Zero Hedge – by Cognitive Dissonance
As I am prone to say, locks are there to keep the honest people honest. And of equal importance, locks are there to maintain the illusion you and your possessions are ‘safe’ because the locks will keep the dishonest out. Since perception and proximity play major roles in whether or not we presently ‘feel’ safe, the lock companies and central governments go to great lengths to create the idyllic illusion of total security while simultaneously promoting dangers that threaten your security in order to compel your purchase of their consumer products or government policy. But as anyone knows who has been on either side of a Breaking and Entering (B&E), your locks are but a minor inconvenience to those determined to separate you from your stuff……or your life.
In keeping with the predominate theme of the last 30 years or so of mindless consumerism, where one should be engaged just enough to know what you ‘need’, but not aware enough to question the difference between needs and ‘wants’, the comforting illusion of locked down security with just the twist of a latch or passage of a law helps propel us into our own self obsessed oblivion. We are what we keep, and what we keep are false official promises and grand self delusions of security via the surveillance police state.
In a reversal of “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs”, where after basic physiological and safety needs are met the individual moves up the pyramid towards esteem and self-actualization, society in general appears to be caught in the black hole of self-centeredness and narcissism and is rapidly regressing. This degrading state of mind requires even bigger illusionary locks to be applied so that the herd may peacefully graze while the individuals naval gaze.
And what might that collective lock box contain? Why the nearly perfected illusion of God given inalienable rights codified and quantified by The Constitution and The Bill of Rights, skillfully combined with the outright lie that a so called ‘Fourth Estate’, the supposedly curious and ever questioning ‘free’ press, is watching over the lock box while we ‘free range’ citizens fatten up and wile away our consuming days. That is, of course, after off to work we go because we owe……and owe…….and owe.
The fact that your home has never been robbed in the past is not a glowing testimonial to the quality of your locks or to the ineptitude of any potential burglars. Rather it is a tribute to blind luck, a good neighborhood or possibly even that you own really lousy stuff no fence would pay a plumb nickel for. One of the best defenses is a strong offense, or in this case to own what no one else wishes to possess. If after leaving the keys and a hundred dollar bill on the dash of your unlocked vehicle, only to return the next morning to find both cash and car intact, you know for certain your vehicle is truly yours.
On the other hand, if you do the same with your ‘inalienable rights’ and find each morning another piece has been stolen, maybe it isn’t the thief so much to blame as the idiots who continue to leave them unattended at the curb stamped with an open invitation to ‘steal these rights’. Or is one of our inalienable rights the ‘right’ to be as inattentive and stupid as possible and still have the ‘right’ to retain our ‘rights’? It certainly seems to be that way.
Back in the day when I was on the wrong side of people’s ‘rights’ I always marveled how easy it was to be a thief, to practice my wicked ways and B&E with thee. In a particularly nasty streak of egotistic self importance I would leave the homes alone that remained unlocked, preferring to leave the slumbering dumb in peace. Even the bad ass knows well enough not to steal candy from the kids. Besides, it just ain’t sporting and seriously degrades your self esteem. Where is the fun in taking what is unprotected when the real challenge is lifting those inalienable rights when they are highly regarded and heavily guarded? Even the lowly thief has his or her minimum standards.
Where fun, and exceptional profit, could be found was in the abodes of those who felt they possessed steal-able stuff and were diligent in locking both their front and back doors to keep me out and their possessions securely in. But these people always seemed to enjoy the deep sleep of the blind and oblivious, secure in the false knowledge that all through the house not a creature stirred, except for this nefarious mouse.
When I was bored or found the prey way too easy, especially when I discovered the usual unlocked window or basement door to gain access to the citizen king’s fortified castle, I would up the ante and leave my calling card while taking nothing except the exhilaration of knowing this Tom was creeping while the house was sleeping. It was good to be bad, or so I thought. It didn’t matter though for I was deep into my own version of blindly oblivious, a story for another day and time.
Within a week or two I would be back to see if the King and Queen had heeded my call and secured their sovereign borders. Fiat dollars to donuts, in most cases they had not. So like Sherman’s March to the Sea I cleaned house and left heartbreak and destruction in my wake. It was almost as if they were consenting to my violation of their lives and living arrangements, for all it took was the click of a lock and a check of all the windows and doors to keep me at bay and out of their lives.
It was, and remains, profoundly curious that the so called ‘victim’ would deliberately ignore my posted warning and continue down the road to living ‘victim-hood’. This passive inaction sounds strangely familiar, very similar in fact to our modern day predicament and maybe just a little too close to home for comfort. The parallels between the constant posted warnings by various powers-that-be that another inalienable right will be wronged and surgically removed as unnecessary and even bothersome is not lost on me.
And yet there is nary a peep from the ‘free will’ chickens scratching about in the dirt, hunting for their next cheap consumer thrill. It seems to me this lack of alarm is a bit more complicated that simply fat and happy citizen poultry sated from their latest fiat feeding with not a care in the world, the fox safely at bay and the roost securely locked behind impenetrable coop doors.
Questioned individually each hen and rooster is sure in their knowledge that while the coop may be in danger great or small, they are not nearly as much for they claim greater awareness than their neighbors and clearly saw the posted warning. However when this observer inspects the door he finds it rotted and worn, barely able to support its own weight let alone the determined efforts of the fox outside the henhouse. And yet there for all to see, in particular the inhabitants of the house of citizen chickens, is that shiny new door lock, gleaming in the afternoon sun while securing the hens from the old grey fox.
Or so the promoted fable declares for the fox knows differently. He understands perfectly well that the lock is easily circumvented, allowing the predator easy access to pluck a fresh meal whenever he cares to. Knowing that the lock on the decrepit door is what keeps the coop contents conveniently contained and contented, the fox makes sure to vigorously polish the lock while dramatically bemoaning his unfortunate luck that such a fine and sturdy lock stands between him and his inalienable lunch.
But clearly the coop’s occupants will eventually notice the thinning of the flock, with Henrietta the Hen no longer around to cluck her disapproval of all the unattended texting chicks spoiling her comfy feathered nest. There might even be a few hens and roosters sounding the alarm, asserting that Henrietta didn’t just disappear into thin air without a trace. Theories of all kinds will be put forth for the mysterious disappearances, from space aliens to trap doors to inside job conspiracies; all centered on the sly grey fox hanging ‘round the front door. Who, I might add, doesn’t seem the least bit thinner despite his cries about having no dinner.
So what is going on here? Why did my B&E ‘victims’ and the citizen chickens mostly ignore the warnings and continue on with life as if nothing was seriously wrong with their prized possessions and their inalienable rights? While it is safe to say there are as many different answers as there are victims and chickens, it is equally safe to say that bargaining and rationalization, key components of denial at both the group and individual level, is obviously at play.
Similar to the situation where it is almost impossible to get a person to believe “A” if they are paid to believe “B”, those individuals and groups who have rejected their personal sovereignty and outsourced their emotional and physical security to questionable individuals, groups and nations, now find themselves increasingly in danger from their very own protectors.
Irrevocably compromised on a moral, emotional and spiritual level and now physically threatened, suddenly their needs and wants merge into one compelling force. They must now ignore or greatly diminish evidence contrary to what they both need and want; to believe they are safe and those entrusted with their safe keeping will in fact honor the unilateral bargain previously struck. When the devil is in the details, ignore or outright reject the details and trust the devil you believe you know.
Once this recognition is thoroughly embodied, often only on the subconscious level with stray threads leaking over to the conscious mind, the primary mission of the individual and the group is to support and adhere to that which is now controlling us, the desire to ‘believe’ we are safe in the face of contrary information. At this point the information illustrating “We the People” are not safe (especially from our protectors) becomes more dangerous to ‘us’ than the protectors themselves.
This is where both the individual and collective ego kicks in to leverage our fears against us in order to ‘protect’ ourselves from us……or more accurately from an increased self awareness which the ego sees as threatening to ‘us’. For those who don’t understand the power we afford our ego over ourselves, and it is our own innate power that we cede, this explanation seems nonsensical, even ridiculous. But of all the manipulators in our lives, both securely hidden or out in the open, our own ego is by far the most powerful because ‘it’ knows us much better than we know ourselves and isn’t afraid to use that knowledge to control and manipulate……for the greater good of ‘us’ of course.
What most of us do not thoroughly understand (mostly because we reject the notion that our ego is much more powerful and controlling than we care to admit because this self awareness threatens our ego, thereby ‘us’) is that our external human tormentors, everyone from the hidden hand behind the scenes to the obviously manipulative politician or corporate boss, use our own ego against us. Even those among us who better understand our egoic vulnerability still miss the impact the collective or group ego has upon us personally. Or to be more accurate, the endless number of collective egos large and small whose influences over us rise and fall within the larger group dynamics and our personal world view.
That little voice in your head is not ‘you’, but more likely your ego. The greatest trick the ego ever pulled was convincing you that your ego is actually ‘you’ and not a malicious intruder/manipulator. Oftentimes our own ego takes a subservient role to the collective while still maintaining overall manipulative control over us. The more time we spend in the past or the future, rather than in the here and now, the more likely it is that our ego is front and center carefully disguised as ‘us’. Fear is the ultimate motivator and the ego leverages our fears, real and imagined, expertly.
But of even greater importance, at least with respect to this discussion, is that the big voice in the collective head is often not the group consciousness, but rather the collective/group ego…….and presently the loudest, most dominant group ego is the surveillance police state meme, something that must be in place before the actual physical surveillance state itself can manifest. Physical reality is created only after it has been created in the mind, either personally or collectively. That was, and is, the genesis and genius of the 9/11 false flag operation, to set the stage for the ever present boogieman fear meme that pervades and propels the surveillance police state forward. We are, or become, what we fear most.
The alternative blogosphere is filled with people wondering how it is that something few profess to actually want (such as the surveillance state and its police state apparatus) still seems to exist, even thrive, despite the apparent lack of public support. The misguided belief that government imposed public policy follows, rather than leads, publicly expressed opinion and belief persists because few truly understand the dynamics of the human psyche.
This gap in self awareness and understanding is deliberately fostered and encouraged by ‘us’ because ultimately we do not wish to know ourselves. For if this was so we would then be compelled to assume responsibility for ourselves. Personal sovereignty is all about self actualization and acceptance of personal responsibility, not about ‘freedom’ to feed on the fiat ‘free’ from disruption and consequences.
Since ‘we’ as individuals consistently deny ‘we’ are a part of ‘they’ or ‘them’, but instead are uniquely not a part of the herd, in effect we are distancing ourselves from our own contribution to the collective actions and therefore the responsibility for the actions of the group. This alone is sufficient to propel the group ego forward, and more importantly the manifestations of the group ego such as the surveillance police state despite each individual’s protestations that the group’s neurosis and insanity is misguided and unwelcome.
“In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
While there are a million and one tiny details that influence this phenomenon, which is precisely what we use to justify and rationalize the belief in our non or insignificant involvement in the group dynamic, it is the very denial of our participation that is the energy source and engine that is driving the group ego, and all its ugly physical manifestations, forward.
Even those who agree in principal that there should be surveillance of troublesome groups are in denial regarding the greater surveillance police state. For example, those with this mindset often feel they personally should not be subjected to surveillance because………wait for it………’they’ are not part of ‘them’, meaning the group or groups which in their mind’s eye should be the ones who are monitored. Of course the surveillance police state is not used to control the individual, but rather the herd which in turn controls the non sovereign individual.
Ultimately if our own personal ego serves a purpose (regardless of how misguided that purpose may be) by feeding us what we want to hear, think and believe as opposed to what we need to hear, think and believe, then by extension the manifestation of the group ego, the surveillance police state, also serves a purpose, providing the group with what it wants rather than what it needs. Meaning even though we claim to dislike the government snooping in all our affairs, deep down inside (often on a subconscious level) we accept it as needed and possibly even desirable for any of a million different reasons.
If we accept the idea that while the conscious mind is full of blind spots, blurred awareness and extremely narrow vision, the subconscious mind is always aware and forever acquiring knowledge, a giant vacuum sucking up all information that passes through the five senses, then the subconscious mind is fully aware of the political, social and economic charade currently playing out both in public and in private.
While many of ‘us’ give passing lip service to the slowly growing awareness that our entire consumer culture is based upon access to unlimited resources derived from an entirely limited world, the subconscious mind fully understands there will be winners and losers in this global game of resource chicken. Since survival of the individual is often dependent upon the survival of the group it belongs to, particularly when it comes to increasingly scarce resources being apportioned amongst “We the People”, it stands to reason that greater control of the individual must be exercised in order for the group, and thus the individual, to survive.
Essentially “We the People” have not revolted against the increasingly tyrannical (US) government precisely because deep down inside we understand this very same tyrannical government is our last best chance to survive the coming resource wars and dollar debasement. Since we long ago abdicated our own personal sovereignty and responsibility for our own welfare, we must dance with the government we brought to the party or attempt to go it alone and take our chances, an entirely unsatisfactory alternative in a cradle to grave caretaker world.
I am certain many reading these last few sentences will strenuously object to the premise put forth. But just remember that ‘we’ as individuals and ‘we’ as a group are not the same entities and rarely are either of ‘us’ acting sans ego influence and manipulation. And very often we subvert our own personal goals, aspiration and ego to the larger group, even if only on a subconscious level, in order to receive the benefits derived from acting as a group.
While our ego loves to promote the idea that we are ‘free’ men and women who make personal decisions based upon our own self interest while still balancing moral and social responsibilities, this utopian view has been officially promoted and widely accepted during a period of time lasting half a dozen decades when the milk and honey flowed freely and there appeared to be plenty to go around.
However this excess was a temporary illusion based upon ‘us’ taking more than our fair share for decades, combined with steadily increasing leverage which resulted in an economic system that is now beginning to show serious signs of strain and stress. “We the People” know intuitively that the resource party is nearly over and the punch bowl will soon be rationed at best and removed under the worst circumstances. Seen from the point of view and mindset of the slumbering masses now is not the time to abandon the herd and go it alone, thus the surveillance police state provides the last best chance of survival sans personal revival and rehabilitation.
Even those of us, Mrs. Cog and I included, who do not wish to witness a systemic collapse, but rather a sane transition to a more sustainable and mutually beneficial, non vampiric, economic model know full well that society is fully engulfed in its own egoic insanity and its self destructive lust will not be sated until the group’s egoic energy has finally been dissipated and the dust has settled. Knowing what is coming, who among us wishes total chaos and disorder to rule the roost and for each rooster and chicken to finally recognize the hopelessness of the situation and turn savage and territorial?
Regardless of which little corner of the Petri dish we may have provisioned for survival and hardened against attack, we all understand on a subconscious level there is no place to run and no place to hide when peak insanity runs riot. While we may be prepared to defend and sustain ourselves with no wish for outside help or hindrance, the thought of hundreds of thousands of people displaced (millions if things really get bad) is difficult to emotionally endure, particularly when many if not all of our loved ones will be caught up in the rampage.
Thus many of us would also prefer some law and order to remain intact, if for no other reason than to protect the blindly oblivious from their egoic selves. While this in no way, shape or form translates into the desire to support the oppressive surveillance police state, neither does it directly oppose it.When the madness of crowds finally infects this nation and world, your local Barney Fife police force will not be able to stop it, let alone police it. So just how much police state is enough when the end game finally begins?
Our subconscious awareness may have differing views on what is inevitable and how to survive the inevitable as opposed to the group ego’s manifestation in the form of you and me. As self aware and tuned in as many of ‘us’ claim to be, very few individuals, including myself, can escape the influences of our ego for long, especially when the social systems begin to seriously degrade and the fecal matter hits the fan.
This means that while conditions are calm we confidently state we will do this and not do that. But my limited experience with mob psychology indicates that when the insanity rages the force will be with you even from afar, a different form of spooky action at a distance. This means tiny threads of madness will seek us out to infiltrate and infect, often through the glowing boob tube and those websites we trust.
Knowing this I will not declare with any degree of confidence what I will or will not do when under internal and external stress. To do otherwise is to embrace a comforting delusion promoted by our ego in order to feel better about our present state and future uncertainty.
Regardless of your ultimate view of the surveillance police state, the ‘evil’ forces behind it and the direction the country and world is headed, the fact remains it would not exist without support from the average Jane and Joe, even if that support expresses in the form of enthusiastic cheerleading, begrudging acceptance, passive obedience, anxious trepidation, angry denunciations or fierce resistance. This is true in all cases unless you ‘believe’ that people, places and things ‘make’ you do things, therefore you and those around you are powerless victims and essentially slaves to the machine.
As comforting as it may be to view ourselves as victims of the powers that be (but most certainly not slaves since we are free range chickens) if this were true then why the preoccupation by those in charge with acquiring our consent, whether directly expressed or passively/reluctantly given? Even as the surveillance state ratchets up several notches each year, not to mention draconian laws that foretell of a dramatic escalation in the Fascist police state tactics, the general meme still put forth is to cajole, convince or confiscate our free will through our willing, often passive, consent.
While the surface explanation for the mining of willing consent is that it is easier to convince someone to walk over there than it is to force someone to walk over there, there appears there is more going on under the surface which is much harder to grasp primarily because its premise is so foreign to us. And for those individuals who are resolute in their belief in their absolute control over their ‘self’, the suggestion that there are hidden mind memes and psychological levers that are constantly being manipulated in order to manage the human livestock is so outrageously contrary to their world view that it is immediately put out with the trash for disposal.
“None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Once again, for those who do not understand this component of the human psyche or simply wish to believe they are not a participant in order to shield themselves from the responsibility for their actions and involvement, this explanation will be dismissed as poppycock and balderdash. But exploring this rabbit hole, while extremely discomforting and full of unpleasant self discovery, is the process one must follow if we are ever to be much more than free range chickens to be served up when the fox is hungry.
Now…let us all bow our heads and say a pray for the beloved and still missing Henrietta.
06-20-2014
Cognitive Dissonance