By Cogitator
2016 -- A Voting Primer
It's that time again. As the candidates for the presidential election gather their forces to wage battle for American minds, we can already see some attacks in progress. There will be billions of dollars spent to sway public opinion towards one side or the other -- money that could surely be used in more productive ways. The process is a version of a "Game of Thrones."
Most of the voting public has little knowledge of what government is about and happily participates in the process much like watching a spectator sport. Sides are chosen, cheering occurs when one side appears to be winning and polls are taken to decide what kind of message to broadcast for the opposing side to "score". Eventually, the chosen one is the least despicable to the most voters.
If human beings were a thinking species, they would not need to be governed. There definitely are a number of independent thinkers, but they surely comprise a minority. This group, however, is the one that matters most to the candidates. Many of the voters already have placed their minds into a concrete shelter to prevent any information from entering and confusing them with facts. They will be ignored by the candidates because their votes are secure. How did we get to this state of affairs?
There are many ways to govern the uninformed. The United States purportedly is a democracy, but that is just a facade for what is really happening. The ideal form of government is to have no politicians and no state. That would be Utopia. The current form of world government is Oligarchy -- government by the few. The oligarchs have used Capitalism to amass their power and use the military/industrial complex to terrorize the population while they party. Eisenhower warned us of the military/industrial complex, but was generally ignored.
Another word for the existing government is plutocracy -- government by the rich. If we combine the two, we can coin a new word -- Plutarchy. The members are comprised of consortiums like the Koch brothers have formed. The Koch Plutarchs gather twice annually to feed the coffers of the conservatives for the purpose of swaying uninformed minds into their camp. They are champions of disinformation and misinformation to serve their own best interests. One of their biggest concerns is unionization. They go through great lengths to divide and conquer. The last line of the Communist Manifesto is "Workers of the world, UNITE!" That would shake the Plutarchs to their boots. The surveillance systems implemented and continually being improved is a good sign of their fears.
Communism is not a totalitarian rule. It is not that the state owns everything; rather that everyone shares everything. Selfish capitalists do not like sharing. A good definition of Communism is contained in John Lennon's song: "Imagine." It is the elimination of the State.
The military/industrial complex has its seeds in the mid-nineteenth century. Prior to that time, Isaac Newton laid a scientific foundation that enabled future scientists to look at the world with new eyes and his works are the cornerstone of much development to follow. His "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy" is nothing short of genius. His work on Optics and the creation of Calculus (Leibniz is accepted as a co-creator) proves his value to the modern world.
The nineteenth century produced other luminaries. One of the first notables influenced by Newton was Franz Mesmer, the founder of hypnotherapy. His "animal magnetism" concept was used to heal a young woman of 27 from a horrible condition that caused convulsions and many other symptoms. She was instantly and completely healed. Parkhurst Quimby used the same technique to heal Mary Baker Eddy from debilitating illness. Eddy went on to write "Science and Health (with a key to the Scriptures)" that is the foundation of Christian Science.
George Boole, Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace gave birth to the Technology Revolution. Boolean Logic resides in every computer that exists today along with his binary numbering system. Boole's "Laws of Thought" and "Calculus of Logic" indicate the same genius as Newton.
From these monumental works came the creation of the Industrial Age. Fulton, Edison, Tesla and others used the science of their predecessors to create the basis for the military/industrial complex. As factories were being built, agrarian society slowly gave up its lands to become wage slaves. Promise of a better standard of living lured young minds to growing cities.
The twentieth century brought major advancements. The airplane, automobile, Einstein's Relativity and the introduction of automation moved the world faster and faster. The Atomic Age was born, along with all the paranoia associated with mass destruction. All elements were now available to control the human ego and its decision-making ability. The Plutarchy was now pulling the strings.
Inventions and discoveries that would erode the coffers of the Plutarchy were suppressed and discounted. Turning desert into farmland was quickly stifled; leaded gasoline lasted far more years than it should because the oil barons didn't want to spend money to clean up the air; Exxon/Mobil suppressed their findings that burning fossil fuel contributed to the global warming, etc. If someone in power would oppose such activity, they would be dispatched by assassins. John and Bobby Kennedy, Martin Luther King, John Lennon and others were never allowed to further humanity. The Plutarchy had plenty of cash to motivate the killers. If not cash, brainwashing could be used.
The best weapon the Plutarchy uses against the population is the television. Other media like radio and newspapers are also used to some degree but "a picture is worth a thousand words" works quicker and better. When Newton Minow gave his speech "The Vast Wasteland" related to the usage of television, he was also ignored. TV has definitely become the best brainwashing tool of the Plutarchy. It will be used extensively in the 2016 election process. It is no accident that schedules on television are called "Programming" because that is what it does to the human ego.
The media are controlled by the Plutarchy, without a doubt. Rupert Murdoch, Disney, Fox and many others continually distract egos from the truth. Sports, entertainment, booze and sex also are made plentiful to prevent independent thoughts from sneaking into the system. The idea here is to keep uninformed minds so occupied with irrelevant goals that the true goal of the Plutarchy is never sought. Diversion, distraction and disinformation keep the herds from stampeding.
It must be understood that all life is to be treasured. There is no life form that is "better than" or "worse than" any other life form. Human forms, tree forms, indeed, all forms are interconnected and interdependent. The culprit that screws up the soup is the artificial mind we know as EGO. All life is doing its best to express itself in the environment it occupies. The ego is what is targeted by the Plutarchy to maintain its death grip on uninformed minds. This is accomplished by understanding how the human brain makes decisions and giving it input that will guide the decision in the direction the Plutarchy desires. It is a form of hypnosis that would make Mesmer proud.
Egos under hypnosis do not realize they are hypnotized. They are aware of what they are doing, but they do not know the reason WHY they are doing it. When asked why they do what they do, they retreat into some babble to try and avoid embarrassment. They may quote what they heard or read or rely on cultural indoctrination to justify their decisions. They also may be so deeply hypnotized that they have lost their ability to think for themselves.
Egos are subjected to indoctrination, training and confusion. Education in the United States is primarily used to train wage slaves that can further the Plutarchy's interests. It appears that current curricula are sorely lacking in Music and the Arts. Cursive penmanship is disappearing in many schools. These elements are served by the brain's right hemisphere and this is the side that Plutarchs fear. Development of both hemispheres leads to effective and efficient decision-making. The digital side (left) communicates with the analog side (right) by traveling through the Corpus Callosum. We think about what we feel and feel what we think. If we all did that regularly, the Plutarchy would disappear.
Einstein's brain was dissected and found to contain a Corpus Callosum of huge proportions, no doubt from contemplating his Special Theory of Relativity. Expansion of the Corpus Callosum happens when we exercise it, just like our musculature improves with exercise. One of the best ways to do that is to meditate. If we seek a peaceful space and allow our true consciousness to express itself, we can cleanse ourselves of the ego. For the great majority of the population, this is no simple task.
Ego is a hugely persistent nag. Gimme, gimme, gimme is the constant cacophony of its unquenchable desire. And, once it has what it is nagging about, it seeks to hold onto it for dear life. Either that, or it becomes disenchanted with the worthless bauble it acquired and tosses it. Grasping, taking, holding for no other reason than to feel superior to other life forms. Ego is the only entity that wants more than it needs. That is why it is so susceptible to hypnotism. The Plutarchy is well aware of this.
Our universal consciousness is shared by all forms. Humans have animal bodies and will have inborn programming common to all animals. This is our Instinct.
We are born when sperm and egg unite and begin developing into our human form. The programming in the genes and memes of our parents and all previous ancestors is passed on to the body we will occupy while alive on Mother Earth. (Virtually all of us have Neanderthal traits.) This is our Intuition.
As we grow, we will acquire more and more atoms from Mother Earth to build a complete adult form. We will contain the same characteristics as Mother Earth herself. We are made of her dust and into her dust we shall return. The earth does not belong to wayward egos -- we all belong to Mother Earth.
The current infrastructure of world government uses technology to maintain control. Computers are extensions of the brain into the realm of zeroes and ones. Computers operate with a combination of hardware and software, and so do we. Computers can be digital or analog and so can we be. The Plutarchy uses communication systems extensively through computerization to manipulate uninformed and/or unthinking egos.
The brain operates much as an antenna that can both broadcast and receive vibrations of varying frequencies and amplitudes. As communication is received by the brain, messages contained in it will be examined first by frequency and then, amplitude. The left hemisphere handles the digital frequency and the right handles the analog amplitude. In the examination, communication through the Corpus Callosum occurs to create the MEANING of the message for the ego examining it. The longer the examination, the greater the meaning for the simple reason that all meaning is connected. The Plutarchy knows this.
Abraham Maslow created his Hierarchy of Needs in 1943 to depict the psychological development of egos. His pyramid prioritizes these needs as: physiological, security, love/belonging, esteem and self-actualization. It is certain that the political ads until the election will continually stress the lower level needs.
Those who think their vote is worthless are absolutely correct in this political scenario. As long as egos are willing to be hypnotized, the Plutarchy will continue wielding their power. The current crop of Republican candidates is not republican. It is a Fascist extension of the Plutarchy. The Democratic side appears friendlier, but is still controlled by the Plutarchy. There is no one to blame. Everyone is doing the best they can under the circumstances. There are only three circumstances in living our lives: Time, space and understanding. Since it is always Here and Now, the only way to improve life is to address our understanding.
Plutarchs know that numbers and money strike the digital left hemisphere to create meaning and that meaning is evaluated in the Corpus Callosum to create an emotional reaction in the right hemisphere. Any ego that places the value of money above the value of life is sick, hypnotized or plain stupid. It is people who create money, not the other way around.
To be continued...
| Author Notes | Awareness of the truth is the game changer that will bring down the insane mechanism of politics. |
By Cogitator
How to Vote -- The System
After Eisenhower, things started changing a lot in the United States. One major reason, of course, was the proliferation of televisions throughout the country. After the Plutarchy dispatched the Kennedys and Martin Luther King, they had a relatively free rein to manage the population at will. Their wealth could now be grown by creating wars and bleeding wage slaves.
The Plutarchy
What in the heck is a "plutarchy"? Well, it certainly is not an America where Pluto is the president. It is a composite word from the word "plutocracy" which means "rule by the wealthy" and oligarchy, which is "rule by a few" or "rule by a small group." It is a real word which has been used by economists and other academic types to describe the system under which we exist today. What happened to democracy you ask? Perhaps one should pose that question to the Plutarchy. Who is/are the plutarchy? As explained below, the plutarchy are the 20 or so families that own the majority of America's wealth and their corporate surrogates.
There has been an Occupy movement going on in the United States in which the protestors have styled themselves as the 99 percent who are protesting against the richest 1 percent who make their money though Financial Institutions, including the highly visible mega-banks. What the 99 percent fail to realize is that they are missing 9 percent of the target. The 1 percent had a major part in the ruination of our economy, the loss of our jobs, the loss of our houses, the loss of our life savings and the loss of our retirement. Where did it all go? Ask the 9 percent who serve the 1 percent. Therein lies the majority of blame for the robbing of the middle class and the further impoverishment of the "working class." Therein lie the people who used the 1-percenter's money to not only make more money for the 1 percent, but to make big bucks for themselves in the process.
The top 1 percent of our population owns 43 percent of the net worth of America. Also the upper half of this 1 percent own far more than the lower half of the 1 percent. In fact just 1/1000th) of the American population controls the majority of 43 percent of America's net worth. This comprises about 20 American Families who own about half of America's net worth. These families are identifiable, of course the Arkansas Waltons of Wal-Mart are in that 1/1000th are somewhere near the top, if not at the top. And, you know some of the other names, like Buffet, Gates and Koch. The point-one percenters are the ultra-rich and the rest of the 1 percent are the uber-rich.
Let's take a look at the next 4 percent who own or control another 30 percent of our national wealth. They together with the 1 percent control 73 percent (nearly three quarters) of our national wealth. The next 5 percent control 11 percent of America's net worth. (This 9 percent are known as the super-rich) This 9 percent (super-rich) plus the 1 percent (ultrarich and uber-rich) comprise only 10 percent of America's population but own nearly 85 percent of the wealth in America. They own 90 percent of the privately owned stock, bonds, securities, commercial and residential real estate. Their name may not be on your deed, but they own the mega-corporations and mega-banks that own the debt instruments which represent the lien or mortgage on the real estate for our homes and our businesses,
However, there is another 10 percent (merely rich) who are the money makers for the highest 10 percent. These are the professionals, such as money managers, brokerage houses, banking executives, corporate executives, and a few lawyers who work for the owners and their corporations. These people invented the false value in the bundling of debt instruments which were assigned somewhat arbitrary worth based on the demand they created for even more debt instruments to bundle. It was these bundles of mortgages and other debt instruments that were sold to the mega-corporations owned by the top 1 percent and 9 percent. They called for more of these bundles or packages, which in turn created a demand for more of what went into the bundles; mortgages. This stimulated the money managers, investment bankers and brokers to create more debt instruments by encouraging looser/liberal lending and borrowing standards and, more importantly, to encourage lending on the equity that homeowners and commercial real estate owners had built up. This included small business owners and local owners of franchises who either bought or leased commercial space.
The banking industry went crazy giving out loans to homeowners based on a false increase in appraisal value that was not based on the actual value but more on the demand for the debt instruments (mortgages) which went into the bundles. The more of these mortgages that the money lenders wrote, the more fees there were for the brokers, the lender employees that wrote the loans, the secondary mortgage buyers who bought the loans and sold them to other investment banking sources who sold them in bundles to the investment funds and corporations owned by the 10 percent. And then you had the corporations, like AIG, who wrote insurance policies for the 10 percent which essentially guaranteed against losses in case the debt instruments in the bundles lost value. Then a combination of economic factors came together in a perfect storm which created higher fuel costs, higher food costs, higher credit card interest due to missed payments, higher payday loan interests due to missed or late payment, repossession of autos for late or missed payments, higher building material costs, higher delivery costs and the upward adjustment of interest payments in adjustable-rate mortgages (ARM).
Consumers, including homebuyers and small business owners prioritized payments, opting to pay for true necessities instead of on their loans. Mortgages became low priority, especially when adjusted to higher interest rates because of late payments. Business loans were neglected in favor of keeping the business going. Auto loans came next, student loans came next, and so on. Soon, home and auto repossessions and business failures went through the roof. Paying loans became the lowest priority. The chain reaction went up the pyramid driving down the value of houses and the value of the robbed equity that was represented in the debt instruments which drove down the price of the bundles which caused the top 10% to invoke the insurance they had purchased to protect themselves from just such a melt-down. Remember the AIG meltdown and bailout. You and I paid for that and our children's children will continue to pay for it as well as the other bailouts of the Financial Industry. The very industry that created the crisis. But remember the Financial Industry was stimulated by the demand from the top 10 percent.
The net result of all this was even further loss of the value of the scraps the remaining 90 percent of us scrap over. The middle class in America disappeared overnight. They are now part of the working class. Perhaps upper income working class, but nevertheless. Some hung on to mortgages that were now underwater meaning the loans they owed amounted to much more than the house was now worth. They sacrificed other consumer spending to stay up with their mortgage, especially spending previously directed to small businesses, thus driving small businesses into either defaulting on commercial loans or being unable to pay their lease of commercial properties. This in turn caused the commercial space owners to default on their loans, which added another nail in the coffin.
The wealth of the wealthiest depends on those who serve them and those who work for wages that sustain the small businesses that sustain the corporate interest who either own them (franchises) or own the debt upon which small businesses are built. It is nothing less than ironic that we in America idolize the very rich and we have bought the myth that if we work hard enough we can be very rich too. That myth needs to be re-examined. It is the workers who create wealth for the wealthy while keeping just a small portion for ourselves. However, the wealthiest 10 percent (with the help of the 10 percent represented by the professionals) just reached in and robbed so many of us from what chance we might have of ever moving beyond being a wage earner, even us who are supposed to be the middle class. We may never become owners as the value was robbed out of what little we owned. The result is we are still sharecroppers or renters. The bulk of what we earn goes to the wealthy while we get just enough to sustain us to the next crop.
I fear for the democracy that we are all taught is worth fighting for when the inequities of our economic conditions are so large and irresolvable. Even the ultra-rich and uber-rich know that the inequities are dangerous. Witness Warren Buffet imploring the Congress to tax me more. The redistribution of wealth in a democracy has to be based on a tax that confiscates more of your wealth as you become wealthier. Our present tax system does not accomplish that goal at the upper end. Our present tax system confiscates more, as a percentage of wealth or earnings, from the wage earners, small businesses and salaried workers, not the merely-rich, super-rich, uber-rich and ultra-rich. The system is in turn enforced by the senators, congressmen, judges and political appointees who are sponsored by the wealthy.
Capitalism is a great method to control populations - give money to people to perform needed functions and take it back through taxes and living expenses. Those that perform complex functions are given more money and can keep some for themselves for entertainment and luxury. The banking system creates money by charging interest and uses its financial strength to support the military/industrial complex. Board members of mega-corporations communicate about how they can grow their power by cooperation and collusion. The result is world government by corporations like the one depicted in "Rollerball". James Cameron's "Avatar" depicts the lengths the military/industrial complex will go to further its unquenchable greed. Cameron's movie is an accurate portrayal of the current struggle on Mother Earth -- Plutarchy's insane greed using the military/industrial complex against Mother Nature.
When a laboratory scientist wants to examine how an organism grows, he or she places agar into a Petri dish, adds the seed of that organism into the dish, covers it and watches its development. It creates a Culture. So it is with cultures among human beings. Agar is replaced by groups of people, the seed is a thought or idea, and the result is a School of Thought, or Ism. These schools of thought create the Cultural Ego.
Traditions, religions, institutions, political blocs and the like are examples of Cultural Egos. If an individual rebels against an ism, all kinds of punishments can be meted out by the group. Laws are written and established to maintain adherence to these artificial schools of thought and appropriate punishment is defined when violated. Moses, Confucius, Mohammed and others attempted to give guidance to the members of their society. Ten Commandments, Shariah, etc. Cultural egos are very difficult to change. That is because the individuals within them have little idea of what they could do by thinking "outside the box." Additionally, the reinforcement of the "group think" becomes powerful enough to overcome most individual thinking.
Society trains and domesticates its members. It is done by agreement. It is done by propagating belief and tradition that once served to unify groups. We have the unique ability to stop a thought and think about it. To behold a thought and evaluate its meaning is the most powerful capability of human beings. To pass thought through the Corpus Callosum to the emotional hemisphere and gather meaning is a virtual miracle. In this age of constant belaboring by the cacophony of meaningless input, it is difficult to focus on what is truly important. We have to use this ability in order to change the path we have created. We have to prioritize our life by accepting what is important to each of us. We have to stop clicking on cultural icons to activate the apps that have been programmed into us.
What is our common goal(s?). Is it the knowledge of our existence? Is it the fact that we repulse hurting others? Is it that we wish to experience life with love and respect? Is it to find the source of our consciousness? Is it eternal life? We all want to know those answers. What is preventing us from thinking about these goals and placing them first in our list of things to do? Daily life, usually.
If we are not willing to admit we all want the same goal(s), it is hopeless to discuss anything. If we do not take personal responsibility to change this world for the better, we may as well be dead already. It begins with changing our own attitude. "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore" is the attitude we should all adopt. Take a stand. Be willing to sacrifice everything for that stand. It is not society that creates us - it is we that create society. Be responsible, seek others who have awakened, and be a driving force for change.
We are social animals. It is important for us to belong to a group. Interaction, communication, and sharing life with others are a great part of being human. There is no need for leadership in a close community. Everyone lives to contribute. Everyone feels better after doing a good deed for someone else. There is no reason why this concept cannot go global. Society is created by all of us. What we choose to do with this creation is up to each of us. If we do not come together to further our species in a common sense manner, we cannot change the current situation.
The current situation includes the doubling of the human population in the last fifty years or so. It includes the pollution of most, if not all, fresh water. It includes the pollution of the air we breathe to the point that chronic asthma and bronchitis flourish. It includes global warming, proliferation of weapons, drugs, crime, power and greed. How long we remain spectators instead of participants is yet to be known. We must be insane. We are like Nero fiddling while Rome burns.
Either we are insane or there is a conspiracy foisted upon us by those in power. If we are not insane, then we must wrest the power away from the few and return to sanity. After all, power is provided by the many to the leadership few. We must demand truth for their actions. We cannot have the ignorant and/or selfish define the future for the community. Self-education is absolutely necessary for this to occur. We can only know others as well as we know our own self. We are all in the same boat. It is time to grab an oar and row.
The corporate brain uses the same concept as human brains to manage the corporate "body." Incorporation means "creating a body" and, although it is imaginary, many think it is real. All systems work that same way; all systems are interconnected, and corporations are no exception. The base unit of corporations is not the dollar -- it is the employee. Executives would have us think otherwise, but that is the fact.
One reason the world is in chaos is the human ego and the lack of understanding most people have of it. It has its foundation in our animal instinct for survival and procreation, much as depicted in Maslow's pyramid, and gets modified by environmental experience. This artificial mind is fed values, beliefs, traditions, indoctrination and the like to enable it to compare its State of Being to its understanding of its environment. Beyond the socialization aspect of Maslow, are self-esteem and self-actualization. Egos cause the chaos by getting stuck in the self-esteem level. They value themselves above other life forms -- a monumental misconception.
Mother Earth and the rest of the Universe operate under two laws: Balance and Sequence. If an out-of-balance condition is communicated to the Universal mind, it activates a correcting sequence to regain balance. That's it! There is no more mystery about how the universe works. Every other consciousness within the universe must follow these two laws or become extinct. The only element on Mother Earth that causes out-of-balance conditions is the human ego. It must be destroyed for humanity to survive its insanity.
It's simple to know when the ego is in charge of decision-making because it resents information that makes it feel ignorant. It does not like feeling stupid. Whenever a new piece of knowledge threatens its belief and/or value systems, it goes into Cognitive Dissonance -- denial. If it ever let in too much truth, it would have to disappear and set the animal body free. The Plutarchy knows this.
All systems work the same way and all systems are interconnected and interdependent. As Da Vinci said: "Learn to see. Everything is connected." If this is true, then we all are connected to whatever else we are able to discern. Connected by WHAT? This is where it gets really deep.
In attending a stage play, if we are to enjoy the performance, we are asked to "suspend our disbelief." In order to accept any new discovery within ourselves, we must do the same. The truth lives in all its forms, no doubt. The true consciousness knows how to maintain the form we occupy, as well as all forms it occupies. When the ego sleeps, our bodily functions are maintained by the Universal Balance and Sequence laws. When the ego and its body arise from sleep, the world's ills are roused, as well.
The ego gets its consciousness from the five physical senses -- that is sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell. In the Rosicrucian study called "Mastery of Life," these senses are defined by the body's ability to differentiate the frequency and amplitude of "vibrations." The human body is a poor conductor of universal communication; eagles see better, dogs smell more, dolphins hear better, etc. That is one reason why having an ego is harmful -- it doesn't understand much of totality.
The human form, as all other forms, is comprised of atoms. These atoms come from Mother Earth and will be returned to her eventually. Each moment we live disseminates millions of atoms outward and we absorb millions of atoms in return. That is evolution in progress -- reshaping forms.
Each atom has electrons orbiting the nucleus. If we were able to collapse the electron orbits of Mother Earth, she would be the size of an average orange and the seven plus billion humans would easily be contained in a teaspoon. If we dig deeper into the structure of the atom, we eventually find the wave/particle nature of consciousness. The particle feels the wave and the wave thinks about the particle -- conscious thought is born.
When an electron orbits, it is impossible for it to complete an orbit and return to the exact spot it started because energy is always in motion. The orbit will create a circle or ellipse that will always be a bit off in replicating its path. That is probably why the value of PI will never come to a complete number. What this electronic orbit represents is a THOUGHT -- more accurately, a THOUGHT CYCLE. Since all things have atoms with electronic orbits that create thought cycles, this is the connection we have with the universe. There is no separateness.
Decisions, decisions
In George Boole's "Laws of Thought," the ego mind identifies, categorizes, evaluates and prioritizes stimuli it encounters to decide whether or not to take action and, if it acts, what action is most appropriate for the existing circumstances. We internally vote on what is the most important thing for us to do every moment. You are deciding right now as to whether you will keep reading or go on to something you consider more important to you. All life is continually addressing its number one priority to act upon right here, right now and under the current circumstances. No exceptions. Boole's "Calculus of Logic" depicts how we reach decisions with formulaic definitions.
We all think the same way. We all activate ourselves to achieve our next most important goal as befits our Value System. That is, until we are forced to do things we did not choose, like if an earthquake or tornado gets our attention. The thought cycle proceeds roughly as follows:
Awareness
Attention
Analysis
Action
Assimilation
Awareness...
This is the A-list of thought.
When we identify some stimulus, we become aware of it. We immediately dismiss it as unimportant or decide to focus our attention onto it. If we decide to focus, we begin gathering meaning of how this stimulus applies to our current State of Being and start building a Value for it. That is done in the Analysis step. After the initial analysis, we decide to pay more attention or stop analyzing. As the value grows during the analysis, we reach a point that it is large enough to DO SOMETHING or let it go so that we can analyze the next stimulus. The ATTENTION SPAN is the primary creator of any value. Because everything is connected, we can sit there and contemplate until we realize that all values are arbitrary and created by the ego.
If we act upon the value, we change our State of Being because of the experience and become a new State of Being. Experience is not the best teacher -- it is the ONLY teacher. As our experiences grow during our human form's existence, we assign values to their effect(s) and what they are worth in our daily activities. The sum total of these experiences comprises our Self-Worth. Our ego is very guarded and jealous of its self-worth. It is also envious of others who appear to have more worth. The ego imagines how it could possibly gain more value to "move up the ladder" of success and join those whose perceived worth makes it feel inferior. It formulates beliefs about how others have achieved a greater worth and attempts to change according to those beliefs. The ego uses belief and value systems to make decisions. The real us can only make decisions according to truth, but ego can override the correct decision. That's denial in a nutshell.
The Plutarchy is aware of this process and uses it to manage its herds. The ruling class intentionally creates beliefs and values the ego craves for the purpose of leading it into whatever corral it wants it to go. The Pied Pipers lead their rats into oblivion. The whole idea is to keep the rats busy doing things that prevent them from becoming aware of what the Plutarchy is REALLY doing. That's why it's called a "rat race." In a capitalist society, money is the deity of choice and usually drives many egos' decisions. It is the primary factor the ruling class uses to manage their herds.
The truth of the matter is that the majority of the human population is no more than trained animals to do various tricks that serve the ruling class. Egos reading these words will have the hairs on the back of their necks rise and bristle. It is quite easy to rankle egos.
Another word for ego is Personality. The word "personality" comes from the Greek "persona," meaning mask. Ego indeed masks information that would have it disappear. Whenever someone takes something "personally," it indicates that the ego is in charge of that life form. For example, if I were to use the word bible without capitalizing it, it would rankle many egos. If I were to say that having a personal savior is merely narcissism, more egos would protest. If I were to suggest that Cheney and Bush are responsible for the 9/11 disaster in order to start a war in the Middle East, more egos would drool in rage. Egos would be quite hilarious if they wouldn't take their false beliefs so seriously.
Some scientists are actively attempting to connect the microcosm of the universe to its macrocosm. They call it the Grand Unification Theory (GUT.) In effect, this would be the description of the universe's "hardware." However, just as a computer's hardware needs a software operating system to "live," the universe also needs one. This could be called the Grand Operating Design (GOD). Working in concert, GOD and GUT follow the laws of Balance and Sequence to create Universal Consciousness -- pretty cool.
So what does all this have to do with voting in the presidential election? Nothing more than trying to have a few egos move out of the bodies they occupy. Real consciousness is perfect and eternal; ego consciousness is faulty and temporary. If enough people wake up to truth, perhaps we can eliminate politicians altogether.
More to come...
| Author Notes |
This is an excerpt from Eisenhower's farewell speech:
Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peacetime, or indeed by the fighting men of World War II or Korea. Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations. This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence -- economic, political, even spiritual -- is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society. In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military/industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together. |
By Cogitator
How to Vote -- Know Thyself
The previous chapters used a broad brush of generalities that leads to detailed understanding. We must agree on some ideas to reach higher ground.
First, we must agree that the knowledge of what we are is innate and open to the ego for inspection and understanding. Looking within by using contemplation, meditation and any other method that removes external influence from the mind is how we can find our true consciousness.
Second, we must agree that everything is connected and that any piece of knowledge is like a brick in the structure of a house. Knowledge must be connected to all other knowledge for it to carry truth. If unconnected, it is just a piece of trivia. Wisdom comes when we discern a truth as it applies to our overall composition.
Third, it is essential to understand that language differs in its ability to carry meaning to its users. Communication is defined as "The sending or receiving of a message that means the same to both sender and receiver." If this definition is accurate, 100% communication seldom occurs. Whether reading or writing, the Cambridge dictionary is open on my task bar.
Fourth, we must admit that all we "see" is our own mind. Our physical senses simply send impulses to the brain for us to build a scenario in our mind. The best example of this fact is Helen Keller. She was both deaf and blind from early childhood and yet wrote fourteen books, founded the ACLU, and traveled the world. Telling her she was blind would obviously be idiotic. She "saw" more in life than the average ego could imagine.
Fifth, it must be understood that the human ego is the cause of all strife on the planet. It is the sole element in existence that goes against nature. If there actually were a Beelzebub, ego would bear the name. This imaginary monster seeks to compare, evaluate, differentiate, compete, etc., for the purpose of feeling superior. Peace can only happen when this selfish, nasty and brutish creation is booted from Mother Earth.
Sixth, the creations of society that manage and manipulate the uninformed must go away. Everyone does the best they can under the circumstances. Unfortunately, many of the real circumstances are not revealed to the public. If each of us had access to the secrets of the ruling class, we would stop serving them.
Seventh, we must care about governing our own self. The ruling class pulls our digital strings using money, our analog strings using emotion and our apron strings by pretending to be a caring mama. Once these strings are tuned, the ruling class plays the population like so many violins. We must imagine taking care of ourselves and our neighbors as though we are family -- because we are.
Eighth, the belief and value systems that are based on fantasy, fiction and fables have to be removed for truth to emerge. There is only one truth, one view and oneness. Egos who want to project human characteristics on some supernatural being have not come to the realization that NOTHING IS SUPERNATURAL. Everything is natural and has a purpose for existing.
Ninth, it is time for the scientists, engineers and techie wizards to take charge of Mother Earth's future. The politicians must go; organized religion must go; the idea of money must go and the Plutarchy must go.
Tenth, Love is the answer.
Consider these the new Ten Commandments.
More to come...
By Cogitator
Isms
Egos have a wide range of isms to choose from when voting. Usually, it is a combination of isms that makes one vote this way or the other. Of course, since the vote is applied to another ego that may adhere to different isms than the voting ego, results are unpredictable.
Any ism is a train of thought or, school of thought. An ism is the same as a computer program. When an ego downloads an ism app into its mind as a way of looking at life, it becomes a tenet. "Tenet" is a French word that means "to hold." An ego's collection of tenets define its Belief System. All beliefs are merely assumptions and, if they are not examined for truth, can create a chaotic environment because of mis-conception or, Bad Idea.
Isms create groups of egos that gravitate to their schools of thought. These groups normally seek to separate themselves from the general population as in Maslow's Socialization level. "Birds of a feather..." Most egos will have multiple groups to associate with. Work groups, church groups, family groups, country club groups, chambers of commerce groups, ad infinitum. This is separatism and creates a "group ego" that is usually exclusive. Most members of a separatist group listen only to what bolsters their allegiance. They reside in a self-made mind prison.
It is essential to realize that we occupy an animal form and therefore contain the characteristics of all animals as part of our overall makeup. The instructions contained in that form are natural and could be defined as instinct. We did not attend class to learn how to exchange carbon dioxide for oxygen, digest organic material to grow and provide energy, purge our body of poison, get horny, etc. We were born with the instructions to maintain our animal form in homeostasis -- balance. We were also born with five physical senses (usually) that convey their information to the brain for evaluation. The experiences this physical form endures are primarily responsible for creating the ego mind. Instinct (a natural ability that helps you decide what to do or how to act without thinking) can be compared to a computer's operating system. All living beings have instinct built into their form.
Beyond the ego's animal instinct and operating system is a far greater capability. When the sperm and ovum of our parents merged to start the life of their progeny, they passed on much more than instinct. The DNA molecule is a double helix. One strand contains the instructions for building our form and, chances are, we will resemble our parents, sometimes to an amazing degree. The other strand contains the experience and traits of our parents and all their ancestors as memes that will also be included in our animal form. This could be called our intuition. Animal instinct and the tuition of our ancestors make the basis for our life on earth. Once we begin communicating with our environment, we will be subjected to all kinds of faulty schools of thought. We know the truth at birth but it gets harder to find when we adopt isms created by society and culture.
Politics is about making rules for the uninformed, oppressed and suppressed wage slaves to follow and making those egos think the rules are necessary. There are many isms evident in today's Plutarchy to keep the herds in check.
Capitalism: an economic system based on private ownership of property and business, with the goal of making the greatest possible profits for the owners. This is probably the ism most American egos are familiar with. The only problem with this belief is that no one truly owns anything. Whether wage slave or business owner, profits go to the Plutarchy. As Chief Seattle wisely noted: "the earth does not belong to us; we belong to the earth."
Imperialism: the attempt of one country to control another country, esp. by political and economic methods. We can add war as well. "The sun never sets on the British Empire" is a perfect example of imperialism. It is not only the physical aspect of the country that gets controlled. Normally, the culture and isms of the conquering entity are injected into the ego minds of the vanquished. Alexander, Napoleon, Hitler, Mao, Constantine and many others were imperialists. Of course, the founding imperialists of this country virtually destroyed the native population because of greed and ignorance. Make that one vote for returning the land to those who know how to take care of it.
Conservatism: a tendency to preserve traditional values and oppose change, esp. in politics. Any ego that believes change will not happen is leaning on its Neanderthal gene. Change is the ONLY constant. There is nothing in the universe that is not in motion. Traditional values are arbitrary for each individual and only indicate preference of what appeals to the ego. Conservative egos do not want change because they have created a comfort zone for themselves and don't want anyone else to interfere with their stash. It will be interesting to see how many conservative egos remain after the crash of the economic system.
Patriotism: the feeling of loving your country more than any others and being proud of it. This ism is probably the worst of all beliefs. Love your planet, fool! Once we get rid of politicians, there will be no borders. Then what? The Plutarchy plays the patriot card a lot these days. The reason patriotism is bad is because it kills people for the benefit of the Plutarchy. We are not the planet's policeman; we are the planet's bully. Macho Alpha males have a chance to stand out and be heroes by killing others or being killed themselves. Where's the honor in that? The American voting public, for the most part, has no idea how egos in other countries conduct their lives.
Socialism: the set of beliefs that states that all people are equal and should share equally in a country's money, or the political systems based on these beliefs.
Communism: the belief in a society without different social classes in which the methods of production are owned and controlled by all its members and everyone works as much as they can and receives what they need. In this system, money no longer exists. Without money, where would crime go?
Theism: belief in the existence of a god or gods. Egos who do not have the patience to examine their own makeup will usually turn to some imaginary friend to excuse their ignorance. They will blame behaviors caused by a corrupt society to an imaginary antagonist. This ism is the cause of all the worldly pain we all suffer. The time is soon coming to "get real."
It is difficult for an ego to rid itself of an ism. When the brain accepts a train of thought and uses that app to make decisions, it makes a neurological path in the brain similar to the vapor trail of a jet. If that train of thought is visited time and time again, that path becomes like a well-worn rut. After some time, it is as though the ego is in a trench during World War I -- afraid to stick his head out to see the world because he may get it shot off.
In a nutshell, the ego is a necessary part of our human form for us to negotiate our environment but its purpose is to supply our real mind with information about its observations, not to make decisions. Another problem is that egos are impatient and sometimes do not gather detailed enough information before a decision is reached. Because ego relies on belief, it is always at least somewhat wrong. It is supposed to be the navigator, not the driver.
More to come
By Cogitator
How to Vote -- Leadership
Imagine yourself strolling in the woods on a bright, sunny day. The sun's rays form slivers of light peeking through the foliage and contribute to an overwhelming sense of well-being as you commune with nature. Up ahead, you notice a clearing -- a good place to sit and rest.
As you get nearer to the clearing, you notice what appears to be a vehicle of some sort. It doesn't resemble anything you know, so you edge closer to check it out. Just before you enter the clearing, you feel a hand on your shoulder that scares the beejeebers out of you. Spinning around, you are faced with a humanoid form unlike anything you have ever seen. Wordlessly, you hear a voice in your head: "Take me to your leader."
After the initial shock, you gather yourself and realize the alien is serious. He really wants to meet your leader. Who would that be?
The current crop of politicians comes to mind. Giving it some thought, you realize how embarrassing it would be to introduce this creature to any of them. The giants of industry are considered briefly and quickly dismissed because of their unending greed, hunger for power and corruption. The Queen of England comes to mind, but you don't consider her to be your leader. The Pope would be closer, but the way he dresses is really out of date. The Dalai Lama and his peaceful ways would probably make a better impression, but he doesn't have as many followers as he should. You hadn't actually thought about how difficult this request could be.
You ask yourself: "Who do I follow?"
After exhausting a sizable list of potential candidates, you eventually face the alien and say: "You're looking at him!"
The alien, again wordlessly, replies "That's the correct answer."
It is impossible to have peace in our life without taking responsibility for it. If we are willing to surrender our freedom to others in exchange for "security," we do not have freedom. If we are to sacrifice our time and effort to serve the corporate interests instead of dedicating ourselves to our neighbors and family, we are just a cog in the wheel of despotism.
What do we really need to have a safe and joyful life? Our current leadership is surely ineffective when it comes to providing equality to its citizens. People are herded into manageable groups, like cattle driven into the slaughterhouse yards. Leaders hire "goons with guns" to protect themselves rather than the population. Surveillance systems are installed to remind us of Orwell's "1984," and politics mirror his "Animal Farm." Today's politicians are like the Morlocks feeding on the Eloi as depicted in H. G. Wells' "Time Machine." (That would include feasting not only on bodies, but also on the uninformed minds of the electorate.) Corporations run the world as shown in "Rollerball," and the military/industrial complex ravages the planet as described in "Avatar." Science Fiction has a way of becoming science fact. And yet, the population sleeps.
The majority of the population is not playing the same games as the leadership, although they do play many games. Play is the healthiest and happiest activity we can provide our babies, and our own childhood is relived by playing with them. While most of us can be content with Little Leagues, board games, video games, and the like, the Big Boys play World Domination. There are very few players who can last long enough to create a New World Order. Despots and satraps are dispatched at will by the major bullies, idealistic resistance is squashed, and truth is hidden by the players by designating it "Top Secret." In "A few Good Men", Jack Nicholson is being grilled by Tom Cruise while on the witness stand:
Tom: "Tell us the truth!"
Jack: "You can't handle the truth!"
That's the unfortunate fact for most uninformed egos. They live in denial. When confronted with information that makes them face the truth, many people retreat into illusion and/or delusion rather than remove their ignorance. Many give up their thinking ability to bask in the warm glow of "someone will save me." No leadership in that attitude. Returning to Maslow's model, we see that, to reach Self-Actualization, we need to break through the Self-Esteem level, (where ego likes to live). There are definite traits of those who achieve that level.
Tolerance -- This quality is non-judgmental and accepts life for what it is.
Spontaneity -- An almost eerie capability to do the right thing at the right time.
Discernment -- Removing fables, fiction and fantasy to find truth.
Wisdom -- Using knowledge and logic together to create better circumstances.
Appreciation -- Knowing that simply being conscious is enough to be thankful.
Concern -- Commitment to the welfare of all living things.
Inquisitive -- Needing to understand why things are as they are.
Loving -- An all-encompassing compassion and kindness.
Some behaviors that can help reach Self-Actualization:
Concentration -- Living as a curious child to absorb as much meaning as possible from experience.
Exploration -- Finding new ways to achieve goals and expanding our understanding in the process.
Confidence -- Having no fear of being unpopular.
Honesty -- Knowing that the worst truth is better than the best lie.
Creativity -- Using the imagination to create a better situation.
Responsibility -- Realizing we create our own problems.
If we want to take the alien to our leader, we should look for those who exemplify the above traits. In the looking, we will find all of them within ourselves.
By Cogitator
Citizenship
Mirek and I spent the last weekend together to prepare him for his citizenship interview. He lived with us in 2007 when establishing himself in the U.S. He got work as a truck driver and eventually brought his wife from Ukraine to settle here. The time had arrived to become citizens and Mirek wanted to make every effort possible to have a successful interview on the first attempt. The study guide has a hundred questions from which the interviewer could choose and the interviewee must get six answers correct before ten questions are asked.
If the test were written with multiple choice, there would be no problem in passing. However, as an over-the-road truck driver working with Ukranian companies, there are few opportunities to engage in conversation conducted in the English language. Mirek wanted to listen to the pronunciation of the words and attach the answers to that rather than learning the meaning of the questions. After just a few moments, I realized how little English he understood. He spoke Russian, German, Polish and some English, but English was definitely the weak sister. Since English is my own second language, I knew how difficult this task might be.
The citizenship questions are grouped into Civics, Geographic, Historic, Constitutional and Political sets. Since he drives all over the country, he had no problem with the geography section. He was concerned about remembering names and dates, so I decided to focus on those questions first. I asked him to set his smartphone to the translation mode so that he could get some meaning in his own language when necessary. I started by drawing a diagram of the timeline of United States history, beginning with July 4, 1776 and ending with the 1900s. We then began conversation orally with a printed copy of the questions and answers.
Question number one is "What is the supreme law of the land?" The answer is: "The Constitution." I asked Mirek to read the question and answer and tell me what he understood. He had to look up supreme, law and constitution on his translator to reply. I realized we were in for a long weekend and decided to play the role of interviewer by seeking the toughest questions first. I would save the easy ones for last to instill confidence.
"Why did the colonists leave England?" I ask. "To escape persecution, to have religious freedom and to create opportunity," I reply to my own question and ask Mirek: "Do you understand?"
After translating escape, persecution and opportunity, he replies: "Like me!"
I decided to read all the questions along with the answers and then test him for retention.
"What did the Declaration of Independence do?" -- Announced self-government for the colonies and renounced British rule.
"Who wrote the Declaration?" -- Thomas Jefferson.
"Why did he write it?" Because of taxation without representation, having to board and quarter the British army in private homes and having no voice in governance.
"What date is associated with the Declaration of Independence?" -- July 4, 1776.
I added these pieces of information on the time line diagram I had drawn and moved on to the Constitutional Convention of 1787.
"What does the Constitution do?" -- establishes and defines our form of government.
"What are the first three words of the Constitution?" -- We the People
"Who were the primary contributors to the creation of the Constitution?" -- Jefferson, Hamilton, Franklin, Jay, Publius, Adams, among others.
"What are the three branches of government in the Constitution?" -- Executive, legislative and judicial.
This is where it got knotty for Mirek. These three foreign words were far too complicated for a beginner in the English language. I made a note to myself to try and find a better way to communicate these the following day. We ended the Saturday session by reading and rereading the test and correcting pronunciation.
I took a copy of the test home to review it for myself. During the day, I had realized how much I had forgotten about the workings of our government and what it really meant to be a United States citizen. I logged on to the Internet and began researching some of the questions that had arisen in my mind while working with Mirek. For example: every citizen has two responsibilities -- to serve on a jury when called and to vote in the federal elections. If each citizen is called upon to vote, why have only about 60% of the population voted in the past federal elections?
Part of the reason is reflected in four amendments to the Constitution regarding voting. One is setting the minimum voting age at eighteen, another is to disallow poll taxes, and the others relate to women's right to vote and then all able voters. Even now, republicans are making concentrated efforts to keep certain groups of people from voting. The usual excuse is to prevent voter fraud when, in actuality, it is the republican party doing the fraud.
Freedom of religion as defined in the Constitution as: "freedom to practice any religion or no religion." Obviously, religion is mentioned way too often in today's campaigns. In fact, it is used as a motivator to exclude certain groups from the freedoms the oppressors want for themselves. Relevant quotes:
"It appears to me (whether rightly or wrongly) that direct arguments against Christianity and theism produce hardly any effect on the public; and freedom of thought is best promoted by the gradual illumination of men's minds which follows from the advance of science." Charles Darwin
"If we believe absurdities, we shall commit atrocities." Voltaire
"I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own -- a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty. Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotism." Albert Einstein
"Faith means not wanting to know what is true." Friedrich Nietzsche
"I cannot believe in the immortality of the soul.... No, all this talk of an existence for us, as individuals, beyond the grave is wrong. It is born of our tenacity of life - our desire to go on living ... our dread of coming to an end." Thomas Edison
"The Bible is not my book nor Christianity my profession. I could never give assent to the long, complicated statements of Christian dogma." Abraham Lincoln
"Religion is a byproduct of fear. For much of human history, it may have been a necessary evil, but why was it more evil than necessary? Isn't killing people in the name of God a pretty good definition of insanity?" Arthur C. Clarke
"Religions are all alike - founded upon fables and mythologies." Thomas Jefferson
"Say what you will about the sweet miracle of unquestioning faith, I consider a capacity for it terrifying and absolutely vile." Kurt Vonnegut
"Religion is based . . . mainly on fear . . . fear of the mysterious, fear of defeat, fear of death. Fear is the parent of cruelty, and therefore it is no wonder if cruelty and religion have gone hand in hand. . . . My own view on religion is that of Lucretius. I regard it as a disease born of fear and as a source of untold misery to the human race." Bertrand Russell
Another question in the test pertains to the "Rule of Law" which, simply stated, means that no person or institution is above Constitutional law. That's obviously not the case in the United States where bigotry and discrimination run rampant. Those first three words of the Constitution: "We the People" were intended to establish that our democracy would reflect the will of the majority whereas current events prove that the oligarchs and plutocrats are running the show.
Trying to find ways of describing the three branches of government in simple enough terms for Mirek to grasp was a challenge. The duty of the Legislative branch (Congress) is to produce bills that address public welfare and well-being. Either the Senate or House of Representatives can produce a bill that will get sent to the other part of Congress for review, adjustment and approval or rejection. When the entire Congress is satisfied, the bill is forwarded to the Executive branch for approval or rejection. The Judicial branch validates that a new law is acceptable under the articles of the Constitution.
The founding fathers were pretty sharp. These branches were intentionally designed as "Checks and Balances" and "Separation of Powers." Unfortunately, today's political environment does not reflect a working model. Racism, evangelism, sexism and downright hatred are evident in every corner of the country. The media are bought and paid for by corporate warmongers to broadcast lies and sugar-coated hope pills. Rupert Murdoch, Koch brothers, Disney, Pharmaceuticals, General Dynamics, General Electric, Dow Chemical, Monsanto, DuPont, the Rothschilds, BankAmerica, Chase, and numerous others all take part in bamboozling the public. They are the power regardless of administration. For the United States to return to a democracy, everyone must get involved. Having served as an Election Coordinator during the Illinois primary, I can attest that many, many voters were angry. The Constitution is being interpreted according to special interests. That has to stop.
The political system in the U.S. has two major parties -- democrats and republicans. Efforts have been made to break up this unholy marriage but failed. They use the "Divide and Conquer" principle to maintain power and brainwash the population. Liberals are normally identified as democrats and conservatives are referred to as republican. They comprise the Left and Right Wings of an airplane that doesn't go anywhere. We the people are sitting in the cabin, arguing about whose point of view is right while the politicians have a drunken barbecue party on their respective wings. We need a good pilot to get us off the tarmac and into a better future.
The Green Party is the answer to breaking up the corruption. Many states are trying to keep them from the federal election for no other reason that they are gaining support from many disgruntled voters. My fondest wish for November is for Hillary to be the Democratic nominee to run against whatever Fascist idiot the republican party puts up. Then, Bernie switches to the Green Party and takes all his supporters with him. That move has a very good chance of preventing a majority of electoral votes for any of the candidates. Maybe that message will be strong enough to get some progress going in the right direction.
By Cogitator
The citizenship test includes a question related to the U.S. economic system. The answer is that it is capitalism in a free market economy. Capitalism is an economic system based on private ownership of property and business, with the goal of making the greatest possible profits for the owners. This is probably the ism most American egos are familiar with. This system has caused the greatest damage to our planet and our society because it places the value of money before the value of life. It is a selfish system that places greed, corruption and power in the hands of those who make the rules. It is the reason the one percent have accumulated more than half the planet's wealth. An oft-quoted saying is: "Money is the root of all evil," but this is not the original saying. It was written as: "Love of money is the root of all evil."
Money is an abstract idea, not a reality. Its effect on society is solely based on agreement. More than 99.9% of monetary transactions in the world are merely zeros and ones in computers that carry whatever meaning to money worshipers. Because most of the world looks at money as the solution to human ills, instead of the cause of human ills, we all suffer. What would happen if the economic system crashed and money no longer had value?
Without money, there could be no wage slaves to do the bidding of the rulers. Criminal activity would be restricted to mental and/or emotional imbalance. Why would anyone ever go to war? We would have to depend on each other to survive and create a new model of society. We would have to become self-sufficient and self-governing. How could this work?
First of all, the population has to get real and face the truth. There is no such thing as "ownership" unless it is bestowed by agreement. Even then, no one TRULY owns anything. As Chief Seattle wisely noted: "The earth does not belong to us; we belong to the earth." Only the ego has attachment, attitude and addiction issues and capitalism surely feeds those aberrations. Television and other media continually feed the idea of individualism to the American ego while the truth is that we're all interconnected and interdependent. We need a paradigm shift.
For a new system to arise, people must come to an agreement of what is important to enjoy the trip from cradle to grave. What do we really need versus what we want? If we have consciousness, what more do we want? The answer probably is that we want to enjoy our animal body as much as possible before it disintegrates and returns its atoms to its creator, Mother Earth. This is where cultures differ and, if we are to become civilized, must be synchronized to some degree. Where to start?
All humans have the same needs to maintain their animal forms operating in homeostasis, or balance. These are food, water, shelter, and clothing. As an aside, the most important need of all of Mother Earth's creatures, and the one that will not be denied, is sleep. Sleep is number one in importance for maintaining a healthy body; everything else can wait. Even plants must sleep.
Capitalism engenders competition among egos. Bigger, better, faster, cheaper, etc. dominate in the U.S. and elsewhere and could be quite useful if directed towards appropriate goals that have nothing to do with making money. If we were to compete about cleaning up the environment and eliminating fossil fuels, that would make a huge difference. Corporations who whine about people losing jobs in those industries are trying to protect the fat cats who run them, not the people who work them. Turning to green energy could create millions of jobs that could benefit all of us, rather than push our children and grandchildren into cannibalism.
Mother Earth would have no problem supporting more billions of humans if they would not be so wasteful and disrespectful of her life. The money that the one percent has amassed actually represents the human effort that was needed to create it. That effort is being wasted on the few while the many struggle.
The pictures of Earth from space are beautiful and the one feature I enjoy the most is that there are no borders evident anywhere on her face. The artificial political borders that scratch and scar that face are the problem we must remove. We must all rise up to the satraps, despots, political parties, ad nauseum, and all scream at once: "Let our people go!" We don't need more walls, we need fewer.
Technology has brought us to the point where very little manufacturing cannot be automated to a large degree. The U.S. economy has become service-based for the most part. Much of the service addresses the worship of money. Retirees are trapped in their Social Insecurity cocoons while the fat cats frolic. It is time to serve people rather than the dollar.
By Cogitator
Several blind men visiting a zoo are being introduced to an elephant. They are led to the beast and begin groping about to get some idea of what the elephant looks like. One places his hand on its trunk and exclaims: "It's like a snake!" Another feels a leg and says: "No, it's like a tree!" Yet another has a hand on the elephant's side and offers: "It's like a wall!" This is an example of how most of the population communicates about their points of view.
Another example is visiting the Grand Canyon. Imagine standing on the rim and beholding the vista before you and absorbing the majestic beauty of Mother Nature's handiwork. You could spend hours and hours picking out details and appreciating the view and come away awed by what you saw.
If you had gone to the rim with a group of people and began communicating about what you were beholding, you would learn that everyone around you had a different point of view. Each individual within the group saw the canyon somewhat differently and, if honest communication took place, all present would have an enhanced view through the sharing of what they beheld. The point is that it is not the view that changes through communication. It will remain what it is. It is the human mind that changes by absorbing more meaning from communicating with others.
All of us probably know people who will hold on to their view of an elephant being like a snake or a tree. It is virtually impossible to make such people "change their mind." They are in a comfort zone that prevents them from accepting more of the available view. They will tenaciously hang on to their point of view until they are shocked into awareness. It is senseless for anyone to attempt changing another's point of view. It is up to them to change their own mind. This can be achieved by communicating information that forces them to think. Everyone has that capability but not all have the willingness to delve deeper into the view. People who do not want to understand more of their existence are simply allowing life to pass them by and we should also pass them by.
"Learn to see; everything is connected." Leonardo da Vinci.
"The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed." Carl Jung.
There is absolutely no independence of any sort in the Universal View. Everything we behold and experience is interdependent. For everything, there is a reason for being and that purpose must be connected somehow and interact with its environment in order to "BE" what it is. The only element in the Universal View that attempts to separate itself from it is the human ego. It is the sole cause of all human strife and pain.
The Dalai Lama is in New York and is told that the best hot dog in the world is available at a Central Park stand. After his meeting, he requests to be taken to the vendor to try the food. When his turn comes, he advances to the vendor:
"What'll it be, Mac?" asks the vendor.
"One -- with everything." Replies the Dalai Lama.
Some egos will have trouble making the connection in this joke. The Dalai Lama actually is saying the same thing Leonardo said, and Gautama Siddartha, the first Buddha, had realized it more than two thousand years prior. Carl Jung and many other prominent figures also know about this connectivity. Nikola Tesla and Albert Einstein are two of the more recent.
Ego is an artificial (man-made) mind.
The Flea Circus
Zig Ziglar is a good ol' boy from Texas and a motivational speaker. I received a ticket from corporate to attend one of his gigs at a hotel near O'Hare and enthusiastically welcomed the opportunity to see and hear him in person. He was a big part of the self-help movement along with Hill, Mandino, Stone, Peale and others. He has a wonderful way of blending his talks with homey anecdotes that make sense. One of these anecdotes is about a flea circus. He begins,
"In the old days, when entertainment was hard to come by, traveling circuses would wend their way from town to town across the West and set up camp just outside each burg. They would form a midway of tents for the folks to amble past. Oddities and performers would be contained in the tents, like bearded ladies, strong men, snake boys, etc. and the populace would pay some charge to enter. Usually, one of the tents had a flea circus.
The barker outside would entice the folks to enter and, when the tent was full, he would retreat into it and close the entry. Inside were a table covered with a white tablecloth and a large jar atop it covered by another white cloth. The man would uncover the jar, say a few words, uncap the jar and dump a bunch of fleas onto the tablecloth. The fleas would begin jumping up and down, but would not leave the tabletop. Applause and egress."
Zig would continue by describing how a flea trainer would achieve this feat. The trainer would catch a bunch of fleas and place them in the jar and watch and wait. Initially, the little beasties would jump as hard as they could to get away, but they would bump against the top and sides of the jar. After a while, they realized they could hurt themselves, so they limited their jumps to stop just short of hitting the jar. Voila -- a flea circus! Zig ends his anecdote by asking the group: "What would you rather be, a flea or a flea trainer?"
(My first thought: "I want to break jars!")
The jar in this anecdote represents the limitations the ego places upon itself. It should be understood that ego jars come in many sizes, from minuscule to gigantic. It seems as though a huge ego was able to gather many votes from the minuscule in the 2016 Federal election. The smaller the jar, the easier it is to control the inhabitant ego. (That's my point of view.)
"Men are not prisoners of Fate, but only prisoners in their own mind." -- Franklin D. Roosevelt
"Wisdom begins with the definition of terms." - Socrates.
"The dumbing down of Americans is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30 second sound bites (now down to 10 seconds or less), lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance." - Carl Sagan
Debugging the ego
We are all programmed along with all other life. As with all programs containing bugs, the desired result from our actions is often not what we expected. A program is a process that contains instructions to achieve a particular goal, or result. This process works exactly the same as our thought process and is replicated in a computer with zeroes and ones. We call them zeroes and ones, but the method we use to differentiate them is to test whether a bit is on or off. A string of zeroes and ones generates what Tesla would call a vibration which is the basic unit of all communication. Good vibes are what we seek.
Good vibes come from harmony and bad vibes come from dissonance. Our brains are hard-coded to tell the difference. The ego is called upon to interpret these vibrations and activate a sequence of instructions to either maintain harmony or to balance dissonance. Because the ego is an artificial mind limited by its jar of understanding, unusual results may be created when faulty thinking, faulty beliefs, faulty values and the like are used to make a decision. The only way to avoid hasty and rash reaction to incoming vibrations is to prevent the ego from making the decisions. It should be the navigator of our worldly experience, not the driver. The ego's point of view is a starting point, not a result. The view doesn't really care what the ego thinks or what position it wants to occupy when beholding whatever part of the view it contemplates.
If we seek wisdom and Socrates is correct, "Point of View" is the term we should define. The word "point" has numerous dictionary definitions, but for this exercise, we will use the Cambridge Dictionary definition of a geometric point -- an exact location in space that has no size. We can imagine ourselves in the center of our ego's universe and call this point HERE.
In order to contemplate the view, we have to "pay attention." When we pay attention to something, someone or some task, we are paying with our TIME. We focus in the moment we call NOW. Our consciousness always resides in the HERE and NOW. Only the ego can stray from this reality into any number of fantasies. Here and now actually mean Infinity and Eternity. That is where Universal Consciousness can be found.
The view is subject to many interpretations at many levels. Linguistics, semantics and literacy vary in their ability to communicate meaning from one ego to another. Most conversational language contains few, if any, deep concepts about existence or the scope of the view it occupies. Communication is intended to reach equitable understanding in the exchange of information among the participants. That seldom happens if the ego is in paranoid denial. That is why it is important to break jars. There is no way ego can break free and see the totality of existence while it cowers in its self-made prison.
"To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others." - Tony Robbins
Instead of a jar, we can envision egos being trapped in a conic mind prison. This cone has a circular staircase leading upwards and has platforms at various levels that individuals can climb to. Each level has a window that looks out into the outside world. The higher the level, the bigger the window. At the very top of the cone is an opening where a 360 degree view is available. That is the only place where a complete view can be had. The windows beneath the opening can only offer a partial view.
If we imagine this cone to contain the world's population, there will be groups of egos at each platform, looking at the outside world with different perspectives of what it means. Adventurous egos unsatisfied with the group view will attempt to climb further upward to get more of the view. Others will dally at various platforms and be complacent and satisfied with what they and the rest of their group agree upon. This stratification differs based upon a number of elements. Social, economic, intelligence, emotional and understanding stratifications will change the population on each platform depending on the discussion and communication of each group. Each ego can belong to many groups.
The only way to move up into the light is to let go of thoughts and ideas that hold the ego prisoner. Ego's tendency is to hold on, but the only way to rise is to let go of incorrect or incomplete views. If we wish to be enlightened when we reach the opening, we must release false values, false beliefs and false ideas and allow the Universal Consciousness to flow through us. We can now achieve Nirvana, Heaven, or Paradise -- Enlightenment is beholding the Universal View and is available when we reach the opening.
The enlightened man cannot be enslaved - that is the difficulty - and he cannot be imprisoned.... Every genius who has known something of the inner is bound to be a little difficult to be absorbed; he is going to be an upsetting force. He is seen as a rebel by most egos. The masses don't want to be disturbed, even though they may be in misery; they are in misery, but they are accustomed to the misery. And anybody who is not miserable looks like a stranger.
The enlightened man is the greatest stranger in the world; he does not seem to belong to anybody. No organization confines him, no community, no society, and no nation.
Whether he is wealthy or poor, the Rebel is really an emperor because he has broken the chains of society's repressive conditioning and opinions. He has formed himself by embracing all the colors of the rainbow, emerging from the dark and formless roots of his unconscious past and growing wings to fly into the sky. His very way of being is rebellious - not because he is fighting against anybody or anything, but because he has discovered his own true nature and is determined to live in accordance with it. The eagle is his spirit animal, a messenger between earth and sky.
The Rebel challenges us to be courageous enough to take responsibility for who we are and to live our truth. Universal Truth is immutable, regardless of how egos choose to relate to it.
The View
Our eyes are a wondrous construction of evolution. Although they interpret only a small slice of the electromagnetic spectrum (visible light,) they allow us to behold the creations of Mother Earth. They are only receptors, though, and simply submit the light vibrations to the brain in order to create images in our mind. All that we think we "see" is the reflection of our own mind, in essence, the reflection of our thoughts. Enlightenment is understanding that our human form is a conduit for Universal Consciousness to express itself. Egotism tries to prevent that view from entering its jar.
Helen Keller was blind and deaf from early childhood. She graduated from Radcliffe College with a Bachelor of Arts degree. She wrote fourteen books, visited over 40 countries and helped found the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU.) She must have had some wonderful thoughts to behold within her mind. Best quote from Ms. Keller:
"The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision."
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