Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Conspiracy Theories, the Lure of Collectivism and the Cycle of Abuse

I read an interesting piece the other day about mass delusion and the economy. It got me to thinking about, of all things, conspiracy theories. It suddenly occurred to me that maybe, just maybe, the reason the powerful can get away with conspiracy, the reason they can cause so much harm and consternation is because they know how to create and manipulate mass delusion. Maybe the main mass of the population disregards conspiracy theories so off handedly simply because they don't want to believe they're true, not because facts or evidence point to said theories being false.

Whether or not you believe certain conspiracy theories, or perhaps more appropriately in many cases, which conspiracy theory you chose to believe, depends on who you put your faith in. Back in the early 1960s, for instance, the vast majority of people had faith in government, so much so that it could get away with just about anything. People trusted the government to get to the bottom of John F. Kennedy's assassination with the Warren Commission. Even though much of their report made little sense and even conflicted with much of the evidence, the general public couldn't believe that such a conspiracy could possibly exist in the halls of government. They believed that our federal government was superior and above reproach and no one involved in our federal government could possibly consider a presidential assassination even if it would benefit them. I would like to think we as a society have gotten past that little delusion.

Do you still put faith in our government? Do you really believe politicians are looking out for your best interests or do you think they're either corruptible, already corrupted or just plain despicable and only looking out for themselves and their friends? How about the media, do you still trust them? They've been used by a powerful corporate elite in the past to misinform the populous and obfuscate issues, what makes you believe they're any different today? They certainly know what side their bread is buttered on. If the rich and powerful corporate establishment is threatened, don't you think they'd do everything in their power to alleviate that threat, including using a supposedly unbiased and objective "independent" media to convolute issues and events that could harm their reputations? It's amazing to me how often these institutions can be caught lying and still be trusted.

If a conspiracy is simply two or more people or entities plotting to obtain a certain outcome, then modern economics in nothing but conspiracy. The mere fact that congress even considers making laws to regulate the economy is conspiracy. There are those at the top of the heap, those who have made so much money they'll never be able to count it, who are trying to figure out how they can use the money to control everything about the markets, including and especially politicians. They make no qualms about admitting that they don't want competition and are willing to do everything it takes to eliminate it. So, one might ask, what is control? Is it not the same as, or at least akin to, governing? Controlling the market means governing the market and determining how people will spend their money, or at least a portion of said money.

So it is that we are told what to do and how to think by the talking heads on television. So it is that we hold up certain media personalities as idols. So it is that we are indoctrinated in government run schools. So it is that they use our money to entrap us in an economic system that benefits those at the top and makes it nearly impossible for the little guy to even begin to compete. Bureaucrats and people associated with government are happy to lead us around by the nose and tell us how much we need solutions offered by government. These people will happily proffer collectivist, big government solutions for problems that have been caused by the practices of collectivist big government. These are the solutions that have proven to be failures in countries around the world, including Cuba, North Korea, the former USSR and others.

The solutions to economic and societal problems that have been offered of late are nothing short of collectivist ideals. I would like to think that most Americans would agree that the individualist ideas of the founders that created so much prosperity for so long are much better than the collectivist ideas that have brought nothing but poverty and tyranny to so much humanity in so many nations in the past. Yet we still manage to fall for the age old arguments that these measures are meant to help the poor, or the downtrodden, or the children, or take care of some other perceived social injustice. This is the allure of collectivist ideas, that the ends justify the means and that the good intentions of the few should be forced upon the many.

It seems to me that many people are drawn to big government solutions not because they are simple, straight forward solutions to problems, although they can be presented that way, but because they haven't been exposed to other solutions. Quite often they don't even realize that other solutions even exist. They certainly haven't learned about any alternatives in school, nor are they likely to have seen them in the corporate owned media. Indeed, many folk might not even care that much. They are happy so long as they have their bread and circuses, so long as they can live what they consider a decent life.

As the economy continues its downward spiral, however, it becomes more likely that more and more of the common folk will begin to sit up and take notice. As they lose work, they will no longer be able to live that decent life they have become accustomed to. They will no longer be able to easily open a business and try new things as may have been done in the past. They will wonder why their opportunities have dried up and their options are so few. They will begin to explore the reasons behind the collapse and may well soon discover a frightening possibility. They may discover that these men and women we call government who were supposedly protecting them all these years were simply milking them for a portion of their productivity. They may discover that government and their corporate cronies care nothing about them and have, in fact, been abusing them for decades.

This cycle of abuse has been occurring for a long, long time. First group A gets in charge and abuses group B, then group B takes the reins of power and abuses group A. This happens over and over again, and all the time government grows bigger and the political power elite consolidate their power and grasp more control until finally there is no difference between group A and group B, there is only those with power and those they rule. They have divided and conquered. They are laughing as they watch the common folk bickering amongst themselves over issues of little consequence and they go about their business of completing their centralization agenda.

We need to stop being so delusional when it comes to these people. We need to quit laying back and expecting that they're going to solve the problems. We need to stop believing that they even care about us. These are not trustworthy people. We cannot and should not depend on them. Indeed, it seems to me that they are striving not to improve things, but to make matters even worse. One cannot solve problems created by borrowing and spending by borrowing and spending. One does not fill a hole by digging it deeper.

The political class doesn't seem to get it. Either that, or they truly are striving for complete control and they think you're too delusional to see it. Either way, it has become obvious the common folk need to take matters into our own hands. We need to stop listening to the politicians and pundits who berate free market solutions and start creating our own solutions. We need a little conspiracy of our own. We need to stop simply obeying and go back to just simply doing. We need to build our own economies, use our own currencies, and start doing business with each other while excluding government entities who insist on intruding into our business and taking their cut.

There are several ways this is accomplished. Allowing for competition in currency is one such way. Using precious metals such as copper, silver or gold for transactions is another. There are already several established companies that will happily provide the market place with such currencies. The Liberty Dollar is one such company that so threatened the status quo that the feds decided to raid it. There are now other similar companies stepping up to compete for market share. It is time we showed the feds that we don't need their protection when they attempt to protect us from legitimate enterprises. It is time to show them that if they do not re-establish a commodity based currency for our country instead of the current debt based fiat currency, then we will. That is how we will regain our economic freedom. That is how we will get back on the road to prosperity.

My archived articles are available at szandorblestman.com. Please visit there to help support me and my efforts. I also have an ebook available entitled "The Ouijiers" by Matthew Wayne.

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