Do you Ever Ask Yourself Why?

[NightOwwl]

We have a government that doesn't appear to do anything but promote hate between the citizens of this country.

A government that implements policies that benefit those in power, but leaves those in need in the dust.

A government that lies about the medicinal value of pot, but has no problem handing out addicting drugs like they were candy.

A government that puts profit over human life.

Do you ever wonder why you continue to be a part of this sham? If you think it's your duty to support their insanity, I'm here to tell you - it's not.

Just saying.

[BubbaFett]

1. Some of us have resigned ourselves

to understanding what the truth is, knowing the blindness that surrounds us, and feeling powerless to change anything.

And part of the corporatist project has been to destroy the commons and communities - relationships and social structures that used to bind us.

[NightOwwl]

5. THEY are powerless without YOU. Not the other way around.

That feeling you have of powerlessness and resignation is by design.

'The Wall of Fear' is a well-known term on Wall Street. It is used to keep the populace feeling anxious and distracted.

You are not in thrall to this government, regardless of the propaganda you've been subject to since you started saying the Pledge of Allegiance.

I highly recommend turning off the news for as long as you can. You will be amazed at how different the world can be without the 24/7 stream of terror-producing news - news designed to make you feel powerless and helpless.

You are stronger than they have led you to believe.

[Omnith]

17. Great message. I couldn't agree more

[NightOwwl]

23. Thumbs up.

[AdHocSolver]

20. It is not just the so-called news media that makes one feel powerless.

The entire culture has been designed to make people feel powerless.

The educational system is geared to rote learning of a narrow range of mostly disconnected "facts".(which may, or may not, actually be factual).

Real learning involves making things (tools, music, art), fixing things, and solving problems. Teaching to a test that involves memorizing a bunch of disconnected and disjointed data, does not give anyone the ability to accomplish anything useful.

No Child Left Behind and its equally worthless successor Race To The Top actually numbs the mind and prevents real learning from taking place.

The U.S. economy is shaky, at best. The economic indicators are bogus. The stock market is manipulated by the 1 percent to suck up the savings of the middle class. Ask anyone who had their retirement savings in Enron stock.

The Federal Reserve is now run by Wall Street, the way so-called economic indicators are defined and used are bogus, and yet most people still cling to the nonsense about the economy.

For example, the Fed keeps the interest rate on deposit accounts artificially low (0.1 percent) yet charges 14 percent on credit card balances, claiming that there is almost no inflation, and low interest rates will boost economic activity.

Yet the extremely low interest paid on deposits means that inflation is eating up the principal of depositors' assets, and 14 percent on credit card balances is sucking up the money that middle class borrowers could use to buy more goods.

Until enough people learn to differentiate reality from the propaganda about the economy spewed by Wall Street, nothing is going to change.

There is another way that the 1 percent control the populace and that is by computerizing everything. The computer determines what the user can and cannot do. The computer can log every action of the user which eliminates privacy. The computer acts as a gate keeper for the corporations, and when the corporations screw up, they can "blame the computer" even though they are responsible for what the computer does or does not do.

However, just turning off your television won't save you from the propaganda. People must learn how they are being manipulated and ways to avoid the manipulation.

One has to learn how to deal with others around you who are still being affected by the manipulation and propaganda. One has to try to educate them, and then join with, and mutually support, others who understand the situation.

There is a lot to fear about what is happening these days. Use the fear to spur you to action to learn the reality and join with others to change what causes the fear.

[NightOwwl]

22. Like I said - we are all stronger than we've been led to believe.

When you think you need to take action you will.

When you think someone needs assistance, you will assist them.

You don't have to think of the world in their terms.

Do what you think is right, be kind, do unto others.

Keep it simple.

[AdHocSolver]

40. If one waits for an opportunity to act, it will never happen.

The elite win because they are all on the same page, they continuously propagandize, and they actively work together to achieve their goals.

At the same time, would-be progressives are confused about economics, fragmented in their actions, and are essentially contributing to their own "enslavement".

The secret to empowering yourself is not to avoid the news, but to learn how to interpret the news and how what they say will affect you.

For example, understand that the stock market, the Federal Reserve, NAFTA, the buzz words such as "free trade", "free markets", "GDP", and the "global economy" are all components of trickle-down, supply-side economics. They do NOT describe how economies work.

In fragmentation and passivity their is weakness. In knowledge and effective action there is strength.

[RobertEarl]

2. Yes I have

And the only answer is to rebel as best I can.

Problem is, too many are kissing ass, and this being a democracy, we all become ass kissers.

[RobertEarl]

4. PS

That's why I love me some DU. DU has a lot of people here that don't go around kissing ass. WE actually do some rebelling here!

[NightOwwl]

6. Rebelling is still playing their game by their rules.

I'm talking about leaving the field completely.

[Krytan11c]

8. And go where?

They own the locker room and the stadium too.

If you choose not to play then all you are is a spectator.

[NightOwwl]

10. You can be a pawn in their game of insanity

you can watch their insanity from the sidelines, or...

you can create your own playing field. I happen to believe a few kind words a day can do more to change the world than a lifetime of stressing out over events that are clearly out of my control.

[whatchamacallit]

3. No, because the answer is obvious

Division is good for the conquerors.

[arcane1]

7. No need to ask, I already know the answer: we allowed it.

We tricked ourselves into believing that our involvement was not needed, not while there are tv shows to catch up on and Joneses to keep up with.

We got lazy, apathetic, and infantalized, expecting the grown-ups to take care of business while we play. We even regressed into the child-like delusion that the grown-ups could be trusted to do so.

[NightOwwl]

9. Time to Grow Up Then

Cut the cord. Live your life. Stop providing the fuel of hate and discord that they need to survive.

[arcane1]

11. I'm way ahead of you.

[NightOwwl]

12. How about we run side-by-side.

I'm not in competition with you

[arcane1]

28. Good idea :)

[SheilaT]

13. It is the modern equivalent of bread and circuses.

So long as you distract the people from the real problems, so long as you entertain them, they won't really understand what is at the core of everything.

The bread side is more or less covered, what with food stamps. I don't want to gloss over the real hunger that exists, but without SNAP and without various food handouts, it would be so much worse.

[SHRED]

14. "What are their names"

DAVID CROSBY
"What Are Their Names"
(David Crosby, Neil Young, Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh and Michael Shrieve)

I wonder who they are
The men who really run this land
And I wonder why they run it
With such a thoughtless hand
What are their names
And on what streets do they live
I'd like to ride right over
This afternoon and give
Them a piece of my mind
About peace for mankind
Peace is not an awful lot to ask

[Kablooie]

15. No. I know why.

Because we are the greatest country in the history of the world and the greatest country must do these things to remain great.

Of course the definition of "great" is up for debate.

[NightOwwl]

24. We are all human beings on one planet.

Countries are man-made divisions with man-made rules that only serve to divide and separate the people on this planet.

[Kablooie]

31. So often we act like the chimps in the movie "2001".

We stand on opposite banks of the river, hopping up and down while screaming insults at each other.

[NightOwwl]

33. It's sad, really.

People living in mental cages filled with fear and anxiety, throwing bananas back and forth. They could be free, but they have to see that they are caged, first.

[NRaleighLiberal]

16. I know why. Because the government is made up of people - and the inherent faults soon emerge.

Greed - those with lots of money want more. Power - those with power want more. Fear - people are driven by fear. Apathy - way too many distractions, way too many excuses to NOT engage the brain. To me it is as simple as that - maybe politicians start out with good intent, but my feeling is that all that has to be done to rise also corrupts. Public servants - what a laugh!

Think about all of the issues we discuss each day on DU - hatred, fear, lies, power, greed, corruption, all of the various "-isms". They all go to the root cause of the inherent faults of human beings that I list above.

[NightOwwl]

36. So now the question becomes...

Is this how you want to live your life - seeing the world through their eyes?

Human beings are only flawed because we are told we are over and over and over and over and over again.

Inherently flawed? - that's as silly as saying we are born sinners.

[NRaleighLiberal]

38. let's call it inherent characteristics. the reason so much money is spent on advertising is

that repetition embeds itself and becomes truth (why do you think Bud Light is the best selling beer by a mile - yet is one of the worst quality wise?).

It is not how I live MY life - I watch no TV, read little news, immerse myself in the arts - music, books, films - and gardening and nature. I do NOT see the world through their eyes - but am commenting upon how I see many living theirs.

[aikoaiko]

18. I have not asked why?

[Recursion]

19. The Federal government alone spends $550 Billion per year on social spending

We spend a greater percentage of our GDP (35%) on social programs than either France (33%) or Sweden (30%) does.

For the lowest quintile of Americans by income, the average Federal transfers alone amount to $22K per capita per annum.

Medicaid was $266 billion last year. SNAP was $82 billion. The EITC was $55 billion. SSI was $50 billion. Section 8 was $40 billion. CHIP was $20 billion, as was TANF. WIC and its equivalent for the elderly was $8 billion. Energy assistance was $3 billion. Most of these (except SSI) are further supplemented by state- and locality-level spending.

[NightOwwl]

25. If there was no government, would you let the helpless go hungry?

Neither would I.

We are self-sufficient, we are powerful, we are compassionate.

We are stronger and smarter than we have been led to believe.

[snooper2]

30. If there was no government you wouldn't have time to help the helpless

because you would be too busy keeping your family and kids safe from the roaming bands of armed assholes taking and doing whatever the fuck they want....

[NightOwwl]

34. That's bullshit propaganda.

'The Wall of Fear'. Look it up.

(If your response was sarcastic - forgive me for jumping to conclusions)

[JI7]

41. So why hasn't it worked for somalia

It's only when the govt gets some power that things are better for people there.

[Neon Gods]

37. I think this just shows...

...that our poor are so much poorer than the poor in France, Sweden, and most other developed countries. In those countries, the intent is to insure the poor can get back in the game (and most do). In the U.S., the right needs to insure that the poor never get out of poverty because they make such delightful props for Fox News outrage, which keeps the tea party voters going to the polls.

[Major Hogwash]

21. What country do you live in?

A government that lies about the medicinal value of pot, but has no problem handing out addicting drugs like they were candy.

Man, I need some of those addicting drugs, so please, please, please tell me where the line starts!!!

[rock]

26. Nope

Although I know the answer: Politicians are corrupt con artists for the most part.

[NightOwwl]

32. They really are. They aren't smarter or better then you or me in any way.

They just have the money for a 24/7 public relations campaign. Also known as propaganda.

[el_bryanto]

27. Thank goodness you came along - what a sap we've been.

To hell with all that stupid voting, and working for political change. It's just a waste of time.

Bryant

[NightOwwl]

29. I undersand you are being sarcastic, so I'll leave you with a quote by someone you might respect:

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. - Albert Einstein

[SidDithers]

35. FUDers gotta FUD...nt

Sid

[Manifestor_of_Light]

39. Common Decency, by Dr. Brian May

Dr. Brian May has started a new Youtube channel as of New Year's Day, called Brian May Official, and the third episode is called "Common Decency". He wants to reform the House of Commons. Governments are undoubtedly corrupt in all countries.

I think this is somewhat like the "Right Speech" concept in Buddhism. Or perhaps the entire Eight-Fold Path.

&feature=youtu.be

[WiffenPoof]

42. I'm amazed at unfounded optimism...

Sorry Brian...I don't think is going to work.

The optimism displayed here is bullshit. The whole point of this thread is to say that there is NO WAY BACK. It's too late my friends. There is not a single aspect of our lives that has not been invaded by those in power. The whole idea that we can somehow repair the damage is a fantasy. The dynamics of the current path is not only unstoppable...it has been planned and is a historic necessity. It is the natural outcome of capitalism.

It's nice to pretend that we have the power to stop this... It makes you feel good... But just for a moment. Then the cloud of reality returns and you are left with the realization that the only way to get through it is to go through it.

Paige