Originally posted by muppet
With regards to the importance of individuality, I agree with the article completely.
The other two assertions though, that civilization has reached some sort of zenith, and that all political systems are based on lies, I do
not.
Well, I think as far as the civilization reference was concerned it wasn't so much speaking for the entire planet so much as it was talking about the
U.S.A. Then even more to the point was comparing the Original U.S. to the Current U.S. and how the ideals and operation of the U.S. has been changed.
Now personally I wasn't around till the 1970's so I don't know for sure that it actually was what others & books say it was, but if what they say
is anything near what they say, I too can see how it's degraded A LOT.
As for the Political Systems being based on lies. Again I'd say the 'based' or 'original' is not right either. However, the current evaluation
of the Political System sure as hell is a system of lies and liars. That is why the author of this article also said, for those who read the whole
thing, that he's trying to stay optimistic about the whole change and while he can't see it returning to what it once was, perhaps some of the core
policies which once made it great would held onto by people today and used to help change the system from this point on for the better.
With regards to western civilization, there is much be improved, and while individuality exists, there will be those striving to improve
it.
I sure hope it improves as individuality is, IMO, all but lost. Everything now is about Parties, Groups, Unions, Memberships, Clubs, etc. Nobody is
viewed as a Person (Man or Woman) anymore, as if individuals are worthless on their own. To the Government everyone is just a Social Security Number
or Similar Tag given for a quick, impersonal reference lookup. For the rest of society, you're not even listened to unless you have some
'Platform' that you can be identified with. Republican, Democrat, M.A.D.D, D.A.R.E, PTA, IRS, Gay & Lesbian Foundation, GreenPeace, Christian,
Catholic, Atheist, Radical, Hippie, East Coast, West Coast, Gangsta, Humanist, Liberal, Anarchist, Satanist, LowRider, White Collar, Blue Collar,
Militant 'Psycho', Conspiracy Theorist, Leftist, etc. etc. etc....
It's all just Prejudice Generalizations of everyone into some pre defined category, whether or not they even belong there, simply so others can then
ignore them or slander what they say by association with whatever group they are pigeon holed into.
As to politics, there is a lot of ignorance as to how governments and politicians work, but that isn't because people were lied to. It's
because they never really tried to find out. No government that I know of, and no politician, has ever said, to the people, "You need
us".
I do agree that it is people's ignorance and their tolerance and acceptance of being ignorant that is much of the problem. However, saying that the
people aren't lied to and that it's all cause they simply do not investigate what is happening, is in no way true. Just look at ATS for example.
There are very serious people here and elsewhere that are very very interested and spend a lot of time and energy trying to get to the bottom of what
is going on. If it wasn't for all the lies and cover-ups that are going on all the time, ATS wouldn't even exist.
The lies of Governments and Big Organizations, be it Religion, Big Business, Mobs, or whatever, are simply infested with lies and deception. So much
so that they can't even keep them all straight half the time. How many times has our own FBI nabbed our CIA in the middle of crimes? How many
scandals within Gov. Positions can you think of?
There are lies ranging from 'I tried it once but never inhaled.' to 'I did not have sexual relations with so and so' to 'Our homeland could be
attacked by Nuclear & Biological Weapons with 45 min.' to 'Read my lips, No New Taxes' and so on. The B.S. never stops from these people. So much
so that it's really a big joke to most normal people. Politicians are known for saying anything that will get them elected, as well as 'Kissing
babies as often as stealing their Lollipops'.
Political systems, in democracies at least, evolved over time as "best-attempts" to solve the problem of translating the will of the people,
into action. No system is perfect, and most allow for minor tweaks or amendments over time, but so far a better, practical alternative has yet to be
found.
Well, since the U.S. started out as a Constitutional Republic and not a Democracy, but with Democratic Principles, I'd say part of the problem is
simply the fact that so many have forgotten the fundamental differences and ideals between such 'Political Systems'. This is once again partly
because people simply got lazy and allowed such knowledge to be taken away from them and future generations, as well as the active involvement of
those who did the taking away of such knowledge.
The third, implied issue regarding the stifling effect of big business and corporatism, I think is no as much of a threat as people think. Big
corporations face the same problems as big empires in times gone by, and more, since they can be beaten or eaten up much faster in todays fast
changing world. Whole industries can be born or wiped out with a single idea, and ideas are multiplying and flourishing more vibrantly than ever in
this nourishing atmosphere of internet and global communications.
In such an environment, we have the potential to go a long way yet..
While I can agree to that in part, I also realize the effect that such 'Big Business Empires' have on The People in general as these 'Empires'
battle it out for Control of the Market and the masses. While Corps. like WalMart will surely (hopefully) one day be as unheard of as 'The Piggly
Wiggly', until then I have little doubt about them leaving behind a history of 'Corrupt Political Involvement, Employment Slavery, RFID NWO Policy,
Broken Small Town Businesses, etc.' for the world to deal with.