Like many other people, until I did some independent research, I believed that 19 Muslims were responsible for “9/11”. Almost ten years ago on that horrendous day the graphic images of 3 World Trade Center buildings dropping at free fall speed were indelibly etched in my brain. For weeks the emotional impact of the disaster was so deep that I did not use my critical thinking skills to say, “How do I know what I was hearing and seeing from the mass media is correct”? Have I done my own fact searching independent of government conflict of interest propaganda? I never asked the questions such as, “Who will gain financially from “9/11”? In 2003 when we invaded Iraq and Afghanistan my suspicions began to really generate steam. About 2 years ago I rented (also free on YouTube) a well produced documentary called “Loose Change”, which became the seminal point in my rethinking of what and who caused “9/11”.
The emotional impact of “9/11” on many Americans, of those losing loved ones, and just our shear reaction to being overwhelmed or safely choosing the path of denial has fixated many of us on path of inaction. I have become a staunch advocate for opening up a new independent investigation, distanced myself from mass media and government propaganda, misuse of information, and fabrication of false evidence. I have literally invested hundreds of hours investigating the plethora of evidence that clearly points to our government lying to us. What is there in the emotional disability or ignorance of some adult Americans that they refuse to accept the realities of "9/11"? I believe it is a normal expectation for many of us to want believe that our government is there to protect us, and that our leaders always act with integrity and are not corrupt.
I would like to share with you some of the facts and incongruities that have led to increasing my suspicions, as well as the suspicions of an increasing mass of Americans who also believe that our government lied to us. The following are some facts that I have taken from a comprehensive summary entitled, “The Facts Speak for Themselves”, by Jon Gold: (Fact numbers are for reference) http://911truthnews.com/the-facts-speak-for-themselves/.
1: The Bush Administration was predominantly made up of members of an organization called “The Project for a New American Century.” This group produced a document entitled, “Rebuilding America’s Defenses” that said the “process of transformation” they wanted our military to undertake would take an excessively long time, unless there was a “catastrophic and catalyzing event – like a new Pearl Harbor.
2: The Bush Administration came into office wanting to go to war with Iraq. This is so heavily documented that Veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas asked the President about it. He denied it of course, and used 9/11 as the justification for what he and his administration have done.
4: In early 2001, Dick Cheney was put in charge of The National Energy Policy Development Group, or “Energy Task Force” for short. He prepared for this during the transition between the Clinton and Bush administrations. The task force met with what appears to be every oil executive in existence, even though they denied it before Congress. Five months before 9/11, it was eventually discovered that one of the topics of discussion during these task force meetings was Iraq’s oil fields. . The Vice President’s office fought long and hard to make sure the information from those meetings never saw the light of day. They even took the fight to the Supreme Court. Ultimately, they sent the fight to an appeals court, and it was decided that Cheney’s Task Force documents may remain secret.
9: From the Presidential Emergency Operations Center (PEOC), Dick Cheney allegedly monitored Flight 77 from 50 miles outside of Washington D.C. This, according to Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta. According to Mineta, “during the time that the airplane was coming in to the Pentagon, there was a young man who would come in and say to the Vice President, “The plane is 50 miles out.” “The plane is 30 miles out.” And when it got down to “the plane is 10 miles out,” the young man also said to the Vice President, “Do the orders still stand?” And the Vice President turned and whipped his neck around and said, “Of course the orders still stand. Have you heard anything to the contrary?” The 9/11 Report states that Cheney didn’t arrive in the PEOC until 9:58. No video conferences from within the PEOC have been made available. No personnel records for who was in the PEOC have been made available. The “young man” Norman Mineta mentioned has never been named, and was never brought before the 9/11 Commission to testify.
15: The Bush Administration was the families’ “biggest adversary” when it came to the creation of a so-called Independent 9/11 Commission. The families had to fight “tooth and nail,” and lobby to get an investigation because the Bush Administration clearly did not want one. Dick Cheney and George Bush refused to testify under oath before select individuals of the 9/11 Commission even though the families wanted them to. They testified together, not in public, and no recordings were allowed. The families requested the transcripts of their meeting, but were denied. They made it difficult for the commission to get funding. They tried to make Henry Kissinger the Chairman of the commission, but he resigned after the families started asking too many questions. Alberto Gonzales “stonewalled” the 9/11 Commission’s access to the White House. They appointed Thomas Kean as Chairman, someone “who will be easily controlled by the administration,” and Lee Hamilton, a long time friend of Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld to be the co-chair. Hamilton participated in two inquiries that resulted in cover-ups. The Iran/Contra Affair inquiry, and the October Surprise inquiry.
26: The 9/11 Commission only answered 30% of the families questions. The 9/11 Commission had the power of subpoena, but rarely used it.
33: The resulting dust from the collapse of the buildings on 9/11 was toxic, and people like Condoleezza Rice and the EPA’s Christie Todd Whitman lied about it so things like Wall Street could reopen. As a result, several 1000 “9/11” First Responders, and residents of New York are sick and dying.
In addition to the fifty above facts verified by “Gold”, the following verified facts are also patently transparent: (1) Thermite incendiary explosives were found in the WTC debris; (2) Over 100 first responders testified to multiple explosions (3) No high rise steel frame building has ever collapsed from fires; (4) Fires in 3 WTC building were short term and on only 10% of the building floors; (5) all 3 WTC buildings fell at free fall speed; (6)Bush and Cheney called Tom Daschle trying to discourage him from investigating; (7) WTC7 was never hit by a plane, was not in the “Report”, and fell 7 hours later; (8) The “Official Report” makes no references to explosions, testing for explosives, or important testimony of many witnesses.
I have no partisan political agenda, or any passionate wish at this point to bring the Bush administration officials to task for their criminal activities. I encourage every American to perform their own independent research. In the future we should be apprised that our government as well as many other governments created “False Flag” events that lead us into costly wars that have nothing to do with “Freedom and Liberation”, but are purely for the economic benefit of international bankers and corporations. The Iraq/Afghan wars are costing countless lives here and at home, and will cost each American in excess of $10,000, all for the benefit of greed and power. I hope that if another “9/11” were to sadly happen, that instead of 80% of America wanting to go to war, that at least 80% of us will be lodging major peaceful protests.
As long as we allow ourselves to react with our emotions based on media and government propagandized myths, and not act with investigation, reason, and logic we are rife for being tricked and deceived.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
The Two Faces of Loyalty
Growing up, sheltered by my naiveté of the real world, I thought loyalty was always an esteemed and valuable virtue. In my youth, I lacked the critical thinking skills to dissect and contrast how people in power positions, including employers, parents, religion, and governments use the concept of loyalty to squelch critical thinking and dissent. I failed to realize that the concept of loyalty can be used as great tool to manipulate minds, and promote foolish allegiances to dangerous, corrupt, and harmful causes. Loyalty used in a pure and uncorrupted way is also a positive tool that engenders trust, safety, and community. Today I am going to focus on the dangers of blind unconditional loyalty.
I pondered the following questions relating to loyalty: Should a parent of a serial murderer try to protect his/her child, or should that parent be open and forthright about the barbaric behavior? Should a patriotic American cover up the misdeeds of government leaders for the eyes of the country and world? Should the Catholic Church hide and deny the pedophilia of some of its priests? Must the electorate pledge unbending allegiance to unscrupulous political candidates even though they are of our partisan persuasion. Should an employee of a corporation keep silent about corporate frauds, executive lies, or environmental irresponsibility? Should someone in the military such as WikiLeaker Pfc. Bradley Manning keep silent about military murder and abuses of innocent civilians? These are important questions if we want to build a society based order, civility, justice, and integrity. Do we want to reinforce acts of virtue and integrity for our children and peers, or do we want to be selectively hypocritical due to fear and short term gain?
I am proud to say that I have no blind loyalty to my government, religion, political party, nationality, or any individuals. Some people may have a knee jerk reaction to my not being loyal to my government or a religion, and I say that is exactly the catalyst that should provoke an intelligent rational discussion between us. In my opinion integrity, morality, and civil behavior trump all other priorities. I would turn on a parent, clergy, teacher, military or government leader, or business person whose behavior I deemed to be in violation of my moral priorities. Loyalty must be earned constantly and proven over time, and not taken as a divine right, because of someone’s title or position. Being unconditionally loyal can cost one their life, limb, or reputation.
Militaries are prime examples of organizations that require unconditional loyalty, and as a result are the most dangerous, barbaric, and corrupt. The US Pentagon cannot find $2.3 trillion in expenditures, why should we blindly continue to fund defense, are we that “sheep like” and fearful as a nation? Our country as well as others have had a sordid barbaric history of mass killings, major ethnic displacement, theft of natural resources, and abstract rationalizations for many other immoral activities. Iran Contra, Kennedy’s assassination, East Timor, Chile, El Salvador, Panama, mass slaughter of Native Americans, “9/11”, Vietnam, bombing of 2 million Cambodians, and the illegal invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan are just a few examples of our countries sordid past that have been carried out primarily through our military and CIA. The US has been directly or indirectly responsible for furthering totalitarianism in every nation where our corporations and investment capital might be at risk. It is very difficult for me to be loyal to a barbaric and corrupt government that continues to behave in such an egregiously immoral fashion, while hypocritically criticizing other nations for their unacceptable behavior.
In the 1930’s a majority of the German people, through sophisticated propaganda and economic fear, became unconditionally loyal to the burgeoning Nazi regime. What would have happened if these loyal Germans all became disloyal to their government? Hitler would have not risen to power, the people would be loyal only to peace, and there probably would have not been a major war in European continent.
After “9/11” approximately 80% of our nation felt that it was disloyal to question our governments motives for invading Iraq and Afghanistan. As a result, the unconditional loyalty of a majority of our electorate will ultimately cost millions of lives and over 3 trillion dollars that would have been better spent on education, healthcare, infrastructure, research, and alternative energy.
The wealthy and powerful leaders of our nation profess that we should buy and invest in American companies. In contrast wealthy base their investment and purchasing decisions based upon what countries economics make the most prudent sense. The wealthy try to make the argument that taxation and environmental responsibility will shift jobs elsewhere. I do not believe that their loyalty lies with the plight of the American worker, but their financial pragmatism will cause them to easily set up shop or invest in another country. Loyalty seems to be an abstract emotional concept that is mainly embraced by the masses, but not practiced by the elite.
I believe that those people who are more unconditionally loyal are also more evangelically religious. By the very nature of religion being mythical and un-provable, one would have to possess a greater degree of blind faith in order to be loyal to the religion.
Those who are more religiously loyal also believe in “American Exceptionalism”. The 2010 Post-Election American Values survey conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute in cooperation with the Brookings Institute asked respondents to agree or disagree (completely or mostly) with the statement: “God has granted America a special role in human history”. Overall 58 percent agreed. Tea Party members, Republicans, and White Evangelicals were more likely to agree; liberals and the unaffiliated were more likely to disagree. Still, 25 percent of the unaffiliated mostly agreed with the statement. The survey also found that those who agree with the idea of American Exceptionalism are more likely to justify torture and to believe that military strength rather than diplomacy is the best way to ensure peace.
Being unconditionally loyal to professionals such as teachers, doctors, lawyers can also be a dangerous trap that may lead to disinformation, inadequate treatment, and financial and personal loss. I also believe that there is a major correlation between the ignorance, naiveté’, and indolence of those who easily choose unconditional loyalty.
It has been demonstrated that unconditional loyalty to parents and family can also be a dangerous path to emotional, sexual, and physical abuse. In will never forget the statement that my father arrogantly made when I was a child, “I am your father and you never question anything that I tell you or direct you to do”. My father had many faults and short comings. Why would I blindly accept his judgment to be perfect and God like, without him giving me a rational explanation for his directives? I have always taught my children to respectfully question anything I say in order to develop their critical thinking and survival skills.
If we are to strive to become a more civilized, just, and humane society it is in our best interests as individuals and a nation to value truth, ethics, and fairness above blind loyalty.
I pondered the following questions relating to loyalty: Should a parent of a serial murderer try to protect his/her child, or should that parent be open and forthright about the barbaric behavior? Should a patriotic American cover up the misdeeds of government leaders for the eyes of the country and world? Should the Catholic Church hide and deny the pedophilia of some of its priests? Must the electorate pledge unbending allegiance to unscrupulous political candidates even though they are of our partisan persuasion. Should an employee of a corporation keep silent about corporate frauds, executive lies, or environmental irresponsibility? Should someone in the military such as WikiLeaker Pfc. Bradley Manning keep silent about military murder and abuses of innocent civilians? These are important questions if we want to build a society based order, civility, justice, and integrity. Do we want to reinforce acts of virtue and integrity for our children and peers, or do we want to be selectively hypocritical due to fear and short term gain?
I am proud to say that I have no blind loyalty to my government, religion, political party, nationality, or any individuals. Some people may have a knee jerk reaction to my not being loyal to my government or a religion, and I say that is exactly the catalyst that should provoke an intelligent rational discussion between us. In my opinion integrity, morality, and civil behavior trump all other priorities. I would turn on a parent, clergy, teacher, military or government leader, or business person whose behavior I deemed to be in violation of my moral priorities. Loyalty must be earned constantly and proven over time, and not taken as a divine right, because of someone’s title or position. Being unconditionally loyal can cost one their life, limb, or reputation.
Militaries are prime examples of organizations that require unconditional loyalty, and as a result are the most dangerous, barbaric, and corrupt. The US Pentagon cannot find $2.3 trillion in expenditures, why should we blindly continue to fund defense, are we that “sheep like” and fearful as a nation? Our country as well as others have had a sordid barbaric history of mass killings, major ethnic displacement, theft of natural resources, and abstract rationalizations for many other immoral activities. Iran Contra, Kennedy’s assassination, East Timor, Chile, El Salvador, Panama, mass slaughter of Native Americans, “9/11”, Vietnam, bombing of 2 million Cambodians, and the illegal invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan are just a few examples of our countries sordid past that have been carried out primarily through our military and CIA. The US has been directly or indirectly responsible for furthering totalitarianism in every nation where our corporations and investment capital might be at risk. It is very difficult for me to be loyal to a barbaric and corrupt government that continues to behave in such an egregiously immoral fashion, while hypocritically criticizing other nations for their unacceptable behavior.
In the 1930’s a majority of the German people, through sophisticated propaganda and economic fear, became unconditionally loyal to the burgeoning Nazi regime. What would have happened if these loyal Germans all became disloyal to their government? Hitler would have not risen to power, the people would be loyal only to peace, and there probably would have not been a major war in European continent.
After “9/11” approximately 80% of our nation felt that it was disloyal to question our governments motives for invading Iraq and Afghanistan. As a result, the unconditional loyalty of a majority of our electorate will ultimately cost millions of lives and over 3 trillion dollars that would have been better spent on education, healthcare, infrastructure, research, and alternative energy.
The wealthy and powerful leaders of our nation profess that we should buy and invest in American companies. In contrast wealthy base their investment and purchasing decisions based upon what countries economics make the most prudent sense. The wealthy try to make the argument that taxation and environmental responsibility will shift jobs elsewhere. I do not believe that their loyalty lies with the plight of the American worker, but their financial pragmatism will cause them to easily set up shop or invest in another country. Loyalty seems to be an abstract emotional concept that is mainly embraced by the masses, but not practiced by the elite.
I believe that those people who are more unconditionally loyal are also more evangelically religious. By the very nature of religion being mythical and un-provable, one would have to possess a greater degree of blind faith in order to be loyal to the religion.
Those who are more religiously loyal also believe in “American Exceptionalism”. The 2010 Post-Election American Values survey conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute in cooperation with the Brookings Institute asked respondents to agree or disagree (completely or mostly) with the statement: “God has granted America a special role in human history”. Overall 58 percent agreed. Tea Party members, Republicans, and White Evangelicals were more likely to agree; liberals and the unaffiliated were more likely to disagree. Still, 25 percent of the unaffiliated mostly agreed with the statement. The survey also found that those who agree with the idea of American Exceptionalism are more likely to justify torture and to believe that military strength rather than diplomacy is the best way to ensure peace.
Being unconditionally loyal to professionals such as teachers, doctors, lawyers can also be a dangerous trap that may lead to disinformation, inadequate treatment, and financial and personal loss. I also believe that there is a major correlation between the ignorance, naiveté’, and indolence of those who easily choose unconditional loyalty.
It has been demonstrated that unconditional loyalty to parents and family can also be a dangerous path to emotional, sexual, and physical abuse. In will never forget the statement that my father arrogantly made when I was a child, “I am your father and you never question anything that I tell you or direct you to do”. My father had many faults and short comings. Why would I blindly accept his judgment to be perfect and God like, without him giving me a rational explanation for his directives? I have always taught my children to respectfully question anything I say in order to develop their critical thinking and survival skills.
If we are to strive to become a more civilized, just, and humane society it is in our best interests as individuals and a nation to value truth, ethics, and fairness above blind loyalty.
Humans seek comfort in Myths
One would like to believe that our human behavior would favor our always wanting to seek the facts and truth irrespective of how painful the reality, over comfortable myths and stories. Unfortunately many times our emotional well being takes precedence over our intellectual integrity. I place myths into two categories, the benign white lie, and the insidious type that causes personal and financial harm. We often times choose our own constructed myths or those of others in order to soften the landing of what may turn out to be a painful reality.
Our egos dictate that we want to feel that we are a member of the best religious faith, graduated from the best college, live in the best nation, drive the best car, or wear the most fashionable clothes Constructing myths is just not about feeling safe and comfortable; the essence of the issue is also about being loved and accepted.
Madison Avenue is very skilled in manipulating our emotional needs and has learned to use symbolism, metaphors, and “Buzz Words” to mold our psyches. Car manufacturers equate cars in their advertising campaigns with sexual prowess, masculinity, and economic status. The advertising peddlers use such words as luxury, tough, power, speed, agility, elite, in a class by itself, and other words that evoke an emotional charge. These advertising myths seem to play well on many of our needs for status, sexual attractiveness, and uniqueness.
Through public relations and the mass media our government leaders have been able to capitalize on our fears and doubts in order to manipulate us financially and personally. Nations are skilled in crafting myths about the importance of loyalty, patriotism, and military service. Unfortunately it is usually not the power elite who buy into the hyperbole and propaganda, but the masses who are brain washed into the virtues of losing one’s life or limbs for service to ones country. Sacrificing one’s life for ones country is only a fool hardy myth that perpetuates added violence. Just think if every soldier in every military was convinced to be an army deserter, then we might be closer to a more peaceful world. Of course if soldiers will not fight then the rich and powerful will have to physically risk their own lives and do their own fighting. Young idealistic men go off to war and die so that rich old men will live to obtain more bounty.
Religion and God are probably one of the oldest manufactured myths that mankind has perpetrated in order to control the masses and create an ethereal answer to unanswered scientific questions. This theocratic mythology on its face is probably not harmful, but when corrupted by man’s dark side it has been a draconian tool to oppress, murder, create unnecessary guilt, and deny human rights. Myths which are not basically harmful such as Adam & Eve, Noah’s Ark, and the Virgin Mother are scientifically and logically unacceptable. People who are religious say that they embrace faith, but I not want to confuse the faith concept with positive thinking. Faith is type of myth that is a manufactured story which does not properly answer a scientific question.
Another myth that some of us embrace is that somehow a lavish wedding will lead to a more successful marriage. My experience with wedding parties is that they are vehicle of status, one up manship, and an expensive myth. I like a good a party as well as the next person, but to spend tens of thousands of dollars for a one day event for the average person is major misuse of money. Instead of the $1,500 spent on the one time use of a wedding dress, and $25,000 on the wedding, if this same money was used as down payment on a home that second choice would be more sensible. I have yet to read any statistics that said that an expensive wedding will lead the couple into a more loving and enduring relationship.
Our attitudes and guilt around death and dying in this country are also steeped in myth. Somehow the idea of an expensive funeral and burial headstone may cause the bereaved family to feel that they loved the person more. Once a person is dead they cannot feel or transmit love. My choice and that of my mate is to will our bodies to the local medical school, where our organs maybe transplanted to save another life, or our bodies can be used for future medical students to learn anatomy. The money I saved on a wasteful funeral can be put to better use as a donation to a positive charity.
The myth that we are in a functional family has caused many of us untold anguish and visits to our therapist. If those of you in the minority were fortunate enough to have grown up in a relatively functional family, then you are blessed by the assumed healthy family myth.
The myth of the diamond or precious stone has enriched countless jewelers, manufacturers, and diamond mine owners. The wedding ring with the inserted diamonds is a great myth that has been spun by the owners of the DeBeers Diamond Co. and has created a market for bankers and jewelers to make a great deal of money from the credit diamond sale business. In reality a piece of useless jewelry has none or little value in fostering a successful marriage.
A myth that many of us accept is that if we are a member of one of the two major political that these special interests are operating independently for the benefit of our own welfare. In reality the political party game is fixed, akin to professional wrestling by virtue of high level leaders in the Bilderberg Group, Hudson Institute, Wall Street, Trilateral Commission, International Bankers, and many other high level self interest groups and think tanks. Our votes do count, but unfortunately our minds are molded by partial and disinformation to cause us to use fear instead of logic and data to make our political choices. The turn-around of a majority No, to a majority Yes on Proposition 8 was engineered by religious groups such as the Mormon Church. These hateful religious groups used unverifiable myths about homosexuals to bend the minds of the ambivalent masses. The myth that Obama was a liberal that would always work in the best interests of the working class was in reality overshadowed by the fact that he received three times the campaign contributions from Wall Street than McCain received.
I find that the myths, or lies promulgated by our government leaders today is even more harmful than the fraudulent information that has been traditionally disseminated by religious communities. I find such myths created by our government that Oswald killed JFK, that we lend money to other countries out of altruistic motivation, that the North Vietnamese attacked us in the Gulf of Tonkin, that Osama bin Laden caused 9/11, and that we go to war because we genuinely care about people in third world countries are myths and outright lies constructed to the highest degree. Our government’s fraudulent myths about “9/11” will probably go down as the quintessential lie of our modern history.
Everyone wants to be on a winning team or think that they have the pipeline to all right answers, but if they accept myths in place of demonstrable facts, then they will only set themselves up for harm to themselves and others. Reagan said, “Trust but verify”. Let’s behave as adults and accept uncomfortable truths, as opposed to embracing a placating harmful myth.
Our egos dictate that we want to feel that we are a member of the best religious faith, graduated from the best college, live in the best nation, drive the best car, or wear the most fashionable clothes Constructing myths is just not about feeling safe and comfortable; the essence of the issue is also about being loved and accepted.
Madison Avenue is very skilled in manipulating our emotional needs and has learned to use symbolism, metaphors, and “Buzz Words” to mold our psyches. Car manufacturers equate cars in their advertising campaigns with sexual prowess, masculinity, and economic status. The advertising peddlers use such words as luxury, tough, power, speed, agility, elite, in a class by itself, and other words that evoke an emotional charge. These advertising myths seem to play well on many of our needs for status, sexual attractiveness, and uniqueness.
Through public relations and the mass media our government leaders have been able to capitalize on our fears and doubts in order to manipulate us financially and personally. Nations are skilled in crafting myths about the importance of loyalty, patriotism, and military service. Unfortunately it is usually not the power elite who buy into the hyperbole and propaganda, but the masses who are brain washed into the virtues of losing one’s life or limbs for service to ones country. Sacrificing one’s life for ones country is only a fool hardy myth that perpetuates added violence. Just think if every soldier in every military was convinced to be an army deserter, then we might be closer to a more peaceful world. Of course if soldiers will not fight then the rich and powerful will have to physically risk their own lives and do their own fighting. Young idealistic men go off to war and die so that rich old men will live to obtain more bounty.
Religion and God are probably one of the oldest manufactured myths that mankind has perpetrated in order to control the masses and create an ethereal answer to unanswered scientific questions. This theocratic mythology on its face is probably not harmful, but when corrupted by man’s dark side it has been a draconian tool to oppress, murder, create unnecessary guilt, and deny human rights. Myths which are not basically harmful such as Adam & Eve, Noah’s Ark, and the Virgin Mother are scientifically and logically unacceptable. People who are religious say that they embrace faith, but I not want to confuse the faith concept with positive thinking. Faith is type of myth that is a manufactured story which does not properly answer a scientific question.
Another myth that some of us embrace is that somehow a lavish wedding will lead to a more successful marriage. My experience with wedding parties is that they are vehicle of status, one up manship, and an expensive myth. I like a good a party as well as the next person, but to spend tens of thousands of dollars for a one day event for the average person is major misuse of money. Instead of the $1,500 spent on the one time use of a wedding dress, and $25,000 on the wedding, if this same money was used as down payment on a home that second choice would be more sensible. I have yet to read any statistics that said that an expensive wedding will lead the couple into a more loving and enduring relationship.
Our attitudes and guilt around death and dying in this country are also steeped in myth. Somehow the idea of an expensive funeral and burial headstone may cause the bereaved family to feel that they loved the person more. Once a person is dead they cannot feel or transmit love. My choice and that of my mate is to will our bodies to the local medical school, where our organs maybe transplanted to save another life, or our bodies can be used for future medical students to learn anatomy. The money I saved on a wasteful funeral can be put to better use as a donation to a positive charity.
The myth that we are in a functional family has caused many of us untold anguish and visits to our therapist. If those of you in the minority were fortunate enough to have grown up in a relatively functional family, then you are blessed by the assumed healthy family myth.
The myth of the diamond or precious stone has enriched countless jewelers, manufacturers, and diamond mine owners. The wedding ring with the inserted diamonds is a great myth that has been spun by the owners of the DeBeers Diamond Co. and has created a market for bankers and jewelers to make a great deal of money from the credit diamond sale business. In reality a piece of useless jewelry has none or little value in fostering a successful marriage.
A myth that many of us accept is that if we are a member of one of the two major political that these special interests are operating independently for the benefit of our own welfare. In reality the political party game is fixed, akin to professional wrestling by virtue of high level leaders in the Bilderberg Group, Hudson Institute, Wall Street, Trilateral Commission, International Bankers, and many other high level self interest groups and think tanks. Our votes do count, but unfortunately our minds are molded by partial and disinformation to cause us to use fear instead of logic and data to make our political choices. The turn-around of a majority No, to a majority Yes on Proposition 8 was engineered by religious groups such as the Mormon Church. These hateful religious groups used unverifiable myths about homosexuals to bend the minds of the ambivalent masses. The myth that Obama was a liberal that would always work in the best interests of the working class was in reality overshadowed by the fact that he received three times the campaign contributions from Wall Street than McCain received.
I find that the myths, or lies promulgated by our government leaders today is even more harmful than the fraudulent information that has been traditionally disseminated by religious communities. I find such myths created by our government that Oswald killed JFK, that we lend money to other countries out of altruistic motivation, that the North Vietnamese attacked us in the Gulf of Tonkin, that Osama bin Laden caused 9/11, and that we go to war because we genuinely care about people in third world countries are myths and outright lies constructed to the highest degree. Our government’s fraudulent myths about “9/11” will probably go down as the quintessential lie of our modern history.
Everyone wants to be on a winning team or think that they have the pipeline to all right answers, but if they accept myths in place of demonstrable facts, then they will only set themselves up for harm to themselves and others. Reagan said, “Trust but verify”. Let’s behave as adults and accept uncomfortable truths, as opposed to embracing a placating harmful myth.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)