m standing
the truth is self evident. Why would we imagine we’d need a central power
to direct us toward what comes naturally if only we’d allow it.

I’m not talking about shutting down the water and sewer systems, the
banking system or the power plants today or tomorrow. I’m talking about
shutting down that tendency that’s artificially implanted within all of us to
reject our inner being, our sense of what’s right and just. Why would we
accept an external source of “wisdom” from any “authority” that’s anything
but wise and naturally powerful. Shut down this foreign force or entity within
and the rest will take care of itself naturally over time.

The illusion that immobilizes us is the idea that everything must change
instantly. I’ve talked repeatedly about the exponential nature of both the
growth in our madness and of the efforts of the Ponzi to remain in control.
This same exponential dynamic will also come into play if we chose to reject
the madness and turn towards sanity and healing. One doesn’t question that
the snowball set downhill will gather speed because it’s self evident. The
same applies to the release of our natural power source, only at this point it
doesn’t appear to be self evident because we’re blind to the power, the hill,
our ability and our will.

Of one thing I’m certain. Change is not only coming but it’s already here.
Our madness is real and it’s increasing. Even a casual stroll down the
memory lane of history shows us that madness rises and falls, in regular
cycles and rhythms. And we’re on the upward slope of increasing madness,
though how close to the peak is anyone’s guess because this time it’s
different, this time we have not only the desire but the technological
capacity to do serious damage to ourselves. Our collective suicide will be
broadcast 24/7.

Pain Avoidance Never Works

I’m not predicting what I’ve outlined will be adopted globally, though I
promise you it can and will happen within us if we make the attempt. I’m
saying that it’s entirely possible. The question is very simple, so simple in
fact that it’s almost universally rejected as simplistic. How bad do we want
change? How tired are we of our own personal insanity, not to mention
everyone else around us? How desperate are we to push through the pain to
the other side? Only you and I can answer these questions.

The active ingredient in this recipe is the will and desire to change. And the
change must start within, in first recognizing our own capacity for personal
change, which leads to larger and more permanent cultural change. I’m also
not saying that by following this path we can avoid the pain of change. This
will be extremely painful no matter what. We’re well along the path of
insanity and anyone who says pain can be avoided is not being honest with
themselves and those who are listening.

In fact, the promise of pain avoidance was and still is the catalyst for the
looming disaster on the horizon. We’ve consistently handed over our natural
power to the few in exchange for more and more promises of a better and
happier life with little to no discomfort. We’ve always known these promises
couldn’t be fulfilled. I personally believe we’ve driven ourselves mad by our
delusional effort to avoid that which we all know deep down is inevitable if
we continued to follow this path.
What’s coming no matter what is massive change and with it deep personal
and social distress. The question is simple. Do we experience great pain
along with death and dislocation and wind up in the same place on the
hamster wheel? Or do we wish to exert our influence upon our insanity to
effect long lasting social and cultural change with the cost being the same or
less pain and dislocation?

I know the process I’ve outlined can and does work. This knowing comes
from deep within and from personal experience. And I’ve watched and
helped dozens of other people successfully follow the same path.
Considering where I’ve been and the terrible prospects for my future at my
lowest point (toes up in a month) my journey back might be considered
remarkable.

But it’s only remarkable because of the extremely low expectations we have
for ourselves and each other. And I submit our expectations are low not
because they reflect what we’re capable of or what our reality could be, but
because of what we’ve been conditioned and trained to believe. If our
current reality is merely an illusion and I contend it is, we can decide to
create any reality we desire.

This concept, this collective understanding, this deep inner knowledge is

what keeps our insane leaders up at night and pacing the floors. For while
you and I might not believe in ourselves, they most certainly believe in what
we’re capable of. Finding ourselves, finding within ourselves what’s always
there and has always been there, is their worst nightmare. Waking from our
own nightmare will create theirs.

I find this supremely ironic because while we prepare for disaster, they’re
also preparing for the end. Just not the same ending we are. They’re
preparing for our awakening and with it their removal from power. They’re
preparing for our inevitable accession precisely as our own belief in our
awakening is at its lowest point. They’re extremely afraid of us exactly when
we’re at our strongest point in our elliptical cycle but our weakest point
spiritually and emotionally. At least someone has faith in us.

Self Will Run Riot

As I said previously I was one of those who visited deep emotional
instability, who knocked at the gates of hell and stayed for quite a while.
And then one day I made the personal decision that I was sick and tired of
being sick and tired, of dealing with my own insanity as well as everyone
else’s. My personal mountain appeared to be overwhelming because I
wanted to be the victim. I wanted everything with no effort and no cost. I
had given up before I’d even started to make the changes needed because
I’d convinced myself that change was impossible.

If I couldn’t have everything on my own terms with no effort and no

responsibility, I wouldn’t even try. I would sit like a petulant child in my own
excrement and cry for the nipple the terrible cruel world had ripped from my
mouth. Why me, why now, why this, why not? My own self will had run riot,
propelling me to the bottom of the septic tank pity pot. But all was not lost
for I was queen of my septic tank and king of all septic tank dwellers. Misery
loves company and I made sure I surrounded myself with other emotionally
and physically damaged people. You know, for moral comfort and the
intellectual exercise.

Then, for a thousand reasons and for just one, I gained the courage to take
that tiny first step towards sanity and slowly built upon the initial success. I
tried again and again, not always succeeding but still building experience,
awareness and understanding each day. I’ve witnessed many others come
back from even deeper into the abyss and I’ve come to understand that
there’s never a point of no return as long as we’re breathing. There’s
always the opportunity for reversal if the desire is great enough.

It’s not about finding the resolve to fix everything everywhere and all at
once because that’s impossible. It’s about working on ourselves, one step at
a time, each responsible for themselves and themselves only. It’s about
baby steps, not giant leaps. It’s about humility and empathy and about
forgiving ourselves first, then those we love the most and those we hate the
most.

It’s about accepting finally and completely that our very best efforts, the
supreme output of every man, woman and child on this earth has created
this stinking filthy cesspool. It’s time to find another way because this one
failed eons ago. We’ve just been in denial about its failure up till now, when
even our dead taste buds can no longer ignore the foul taste of self inflicted
defeat. Believe it or not, this is a good thing. When we reach the end our
rope, suddenly there’s only one choice to make.

I’ve been reading the comments left by my readers as each Chapter was
published. There are many extremely smart people here on ZH, much
smarter than me in many cases. But at times I’ve been a bit disappointed
because while there were many discussing the extent or definition of our
insanity or how it’s manifesting or even in-depth spiritual and philosophical
explanations and criticisms, rarely did I see anyone stepping up and
assuming personal responsibility to begin the change. Though there were a
few notable exceptions and we know who they are because they were mostly
ignored.

All these brilliant minds and yet so few willing to do the work of change. But
of course, this is because the problem isn’t me, it’s everyone else. I’m
already perfect, or at least nearly so. OK, maybe I’m flawed but still it’s not
me, it’s you, it’s them, it’s they. I can only go so far without the others. I
would start rowing but the others are holding me back. A thousand and one
reasons for telling everyone else what their problem is so we can avoid
looking at what our problem is. We’re all passing the buck and kicking the
can while we complain about the “authorities” passing the buck and kicking
the can. How apropos!

Everyone’s in the same septic tank I’m in. The only difference is our capacity
for denial of our individual condition. Maybe I have a nicer TV or a newer car
or more money or whatever we chose to distinguish between our little filthy
fiefdoms. Only when we clear the filthy muck from our eyes and remove our
nose plugs will we finally understand that we’re all in this together and each
of us is responsible for our own little piece of the puzzle. Only when we want
the solution more than the problems will we begin to turn the corner.

But even that doesn’t excuse each and every one of us from making those
changes starting within, here and now, today and tomorrow, regardless of
what my spouse or kids or boss or government does or doesn’t do. We are
responsible. I am responsible. You are responsible. Get over it and get
moving.

Save Yourself, then Save the Others

Let’s imagine your married with kids, are reasonably well off and while the
economy’s doing poorly you’re OK or maybe even doing well. It’s the
holidays and you have many of your extended family staying at your home
over the long weekend. After staying up late talking and reminiscing,
everyone finally hits the sack with people sleeping on floors, couches,
wherever there’s space.

Around 4 AM you wake up. Your head is killing you and you can’t think
straight. Through the painful haze you hear an alarm and somewhere in the
back of your mind you recognize that it’s the carbon monoxide detector. So
here’s the simple question. Do you get out of bed and walk alone to safety
or do you do everything in your power to awaken the others, regardless of
how difficult it might be? Do you make a determined effort to save as many
as you can, including carrying or dragging family members out the door,
even if it might mean you succumb to the deadly gas? Or do you walk to
safety and do nothing else?

You’re the first one awake. No one else is. What’s your
responsibility? What do you do now?

Do you even consider not helping anyone else? Do you just save yourself
because the task looks damn near impossible and you’re all alone? You can’t
help everyone, right? You dragged the wife and kids outside, but it looks
hopeless doesn’t it? I mean you’re barely alive. It doesn’t even look like
many of those left inside are still breathing. Let someone else go back in
that’s more qualified. “I took care of my immediate family. I tried to shake
some of the others but they wouldn’t wake up. And I’m exhausted and
frightened and my head hurts.”

Of course, we know you’d go back in and you’d do everything in your power

to save the rest of your family members. Why? Because they’re family?
Because they’re valuable to you? Because you love them? Or maybe because
you could never live with yourself if you didn’t at least try? Would you
hesitate or would your response be obvious and natural? If your answer is
anything but to go back in and save the others, you might as well just stop
reading right here and click on another article. Because I’m not talking to
you and we both know it.

So it’s pretty clear you’d go in for the rest of your family, right? But what
would you do if it was your neighbor who was in trouble? Would you do
everything in your power to save as many as you could if it was just friends
or neighbors? How about if it was someone who just moved in next door and
you’ve never met them? Would you simply call the police and fire
department and then sit on the curb and wait for the “authorities” to tell you
that you did everything you could and you did the “right” thing in a difficult
situation? This is where we find out if we’re lying to ourselves and if we have
any moral courage.

This isn’t a guilt trip because guilt can’t be given, only discovered or
uncovered within. If we’re feeling guilty, it’s because we’re either doing or
not doing something we’re feeling guilty about. I don’t give any guilt, I just
present situations that might highlight guilt we’re already either feeling or in
denial about. What I just illustrated above was an example of the distance
we’ve created between ourselves and our fellow man. This is one of the
results of huddling night after night in front of the boob tube for our daily
propaganda, conditioning and cultural isolation exercises.

This is the leverage used against us by the powers that be to defeat our
natural tendencies to save ourselves and our fellow human beings. Divide
and conquer, isolate and indoctrinate, elevate our opinion of our own self
worth and value while at the same time diminishing others in our own eyes.
We wouldn’t think twice about saving our immediate family but we would
seriously question whether saving the person down the street is even
plausible or worth considering at all. Let someone in authority deal with it.
So we pass our responsibility on to “the authorities” because we’re not
responsible.

My friends, we are the authorities. We’ve called the police and they
aren’t coming. We’ve called the judges and prosecutors and they aren’t
coming. We’ve called the regulators and they aren’t coming. We’ve called
our elected officials and they aren’t coming. Who do we call now? If we can’t
see the obvious answer to that question and then act on it, we’re lacking
moral courage and there’s just no way to sugar coat that ugly truth. There
are three choices here that I can discern. We have moral courage and we’re
willing to act on it. We want moral courage and might act if we had it. Or we
don’t have it and/or we don’t want it. Everything else is just splitting hairs
and hiding from ourselves.

We know deep down what needs to be done. I’ve laid out the case for action
and we can either endlessly argue over the details and responsibilities or we
can accept that something has to be done and it must be done by us now.
This responsibility can’t be passed to someone else because there is no one
else. There’s just you and I and anyone else who’s reading this. No one else
matters because this is a conversation between you and me. There’s no
hiding from ourselves though we try like hell. And every time we hide we
make ourselves a little sicker, a little more insane and a little more
psychotic.

Of course, we can all look away as if we didn’t see what we just saw. We can
pretend we didn’t understand or it was directed towards someone else or
whatever we need to do in order to swallow the blue pill and fall back into
delicious denial. We can shuffle around arguing about details and plans and
whatever busy work we can concoct in order to allow ourselves to live with
the knowledge that we don’t have the moral courage to do anything about
this. We can come up with ten thousands excuses for why we’re sitting on
our hands while our distant cousin or our friend down the street slowly turns
blue from carbon monoxide poisoning. It’s ugly truth time and we know it.

I won’t end this without at least a few words about those who sing the doom
and gloom song, declaring that we can’t do anything about the problem and
we’re all screwed. I’m not surprised at all that someone like this would visit
the Zero Hedge web site, a community most certainly about hope
disguised as a whistleblower web site. Once again, I’ve passed down
this road and so I’m speaking only of myself. If anyone finds value from my
(self) description I’ll be delighted, but this has been going on far too long
without being discussed.

I suppose this hopeless point of view might be correct, that we might all be
doomed and nothing can be done. But if this is so, it brings to mind a few
questions. Why does Zero Hedge scream day after day at the top of its lung
about the corruption and abuse if Tyler, Marla and company didn’t think it
might do some good? More importantly, why would the doom and gloom
proponents visit such a web site unless something deeper’s going on? I
won’t point fingers because it serves no purpose. What I will do is speak
strictly about myself because I’ve traveled this road before.

There was a time when I felt nothing could be done, that it was hopeless and
the ugly painful end was inevitable and certain. Quite frankly, I would visit
web sites like Zero Hedge because I was secretly, almost desperately, hoped
that something might be done about this shitty deal we’ve been handed. And
I wanted to believe that the people on these web sites might be the ones
who would initiate the change. At times I wanted to believe that someone,
something, anything could make a difference. I wanted hope so badly I
could cry. Please, let there be a way out. Please.

But I also didn’t have the moral courage to join the minority, to go against
to flow by declaring my independence and then acting on it. It was easier
to hide among the crowd and proudly show my “crowd courage”, to be a
paper tiger by screaming and crying and moaning while doing nothing. In
truth, I lacked the personal moral courage to act independently, where the
greatest effect and leverage would be realized but where the greatest
personal danger also lay. It was so much easier to settle into my
conditioning, to give up before even beginning, to admit defeat before ever
lifting a finger in opposition. Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do? Isn’t that
human nature?

I was endlessly cycling through the Kubler-Ross stages of grief, though the
public face I usually presented would be one of false acceptance. I would
pretend that declaring we were doomed was acceptance, but in reality it fit
perfectly with my desire to be powerless and not responsible. It allowed me
to avoid the need for moral courage while appearing to be resolute and
“practical”. I was a public coward disguised as a truth speaker.

I didn’t need to offer solutions because my solution was to huddle in the

corner and wait for the end. Any counter arguments were dismissed with a
wave of the hand. “Doomed I tell you, doomed. Only a fool tries to move a
mountain.” Of course, I didn’t want to move it, to be responsible for even
trying to move it. I wanted an excuse to take care of myself and no more
and I found it.

But I also wanted to secretly swim with others of my kind, to seek

confirmation from other doom and gloom adherents that I was correct, that
we’re all screwed and the end is near. And most importantly, that there was
nothing we could do about it, thus confirming what I wanted to hear, that we
were powerless and impotent and that I was doing nothing wrong by doing
nothing right. I wanted to satisfy myself that I was correct as I cowered in
my hole. I wanted moral absolution for my morally indefensible inaction.

I needed to hear that I could do nothing about the problems and it would be
insane to even try. The only way I could live with myself was to be assured
that I was morally right to do nothing other than to save my own ass and to
hell with everyone else. I was a coward and I desperately wanted to believe
I wasn’t a coward. “Please, someone agree with me that it’s hopeless and
futile to resist. Tell me what I want to hear so I can live with my wretched
self.”

I wanted confirmation that my missing moral courage was in fact not

missing. So I’d puff up my chest and strut my stuff, feeling superior because
I knew more than my comatose neighbors. In righteous indignation I’d
scream for blood, demanding “someone” do something about these
problems. See me pointing at all those bad guys. See, I really am doing
something about all these problems. I’m leading because I’m screaming.
Isn’t that how it works? It’s everyone else who’s screwing up. I’m absolved
from actually doing anything because I’m showing everyone else the bad
guys. I was first awake so now it’s everyone else’s turn to do the “work”.

Of course, when the call for volunteers went out, I was too busy screaming.
Besides, I’ve got too much to lose. Let others with less to lose go first. I’m
worth more. Isn’t that exactly what our culture said for centuries, and still
says now, as we slaughter one culture after another? That “their” lives are
worth less than ours, that they’re expendable, whether it’s in our wars or in
our factories.

It seems I learned my lessons well for after taking a close look at myself I
didn’t see much difference between myself and “they” or “them”. They send
others to fight their wars of oppression and conquest and I wanted to send
others to fight my war of resistance. Which is what I was really saying when
I declared it was hopeless. “Don’t count on me buddy, find some other fool
to take the lead.” It’s not pretty to look in the mirror and see such
dishonesty. This was example “A” of my personal display of genuine
imitation moral courage.

After all, how much courage did it take for me to sing the victim blues and
declare that all was lost? I mean, what a great justification for ignoring my
neighbor’s silent scream for help as I horde my resources and ignore the
floating bodies and decomposing corpse’s. What I really wanted was vocal
moral support for my lack of moral courage. After a hard look in the mirror, I
had a simple choice. Avoid mirrors or welcome change.
I understand my words will be considered harsh by some, but please
remember that I’m only talking about myself. It’s clear my views are
somewhat unique and don’t apply to everyone. It’s not my intention to call
out anyone specifically but rather to call out everyone together. Someone
needed to stick their head out of their fox hole so it might as well be me.

I’m relating my experiences in public so that others may learn from my

terrible mistakes and possibly empathize and identify. I’m simply expressing
an opinion, which is no more or less valid that yours. If the reader feels that
I’m directly challenging him or her, maybe it’s time to sit down and have a
heart to heart with your inner self and your ego. That’s where I started.

Suggestions

First find yourself and then find the others.

Begin the process of clearing the mind and body by starting the de-
programming. Shut off the TV and Radio now. Even if you don’t think you’re
addicted to it or affected by it, go ahead and turn it off anyway. I think you’ll
be surprised. Argue all you want about your ability to filter out the
propaganda but if you haven’t followed my suggestion to read up on
subliminal messaging, advertising and propaganda you don’t know what
you’re up against. Clear it all out of your daily routine and within two weeks
I promise you things will begin to clear substantially.

Challenge yourself on a daily basis. If I’m not suffering a major cognitive

dissonance on a monthly basis and a minor one weekly, I’m not pushing
myself enough to grow. Exercise your mind by pushing your comfort zones
and your preconceived notions. Purchase a book on a subject you absolutely
reject as bunk and read it with an open mind. You don’t learn squat from
reading stuff you’re already familiar with and in agreement with. Staying in
your comfort zone just feeds your confirmation bias.

And if you think you might be addicted to Zero Hedge, you are. If the site
goes down for 30 minutes and you’re starting to get nervous, you need to
broaden your news and commentary sources. Zero Hedge can be bad for
anyone if we’re using it to feed our confirmation bias and to build false
courage. I always spend at least 45 minutes a day reading main stream
media sites to see what we’re being told because occasionally the main
stream media does tell the truth. I’m not saying ZH is bad at all, just that
nothing should be your sole source of information. Nothing!

Build a bullshit filter, not a solid firewall. Learn to discern between what
propaganda is and what group think is. This requires you to stretch your legs
and read things that might disturb you. Do it anyway. I’m constantly
expanding into personally unexplored areas of non consensus thinking. “Why
not” should be the first words used when approaching anything new. Once
you begin to examine and question with an open mind, you’ll be shocked to
discover how much of your “personal” opinion is actually beliefs seeded and
implanted by others.

Don’t work alone. And the ZH community does count as working with others.
We all need a flesh and blood compatriot who will walk with us down some
scary roads and who will challenge our thinking. If you find someone you
agree with all the time, find someone else because the prior relationship was
intellectually incestuous. I want to exercise my thought process, not play
patty cake with someone who plays nice and won’t hurt my feelings. No
more lies.

Question everything and everyone, starting with this article and everything
else you intellectually consume. Drag out all those comfortable assumptions
and beliefs and give them a good scrubbing. Honestly examine them in the
bright light of the noon sun and challenge them like you would a government
spokesman. If your thinking is sound, it can withstand anything. If it wilts,
time to open the mind to alternatives. If you can’t be honest here, that just
proves you’re hopeless, not the situation.

Stop sounding like a fire alarm. The reason I couldn’t initially wake people
up was simple; I sounded like a maniac to them. All I was to those
comfortably asleep was an out of control fog horn that never shut up and
never offered solutions. Be compassionate and considerate. It’s impossible
to take years of knowledge and cram it into a frightened and emotionally
closed person so don’t even try. Use the carrot and throw away the stick.

If the person isn’t responsive after a few tries, walk away and stop pushing.
The more you push, the harder they’ll resist. The instructor will appear when
the student is ready. Move on to the next person. Find those who’re
receptive to your gentle message and encourage more learning in small
doses. You’re looking to build alliances, not massage your ego by forcing
someone to agree with you. From long experience, I’ve found only 2 out of
10 will be willing to listen and 1 out of 10 will actually want to learn more.
This is to be expected and this is the way it is. Don’t fight it, just move on.
You didn’t wake up over night and neither will they.

Set realistic goals and revise them as you progress. You’re not going to
change the world tomorrow and you won’t change yourself in 6 months or
even 6 years. It’s a continuous process. Accept this as fact. Count on the
increasing numbers of people who are waking to do the heavy lifting. You
just focus on the path directly in front of you and your partner. Let the
bigger issues sort themselves out on their own for now. You’re not
Superman, thought you’re ego will tell you otherwise. Start small and build
experience. You’re in training here. You’re not expected to run the mile in 6
minutes if you’ve spent the last 5 years on the sofa. Take it easy but be
honest regarding your effort. You’re only bullshitting yourself if you try.

You’ll find it extremely difficult when family members start (or continue) to
resist. And they will be upset because to them it appears you’re the
problem because you’re the changing party. Don’t destroy relationships over
this, but don’t give up either. Respect their right to stay in denial but don’t
enable their denial. You have a right to do as you please and you shouldn’t
hide your activities because your spouse becomes upset. Their anger or
concerned reaction is the manifestation of their cognitive dissonance caused
by your change. You’re doing this for yourself first, then your family, then
your community, then your country. That’s the order so stick to it.

Continue to prepare. I never said we shouldn’t prepare. All I said was that
self preservation should not be our exclusive activity. Follow the airplane
oxygen mask rule. Place yours on yourself first, then turn and help the
others. If all you think about is your mask or that of your family, you’re out
of balance and drifting back into the insanity. You have a responsibility to
yourself and your family first, but then your community. Shoulder that
responsibility.

Speaking of community, become active and get involved. I’m not talking
about politics though that’s fine if you wish. I’m talking about community
growth and support. Have you ever attended a local council or city managers
meeting? Have you ever volunteered at a soup kitchen or a woman’s shelter
or to pick up litter on the side of the road? This is your community. Treat it
like its valuable and it will become valuable. Support it and it will support
you. Give first, not last.

There’re plenty of ZH people and other web sites who have great ideas on
how to fight back that I didn’t cover here. There’s no right or wrong way to
walk this path, only an honest or dishonest way. Start small and work your
way into the change you want to see realized. Don’t become buried in
projects because you’ll soon experience buyer’s remorse and burn out. The
world isn’t going to end tomorrow, though at times it may feel that way, so
conserve and sustain. Work steadily and continuously rather than in bursts
of manic activity, which is usually followed by depression because you don’t
see immediate change. Slow goes the turtle over the hare.

So now it comes down to you and me and him and her and they and them.
Whether or not we as a collective or you as an individual decide to make a
change will not affect my path or my willingness to continue. What about
you? I asked the following question a few chapters ago and it bears
repeating. What are you going to do about this? What am I going to do
about this? What are we going to do about this? If not now, when? If not us,
who?

I constantly remind myself that we have a few things to do today. First we

find ourselves and then we find the others.

Cognitive Dissonance - 06/23/2010