How much has changed?
Through the various conversations i have had throughout my time in existence on this planet as a hooman being, the one thing i can say is that "Things remain the same until they change". This is not incredibly insightful as statements go on the surface i know, but still lets dig a little deeper.
Us human beings have an innate ability to fool ourselves, there are a number of psychological principals which highlight incredible contortions of the mind that help us "frame" particular events so we can accept them in our minds. lets start with some basics, have you ever noticed "those parents" who say their kids are "the cutest ever"? There can also be other factors which are highlighted and attributed to how incredible their kids are, but you get the idea.
There is no doubt in my mind that these parents genuinely believe that their kids are the best, but if we are being honest only "one kid" could be the best ever in any field right ? and to be clear this extends beyond parents and their kids, we could also consider almost anything that can be perceived as part of "our reality". Who has the hardest job, who has the best house, car, etc. as an example check out the meme below which represents the same construct only with pets.
cutest pet ever!!!
What we are observing is a bias towards what is familiar to us, what is our own, and it is in no way uncommon in our existence. While we may be aware of these constructs it is incredibly difficult for many to recognize this when we ourselves are guilty of these actions. While this trait of humanity may seem considerably harmless, it is a weakness which is ripe for exploitation when manipulating people to behave in certain ways.
This is something that Edward Bernays was more than familiar with, Edward Bernays was the nephew of the psychologist Sigmund Freud, and is regarded as a pioneer in the field of public relations and propaganda. Many of the principals would also become adapted and applied in fields such as influence, marketing and advertising is still being used/improved in contemporary settings.
Edward Bernays
Yes its true, we are being manipulated every day and in many ways, from the advertising we see and hear on radio, TV, billboards to News, government reports and scientific data, its all in the realm of possibility that the way it is represented is designed to shape thoughts and opinions in a particular way, this is sometimes referred to as "spin" in some industries. What we are really dealing with is "psy ops" which have a design and intention:
Psychological operations (PSYOP) are operations to convey selected information and indicators to audiences to influence their emotions, motives, and objective reasoning, and ultimately the behavior of governments, organizations, groups, and individuals.
One of the first questions we (mankind) asks when we create/discover something new is "can we militarize it", then it is later applied in a civil setting. Advancements in psychological constructs are not immune to the same treatment, the area of torture, interrogation techniques, lie detection, etc. have all stemmed form psychological warfare. Elements of which have made their way into our homes though the aforementioned media channels.
Whats that i hear you say ? "I cant be fooled by these kinds of things, im too smart to fall for that" and "I know all this stuff already so it wont work on me". Well as someone who has studied these areas for a considerable amount of time i can tell you that i personally find myself looking back through the day and spotting my failures to catch these manipulations post event in a number of "Doh!!!" moments. trust me we aren't as clever as we think we are.
What we need to understand is that we are all human, we are all susceptible to these manipulations no matter how vigilant we are. There are teams of thousands upon thousands of people working to penetrate the minds of others versus you, on your own, one individual, the numbers are not in any one of our favors in this regard.
Lets examine the Milgram Experiment, in this setting there are two confederates ("confederates" are people who are in on the experiment, actors if you will) and one subject (subject is the person who is being tested in the experiment).
Milgram Experiment
The subject and the first confederate meet in a waiting room, they exchange pleasantries and determine both are participants in the experiment, this also humanizes the confederate participant.
Enter the second confederate "the experimenter" who will be conducting the experiment, both participants are taken into a room which has a electric shock chair to which the person sitting is strapped to, each has a turn to feel the shock. this is so the subject knows that there is pain involved.
The confederate participant is strapped to the electric shock chair and the subject and confederate experimenter go to another room next door (no visual contact) and begin the experiment.
The experiment explained to the subject is that: the subject will a series of questions though an intercom and if the confederate participant in the other room answers the question wrong they get a shock, each wrong answer there is an increase in the shocks. No answer/response is equal to a wrong answer, all questions must be asked.
The confederate participant is not actually being shocked and answers most of the questions wrong deliberately. Screaming and acting as though in too much pain after a few questions he asks to stop the experiment.
The confederate experimenter reinforces to "keep going" with a particular set of key phrases if/when the subject asks what they should do.
The confederate participant goes silent after increased shocks continue to incredibly high rates up to 450 volts. if the subject interacts with the confederate experimenter they respond with the same set of key phrases.
The experiment is halted when all questions asked and shocks administered or is the subject refuses to continue.
What was discovered in the experiments was shocking, no pun intended, 65% (two-thirds of participants ) continued to the highest level of 450 volts and all the participants continued to 300 volts. While this experiment was conducted quite some time ago and ethical standards have been adjusted, replication experiments some years later produced similar results, on average somewhere around 80% of the sample continued to stages where the person being shocked would be dead. The long and short is that if the conditions are right and a person of power tells us (humans) to, we will kill other people....
What is interesting is that when psychology professors ask their students if they think they would refuse to continue the experiment, 95%-100% of students think they would not continue the experiment. Meaning that 100% thinks they would be part of the 20%.... this is indicative of the kind of bias we have AND how it can affect our judgment. Even students studying the psychological construct can not shift their perspective and remove bias.
So whats all this have to do with the "broken system"?
Well... understanding the flaws in mankind's thinking is a fundamental factor moving forward. Through years of conditioning, propaganda, manipulation of thoughts and behaviors, etc. humanity has been taught to believe that we have some kind of say in what happens on the larger scale via voting. What we may lack an understanding of is "the illusion of choice"...
The Illusion of Choice
For years we have been promised a better and more fair system, which takes care of those in need, focuses on education, sciences, health, arts, etc. but realistically we have had the same crud shoveled down our throats every time, the same game is played, only the players change, but they are all still controlled by the same puppet masters.
Unlock New Skins For The Same Character
This phenomena is observable world wide and while some of the rules and regulations may differ from country to country and state to state, what is certain is that the the key element in this situation is the human condition. It is humans which are corruptible, that are driven by pleasure principal and the need for instant gratification.
It is greed and the ability to take advantage of the system that makes those in power thrive at the expense of others, but it is us who continue to ignore the issues and accept a system which is designed to take advantage of us which perpetuates its existence. We vote like it matters, we argue over which candidate will be better, we play the game, cheer them on like its all "real"..... but the truth is that it is all a show, it is like believing the WWE is a genuine fight and not a staged theater show of acrobats.
WWE is REAL !!!!! lol
The fact is that we have been playing this kind of game for decades, but the conditioning of mankind is centuries old. While we may have the data from historical events and book knowledge we fail to realize we are still facing the same challenges. We fool ourselves into thinking that "It will be different this time around" and "MY candidate will be the one", even though we know that each and every candidate before has done the same thing.
We convince ourselves that we are part of the 20% who would actually do the right thing, but in realty the majority of us we are part of the 80% who would do nothing but follow orders. The writing is on the wall and is abundantly clear, they are playing their game on the backs of the hard working people of the world, and their greed has no end, BUT their gluttony is based on our complacency, on the division of mankind.... all we have to do is stand up together and their game is over.
Stand Up & Its Game Over
If we are to shake the shackles that bind us we must first understand how this all works, the weaknesses we have and how they are being used against us, that we are being kept in line and doing what needs to be done to continue this game of monopoly. Most importantly we need to recognize the the flaws within ourselves so we can create positive change and evolve to a better species that what we are today. This can only happen if we choose acknowledge that we are suffering from Stockholm Syndrome to let go of the affection of familiarity.
In closing we will focus on the image we opened with... the cartoon depicts the state of affairs as is perceived today, the war machine being fed by politicians, deep state and shadow government. All the while the areas which are promised some sustenance such as education, science, arts, and health go hungry. It should also be noted that this cartoon was apparently created quite some time ago (65 years), so the formula has not changed in all this time... Things will remain the same until they change. This is what we need to consider when evaluating what role we play in all this, because voting for change has not accomplished anything and is an indicator that we cant fix the broken system by using "The broken system".
How much has changed?