posted on Sep, 20 2012 @ 01:32 PM
In order to participate on this site I have to take some things at face value. If Heff says he has PTSD and is Bipolar II, I either believe it, with a
corresponding attitude, or I don't. Naturally he could simply lie about it, then point out later that he lied, then claim he "manipulated" us. If
he did, indeed, do that, I'd write him off as a sociopath.
Now if Heff wanted to really be a self-proclaimed "agent," i.e.: He's not a real agent, but plays one on ATS, then he has a reputation to maintain,
otherwise his manipulations are all for naught. And he just blew that by "confessing" to ATS, all to show us how easily manipulated we are.
Gosh, Heff, I'm so chagrined. here you are Mensa material and you just showed us all how stupid we are. I guess I learned my lesson! Yes, I did! A
lesson in humility, a lesson in how easily we can all become sheeple, a lesson in how really smart Heff is and how we really ought to listen to him
because, after all, he's been engaged in a campaign of manipulating us and he claims to have been "largely successful." Of course, he is grading
himself, but let's just let that go for a moment.
In fact, let's let go of Heff for a moment because, really, this is not just about him. But he has us in a kind of convenient condition. He has
criticized us all en masse, all to great accolades from those thusly criticized, yet no one can actually respond because that would be a criticism of
a specific member, which is disallowed under T&C. Besides, he's a Moderator and Moderators have POWER over us mere mortals.
Of course, he's not flaunting it. That would be a No-no, and he "has a right to an opinion, too, by God!" (said with righteous indignation), but
it's still there, isn't it? The Boss can call his employees a bunch of ninnies, but an employee better think twice about calling the Boss a ninnie.
It kind of works well until you get into court, and the employee-rights attorney portrays the Boss as one who had power over said employee and
manipulated her into an affair. Now the company pays out millions. Of course, the analogy is a stretch. I’m just saying that this sort of
manipulative behavior can turn on you in the real world. It’s frowned upon and can be legally sanctioned. But ATS is not the real world, is it?
But alas, we are here. How convenient. So let us speak in generalities. Here’s one:
PTSD is a manufactured condition. By and large it is fake. It did not exist before Vietnam. (Yes, I can hear the outrage. This is not a politically
correct thing to say, is it? Because “everyone knows” how debilitating PTSD can be. Just ask a victim.) In fact, in WW II, if you had PTSD you
were scorned. Remember Patton actually got into trouble for haranguing a young soldier who said he “just couldn’t take it.” So it was actually
starting back then. We had a few “shell shock” victims in the Korean War. I knew two of them who would come to the library and sit listlessly all
day. One walked to the bookshelves, turned and walked until he hit more bookshelves, then turned and walked back again—all day long. Yes, I think
that was real. Both men were as nice as could be, would never think of manipulating you, and were totally dysfunctional.
But today PTSD is an industry. And it’s because we no longer call PTSD victims cowards and threaten to shoot them. Instead we say, “Oh, poor baby.
You must have been through so much. Here let me help you. Here’s some money.” This has crept out into the civilian world as well. If someone so
much as looks at you cross-eyed you can claim PTSD. It used to be that if you encountered a stressful situation in your life, you worked through it
and kept going. But today even a break-up with a girlfriend engenders PTSD. Divorce? A car accident? Laid off? Oh, poor baby!
You see I’m ex military, too. And I have listened to more than one conversation around the campfire that discussed exactly what to say and whom to
speak to to ensure a claim was upheld. “If you say THIS, they’re not allowed to deny you!’ It’s a little more difficult for Navy guys, but,
you know those F-18s taking off from deck 18 hours a day is really loud, ergo, PTSD!
So when I hear PTSD or other 21st century acronyms of diseases that didn’t exist prior, I instantly think fraud and abuse. Not always, of course,
for in any disinformation campaign, there is a verifiable kernel of truth. But the bottom line is that here’s someone who “can’t work” and
wants disability payments, meaning I’ll have to carry them for the rest of their life. It’s a character issue, and I’m not impressed.
47% of us are doing the same thing right now. We’re not responsible. Someone else is at fault. We “can’t make it” without being dependent on
government to “help” us. It’s an attitude that any other century would find shockingly irresponsible. And if more people take it on we’re not
going to have a country left, and let’s see how far your “disability” payments go then. You might actually have to work for a living.