WHY are Americans so easily Fooled/Scammed/Taken/Conned ?

[opihimoimoi]

Most of us are hard working people, honest, trusting, generous, compassionate, benevolent, considerate, etc. We love to have fun, joke, laugh, go to ball games, etc, get excited, we drink/laugh/sing/eat/smile. We travel. see different things/scenes/movies/plays/etc. We pray, we hope, we dream.

We build, we tunnel, we fly, swim, grow things, design things, heal others, massage others, we even have hobbies. and we are collectors too, from trinkets, coins, stamps, to stories of yesteryear and faraway places.

We hunt, fish, garden, sew, stitch, bake, cook, paint, fire pots and bowls, enjoy woodwork/metal work/etc. We play over the internet with games and we gamble too. We race, we run, we hike/bike and dare to scuba/spelunker/and even surf/soar in a hang glider.

We are Human and we enjoy being Human...either with others or alone.
We create, we invent, we have ideas, notions, concepts. We write, compose, paint pictures, make puzzles, dance, act, and play musical instruments; Diggereedoo to the flute, lute/harp.

We are curious, we investigate/solve/research/answer questions/solve challenges. We envision the Future, try to solve what happened in the past, and we look to the stars and beyond. We risk, we challenge, we dare.

So what the hell are we risking all of this by allowing ourselves to be fooled/conned by a few assholes and ruin our wonderful picture called Humanity on Earth?

Let us look to the richness of ourselves and our Humanity...if only we could avoid being taken in by the many Fakirs out there....

We could all be so rich in Peace.....if only we were friggen DEAF so as not to be conned. Damn.... Opi s monthly rant #376.09

[Must_B_Free]

1. lemming behaviour

we go with the pack.

[opihimoimoi]

4. Yup, the cliff syndrome I guess.....

Come, we go jump too.

[Bowline]

46. Lemmings don't deserve the insult.

Besides, the whole mass suicide by lemmings myth has been debunked by more than one study.

[K-W]

2. Because Americans are Human Beings EOM

[opihimoimoi]

7. Susceptible to being conned?? By the looks of things..I guess.

Its gone Global.

[democrat_patriot]

3. They are bombarded by the

"liberal" media.

If I watched Faux or CNN every night. I'd love * too.

[opihimoimoi]

9. Turns out thats one of the sources of Mind Theft

[physioex]

5. I understand...

It's a shame to see the citizens of this country endorse torture, murder and rape... I realized that people who commit atrocities aren't truly the evil people on this planet, rather the ones that sit by and passively allow it to happen....

[opihimoimoi]

10. I totally agree.

[rhino47]

6. Working harder for less pay might play into it.

Ok time for the tin foil hat but I think by reducing income on the majority of employed voters gives them less time to find out the truth.In turn they turn to network news to provide them with 30 second blips of "information" This in turn votes in repigs and their lies.
It works.Keep the masses busy ,keep them dumb,keep them voting rethuglican.

[opihimoimoi]

13. John Kenneth Galbraith describes this in THE GOOD SOCIETY

the rich need a class to do the menial work and easier to control/dominate with mind slavery

[kodi]

8. because we're nothing but greedy, clever monkeys

.

[opihimoimoi]

11. reminds me of the monkey trap where the bait is inside of a basket

and the monkey sees the bait, takes hold thru a small hole, and refuses to let go until its too late as the trapper ensnares him.

We refuse to let go of a Bad Idea.

[RodneyCK2]

12. I chalk it up to Laziness.

Society has changed for the worst IMO. Everything today is geared toward people on the go (ie the ADD syndrome), so we have quick service, drive-thrus, snippets of news, buy in bulk, one stop shopping, channel flipping, books on tape, on and on...

What this does is create an apathetic attitude toward important, thought provoking subjects, such as ...POLITICS and world events, basically, anything that takes more than 5 minutes to digest. It is sad, but I can not come up with a better excuse.

[opihimoimoi]

14. Slothness is one of the seven sins.....heavy price....

[specimenfred1984]

15. 100+ Years of Propaganda

Read a few books on propaganda, you'll realize how pervasive it is in everything, not just garbage like Faux news.

We're all brainwashed and constantly exposed to brainwashing. Almost our entire culture is based on flawed beliefs. The answer to it is as simple and as difficult as knowing what truth is.

We're being sold stuff everywhere we go and in everything we do. The gov't sells us ideas, big and small business sell us products. It's reached a point of absurdity now, so much so that reality doesn't even matter anymore, it's how well the idea is sold or how well the product is sold.

It's how the WMD lies worked. Everyone who's even remotely self-aware knows it worked because so many millions of us aren't even aware of how our own thought processes work. We just accept the odd assumption that the greater society is looking out for us and need to be told at least 5 times that it may not be in any particular case.

Propaganda is an advanced science now, learn about it.

[RodneyCK2]

16. Good point. I wish I had made it.

I don't know if anyone noticed, but the movie, iRobot with Will Smith, is nothing but one big advertisement pushing everything from Converse high tops to soft drinks. I read a report that within the first five minutes of the movie there are something like 20 products being marketed to you, include a spiel in the film from Will explaining the Converse high-tops. LOL

[CrispyQ]

42. Asimov is rolling over in his grave.

I won't see it.

[opihimoimoi]

18. Totally agree

perhaps one thought, it started centuries ago.

We Humans, ever so trusting for whatever reason, put our collective faith in our leaders to take us outta the woods/desert/ice floe/cave/ only to discover...all too often, we get SNOOKERED.

Math/Ratios/Odds/equations escape most Humans. Why is a mystery. But the results are devestating as it affects good voting.

Think of it:

Good voting gets us good leaders who then gives us good results and a good life style.

Poor voting gets us bad shit, wars, death, body bags, debts, high fear levels, etc

We gatta get with it guys.

[cthrumatrix]

33. exactly....we trust people and they screw us

[opihimoimoi]

35. Leads to the question....pressing the Trust Button....

As one poster said, "they sell us the sizzle w/o the steak"

In the Repubs State of Mind, it is acceptable to buy and sell "Trust"

It has become a commodity of sorts.

They use Fear, Compensation, Intimidation, Punishment.

"What?? You don't Trust us?"

"Welcome to the Trust Banquet/Party/Luau/CruiseShip/Way of life"

"You see those unTrusting bad guys over there?...."

"Because you didn't Trust us, Feel the Pain"

[KurtNYC]

59. And look at CNN's slogan

"The Most TRUSTED Name in News"

Oy.

[opihimoimoi]

69. The SELLING of Trust?

These Pubs are SO clever.....

[nickgutierrez]

17. We don't like to believe that our government would lie to us...

...in such a blatant manner. This is why I think it's somewhat counterproductive for somebody to simply stand in front of a crowd and start screaming at the top of his/her lungs about "Bush lied! Bush knew! Bush :heart: bin Laden!", no matter how true these claims are. It's a tough truth to handle, and so it's something the average American would not deal with if he doesn't have to.

It's arguably -- arguably -- better to be more mild than, let's say, I would be about the administration's pre-war claims, simply because standing in front of the American people and claiming 'they're all lies', while true, isn't likely to attract as many votes as you might think.

[opihimoimoi]

19. Denial runs deep in the hinterlands

[Jokinomx]

36. So many good points... but think your on the right track antiwarwarrior

In my experience... People don't want to know the real truth. I have found the real TRUTH to be very disturbing...(For example the JFK assination) Since we have been told the "Truth" about things since we were toddlers... we grow up never even asking the questions. Religion has used this technique for centuries. In a way it is like brainwashing....people have so much of their lives invested in one BELIEF system, they can't grasp that they may have been lied too or mislead....

Our government does the same.....indoctrinating us from the beginning to support our country without question. It starts with the "Pledge of Allegiance."

A large part of the answer is also... most are just not capable of understanding. When they try to think... they just get a headache... They are just stupid.

I think I will go take a couple of Motrin... I getting a headache..:-)

[opihimoimoi]

45. Collective ADD afflicts the wolly ones.

First to the Brain wins....

Once our Minds are addicted/steered to/inducted into a philosophy/belief....it appears change is very difficult due to ADD.

This is why our children should be raised to think first before their minds are "stolen" with propaganda/brainwashing shit.

[jjmalonejr]

20. I could sell you my pamphlet which explains why

It's only $9.95

[opihimoimoi]

34. LOL, if I buy 6, do I get a discount?

[jjmalonejr]

70. No, but you get a free copy.

That's 7 copies for the price of 6!

Where else will you find a deal like that?

[opihimoimoi]

73. LOL :o)

We are a deluded bunch aren't we?

[Skittles]

21. I don't find most people to be as you described

I find way too much selfishness around me and the constant belief that it only matters IF IT AFFECTS THEM.

[opihimoimoi]

32. Ahhh, yes skittles, the product of manipulation/domination/suppression

leads to the negative side of our brain ala the 7 sins thingy. We have long since lost the village life, those tribal days, simple but fun and gratifying in so many ways.

[Algomas]

22. In sales, you are advised to sell the sizzle not the steak...

That was the old way. The new tactic is to sell ONLY the sizzle. The suckers don't deserve to eat steak!!!
Our surreal consumer culture fuels the most destructive machine ever to threaten the planet. We, as a people grow weaker and more ignorant with every generation. Trapped in a matrix of greed, envy and fear we cope by consuming mass quantities of the worst crap imaginable. Rather than facing the fact that our lives are becoming meaningless and expendable in the quest for profit, we sink into the comfort of assimilation.
It seems that to most people, resistance is futile.

Snap out of it America!

[opihimoimoi]

28. Algomas....you got it right on the button

We have encountered the coulture of self extinction without realizing it

[yardwork]

23. BushCo coopted the religious right

He told them what they wanted to hear, and he threw millions of dollars their way. Somehow, millions of Americans have been convinced that W can do no wrong, that he is anointed by God, that he is Jesus reborn.

I can't figure out how W did that.

[opihimoimoi]

26. Team Bush did...not him.

[JSJ]

24. singular all-encompassing quest for the legal tender...

...blinds us to reality.

[opihimoimoi]

25. Simply put in an eloquent way, thank you

[Killarney]

27. the media

[opihimoimoi]

37. The media is but a tool to assist in "selling" the Trust/Confidence

to the gullible producers of wool. They too are part of the Puppet Chain.....

[radwriter0555]

29. when people are willing to believe that men can walk on water, what do you

expect?

Critical thinking is not being applied here...

[opihimoimoi]

39. The Easy way out, product of SLOTH.. Fantasy allows abandonment

of science and its rules of acceptability....

Fantasy induces a trust/a belief over riding logic/common sense/reason/sanity/reality

One of the Principle reasons for the Conning of the Wooly ones.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<The Product of Ignorance>>>>>>>>>>>>>

[randr]

30. Picture the "average American" in your mind

Now picture the 50% that are not as smart.

[opihimoimoi]

40. Ignorance as a Product....101

The Coulture of IG

How to Promote/Foster/Intensify IG

Propagation of IG

Making IG Acceptable/Popular

The Selling of IG

The Purchasing of IG

[lostnfound]

31. Intellectual laziness, moral cowardice, and the media.

I'm feeling a bit negative today. Can't pick just one.

[cthrumatrix]

38. we are bigger then them....DU should be more than a blog

it should really get behind issues of importance...look what happens when we let others lie and cheat in govt.

[opihimoimoi]

41. Developing Truth in Trust 101

Finding ways to make the "Lie, Cheat, Steal Filter" do a way better job than the present....

The results of large holes in the filter speaks for itself....

DU appears to be playing part of the incipient solution.

[giant_robot]

55. I think you hit it on the head with "intellectual laziness"

Most political issues are complex and nuanced, and many Americans just aren't willing or able to take the time to sit and ponder them. Then along comes a right-winger, who "boils the problem down" to a few emotionally charged sound bites and talking points. Hell it's either follow this guy or work the problem out for yourself. And even if you do take the time to figure out things for yourself, you might come back with answers you don't like, but these guys tell you what you want to hear, so it beats the hell out of thinkin'.

That's my take on their mentality, anyway.

[opihimoimoi]

65. So very true.....the lazy way out...slothness...let others do the thinking

like maybe,,,,, Rush.....

[WI_DEM]

43. to many of us are not deep thinkers

or think at all.

[opihimoimoi]

50. As in Bowling/golf/tennis/chess...it takes time to develop.

Reaching higher levels requires practice and experience.

The differences/contrasts between Presidents Clinton and Bush clearly reveals Bush has not much practice at all in the thinking Dept.

Doesn't mean Bush is stupid...just ill prepared for prime time is all. He made it to the top without the prep required for the office. Apparently bought his way in.

Thinking should be made a National Sport

[Hubert Flottz]

44. The politicians and media depend on highlighting the bad!

Fear buys votes and sells newspapers, books and advertised products! We Really are being herded by our leaders and the media! People in general are too, busy, tired, sick, hungry, poor, lazy or bored, to ask What, Why, When or Where! The super wealthy, the one percent, are leading us down a path that benefits them the most! The other 99% are their herd! Duping America is a science that the super wealthy have created, funded, developed, perfected and used on America, in order to RULE!(spin, PR) We have been led and misled because, like fools, WE TRUSTED!

[opihimoimoi]

56. As mentioned earliar...the Pubs have perfected the art of selling

/buying TRUST. The propaganda machine has been fine tuned to the verge of overwhelming the Real TRUTH.

Only True Patriots and concerned citizens stand in the way of a complete domination/control by the Pub Masters.

The Pubs herd us into the Realm of Minutiae, small shit, distracting us away from the real issues, the BIG ISSUES.

Any family, any small business, large business, that over extends its debt.....eventually runs into deep troubles. America is close to the precipice of economic ruin due to enormous defecits by one George W Bush.

Any person who runs a farm, had/has an aquarium, gardens, knows the importance of Balance in the system. If an imbalance reaches critical mass, a "crash" occurs. Like all of the fish in the tank dying due to lack of nutrients.oxygen.space. etc. or the presence of toxic substances/disease/pathogens.
Our Planet is an unhealthy ecosystem and George is ignorant of its State of Being ... WTF? Hello? anyone home?

[hadrons]

47. "Will to believe" and the power of positive thinking ....

people want to believe, they want to believe that if you live right, follow the rules, work hard, and have a positive outlook on life that's all you need to succeed

what most of the people here realize is that you could/can do all these things and still get screwed over; the gulliable ones don't and they do whatever they can to maintain their illusions

[opihimoimoi]

61. But but, the Gullible ones are drilling holes in our lifeboat

their actions impact negatively on the whole.

[Junkdrawer]

48. You are told X. You are told "everyone believes X". You are told...

"Y won the election because he supported X". All but the strongest will soon believe X.

Manufacturing Consent 101.

[opihimoimoi]

60. X can survive for long periods, even generations, if there is Balance

within the system.

Imbalance may come from external, or be internal, don;t matter, if the level is large enough, a change toward balance occurs. Our history confirms.

[Lerkfish]

49. television...

it is a "hot" medium, if you've read any macluhan(sp?)

essentially, entire generations have slopped up the mindless video pablum to where their brain muscles that used to be used for critical analysis have atrophied.
Sound bytes and haircuts are all we need to endorse a candidate.

[gpandas]

62. television-the gateway to stupidity n/t

[opihimoimoi]

64. The Imbalance of Fiction and Non fiction tells us the story

[Gregorian]

51. Corporate hype

Better living through chemistry. Remember?
Just say no. Remember?
Just do it. Remember?
Money.
Land of the free- the promise of greed.

Most people came here on the run, in distress. They needed a hand. It's this very scenario that sets up people for "easy picking". Plus, America is easy. Hot water, running water, plumbing, electricity, etc. Easy living. Too easy. Way too easy. So easy, that look where it got us. That, and the fact that we have almost no history. No culture. Noone here has ever had to flee from a war, except the original immigrants. It's a refuge. It's a special case. It has the makings for a great country. But evil got it's foot in the door. Now we have to find a way to work our way back.

[opihimoimoi]

68. Evil is and Evil Does

The greed/seven sins thing has run amok. Only a smidgeon of goodness holds us from killing/torturing one another.

We are the lone animal on Earth who thinks in a fanatical mode.

We are still very instinctive/primitive/immature......

[Geo55]

52. The complex make up of the human mind set free by the Founding Fathers

multiplied by a gazzillion inputs.

a human bee hive without the instinctual connectivity of purpose.

Ask yourself....if it all ends in the next minute , (as it will for everyone in some minute)....

what did it all mean ?

[donhakman]

53. An in depth answer

http://www.rense.com/general12/believe.htm

[Geo55]

58. Looks very interesting....bookmarked for later digestion.....Thanks n/t

[JohnOneillsMemory]

78. The Lie Matrix of scientifically applied persuasion. We are born in it,

Mandatory public education was designed for social control of the population and ubiquitous media technologies have been deployed to steep us in a broth of undiluted mendacity.

grow up in it, and are surrounded by reinforcements of the message "FEAR, BUY, OBEY."

Only a few of us know what the scam is and ACTUALLY don't play along with it. It is our duty to inform the fearful, angry, distracted and drugged populace around us in a loving yet cogent manner and support their new choices and behaviors like an addiction intervention.

Scorn and derision of the sheeple surface occasionally out of frustration rather like a doctor who chastises a patient for self-neglect choosing self-destruction even when shown the resulting suffering.

But Noam Chomsky is right:
The burden for putting out the fire is on those of us who can still smell the smoke and see the mirrors.


http://www.sntp.net/education/education.htm

http://www.sntp.net/main.htm

http://www.mackwhite.com/tv.html

http://www.psywarrior.com/index.html

[opihimoimoi]

79. Thanks so much for the wonderful links

to open our eyes to the fear, buy, obey, mind set is very very important.

Thanks once more for a heavy post that will be much appreciated..

[opihimoimoi]

63. The meaning lies in the whole..what did the Human species accomplish?

ETs will come some day to find we Humans totally fucked up a beautiful planet and self extincted in the end.

Our greed/self gratification got the better of us and ignorance prevented the solutions.

[Geo55]

71. "self extincted in the end"

A possible outcome.....it is also within the realm of possibility that WE could be those ET's elsewhere.

[opihimoimoi]

72. Not with the Pubs in control...it ain't gonna happen, we are obssessed

with greed etc.

[PatrickS]

54. "WHY are Americans so easily Fooled/Scammed/Taken/Conned ?"

Well, after being scammed, people can appear on 60 minutes or any news program complaining about being scammed. It's the whole 15 minutes of fame thingy... ;)

[opihimoimoi]

57. "I got rooked and its not my fault...even if I put my rook in front of the

pawn"

[jdj]

66. we're dichotomized at a very early age.

made to disown the parts our ourselves that we are told are BAD (all about religion here, remember this country was founded in a large part by the fanatics and freaks no one else wanted) and project those emotions/thoughts/behaviors onto others. Most people so affected never get over this stage of development because it is so traumatic, which is why repukes seem so immature. The focus of our pschye stays on trying to resolve these false dichotomies and never goes forward into mature adulthood unless one fully accepts that one has been fed a bunch of bullshit about oneself and human nature, which one can't do if one also has swallowed all the biblical bullshit about parental perfection (honor thy father and thy mother, in other words, don't dare question; on a side note,where in the bible does it say love and honor thy children, interesting the bible sides so heavily with the parents; a great guide for how to turn out a generation of fascists). Trying to resolve this psychological gordian knot causes a tremendous amount of frustration and anger, (which is usually mitigated by compulsive addictive behavior, a la Rush, Coulter, etc). The anger gets directed at those of us who whipped out the sword and sliced the knot and walked away without looking back, and we become the receptacles of all the projected bad traits, and get demonized.

All this is usually around sexuality, which a patrilineal society MUST control and regulate to ensure 'legitimate heirs'; this is the purpose and raison d'etre behind the whole sick process otherwise known as child-raising, the end game is about controlling that child's reproduction by filling them up with so much self-loathing they can't think straight. If their mind is a morass of writhing contradictions, they will be relieved to listen to someone else, especially if that someone is saying things similar to how they were brainwashed by their parents; then at least they can fulfill ONE requirement, to honor the parental units. And feel smug about it.

So the short answer is that so much internal conflict is foisted upon children that they never recover, (never mature psychologically, which means accepting there is good and bad in every situation and person. And because of the unresolved conflict they let these emotions (pain, shame, frustration)dictate how the behave politically. In fact the pro-life fanatics are an excellent example, the patrilinealists have manipulated them witn an outlet to express their anger at what was done to them, it is not the fetus they rant and scream about, it is their own inner abused child. In a vacuum, or a small minority, this wouldn't matter significantly, every country has these types, but in a country that was founded on religious fanaticism of every stripe, in addition to being a penal colony we have WAY more than our share of potential candidates for manipulation, and VERY UNFORTUNATELY, a party that knows all of the above and knows in detail the internal conflicts of it's followers and how to manipulate them by pretending to resolve these conflicts for them, rather than having these people vote for their financial, environmental, and legislative best interests.

Sorry such a long answer, but I couldn't go glib because I think this is really important.

[opihimoimoi]

67. Don't worry about glibness. Thanks for the detailed answer..well

written/taken.

The race to the brain was mentioned above somewhere. As you say, information/knowledge imparted in early childhood has deep and long roots.

and as a way to control, the Pubs are given to passing out:

GUILT

SHAME

The results are counterproductive to Humankind and they don't even see it.

[ElementaryPenguin]

74. Because they no longer READ!

Particularly anything of importance!

[opihimoimoi]

77. Unindated by news, magazines, news papers, etc etc our brains

are overwhelmed very quickly. Gradually, we give up reading due to fatigue, indifference, apathy, etc.

The Less input, the more ignorant we become/remain.

[NRaleighLiberal]

75. It's not just the current misadministration...its much more.

Have you ever wondered why there is so much advertising on TV? Why are there billboards? As a race, we appear to be incurious, gullable, lazy, jaded, apathetic.

People advertise because it must work....you get spam because some people must respond to it. We get junk mail because it must work....we get calls from people selling all sorts of crap because enough people respond to it to make it worth their while. Televangelists exist because enough people swallow the faith healing crap they show, and respond to the pleas for money (so that the teleevang. can become zillionairs)....

I try not to think that our society has peaked and it is all downhill from here...but the presence of incredibly awful politicians like our current misleader, the inability for people to see through and think through the lies, it all makes my wife and I wish to find some deserted island and pack it in....

We have so much potential - why do so few actually try to use it???

Talk about flip flopping - the mass of our public is one big flip flop....think about the percentage who supported the war vs the percentage now - that is one big flip flop. I think that one factor is this thing about faith in leaders....why do people come from a default position of believing what they hear? Or, are we all who post and read here, just overt cynics? I confess to being very cynical - I think we must be. It would be nice if we didn't have to be, but in these days, there is no choice!

[opihimoimoi]

76. Thank you for your response. True to the mark and on the button.

We are a trusting, gullible Society and have swallowed the bait.. believing the BS thrown at us full bore by those who Fool Us for self Gain.

Flip flops? Its better to re-adjust than to stay in a bad "GEAR". Thats not filp flopping, thats wisdom.

Its called responding to bad signs, that improvement is called for.

We WANT to believe in some kind of GOODNESS so much that sometimes we mistake Bad for GOOD...hench, "we got snookered"