Don’t Fear the Truth

Shane July 23rd, 2008

I hope this post does not come off as me being pretentious.

Everyone in America (or at least those as ignorant as I was) needs to take this journey. Actually it is imperative that Americans take the journey I have taken (and am still taking), and at the end I will explain why. This article is kind of long, but bear with me to the end, there is a message in the madness.

Two years ago I thought:

• American only goes to war to help other countries, or to protect itself (think World War II).
• America was the best country in the world, best health care, best education, etc.
• While there was political corruption and some bad apples, generally the system worked.

I was horribly ignorant. To be fair I, just like many people, had a lot of factors working against the possibility of me finding out the truth. High school history classes omit anything controversial. Texas is the holy grail of contracts for any high school text book publisher, so anything controversial is left out. Texas is not the only culprit, it is just the biggest. Like hospital food, textbooks are kept bland to make sure not to offend anyone who can’t handle spiciness. Also in my defense, I was never a person who could not locate Japan on a globe, or who did not know who the vice president was. I thought was one of the informed people of the US. Ahh, sadly, I was not even remotely informed.

Over the last two years, I have found out that:

• The US removed the democratically - I repeat, democratically - elected of Guatemala in the 1950s, putting a dictator in power. That dictator, and others that followed, ruled Guatemala ruthlessly for decades. Thousands were killed. Why? The US Fruit Company was going to lose a ton of money due to land reforms proposed by the elected leader.
• The US did the same in Chile in the 1970s. Thousands were killed. Why? Chile has copper. Copper which would not be super cheap if allowed to be ‘democratic’. You know, where people in a country profit from the wealth of that nation?
• The event that triggered the escalation in Vietnam, the Gulf of Tonkin incident, never happened. 5 Million people died over a fire fight that never happened. A CIA historian called the communications ‘deliberately skewed’. This data was just released a few years ago, no one will ever be prosecuted. What are the odds they could figure out what exactly happened?
• The US caused the death of an estimated 500,000 Iraqi children in the 1990s due to sanctions that targeted the water filtration systems of Iraq. Later estimates say it could possibly have only been 150,000 dead. How crazy is that last sentence. We blew up the Middle East over 3000 dead. Do you think Iraqis do, or will like the US, if they know about these sanctions? Think this is false, or that the US did not mean to hurt the children? When asked on 60 minutes about the 500K dead, and if the sanctions were worth it, Madeleine Albright (CLinton’s Sec of State) says Yes, they felt they were worth it.
• US oil companies are going to make money off of the sale of Iraqi oil. The US has been unable to get the Iraqi Oil Law passed through the Iraqi Parliament, even though I have read that they offered each member $1 Million each to pass it. Recent contracts circumvent the law anyway, our oil companies are going in, and they will make money selling Iraqi Oil.
• Inflation is not a random event. It is caused and controlled by our government. I use the word ‘controlled’ loosely, mostly I mean that the fact that prices always go up is not just something that happens, it is a Policy, a Monetary Policy, that we actively pursue. As Henry Hazlitt said, “Inflation is the Opium of the Masses… meant to deceive labor.” Everyone should know that money is not Wealth, and that while you might have more money in your pocket, it does not mean you are richer than you were in the past. Everyone knows this somewhat, but again as Hazlitt says, even Economists, who deal with the idea of money and wealth every day, forget and get confused by inflation. Inflation makes everything fuzzy and unclear.
• While the US did not plan Pearl Harbor, we did do quite a few things to anger the Japanese, and it was reported by people in the US administration before Pearl Harbor that these actions would likely provoke Japan into some sort of attack.
• Kennedy originally opposed civil rights for blacks. The FBI knew that Martin Luther King Jr. had death threats against him, and still did not warn him. The FBI also sent MLK a letter telling him they had a tape of him cheating on his wife, trying to push him out of the civil rights movement.
• This one is embarrassing to admit. The US is not a democracy. It is a Constitutional Republic. While many would say that it is better than Democracy, others argue that it is how the rich and powerful continue maintain control.
• The Constitution did not originally allow an income tax. Some argue that the Amendment that changed the Constitution was snuck through, some say that there is no true law saying we have to pay Income Taxes. I have yet to find a reputable source saying this though, and quotes on the net about judges finding the Amendment Unconstitutional are argued to be out of context, and twisted. Either way, the Constitution originally forbade taxing income.
• Another change to the Constitution is that Senators were not originally elected by the people, they were elected by members of the House of Representatives. “Representatives” = representing the people. The original idea was that Senators would not have to answer to the masses, again to push the idea of a Republic, and not a real Democracy. In a real democracy, people would decide everything. I have read conservative articles that say the true Liberal agenda is to push Democracy, that the US is a Republic, and that Democracy would destroy us all. What we are being told is that a government that is *really* run by the people would collapse into anarchy. Would it? Hard to say. What is interesting is that if Senators today were not elected by the people, they would not be subject to pressure from lobbyist groups. If you do not need to campaign, how can campaign contributions influence you? Is it not odd that our politicians call us a Democracy and not a Republic?
• Venezuela sold oil very cheaply to the US prior to Chavez taking over. (Ever wonder how the US pays/paid less for gas than other countries? This is part of the reason, along with the NAFTA treaty, which I have read , was really about oil) Chavez is giving the poor people in Venezuela free education, and a Constitution where every citizen is guaranteed certain rights. He also started selling oil in Euros just before there was a coup that temporarily overthrew him. If you subscribe to the Petrodollar theory, this is the equivalent of declaring economic war on the US. Hussein also tried selling oil in Euros 10 months prior to 9/11. And of course Iran set up its own oil bourse, to start selling oil in euros in February of this year. I have not found out if they went through with it. The Venezuela coup was reportedly funded by the CIA (from a Ron Paul speech on the floor of the House no less), we obviously are in Iraq, and are banging the war drums for Iran. Seems obvious to me, but many people still deny we screwed with these countries over oil. Incidentally, the Petrodollar is about the agreement the US made with OPEC back in the 70s. Part of the agreement was secret, where OPEC nations promised to sell oil only in dollars in return for US military protection from Russia. Once Russia fell, no one really needed the protection of the US anymore. This agreement meant that every country needed US dollars in their reserves, and according to Ron Paul again ‘backed’ the dollar with oil. Some argue that these countries would not need dollars in their reserves, that they could just exchange the currency they had into another when purchasing the oil. This I am still researching, but it seems that countries need a certain mix of currencies in their reserves, or they can literally be attacked. A famous example of this is George Soros, who attacked the Bank of England. I have also read, but not confirmed, that exchanging the currencies even at that level incurs some sort of fee or loss. As I said, still looking at this one. If you think Ron Paul understands it, then believe the Petrodollar is real, as he talks about it every so often.
• The US removed the Prime Minister of Iran in the 50s, and put the Shah back in power (or I guess technically, just gave the Shah more power by removing the Prime Minister. Would we look favorably on a country that did the same to us? Do we wonder why people hate us?
• My favorite - the cold war was exaggerated! The documentary ‘The Power of Nightmares’ explains it pretty clearly. Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz were involved, even then. (Rummy was with Nixon and Reagan…) Convincing the new head of the CIA that Russia was a threat, who in turn convinced Reagan. One interview in the documentary talks to the CIA agent who was in charge of all information gathered on Russia. The director of the CIA asked him about the fact that all terrorist attacks were - a conspiracy! - and were actually ALL controlled behind the scenes by Russia. The agent states he told the director that that information was really Black Propaganda, get this…. created and spread by the CIA itself! He didn’t believe the agent… and the rest is history. There is more to the story, but the key is that what we were told was not, absolutely not, the truth. Was Russia a benevolent country? No, they had their own Rumsfelds and Bushes in power…

None of these things are facts or subjects that I just read once and assumed were true. I refused to believe many of these things until I found a reputable source. (Read: I trust nothing from infowars.com)

Why are these things important? This knowledge is necessary for Americans to think critically. As long as most Americans are kept ignorant, they will still believe that we went into Iraq to help the people, and get rid of Saddam. This does not mean (even though I lean that way) that our government was behind 9/11, or that everything is one vast conspiracy. It does mean that our system is corrupted, our politicians can get away with fooling the American people with little fear of being caught, and that our country could be in serious trouble. Once people start to realize that the US is not any better than, and arguably is worse than, most other nations in the world, we can begin to fix it.

Maybe we need a real Democracy. Who says the Founding Fathers got it right? Howard Zinn argues that the Founders were the wealthy of the US at the time, and just wanted to keep the wealth that was being sent over to England… As he points out, the poor people in the colonies were just as poor after the Revolutionary War. (He presents a lot more evidence than just the income distribution, I am just giving one example.)

People need to realize that there are Classes in the US, and that there are factors that make it hard for them to break out of those classes. Every inner city kid who is sent to jail for a drug charge is almost certainly doomed. His environment has been changed, and he will change along with it.

Which brings me to the final thing people need to realize. Something that will change our society forever. Free Will. You don’t have it, and neither do I. Free Will and the great conservative mantra ‘Personal Responsibility’ are a great way to explain that the poor and ignorant of the US are that way because of choices they made. Do you really think so? Ask yourself: if you were born in the middle of Harlem in NYC, with a crack addict mother, would you be the person you are today? What about your genetics? Are you a fan of science? Why do you believe in Free Will then? They are finding out that many things people do are affected by their genes. Some people are more likely to be more addicted to drugs. People, after losing weight, have hormones released into their system telling them to eat more - some people have more of these hormones released into their system than others. 1000 years ago the people with the higher amount of hormones were more likely to survive, yet today the answer is ’stupid fat people need to get some self control’. Oh really?

Children of alcoholics are more likely to be alcoholics, and everyone knows that kids who are sexually abused are more likely to be abused. Are these people free then? But, you say, some people can break the cycle. Yes, some can. But why? Are they the equivalent of the person whose genes make them less likely to be addicted to drugs, or those that can stay thin even in a time where food is plentiful? The truth is that your genetics provide a foundation for what your choices will be, and your environment, even as a baby, starts to change them. Take a baby who has good genes, a nice mother and father, and have that baby stolen at birth by a couple who beats him, abuses him, and tells him he is worthless. Will that baby be the same person at twenty that he would have been if he had been raised with his natural parents, who would love and nurture him? If people really had Free Will, why would he be a different person? Once you admit that environmental factors can change who a person is, you have to admit that we are not truly free, and as the evidence comes in on how much our genetics shape who we are, it becomes more obvious that we might not really be free at all.

Have you ever seen the Butterfly effect? No one questions that Ashton Kutcher becomes a cocky frat boy when his environment changes (or at least, was a cocky frat boy before the ‘good, down to earth’ Kutcher warps into the frat boy’s body). What about free will? If we were really free, wouldn’t he would be the same person in any scenario? Yet people who agree with the premise of that movie will argue for the idea of Free Will.

Why?

Because we would have to face the idea that our actions change other people, that we have to take responsibility for society. Not Personal Responsibility, but Social Responsibility. A killer or rapist should be viewed like a bear that attacks someone in the woods. Yes the bear has to be killed, but lets find out why it attacked the person. We do this with animals, yet we do not with human beings. Even if we cannot find the answer now, we have to admit that people are not really Free.

Why is this important?

The only way to beat the system is to understand that you are Not Really Free. Once we admit that children in the ghettos are very likely going to be stuck there, through no fault of their own, we can make real change. Once we admit that drug addicts are not weak, we can start really helping them. What is most interesting is that the idea of people feeling those less fortunate are ‘weak’ is likely just our animal/evolved instincts shaping our decisions. ‘Survival of the Fittest’ anyone? 5000 years ago, a human who felt empathy and pity was probably less likely to survive than one who only looked out for himself.

Most importantly: this also means that we cannot be too proud of our accomplishments and good deeds. I think I am a good person, but would I be this way if my parents had abused me? Or if some priest had molested me as a child? How then, can I take credit for being a good person? I have read that recent studies show that *empathy is learned*, and taught by your parents. How then can anyone take credit for being kind and empathetic towards others? Without your parents to teach you, you would not be as kind as you are today. It is possible you could have turned out to be a mean SOB, your very self would change if not for the unique genetic and environmental factors that have shaped who you are. The question is not Nature vs Nurture, it is Nature Plus Nurture.

I don’t see how anyone can refute this logic. The problem is that people do not want to think this way, our egos want to marvel at our greatness.

Listen up, maggots. You are not special. You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake. You’re the same decaying organic matter as everything else.

Tyler Durden said it best. You are not special.

This is not an easy mindset to have. I would say it is probably impossible. I try and fail every day. Yet it is the Truth, and when people start to realize it, we could at least attempt change, forgive the drug users and abusers, and quit worshiping Kobe Bryant, Lindsay Lohan, Obama or Bush. Or the United States of America for that matter. Do you think you deserve a pay on the back, because you were born inside some boundary line drawn up by politicians in our past? Is the guy across the line in Mexico or Canada (non US readers can obviously just insert any countries here) not your friend, simply because he was born in a different area? Yet someone 3000 miles away, on the opposite end of the country is your ‘brother’? Beyond that, is the Polar Bear any less worthy than your neighbor? A deer? A squirrel? If horses were ugly, and cows were pretty, we would eat horse burgers for dinner, and cows would run free. Lady bugs are carried outside and let free, yet spiders are squashed. Are people ‘Free’, when they feel this way? When almost all of us feel the same way? Of course not, we value what we feel is attractive, yet even this trait is just part of our humanity. If we were really free, our idea of beauty would vary from person to person, there would be no ‘classical’ definition of beauty at all…

This outlook means we should forgive everyone. This sounds crazy, yet Jesus supposedly did just that, and he is a God. If I say it, people think I am loony. Such a crazy world. So you are probably asking: why is this important in politics?

Because there are people out there who understand this, and they use it against us. They know about cognitive dissonance, and how people will resist new, unpleasant information if they have been told otherwise. They know that religion can be used to control people, and abuse it. They know that people look up to those more successful and powerful than they are.

America is Good, America is Great, Americans are Great. Freedom, Democracy, Capitalism. We are told this every day. Drive to work, see a flag. Watch the news, and listen to how we are bringing ‘Democracy to Iraq’. Communism is evil, Capitalism is great. Maybe the real Communist threat was that there are no rich people in a Communist country (theoretically anyway). Is it any wonder that our politicians feared it so much?

Are we a good country? The evidence I cited above would indicate that it is probably not what we are doing at all. Yet for almost two years I have tried to tell my friends and family these things, and they resist them. My aunt recently said ‘well maybe the US has done some bad things, but I refuse to believe the US is the worst country in the world’?

This is a common sentiment. Why would anyone though, refuse to believe (accept) anything , if they are given evidence to support what they are being told?

Why indeed. It is because we, as humans, really don’t want to think that we are part of something evil, and given enough stimulus (propaganda) telling us otherwise, we will ignore facts, and cling to what some idiot tells us on TV.

As I said, as soon as we realize that we are not truly in control of what we think and feel, more people will investigate what DOES affect how they think and feel.

And that is when real Change, not Obama-style Change, can happen.

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