Freedom of Choice is What You Got, Freedom FROM Choice is What You Want

Do you find yourself coming to websites like this, listening to the radio, reading the newspaper, and anything else that seems like it might give you hope that things have started changing for the better?

me too.

Do you find yourself wanting to express two or three thoughts at the same time, in response to these topics, before someone attempts to label your thoughts as "for" or "against" some popular opinion, when you never intended to entirely condone or condemn the subject of discussion?

me too.

Do you find slightly assaulted and embarrassed when you come to this website and see three or four advertisements coming at your from all angles while you're trying to read an thread or keep a train of thought, and the goddamn advertisements are randomly blaring audio at you..? have you noticed how these ads don't even seem to attempt to reflect the general attitudes of the MEMBERS of this site (yanno.. the people who give the site a reason to exist)...?

me too.
(and personally, I've NEVER clicked one of these ads. ever. how's that for a marketing statistic fellas?)


my point being: for a group of people who are supposedly so interested in "finding the Truth" and "saving the world", more and more it seems like everyone on here is more interested in projecting their opinion and "developing their online personae" than any of the previously mentioned goals.

Is Conspiracy Theory like sports to most people on here? Is it really another just time-killing entertainment for people who are "debating" about terrorists, drugs, politics, and/or trying to take "the righteous view" on every topic imaginable..
..just so long as we don't take a REAL stand on anything we feel passionate about?

I find more individual thought and earnest effort put into the "below top secret" forum these days, and than anywhere else, and it's just ironic. Aren't we supposed to be here to "deny ignorance" or has it really just become a game of "exposing turds".. i don't really think they are synonymous..
i mean Christ, does no one else find it hilarious/infuriating that if you donate $10 to this website, you're supposed to consider yourself a "junior conspirator" and (yanno, if you REALLY care) if you donate $1000 you can consider yourself a "black project leader" or even better yet for $2500 you can be "The Powers That Be"...?!?!

..seriously..? I'M PRETTY SURE THE PEOPLE PARTICIPATING ON THIS SITE ARE GENERALLY AGAINST BLACK-PROJECTS AND THE POWERS THAT BE...

is it supposed to just all be a big joke..? Cops and Robbers, Cowboys and Indians.. its just a big game where everyone is *really* on the same team?
somebody please explain THAT one to me haha..

i know that i am calling out ATS on ATS, but if it actually stands for what it claims to stand for (which ain't a whole lot these days) then i think that these thoughts should be able to be considered valid.. I honestly lurked on this site for YEARS and it seemed like there was at least a few interesting threads every day, but now its like.. maybe a few in a week that have any real information in them.. and that's if you can find them amongst the diluted mess of constant new threads of opinion and arguing about dogma.

I come here to get a "man on the street" view of the world and find some news that THE PEOPLE find to be important..
but it seems like this site has become more of an addiction for a lot of people, instead of a tool. For every person who posts some original thoughts and is sincerely looking for good information, it seems like there's 20 other people who are just out on the web to share what disgusts them, what religion/philosophy they prefer (over all others), which recent current event is a "false flag" (without any hard evidence or even a 'i know a guy on the inside who told me..'), which pop bands they love (more often than not, i see people still parading washed up crap like AC/DC, Journey, Metallica, and recent bands that THE RADIO PLAYS... i don't care if people enjoy the music, but do you guys really think that these bands need more advertising..?

ultimately, i am trying to say that maybe forum discussion itself is being used as a tool to distract people from taking any real ACTION that could change things. Maybe we're being tricked into opting out of participating in history, in exchange for dicking around on the internet, trying to shout the loudest, getting all tuckered out, and saying to yourself "well.. i did my part in attempting to be informed. Now i can relax and go back to being a comfortable consumer"

I know that not a whole lot of people will read this, but if this makes just a couple of people reconsider the situation, i think some good will come of it. I'm not saying we should just "give up" on trying to collaborate on refining our ideas on how the world should work, but i AM saying that if we were serious about finding solutions and holding people accountable to practicing what they preached..
i think there might be a whole lot more threads like this one..

i don't claim to have the answers, but i do have quite a few questions..

here's a couple that I've been holding back on, over the last year:

-If Ebola could have been contained with 1 billion dollars, where are the people praising Bill Gates for his "philanthropy" in Africa? If i was that guy, i would have said "here's a billion. take care of it and pay me back when you can."

-If ISIS is such a horrible entity, then why does a day not go by when they aren't discussed in detail? I know that something should be done about that situation, but what does everyone think we can gain from reiterating the same thing over and over and over..? Will beating a dead horse fix the problem, or do you think it just makes you look smart to "know things"..?

if you made it to the bottom, thanks for reading my thoughts, and I'd be glad to hear yours! What am i missing?

a reply to: HyphenSt1

I don't think anything anyone says on any website/ E-mail/ Wall graffiti is actually going to make a bit of difference in the long run. And that's if any of the conspiracies we discuss are even "true" (notice the quotations? Truth is highly subjective). At any rate, we can mentally masturbate till the proverbial cows come home but how is that going to stop the Global Elite from pissing down our collective backs? A shift in consciousness is underway (I know how New-Agey that sounds) and the only thing I can see that we can do is let it come. Our current sociological paradigm wherein the few rule the many and own a vast percentage of the global wealth and necessary resources is coming to an end because people are mad as hell and we aren't going to take this anymore.

a reply to: HyphenSt1

Also,

a reply to: HyphenSt1


PS: How is everyone so quick to discuss the "political controversy" of a movie like The Interview, but I've never heard anyone discuss how truly bizarre and effed up it is that EVERY YEAR, videogames and movies are made which simulate WARS THAT HAVE NEVER EVEN HAPPENED between countries who do not currently have any problems with each other, let alone the countries/entities which the US currently DOES have problems with..?

Isn't that abit more than just a small plot hole, in the whole scheme of things?

A movie about killing the leader of North Korea is made: a corporation is hacked, it gets HUGE news coverage, the president responds, and... what? Money and useless information is passed around, a majority of people's time wasted, some people make some money and meet their deadlines.
Now what to write about??

I know I'm not the only person thinking this, but i do know that i don't hear anyone else out there bringing it up! hmm

why dont you try spending some time on a different forum that is not focused on education information or knowledge. like a hobby forum. i think it would enlighten you to the fact that your observations of peoples behaviour on this forum is actualy toned down compared with other forums. it is just the way our society is these days. sad and poor behaviour yes. but thats where we are.

ive actualy always been a bit impressed at how much lesser that behaviour is exhibited here compared with all the other forums i frequent. there are more here who "get it" and try to control their tone. then there are most elsewhere.

the reason it surprises you to see it at first. is that people dont behave this way in public. the internet is where people drop their manners because there is no fear of repercussion thanks to annonymity. all this i think is a good thing. we are getting a better glimpse of who we truely are beneath our facades and i think we are all the better for it.

a reply to: HyphenSt1

A major problem is that, if you come to this site with "original ideas" (what is truly original, anymore?), like you said, you get lambasted from all side from the pro and con crowd.

Of course, I would argue that if it bothers you this much, then you aren't at the right site for you. You should be able to do what I do much of the time--look at the OP and click the links and then think for yourself without reading any of the comments that just infuriate you.

I'll be the first to admit that I take the bait more times than I'd like, but it's often hard to ignore when people spout opinions based on either willful ignorance or downright bad information, but speak with authority as if it's indisputable fact. I over-reasearch topics before I comment on them, unless it's purely based on opinion, like this thread.

But really, I think you need to get better at just ignorning the immaturity that follows many posts on this site--if you can do that, you're already 10 steps ahead. Sometimes you have to wade through a lot of # in order to find that peanut you're looking for. If you can't ignore the #, you'll never find it.

Here are a couple good, non-radio tunes for ya Well, at least IMO





And if this doesn't put a grin on your face, I've got nothing for ya (same band):



I played trumpet--I dig horn sections.

a reply to: CagliostroTheGreat

I agree to a certain extent, but I do think that this electronic graffiti does make a difference, at least in the way that people are spending their time "mentally masturbating" as you say. I don't think that it is entirely a bad thing that people are on here pushing electrons around, but goddamn.. am I just missing the fine print where it says that people aren't actually on here to find some Truth (with a big T) and not just share a bunch of subjective mush?

I agree that most information labeled as "truth" is subjective and meaningless (impossible to apply in a useful way) but there's *some* stuff out there which points to a lot of Truth which is neither bad nor good, but some of the most useful stuff you can find! or at least information which is thought-provoking and truly inspiring. I used to think that I wasn't so affected by the hypocrisy and double-standards of online forums, but it really has. I think that (like anything) you entrain to it, and think in terms of it's rules. when those rules are confusing and inconsistent, that's the breeding ground for paranoia..
and i suppose that ATS is all for paranoia amongst the masses, but I don't feel the same way. I would sincerely like to see an evolution of thought here online, and while I'm not a very serious person, i do think that the human world has much improvement to be made..

and i agree with you about the shift of consciousness though i honestly don't even really read into that sort of stuff. I've been called an "indigo child" and whatever, but i don't find that stuff very useful if anything. I definitely know that i stick out like a sore thumb, psychically speaking, and while i don't think I'm "smarter" than anyone, i do find that i want to throttle some people awake to some of the blatant flaws in the mainstream train of thought.

I think a big key is: "money" doesn't make the world go round. it is an imaginary system which we use to justify an exchange of goods. The GOODS and SERVICES we exchange are real, useful, and necessary (what else are we gonna be doing?) and "the economy" is a big bunch of make believe.

haha.. when people realize that very real Truth, THEN what..?

a reply to: pryingopen3rdeye

i don't go elsewhere because i DON'T want to just be talking with "like-minded souls" haha. I don't know if it's a masochistic impulse, but i don't really like just talking with people who agree with me. i feel like a lot can be learned from debate, but the REAL problem is, that most people can't spot a logical fallacy when they hear one; whether it's coming at them from a TV or it's coming from inside their own head..
Logic and diversity of POV seem essential to having a good exchange. I appreciate you and everyone else who responded because everyone did add a little bit, and help me refine the train of thought, but I still get the feeling that these thoughts are nothing new to you guys.

I just WISH all the users with a rabid conviction to whatever "-isms" they subscribe to (which are all over most of the forums) would respond to my threads in an honest and sincere way.. but either they are not looking for anything which actually challenges their POV (except in the language of dualisms and polarized language) or they have no clue where to start in "setting me straight" haha.

I do think that it is good that we get to see what people are like when they don't have to wear the mask they wear during the daily grind but.. indeed LOOK at what that looks like haha. It gives us a good idea of how much we have yet to grow.

a reply to: SlapMonkey

first off: thanks for the good tunes!

I do indeed use that "scan for links and interesting words" tactic more often than not, and you'll notice that i really don't even log into my account very often because I'm not really interested in "jumping into the fray" but sometimes i just hafta write a thread which doesn't just ignore the blaring inconsistencies and weirdness which nobody seems to mention.

and I don't mean to say "my thoughts are original" in the sense that "they have never been thought by anyone but me", but rather they are thoughts that i don't see being discussed. i know that just because i don't see, doesn't mean it isn't happening, but.. i would expect a little bit more nitpicking from the conspiracy crowd on things like donating users being labeled "Black Project Leader" and the silliness which is "Next level BS" etc..