Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, TV Pro-Wresting, Reality TV and the US 2 Major Party Political System Part 1 of 2
LISTEN CLOSELY PEOPLE AND YOU SHALL HEAR;
FACTS, OBSERVATIONS AND PERSPECTIVES WHICH WILL MAKE YOUR
PERCEPTION OF REALITY MORE TRUE AND CLEAR.
OPEN YOUR MIND AND PREPARE YOURSELF FOR A NEW, TRUER
PERCEPTION OF REALITY
CHILDHOOD MYTHS AND FANTASIES
We have a tradition in America of imparting to our children seemingly harmless, fanciful perceptions of reality. The Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus are all fanciful myths aka manufactured false perceptions of reality. Almost all of us Americans fervently believed at least one of these fantasies in our early lives.
Our Parents and teachers and other people in our lives imparted to us a belief in these myths as being true. And, we believe these stories basically for 4 different reasons:
1) At that age, we are less sophisticated and less able to discern truth from fiction.
2) And, regardless of our age, more likely believe something we are told when it told to us by people we trust and/or love.
3) Circumstantial evidence – Money replacing the teeth. Easter Baskets on Easter Morning. Easter egg hunts at Church. The cookies and milk we set out for Santa were gone the next morning. Jingle bells outside of the house at the appropriate time. Children’s Books dedicated to the subject. TV ads and programs espousing the existence of said Santa Claus, etc.
4) The fictional perception of reality is more desirable than the alternative. In short, we want to believe because we benefit or perceive benefit from going along with the myth. E.g. money, candy, gifts. And these myths also give us a nebulous, warm fuzzy feeling and sense of security. They made the world seem less harsh and friendlier.
If we are honest with ourselves, we will acknowledge that our youthful “perception of reality” incorporated unquestioning and absolute belief in the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny and/or Santa Claus. Regardless of how easily we can disprove that reality now, and how ridiculous our belief in them seems on retrospection, we believed in these myths at one point in our lives. We accepted these myths as the truth and they were our Reality. Through these myths, almost all Americans share the experience of believing in a perception of reality that was never real, despite our once fervent belief that they were.
And we did not easily give up our beliefs in these myths. Even when harsh reality was brought to our attention some of desperately clung to the fantasy... I can remember some kids in the school yard fighting their peers who were the bearer of bad news. Others were more restrained in their responses, waiting to go home and check with a trusted and reliable source, their parents. I did not want to believe that my parents would believe me. And for those that clung to the myth, there was the peer pressure of being ridiculed and being called immature.
But once the individual overcame their desire for their false perception of reality to be true, they very quickly came to realize the discrepancies in the myth. For example, the impossibility of one single person such as Santa Claus delivering gifts to every household in one night… Or the impossibility of reindeer and a sleigh defying the law of gravity. They all seem so obvious in retrospect.
However, other myths and mysteries of life don’t offer the same absolute proof and closure as the false perceptions of reality involving Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus. And these myths, fantasies, deceptions, delusions and duplicities are far more injurious than our childhood fantasies.
PERCEPTION IS REALITY
Essentially, each person’s perception of reality comes only from their daily interactions and cumulative inputs to their senses of sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. http://bit.ly/8c3u and http://bit.ly/aUAj3s
With that in mind, I ask you each to go back to that period of your life when you fervently believed in the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus. Use your memory to visualize that untrue Perspective of Reality. Remember your unquestioning belief. Your Parents, society and TV provided your senses with inputs that misled you into a false perspective of reality. As soon “someone” questioned the perception of reality that included the tooth fairy, the Easter Bunny, and Santa Claus – the myth soon after was burst. Your Perception of Reality moved closer to actual Reality. The feelings you experienced in that transition from a perspective of reality that included absolute belief in those myths to the truer perception of reality that you now possess may help you make the transition in your perception of reality that I will ask you to make later in this article.
That having been said , the problem in adult life is that we have so many sources of sensory input contributing to define our perception of reality; it is very difficult to control our perception of reality if we act as a passive observer. And it is hard to know which source of input to trust and which to know should be distrusted.
And therefore, I find it a necessary step to advise my fellow American Citizens how to take ownership of their perception of reality. It is important to you to take ownership of your perception of reality so that others, including me, cannot take further mislead you, take advantage of you and/or cause you to act in a manner contrary to your own personal best interest. Personally I believe I can succeed in life without taking unfair advantage of others. However, there are many people, including many you may otherwise trust, who do not hesitate in engaging in duplicity on both a small and grand scale, to achieve their own personal gain.
Therefore, it is important that you take ownership of your own perception of reality. One way to do this is through critical thinking. http://bit.ly/9veW8 (simpler) http://bit.ly/ycYLJ (complex) Critical Thinking is not about telling you what to think, it is about telling you how to think. http://bit.ly/iGGoVc "Television images lull us into thinking that they are real, that they aren't iconic signs at all but realities. Since we see them, we trust them, often failing to realize that, like all signs, they have been constructed with a certain interest behind them." http://bit.ly/iIBsBA To take ownership of your perspective of reality, It is important that you recognize how to detect bias and propaganda in the Major media http://amzn.to/kMqz1i . In summary (http://bit.ly/iSwx1a ):
Critical thinking is a complex set of skills that reverses what is natural and
instinctive in human thought.
The uncritical mindis unconsciously driven to identify truth in accordance
with the following tacit maxims:
• “It’s true if I believe it.”
• “It’s true if we believe it.”
• “It’s true if we want to believe it.”
• “It’s true if it serves our vested interest to believe it.”
The critical mind consciouslyseeks the truth in accordance with the following
instinct-correcting maxims:
• “I believe it, but it may not be true.”
• “We believe it, but we may be wrong.”
• “We want to believe it, but we may be prejudiced by our desire.”
• “It serves our vested interest to believe it, but our vested interest has
nothing to do with the truth.”
Mainstream news coveragein a society operates with the following maxims:
• “This is how it appears to us from our point of view; therefore, this is the way
it is.”
• “These are the facts that support our way of looking at this; therefore, these
are the most important facts.”
• “These countries are friendly to us; therefore, these countries deserve praise.”
• “These countries are unfriendly to us; therefore, these countries deserve
criticism.”
• “These are the stories most interesting or sensational to our readers; therefore, these are the most important stories in the news.”
Critical readers of the news reverse each of these maxims.Critical Thinking is the process of how to do this and thus reduce the influence of bias and propaganda on your mind.
I respectfully request or strongly implore you, which ever you find more persuasive, to stop passively accepting the perception of reality that major corporate media, Hollywood http://amzn.to/l301zo and music videos are instilling in you, and if you are a parent, teach your child to stop passively accepting the perception of reality that your children are being exposed to and/or indoctrinated with every day.
I end by saying something that no politician would ever say; “Don’t believe any anything that anyone, including myself, tells you…. Unless and until you can verify it yourself and repeat the basis of the belief to an unfriendly critic of said belief. In other words, think critically – It is in your own best interest.
You can’t and won’t be lulled into believing a false perspective of reality, which would otherwise likely adversely affect you, if you follow that advice.
Only those who would wish to take advantage of you by having you believe a false “perspective of reality” will tell you differently. And by so advocating that you don’t believe anything I say without verifying it yourself, I hope you come to realize I am not trying to tell you anything (what to think)… I am only trying to get you actively take control of your own perspective of reality so you can protect yourself from those who would take advantage of you (how to think).
PAST THE EARLY CHILDHOOD MYTHS AND FANTASIES
As we get older, we are disappointed to learn that beliefs we once firmly held to be true through or via the great machinations of society, are in fact false. We have already discussed the examples of the Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny and Santa Claus.
Once that series of early life disappoints was confronted and dispatched, my peers (cohorts http://bit.ly/mQIX46 ) and myself moved on to the next truly seminal debates of our teen lives. You know, the really important things in a young man’s life; Ford v Chevy cars, Rock vs. Disco music, John Deere v Massey-Fergusson tractors, Packers vs. Vikings, PC v Mac Computers, Republican v Democrat and whether TV’s All Star Wresting was real or not.
Well at least two of these great debates have been resolved… The Packers Rule http://bit.ly/iCVruN (lol) and, for most of us, TV’s Professional Wrestling is not real http://bit.ly/ggHBX9 .
PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING
TV’s Professional Wrestling tries to give the appearance of being real. To the youthful and/or naïve fan and/or the casual observer and/or those compromised by the fictional perspective of reality being more desirable than the alternative, TV’s Professional Wresting appears real. That is, TV’s Professional Wrestling does a pretty good job of perpetuating the myth by not revealing evidence to the contrary.
Those of us who do not observe passively and/or think critically sooner, rather than later, come to realize that TV’s Professional Wrestling is Scripted and Choreographed. It is scripted and choreographed to achieve the result desired by its creators, owners and management… maximum drama and titillation of the target audience to achieve maximum viewership and maximum profit.
I don’t intend to go into an extensive proof of how TV’s Pro Wrestling’s attempted perception of reality is not true and correct, but I will give a couple of tell tale signs.
1) It defies the laws of physics. Leaping off the top rail, elbow first, into the midsection of an opponent lying on the mat, would result in serious, permanent, life threatening injury. Hitting someone with a folding chair would result in serious injuries (and criminal charges if they were not scripted)
2) Visual Cues – In the case of the leap from the top rope onto the opponent lying flat on the matt, the active observer sees that the knees, hands and elbows of the perpetrator make contact with the mat before they make contact with the target.
The winners are predetermined, the worst of the violence is faked. Attractive, scantily women distract from the fraud and appeal to male fans. They are thrown into the mix to further enhance testosterone laced circus ambience. All of this to create a false perspective of reality to maximize profits. My only excuse is that at the time I believed it was real, I could claim Junior High youthful naiveté.
Again, inconsistencies in the fabric of yet another manufactured false perception of reality, rapidly become apparent when they are pointed out. Understanding the agenda of the owners, managers and participants in TV’s Pro-Wrestling is to maximize profit, increases the skepticism of the viewer and hastens erosion of the credibility in promoting TV’s Pro-Wrestling as being “real”.
REALITY TV
More recently, a new genre of TV entertainment has came on the major media Scene – Reality TV. Survivor, Bachelor, Big Brother, Bachelorette, Fear Factor, Jenny Jones, Who wants to marry a millionaire?, Maury Povich, Jerry Springer, The Apprentice, etc.
As time has gone by, and little secrets have slipped out, a truer picture of “Reality TV” has emerged. Whereas TV’s Professional Wrestling was mostly scripted and choreographed, Reality TV tried to achieve its false “perception of reality” by different methods http://bit.ly/mnloEW http://bit.ly/kLiGsE . Sometimes participants are coached to be more vocal and expressive of reactions and emotions than they normally would be http://ti.me/40TmJs . Sometimes participants were told a completely different scenario of what was going to transpire than what actually was going to transpire. And then there are those participants on shows like Jerry Springer and Maury Povich, that later admitted they made their stories up, or grossly exaggerated, just to get their “5 minutes of fame” or to get some cash http://bit.ly/jUmwXp http://bit.ly/ael4J4 . In some shows, Cast members were told that certain choices would elicit higher ratings than other choices, and Cast members are often misled as to the circumstances will be subjected to and/or assured that their inappropriate beliefs are normal (aka will not subject them to ridicule). (see Jenny Jones)
In short, Reality TV also tried to present a false “Perception of Reality” to maximize drama and titillation for the audience to maximize Profit for the creators, owners and management.
However, this time the manipulation and machinations were more difficult to discern. In the end, Reality failed to maintain the personal incentives to some participants necessary to maintain the false perception of reality. And without the continued incentive to maintain the false perception of reality, those disenfranchised participants revealed that Reality TV was not really Reality TV.
Again, once the obvious clues are pointed out, it becomes obvious that Reality TV was not Real, despite its representations to the contrary.
THE TRUE PURPOSE OF MANUFACTURING FALSE PERCEPTIONS OF REALITY
In our previous examples, we have seen how each of our perceptions of reality can be manipulated to be inconsistent with actual reality. In the case of TV’s Professional Wrestling and Reality TV, we have seen how a group of persons used different methods to change their audience’s perception of reality. The methods were meant to maximize drama and titillation for the audience and thereby maximize profits.
Reality TV also manufactured a false Perception of Reality for its Target audience, again for the self interest of maximizing profits.
In summary, the most common purpose for manufacturing a false perception of reality in a target audience is selfish self interest usually manifesting itself as the desire for financial gain. Everyone involved in perpetuating any false perception of reality generally does so for personal gain, personal comfort, personal security and/or personal advantage.
All Governments in the world have a target audience – their citizens or subjects. All Governments enforce their perception of reality by some combination of force http://bit.ly/lJxIP9 , propaganda, censorship and/or indoctrination. The agenda of all Governments is to maintain their power and control and to maximize Government Revenue. As all Governments are composed of people, the ultimate agenda for individuals in the Ruling Class’ is personal gain, personal comfort, personal security and/or personal advantage.
EDWARD BERNAYS – PEACE TIME PROPAGANDA
Edward Bernays http://bit.ly/9oqSc4 was the Nephew of psychologist and philosopher, Sigmund Freud http://bit.ly/4exdUG . Mr. Bernays shared his uncle’s interest in understanding the minds of people http://n.pr/a306L .
He became an advisor to American President Woodrow Wilson during World War I. The American General Public was of a mindset of Isolationism and was strongly against involvement in what became known as World War I. President Wilson got elected and reelected on a campaign promise of keeping America out of World War I.
However, shortly before or shortly after he was reelected, President Wilson desired to have America enter World War I. And so he gathered a group of advisors for that purpose. And Edward Bernays was among them. And they created a group called the Council on Public Relations http://bit.ly/OXBSh . Within a few months, American opinion shifted to being in support of entering WWI.
Mr. Bernays and the Council on Public Relations were so successful in changing public opinion, that Mr. Bernays decided that if propaganda could be used in war time, it could also be used during times of peace http://bit.ly/bvEUlf .
Mr. Bernays strategy for changing public opinion involved playing on the natural needs, wants and aspirations and unconscious and/or irrational fears and desires inherent in all people. As Mr. Bernays believed that all people were essentially clones of each other when it comes to the aforementioned traits, his technique were not aimed at the individuals but rather the group psyche or the “herd instinct” if you will.
Mr. Bernays believed that the masses (WE THE PEOPLE) were inherently stupid and evil and had to be controlled. And therefore he believed that rather than engage in rational dialogue, the masses could be appealing to their irrational emotions… their hardwired fears and desires.
One of Mr. Bernays pieces of advice to Government was that instead of trying to decrease public fear, they increase and manipulate it to achieve the desired result. By addressing their inherent fears and appealing to the masses’ natural desires and the masses’ inner selfish wants and feelings, Bernays believed that the masses would become happy, docile and receptive to unperceived manipulation by Government and Corporations. http://bit.ly/hkXgr0 (Much of the advertizing world refers to images and feelings that make individuals and the masses feel happy and docile as “warm fuzzies”)
In 1928, Edward Bernays wrote:
“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society”
Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society, constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our America. We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested largely by people we have never heard of.
This way of thinking overwhelmingly dominates the world today. This way of thinking undermines the fundamental principles of Representative Governments such as Democracies and Constitutional Representative Republics. And it certainly is not exercised in the best interests of the masses.
But Governments and Corporations believe it is acceptable to manipulate public opinion without disclosing their true agendas, motivations, intent and purposes… I offer the following question and answer as preliminary proof of my assertions.
How many pieces of American Legislation have you seen passed that have names which indicate they are in the best interests of WE THE PEOPLE but actually are not?
For Example:
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) actually enshrines the various techniques by which government can prevent Citizens from receiving information which are supposed to be public. High expenses, 30 day response times, secret exceptions, required verbiage, identifying the FOIA officer, not requiring the information to just be posted on the internet as standard procedure, etc. http://bit.ly/lsWpiw
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) This is supposed allow you have health insurance portability and make the insurance and medical professions accountable. But in one of subparts, the issue of privacy of medical information is addressed. And while it purports to be about privacy of medical records, in reality it expressly stated the terms and conditions under which the government and corporations can have access to your medical records. http://1.usa.gov/9a0f5 http://1.usa.gov/ePq0TW
These two examples represent the tip of the iceberg, when it comes to examples of how Edward Bernays’ style Propaganda does not serve the best interests of the masses, aka the general public aka WE THE PEOPLE.
PROLOGUE TO EXPOSING THE TRUTH AND MAJOR MYTHS OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT
Thus far in this article, you have been provided with information that allows you to “Think critically”, understand the selfish motivations and interests of all Governments and to be aware of the ways Governments and Corporations choose to manipulate their customers, citizens and subjects. Being thus informed, you should be better able to protect yourself from false perceptions of reality that others, including your government, attempt to imprint upon you. And, as a result, you should be better able to protect your own best interests by taking ownership of your own, truer perspective of reality.
In the next sections of this article, I will proceed to share with you my perspective of reality with regards to our American Government. I remind you to think critically and take ownership of your own perspective of reality. This is not meant to be an exhaustive list of Truths and Myths which may challenge your perception of reality with regard to our government. Some are not addressed for lack of time and space, and other I have self censored because they may so conflict with your current perception of reality that you would dismiss them out of hand.
I do not enjoy being critical of our government nor causing anyone distress by challenging their current perception of reality. However, I believe the best interests of our Country are better served by WE THE PEOPLE having an accurate perspective of reality. Further, I believe that what I am about to impart to you shall be so clear and convincing that you will alter your own perception of reality knowingly and of your own free will.
Now to the new and enlightened perception of reality…
You can read part 2 of this 2 part artcle by clicking here:
Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, Pro-Wresting & the US 2 Party System 2/2
I write this article with the same intentions as Thomas Paine http://ushistory.org/paine. I seek no leadership role. I seek only to help the American People find their own way using their own “Common Sense” http://amzn.to/kbRuar
Thank you for taking the time to read and reflect upon this article.
Those were my thoughts.
In Liberty,
Don Mashak
The Cynical Patriot
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