Thursday, July 9, 2020

The reality of so-called "conspiracy theory"

You don't have to be attuned to the news to be aware of this term, often applied to off-mainstream ideas or concepts about what happened--and didn't...-- in matters of the state, politics and it's associations.  

"Oh, another "conspiracy", is the quip or 

"That's just another conspiracy theory" or 

More aimed to discount the source, not just the story, 

"They're just another of those 'conspiracy theorist'."  

Can a conspiracy (theory) actually be the truth on the matter or, as it is considered and conveyed, aimed for the truth?  

For that matter, do conspiracies really happen?  

Do persons of relative power co-conspire, using this compounded power for their collective or common interests?  Do they use DOUBLESPEAK and DOUBLETHINK, going so far as to change or pervert the language, the meaning of terms?  

EVACUATION?

Can they imply something as true or real when in fact it is explicitly false, and can they express or testify falsehoods with impunity; that is, can they get-away-with perjury?   How far and how deep will they go to cover their lies?  

Tuesday, July 7, 2020

Francis Schaeffer - Courage & Truth

Quite a few years I learned of (and from) Francis Schaeffer.  Thinking of him, his message, the following:  
...Christians are often lacking in courage. We tend to give the impression that we will hold on to the outward forms whatever happens, even if God really is not there. But the opposite ought to be true of us, so that people can see that we demand the truth of what is there and that we are not dealing merely with platitudes. In other words, it should be understood that we take this question of truth and personality so seriously that if God were not there we would be among the first of those who had the courage to step out of the queue.
In the continuation of terms that defy truth and in this age of information is that truth was and is treated with contempt that plays both the plaintiff and the prosecutor, the accuser and the executioner, the means and the end.     

Why do we hate the truth?  

Because the truth is itself very powerful and, in all righteousness, poses a clear and present danger to perversions, the abuses of power.  Again, Francis Schaeffer:  
Truth carries with it confrontation. Truth demands confrontation; loving confrontation, but confrontation nevertheless.
There is no hate or contempt by the truth but rather a love of that which is pure, right and moral.  Thus, any confrontation is not aimed to destroy us but is rather aimed to save us as the truth will set you free.  

Those who challenge the truth and then go further by trying to silence and subdue it are themselves abusers of power -- fiefdoms of falsehoods that impose power by knowingly and purposely misleading and deceiving others.  

Lies beget lies and before you know it, the truth is so distorted as to be false and lies, the supposed truth.  

Who would do such a thing, pervert the truth?     

Anyone and anybody willing to abuse power -- whatever the cause, the costs.  

DOUBLESPEAK and DOUBLETHINK are both methods of such distortions, deception, that leverage the age of information, programming the public to do their bidding -- if just to do nothing but passively accept their dictates, decrees and demands.   

But then the truth will not die, but indeed, will shine a light that so reveals and exposes falsehoods of all varieties from that around us to that within us.   

And should we have the courage to accept such a revelation, the exposure, what then shall we do, how then shall we live?   

Sunday, July 5, 2020

From DOUBLESPEAK to DOUBLETHINK

DOUBLETHINK is another Orwellian term that like DOUBLESPEAK, present contradictions
aimed to confuse the receiver and empower the source(s) of information.  From Wikipedia:  
A process of indoctrination whereby the subject is expected to accept as true that which is clearly false or to simultaneously accept two mutually contradictory beliefs as correct, often in contravention to one's own memories or sense of reality.  
Think about possibilities; when hear or see something (usually through media) and you sense that it may not be true, real or authentic, but you think it might be staged and scripted, while convincing and credible.   

Can you think of specific examples, this DOUBLETHINK?  

Somebody says or suggest that to have peace we must commit  conflict or, said another way, to have security (here), we must commit disruption, destruction and death elsewhere.  

DOUBLETHINK

Can or will we each trade sensibility for acceptance, standards for so-called "New Norms", and other such compromises?   Sometimes for sure and often if we deem it necessary.   

Is a lie really a lie or is more, well, an opinion or point-of-view?  

Can the want for peace be gained by conflict and contention?  

Can the want for security be gained by disruption, destruction and death?  

Can for the want for more wealth, prosperity and power, be covered-over by the want for peace, security and freedom?    

Can we each merely accept such contractions, failing to grapple with the consequences, the costs and the corruption around as well as within us?  

Friday, July 3, 2020

THEY LIVE - Do not question AUTHORITY

Without question(s), you must obey AUTHORITY in the same way that a child obeys their parents, often without questions, but either by faith or with fear -- or both.      

Are you a child?  

If not..., and as an adult, 

What can you do about (or beyond) your reasoning; that however nonsensical and nefarious AUTHORITY may be be, their demands, orders and decrees, 

What can you do as an adult?  

Can you say, "No", with the forethought that you are an adult capable of reasoning and questioning, accepting or doubting, even dismissing AUTHORITY that apparently is working against what I believe to be right, good or even moral.   

Can you stand-up against such powers, and if so, what is the cost, the price?  

But then there are other things to consider, the things we have (presumably) and the things we want.  There are gains we each have seemed to have made and still, for some, the expectation of more to come.     

What happens when more is no more or the next more doe not come?  

...or when AUTHORITY can no longer provide prosperity or keep you captivated with all variety of distractions, delusions and drama, or when entertainment becomes an effort and the riches once thought possible are erased in the downturn of the economy, one or more other conditions?   

As it is for now, for most, there is something to be gained when we obey, conform and comply.  Some day your life may depend on your never questioning..., but then, again, at what cost, price?  

On this topic I just began another read; this one titled Man's Search for Himself, the author Rollo May.  He writes on the present society (at the time,1954);  
When a nation is prey to unsupportable economic want and psychologically and is spiritually empty, totalitarianism comes to fill the vacuum and the people sell their freedom as a necessity for getting rid of their anxiety which is too great for them to bear any longer.  
The time is coming when AUTHORITY will be more authoritative, more forceful and feared; a time when the anxiety will pass to apathy unless, by the will of both, hope is found in a spiritual relationship, Christ Jesus.   

What is your will...your source of hope?  

Thursday, July 2, 2020

More on DOUBLESPEAK (George Orwell)

Any who have read the book, 1984, or have read about it, it's influences, know that DOUBLESPEAK is "political language" engineered to deceive the listener(s); that whether simply texts, audio and especially video, the message is designed and delivered to confuse and then control, to deceive and then dictate -- even to death! 

DOUBLESPEAK is: double-trouble, as not only designed to deceive but also delivered is such a way as to ensure your attention lay where they want it, enervating the right emotions whether cool, calm, comedic or crisis -- each and all aimed to control what you think, how you feel, and what how you act -- or don't.  

DOUBLESPEAK is coy, clever and finally corrupt that is, if you consider a calculated lie as a form of corruption.    

DOUBLESPEAK

Wednesday, July 1, 2020

THEY LIVE - Believe the MEDIA?

So much has been applied to this subject:  how much to trust the MEDIA.  

Of course, the MEDIA has many forms from the mainstream or major networks to intermediates and then to home-grown that, in my opinion, are the best, most reliable and often both ingenious and ingenuous.  

As to the mainstream, some six major networks that broadcast in the land, I simply don't believe them due to my sense that they lie--nothing more or less.   

As to the intermediates, I do sometimes catch a broadcast or maybe peruse what seem an interesting, informative topic to me.  These are somewhat independent with a perspective or position of a sub-group, say a religion.   

Then finally there are the small, homegrown variety that for the few that I ardently follow, am duly impressed with their convictions, and more often than not, content.   

Could any or all of these three groups be prone to lie or at the least, intentionally misinformed whatever the motive(s)?  Yes, of course, but I do sense that the more power the more likely to lie and with that, to abuse power.  

I know that the mainstream media is the voice of the state and thus it does the state's bidding.  I also know that many view and follow these networks, believing their content as truth, facts and figures...unadulterated and unvarnished.   

A famous WWII correspondent, Edward Murrow, said:   
A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.  
And perhaps then or about that time, Will Rogers:  
All I know is just what I read in the papers and that's an alibi for my ignorance. 
And finally, from an activist, still living, Ward Churchill: 
The American people are free to do exactly what they're told.    

THEY LIVE - Maintain Social Distancing -- Be Fearful, Afraid

Why 6 feet..72 inches?  

What is it about this distance that is so key, crucial, critical to: 

  • Flattening the curve or 
  • Curtailing the contagion or 
  • Staying safe or 
  • Doing what you're told--never mind the efficacy, facts or anything above arbitrary law
If you don't distance then you don't care about folks.  

Social distancing does nothing to prevent or curtail the spread....  It is not in anyway justified but is yet another example of quasi-law for which we must never question or reason, but rather OBEY, CONFORM, COMPLY.   

Social distancing is to foment more fear among and between folks, further breaking down social strength with the state collecting the spoils.  As this protocol continues along with masking and other measures, the climate and conditions will continue to serve the purpose; distracting society with their health (in more ways than one) while the politic passes more laws that transfer more wealth and control of the monetary system -- the economy and society be damned.   

Lest we forget that the state is always about power no matter what it cost folks.  So put on your mask, shelter in place, maintain social distancing and above all, be afraid.   

Friday, June 26, 2020

Every individual for themselves, given what is coming - CIVIL or uncivil

Hard to believe, hard to conceive; internal conflict as never known, Americans fighting Americans.   

Americans fighting Americans

But such will shake some up; not all and perhaps not even most, but some will be shaken.  

No, not earthquakes--though such is certainly possible--but the political, economic, and societal changes already planned...unfolding--more uncivil than civil, more internal conflict and contention than external forces or so-called existential threats.  

Is it coming or is it already here?     

There is civil disobedience but, as to this warning, the present, apparent protests and gatherings are small business compared...

What is coming is organized and orchestrated; not for liberties-privileges as a "voice" but rather to out or zap social strength, the stamina to withstand political, economic and social such pressures, however obscure but oppressive no less.    

And what's more is that most will simply comply or conform to it, with it and by it.
Yes, most will willingly and unwittingly Just Do It.  

What is coming...and what you will do?

Thursday, June 25, 2020

Who was Martin Niemöller?

From Wikipedia, Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) was:

A German Lutheran pastor and theologian born in Lippstadt, Germany, in 1892. 
Niemöller was an anti-Communist and supported Adolf Hitler's rise to power at first. But when Hitler insisted on the supremacy of the state over religion, Niemöller became disillusioned. 
He became the leader of a group of German clergymen opposed to Hitler. In 1937 he was arrested and eventually confined in Sachsenhausen and Dachau. He was released in 1945 by the Allies. He continued his career in Germany as a clergyman and as a leading voice of penance and reconciliation for the German people after World War II. 
A famous quote of his was:
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—     Because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—     Because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—     Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.


Wednesday, June 24, 2020

What is the "New Normal"

To say "normal" is to imply what?  

Perhaps any, all of such as:    

  • Expected
  • Common
  • Average
  • "Like me"
  • Not abnormal 
  • Acceptable (whatever than means) 

Or any other words you may pin the normal.  

But what is normal now--whatever that means--will not so when the  

THE NEW NORMAL 

...arrives at your doorstep.  

How will you know?  

Who will tell you..., 

How can you recognize this NEW NORMAL

Maybe it is like a fairy tale in that if you keep repeating it, it will happen.   
How many times must you say it before it happens, your NORM?  
...and keeps happening over and over again!


Before deciding on the when, what about the what?  

What if the NEW NORM is not normal?  

What if the NEW NORM is a flash in the pan followed by many, many more NORMS?  

What if the NEW NORM is stranger, stupid or senseless or even satanic?  

What then...?  

After all, being normal is NORM until normal loses all semblance of normality.    



Tuesday, June 23, 2020

Don't Do as We Do -- Do as We Say!

It is not uncommon for those in positions of authority, those with much power, to dictate and demand other's to abide by arbitrary rules--while they themselves do not.  

What's good for the goose is good for the gander--unless you happen to be the kind that cooks the goose.  

And to the extremes of excessive, unaccountable power, Chomsky says:
 For the powerful, crimes are those that others commit.

I might understand such abuses (even crimes) if the abusers are aliens but if finally they're just folks like me and you, what gives the right-

STOP RIGHT THERE! 

Actually, they don't really care about rights.  
No, they don't.... 
And what appears to be, actual or real, is more the opposite; a contradiction, a crime-based conundrum or corruption and--dare I say it--"CONSPIRACY". 

George Orwell knew all too well, from 1984
The Ministry of Peace concerns itself with war, the Ministry of Truth with lies, the Ministry of Love with torture and the Ministry of Plenty with starvation. These contradictions are not accidental, nor do they result from from ordinary hypocrisy: they are deliberate exercises of/in double-think.  
What then is this thing called "double-think"?  

From Wikipedia, it is:  
A process of indoctrination whereby the subject (us) is expected to accept as truth that which is clearly false or to simultaneously accept two mutually contradictory beliefs as correct, often in contravention to one's own memories or sense of reality.  
And some conditions for double-think from Spark Notes:  
By weakening the independence and strength of individuals’ minds and forcing them to live in a constant state of propaganda-induced fear, they are able to force others to accept anything, even if it is entirely illogical—for instance, 
Just Do It because you know you should, you know you must and you know you will no matter what common sense says or what wisdom whispers or what/when conscience calls or your mind murmurs.      

Monday, June 8, 2020

THEY LIVE - Stay Asleep

To "Stay Asleep" is to not wake up to the realities about you, facts and truth of the times, events and all else that comprises your culture, community and finally you. 
Why "STAY ASLEEP"? 

To be or stay asleep means that you're not cognizant to what's happening--even with/for your life--without critical thinking let alone any action or attitude that may ensue.  

Oh, you have trouble with this, relaxing? 

Well then, you may be taking a risk--a BIG RISK--for who really understands what happens when you WAKE UP?   You're liable to do go far, take extremes, and say and do things that even shock you let alone others who may think or express, 
"Who is this person?" 

Sometimes folks go too far, as others think, and do something far more foolish than fearless, far more careless than courageous, far more stupid than stupendous.  
But then, who is say when one pushed too far; that whatever is at risk, they are ready to say, 
"I am that person." 

Is there a pill for fearlessness, for courage, for doing something stupendous?  No, but there are an endless volume and every growing variety to make us foolish, careless and stupid.  

Believing is not always seeing, understanding not always reading,and embracing not always the so-called "norm"; that declared as true, real or right by the state, their media and any other underlings who uncritically underwrite their message and pose as their promoters, proselyte and professors.  


Wake up by first recognizing that you are asleep, dazed or confused.   

Friday, June 5, 2020

"Brace Yourselves...."

The following is an excerpt, a recent warning issued by John Whitehead: 
  • Brace yourselves.
  • There is something being concocted in the dens of power, far beyond the public eye, and it doesn’t bode well for the future of this country.
  • Anytime you have an entire nation so mesmerized by political theater and public spectacle that they are oblivious to all else, you’d better beware.
  • Anytime you have a government that operates in the shadows, speaks in a language of force, and rules by fiat, you’d better beware.
  • And anytime you have a government so far removed from its people as to ensure that they are never seen, heard or heeded by those elected to represent them, you’d better beware.
  • What is unfolding before us is not a revolution.The looting, the burning, the rioting, the violence: this is an anti-revolution.
The protesters are playing right into the government’s hands, because the powers-that-be want this. They want an excuse to lock-down the nation and throw the switch to all-out martial law.
They want a reason to make the police state stronger. It’s happening faster than we can keep up.
The architects of the police state have us exactly where they want us: under their stamping boot, gasping for breath, desperate for freedom, grappling for some semblance of a future that does not resemble the totalitarian prison being erected around us.
For just one fleeting moment, “we the people” seemed united in our outrage over this latest killing of an unarmed man by a cop hyped up on his own authority and the power of his uniform. That unity didn’t last.
Indeed, it didn’t take long—no surprise there—for us to quickly become divided again, polarized by the misguided fury and senseless violence of mobs taking to the streets, reeking of madness and mayhem.
Deliberately or not, the rioters have directed our attention away from the government’s crimes and onto their own.  This is a distraction.
Don’t allow yourself to be so distracted.
Let’s not lose sight of what started all of this in the first place: the U.S. government.
More than terrorism, more than domestic extremism, more than gun violence and organized crime, the systemic violence being perpetrated by agents of the government constitutes a greater menace to the life, liberty and property of its citizens than any of the so-called dangers from which the government claims to protect us.

Thursday, May 28, 2020

THEY LIVE - Stay Safe!

Here is another way of attending the positive,a seemingly good thing and a perfect salutation to anyone, spoken or suggested as sincere or not:  


"Stay Safe" 

Reality is that life is not always safe. No matter how much prevention or precaution one takes (or gives), some level of risk resides...is realized.   

An actuary, risk analyst or others who in some way account and/or apply statistics certainly understand such to underwrite and in the most severe of outcomes, undertake the consequences of risks' realized, positive or negative.   

Why all this heightened attention, anguishing over safety, security? 

The simply answer is the virus as of late, a pandemic in the making, and before that, a time of terrorism brought on by the claims that "They hate us."    

But is the answer simple?  After all, there are many simply answers to complex questions (or problems)--none of which is ever correct, complete.  

At present, the public is pressed to such levels of attention, even to anguish (fear) given the portending and publicizing that 


"If you don't do ________, then this or that will happen."      

It is natural to plan and practice good health and welfare against the realities of life and living. 

But then the unnatural...which is not reality or experience but more perception(s) propagated by propaganda: 


"This or that can--and will--happen unless you do what we tell you to do." 

Thus, you must: 

  • OBEY 
  • CONFORM
  • CONSUME
  • SUBMIT
  • MARRY...DIVORCE 
And above all, Be Enlightened!  

So finally, risks are exploited, the plan and purpose to control folks, fear as a means.   

Wednesday, May 27, 2020

THEY LIVE - Be Enlightened


Another theme (more order) that combines the title of that ‘90's dystopian film, THEY LIVE, and the present pandemonium presented by the suggested masking—as a preventive measure, of course, for the virus.   

I believe that the mask (outfitting) is not really about prevention as much as it is about conditioning; that is, and once more, using fear to force to coerce or compel folks to do something on the pretense that it is for the common good, health, safety and such. 

The dangers of exploiting science are legion.  When the state or politic uses science at their discretion—or when it serves their interests of/for power—then they are functioning by expedience; that is, where the end justifies the means rather than a scientific approach of hypotheses testing via analysis, calculation. 

Policy or procedure is fine as long as it supports the state's interest; otherwise, it is discretely, decidedly dismissed or disregarded in view of the larger canvass of corruption.  

One may say, “I am enlightened,” or more “I know the truth”, only to later discover their misunderstanding, doubting their earlier conclusions or altogether dismissing what turns about to rubbish, rhetoric or a ruse.   

Let us face the fact(s) that some institutions simply don’t consider the facts, or least not all, but purposely choose what best serves their interest; and again, it is expedience.  

A prosecutor will judiciously draw the evidence from the process of Discovery that best serves the end—which is usually to punish—while downgrading or altogether dismissing that which does not.   And to them, such practice is merely the formation of their case albeit dealing from a deck that is not by any means a fair hand--or justice.    

To be enlightened is in part the result of experience; one must observe criminal courts in action to really appreciate that described above as expedience—as opposed to due process.  Without any experience, relying entirely on what the media present or other means propose, one may mistakenly think that criminal court practices due process and that the 5th Amendment is honored, applied, but they would be wrong. 

Be careful on where you draw your so-called light from, the source and their intentions, motives!  For what you may presume or presuppose as light—and thus to be enlightened—is nothing of the sort, but only the appearance (pronouncement, proclamation, perception, and persona) and thus darkness in the making, the masking. 

From Francis Shaeffer,
‎People have presuppositions... By 'presuppositions' we mean the basic way that an individual looks at life- his worldview. The grid through which he sees the world. Presuppositions rest upon that which a person considers to be the truth (or projection of light) of what exists. A person's presuppositions provide the basis for their values- and therefore the basis for their decisions.

Sunday, May 24, 2020

THEY LIVE – SUBMIT to the elite


The late Francis Schaeffer speaks of the inevitable consequence of The West’s surrendering of “the Christian consensus”; that the present quest for “’personal peace’” and prosperity (affluence)” as “poor values” would result in a relative few of elites governing the world, most to SUBMIT.

"SUBMIT" is not an altogether bad word, action. The Book of Proverbs, for example, instructs the believer or child of God to submit in all ways such that your paths will be straight (3:6).  

But SUBMIT is not altogether good either—and especially when it is done under the deception of lies and the compulsion of fear.  

Should you SUBMIT to such…under lies and fear?

  
For a world order to govern the world, nation states or sovereigns must SUBMIT (or surrender), their supposed citizens convinced, compelled, or coerced to SUBMIT or face dire circumstances.   

An ideal or altogether clever way of submission is on the apparent or announced basis of something good, right, and even noble for example, public health, the preservation of freedom, safety and security, or something similar. 

Of course, “the ideal way” means that there must be some form of existential threat, real or perceived; disease or virus, a rouge nation-state, a terrorist cell or movement, or an altogether clear and present danger; that individually or collectively serve to strike fear among the citizens and thereby persuade them to act—even beyond the unthinkable!  Propaganda is very effective in this process.  

To SUBMIT is to accept without exceptions, doubts, or disputes.  

Even in the last days of Nazi-Germany, some held-on to Hitler, still believing in The Thousand Year Reign—too proud to doubt, too fearful to dismiss, or too deceived to the deeper madness, maniacal and malicious as is seen in retrospect.

But could (can) something similar happen here, in the U.S.? 

Saturday, May 23, 2020

Where does The FED get all the money to purchase everything?


I don’t know, or said another way, I cannot imagine as trying to understand where all that money comes from. I might as well try to estimate the grains of sand on a beach—or all beaches wherever they may be and for whatever the tide, time of year or any other variations may bring.

Who knows where all this money comes as unceasing, unlimited and, as it is, unfathomable?

But what is money really?  We know it’s a finely printed paper and that it is exchanged for goods and services.  We also know that without money, one cannot seemingly survive.  

Maybe it’s true that love makes the world go round but it sure seems as the it’s money….

The FED is said to the lender of last resort; that when/as (and always), the state wants for money that The FED is there to save the day—buying treasuries and more (bonds, mortgages, etc.)

In his book, Anatomy of the State, Murray Rothbard describes money as the “command post of the economy and society”—the modern monopoly of the state.  

But back to The FED and money, the central question, “Where is does it all come from?”


THEY LIVE – MARRY…CUSTODY


Continuing in the series of masks and the movie, THEY LIVE, I turn to the latest of labels:  MARRY, REPRODUCE, DIVORCE AND CUSTODY.  Unlike the previous postings, this one is personal, painful, though I must say is equally if not more important in the times we live, now and our future.

Where the family goes so goes society. 

When first researching the history of marriage (in the U.S.) and the more recent divorce reform(s) that went into effect across our land around 1969, I began to accept that the legality of divorce became a boom.  Yes, divorce became big business in that divorce reform brought about a growth in divorce whereby for every attorney in California around ’70 there were 20 by the next decade!  Yes, California was the genesis of divorce reforms passed under then Governor Ronald Reagan. 

But besides the business of divorce is also the certainty that divorce reforms represent the single largest threat to marriage, so says the president of the counseling organization Marriage Builders some years ago.  Indeed, the subsidizing of divorce—or easing of the guidelines and justification (cause)—render marriage defenseless in our civil courts.  Never forget that anything the government subsidizes, it grows, as so too divorce that skyrocketed in the in last half of the last decade, and meanwhile, marriage per capita in the U.S. continues at gradual decent with less than 20 percent of Millennials married.     

But marriage is losing ground, not strictly due to divorce reform but primarily because of it.   

The state licenses marriage for a modest fee, and thus is the primary governance of this institution, marriage; yet, it also conducts  divorce which is often initiated by one of the two married without any powers given to the other, the defendant.  And while divorce seems more involved and expensive then a marriage license, it nevertheless continues to not only diminish marriage but to also dismember families, awarding children to one while reducing the other to that of a “non-custodial”.

The non-custodial, or the one who loses custody of his children, is often if not always imputed with the liability, namely “Child Support”, for his children—legally but unjustifiably removed from his care.   
But it gets worse, sometimes much worse.  Who wouldn’t wonder what the state is doing other than reducing one parent, often the father, to bluntly a financier—the father be damned.  

Under Title IV-D of the IRS Tax Code, the state that collects Child Support is subsidized (e.g. Alabama receives $2 for every $1 collected, and thus is using this program to generate state revenue).  In short, Child Support or Title IV-D is an incentive for states to separate the children from one parent, often the father.  Yes, the state has an incentive to separate children from one parent per Title IV-D. 

Divorce involving dependent children is doubly costly; first, in devaluing marriage and second in devaluing parenthood. But more, and as the system is designed, it systematically contributes to single-parent homes and fatherlessness.  What is worse, the subsidizing of divorce and support of Title IV-D is contributing to the destruction of our society, dismantling the family first with the father and then by systematically devaluing marriage as an institution.   Does marriage have a chance against such systems?

Divorce destroys society by undermining the viability and value of marriage and family.     Any loss of strength of society is then, as though a physics’ axiom, transferred to political power. 

So much more has been written and read on the subject but, in summary, let me end by saying that the state’s authority over family is a marriage made in Hell. 

Thursday, May 21, 2020

THEY LIVE – NO INDEPENDENT THOUGHT


To explain INDEPENDENT THOUGHT is to consider several phrases similar, such a Leo Tolstoy,
Freethinkers are those who are willing to use their minds without prejudice and without fearing to understand things that clash with their own customs, privileges, or beliefs. This state of mind is not common, but it is essential for right thinking...

Or Emma Goldman,
People have only as much liberty as they have the intelligence to want and the courage to take.

Never mind notions of one’s personal “right”, but more, much more, INDEPENDENT THOUGHT is our responsibility to toward ourselves and then to others regardless of what the authorities say, do or force upon you—which is why it takes courage and a desire for truth and with that, hope. 

In a hopeless environment, INDEPENDENT THOUGHT is criminalized, crushed, and condemned, with any possibility for truth long muted in a mainstream of information and data manufactured for public approval, propaganda.  

In the film THEY LIVE, discovery of truth is possible only with the special sunglasses, (never mind the possibility of hope).  As presented, the plot is to ensure that the remaining human class is not only denied truth but is further, deceived by these bodies, any awareness of the humanoids conspiring and collaborating to control them and perhaps replace them altogether. 

A lengthy but timely interview on truth, independent thought, words and action,

Donald Best Interview

With the loss of INDEPENDENT THOUGHT so too truth without courage, as Orwell warned, 
In a Time of Universal Deceit — Telling the Truth Is a Revolutionary Act. 

THEY LIVE - CONSUME, Buy & Shop

This next in a series that combine “the mask” and the film, THEY LIVE, is about one or two of the “’ism’s” not taboo or forbidden in our society, culture.  (Referring to Ralph Nader's description of the tabooed "ism's" of the McCarthy era).  

Materialism/consumerism is on a scale like that of no other single sovereign and, in all assessment, is one possibility of the true form of American government that we serve—though inclined to believe that it serves us, present and future.  

With materialism/consumerism is also  secularism; emphasized as essentially the ethos of our economy (not a system based on production as much as consumption, debt much more than saving and an endless and unlimited indulgence that finally produces nothing but dissatisfaction, disillusionment and even distrust among/between persons, parties and classes).     

As the Romans are acclaimed to have given their countrymen bread & circus, so too does our society; first, as 5% of the world’s population consuming around 25% of output (bread), but also as a people saturated in entertainment (circus)—the consequences of which is the power of prosperity however illusive and ill-gained it is, has become, however distracting and deceiving “the show”, theater, with a bag full of goodies. 

"CONSUME" is a softer side of tyranny; a side angled as to appear as though it is altogether good and right in keeping with a quest for The American Dream.  Our lives are saturated with this theme, and insatiable appetite driven far above and beyond our needs. 

Who can argue that prosperity is not the point, after all?    More toys, preoccupations and attractions that invariably leave the astute or aware if much the same dilemma as that of King Solomon:  "all is vanity--a chasing after the wind".  

As an alternative to naked or brute force, CONSUME is clever in doing deceptively the dirty work of a despot; and for any who yet to achieve or to reclaim The American Dream, don't worry, because we're draining the swamp and are going to bring America back.  

From Noam Chomsky,
All over the place, from the popular culture to the propaganda system, there is constant pressure to make people feel that they are helpless, that the only role they can have is to ratify decisions and to consume.
To some degree, and to their credit, young folks of the '60s attempted to push-back on what Francis Schaeffer called “the plastic culture” (consumption, consumerism, etc.), “dominated by materialism.”  He writes: 
...the hippies of the '60s did understand something. They were right in fighting the plastic culture, and the church should have been fighting it too... More than this, they were right in the fact that the plastic culture - modern man, the mechanistic worldview in university textbooks and in practice, the total threat of the machine, the establishment technology, the bourgeois upper middle class - is poor in its sensitivity to nature.. 

Sadly, much of our society wears the mask of/to CONSUME, Christians and non-Christians alike, practicing a religion that is replete with Relativism and finally vanity--a chasing after the wind.  

Sunday, May 17, 2020

THEY LIVE - CONFORM


I know that I sometimes CONFORM, call it consciousness, conscience, or just plain-ole insecurity about being different, odd, or weird.   Maybe most of us are this way, dyed-in-the-wool conformists—most comfortable and comforted when conforming to what appears as normal, acceptable, and even respectable.

Here, in the backdrop of the film THEY LIVE is the word and action, "CONFORM"; as to be controlled as though a programmed robot--and not a human capable of critical thinking, a moral base and all other aspects of thinking and doing endowed to man.  

Ralph Waldo Emerson lays down the gauntlet, saying
To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.
Adding much more on this, CONFORM, is Doris Lessing, where she writes in The Golden Book
Ideally, what should be said to every child, repeatedly, throughout his or her school life is something like this: You are in the process of being indoctrinated. We have not yet evolved a system of education that is not a system of indoctrination.
A favorite film and book of which is Into the Wild; here, the author, Jack Krakauer writes:
…The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.
The central character of Into the Wild was, while dangerous, was courageous too; a young person who turned his back on convention and all the lure of a upper-middle class lifestyle, to follow what some may think a reckless and rebellious choice while others, an adventure aimed to find a final frontier and see life in the most extreme of needs, the least of resources.   

Another from the highly existentialist, Henry David Thoreau, Walden:
Any fool can make a rule [and] any fool will mind it.
And then another from Howard Zinn, You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train: A Personal History of Our Times,
But human beings are not machines, and however powerful the pressure to conform, they sometimes are so moved by what they see as injustice that they dare to declare their independence. In that historical possibility lies hope.
Finally, I leave you with the last of a litany of quotes, this final by Rollo Mays:
The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, it's conformity.