by Benjamin T. Moore, Jr.
First let me say that our hearts go out to all the victims and families of the victims of the terrorist bombing that occurred yesterday. No words will help to ease the pain, the loss or the discomfort of those who experienced this tragedy. We all came together in solidarity to stand with you. In the days, weeks and months to come, let us not forget that out of many, we are one.
Have You Ever Noticed?
As I look back over recent history, I cannot recall a period of time, when we as a nation have not been given a bogeyman to fear. I was born in 1957, the beginning of the “Atomic Age.” I remember the old “duck and cover” drills in elementary school. Looking back, it seems laughably silly to think that hiding under a wooden desk will in anyway help one survive a nuclear war, but that was all we had.
Fear has been used to stampede the American people like a herd of cattle in whatever direction those in power wished us to go. The following political ad is a classic example of this. It was aired only once, but it worked and we still talk about it to this day.
Growing up on the west coast – Seattle Washington – we were told that the entire west coast could drop off into the Pacific Ocean if we had a big quake along the notorious San Andreas Fault. Never mind the fact that what causes earthquakes along that fault is that the tectonic plate is pushing east, up onto our western coast. It was something for us to fear.
I’m not going to go down the entire list of the terror Du Jour we were served up on an almost daily basis. I’ll hit a few highlights. Remember the “Ozone Hole?” They were telling us that this huge hole had opened in our Ozone layer. The ramifications were severe! Millions dying from skin cancer caused by the unfiltered ultraviolet light from our Sun. Crops being burned causing massive famine. We all had to upgrade the air conditioning systems in our cars and in our homes to be able to take the much more expensive and eco-friendly versions of Freon.
You don’t hear anything about that “Ozone Hole” now. However, every few years your air conditioning system becomes obsolete. The bottom line? Pay more money! Remember the “Y2K” scare? Our computers were going to crash worldwide sending us back to the “Stone Age.” People bought generators – yeah, myself included – stocked up on food and waited the stroke of midnight heralding the turn of the new century. Nothing happened. We spent a lot of money though.
The Attacks On 9/11
Whether or not you believe our Government’s account of the events of that day or you’ve actually done some research, one thing that is beyond dispute is, as a nation we made some very bad decisions based on fear. It is not at all clear that we have survived the consequences of those bad decisions. We attacked Iraq for no reason running up trillions of dollars in debt. Don’t think! Be afraid! We’ll point you in the direction we want you to go!
The Camera Never Blinks
Because of our irrational fear, we allowed the Government to rip up our “Bill Of Rights.” Remember the color coded days compliments of our slapped together department of Homeland Security? Patriot Act? Without a peep we have given up our presumption of privacy. Phone calls, emails, even what books you check out at your local library are now monitored. Speaking of monitoring, We’ve allowed surveillance cameras to be put up on almost every street corner and all along our Interstate highways. If the game were Chess, somebody has carefully been maneuvering their pieces into position and checkmate may now be inevitable.
Rule By Fear
Police caught on tape removing the AR-15 from Adam Lanza’s car
It is time to wake up! Remember the “Sandy Hook Shooting?” The very first day, we were told that the shooter was one Ryan Lanza. Later that same day, we learned that no, it was Adam Lanza who for some mysterious reason was carrying his brother’s identification. We were told by the officers on the scene that the shooter – Adam Lanza – used two handguns. We were even given the make of those pistols. One was a Glock and the other was a Sig Sauer. Both were 9mm in caliber. Day one, we were told that an AR-15 Bushmaster had been discovered in the trunk of the car Adam Lanza presumably drove.
For those unfamiliar with firearms, there is a huge difference between 9mm brass and the .223 brass that would have littered the floor had the Bushmaster been used. Without even seeing the guns, anyone, certainly a law enforcement officer would immediately have known that a .223 caliber rifle was involved merely by looking at all the brass lying about. My point is, that is not a mistake anyone even remotely competent enough to respond to that crisis would have made.
Time line of News reporting
By “Day Three” that AR-15 Bushmaster had miraculously floated out of the back of the car and of its own volition, shot magazine after magazine into those children. Why of “its own volition?” Adam Lanza had already committed suicide – so they say – and was long dead. It seems that someone with an agenda needed the weapon used, to be a so called “assault rifle.” We have seen the steady and constant drum beat for gun control. Be afraid, be very afraid… Rule by fear raises its ugly head again.
Sandy Hook And The Boston Marathon Bombing
This proves my point. There is absolutely no connection between these two tragedies. God forbid that the enthralled public have their attention turned away from the ineffective “Gun Control Debate.” Notice how MSNBC host Rachel Maddow deftly links the two together.
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If you lose someone to a tragedy, the circumstances of that tragedy don’t really matter to you. A mother who loses her child in an accident caused by an impaired driver doesn’t hurt any less than a mother who’s child died in Sandy Hook Elementary or someone who’s family member was a victim of one of the bombs that went off in Boston yesterday.
A victim of the Boston Marathon bombing
I have been to the funeral home to say good bye to a loved one far too many times of late. If someone walked up to me at that moment and began to rehearse their own loss I would be deeply offended and if they weren’t careful, they’d be nursing a blackened eye… at the very least! You don’t pimp grief for political gain. Of course, if you have an agenda, you just might do this.
Naivety Is Not A Virtue
“Trust ye not a living soul… and walk even carefully amongst the dead.” __My mother
I have never forgotten this advice and it has served me well. Unfortunately we now live in a world such that when I watch the news, I constantly remind myself that I really have no idea what is actually going on. Why? Because the fool filling dead air has no idea what is actually going on. It will take at least two or three days for them to get the official story together. Will it be the truth? Most likely not. Truth is not necessary when the objective is to rule by fear. You would do well to bear this in mind. Was the bombing of the Boston Marathon an act of international terror, or was it the act of a home grown anarchist? That will largely depend on the results of meetings which are occurring behind closed doors right now.
If there is some political or economic gain to be obtained by naming some foreign based group responsible, that is what the determination will be. If on the other hand, it benefits the powers that be to call this the act of a home grown anarchist, they will no doubt accuse some poor soul and make them disappear under one or more of those laws we let them pass because of our fear.
Nice Piece Brother..may I borrow.. like to check every now and then!
Of course you may borrow it. I’m glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
I love this. Right on the money. I’ve been reading some other disturbing articles recently that sure make a person suspicious.
I’m glad you enjoyed it. Reality is like the layers of an onion. Depending upon which layer your focus resides at, your perceptions of reality may be radically different from someone who’s focus resides at a different layer.
Once the alarm clock begins to ring and you start to wake up, you may indeed find that things are not as they’ve always seemed. It is an aspect of human nature that we tend to judge others based upon our own capabilities. This can prove dangerous. Most of us love children and would never do anything to hurt one intentionally. Thus we are shocked when people show callous disregard for the lives of children.
However, if you think about war, the entire reason for basic training and boot camp is to reprogram recruits turning them into “effective” soldiers. I’m not particularly squeamish. I could take a human life without hesitation and efficiently IF that person posed a lethal threat to my loved ones or myself. I suspect that most of us are this way. However, asking me to murder someone whom I do not know, someone who has done nothing personally to me, I find extremely repugnant and I would refuse! Thus, I would not make an effective soldier. It would require a lot of brainwashing to bring me to that point. Matter of fact, at this stage in my life, it may be an impossibility.
People who sign up for our military understand at some level, they are being programmed. However, society as a collective can also be programmed. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel developed the methodology for doing just such a thing. You may have heard of the “Hegelian Dialectic?” The methodology employs three stages. “Thesis, Antithesis, Synthesis.” Put simpler, Problem, Reaction, Solution. You create a problem for society designed to evoke a certain reaction, for which you provide the solution. Of course the solution is the direction you wish society to move in.
For instance, say you wanted to disarm the American society. We Americans are rather found of our firearms. We have been since before 1776. Sparking a reasoned debate is not likely to be successful. You’ve got to do something to create a reaction within society that will cause firearms to become repugnant. It must be something that grabs the attention of society and holds it. It must be something that strikes at a visceral level. The reaction must be strong. It must be strong enough so that when you step forward with your solution – gun confiscation – you will meet with little resistance and majority compliance.
Now I’m sure you’re probably feeling some resistance to even conceptualizing people being evil enough to murder children to further their aims. This is normal because you, I and most people are not focused on the layer of reality where these people reside. We should never underestimate the evil that some people are capable of. We do so at our peril.
If you liked this piece, search my site for my series on “Gun Control.” I deal with some of these concepts in far greater depth. Also, be sure and share anything you find important with your friends. I hope to see you around in the future. 🙂