Jul 14, 2013

With or Without You

For those who believe that without the State, there would be people dying in the streets- I offer the following story...

A co-worker at the local business was riding his bicycle to work the other day, when a car pulled out in front of him.  He had very little time to hit the brakes and slammed right into the side of the car, landing on top of his bike.  Of course, someone called an ambulance, but my co-worker refused the ride (although I cannot be sure of this, I wonder if he was trying to avoid the outrageous price).  Interestingly, anyone can call an ambulance for you, even without your permission- and they don't get the bill!  Suddenly, you find yourself being persuaded that it is a good idea to get in and take a ride "for your safety."  Thankfully, he had the presence of mind to think for himself.  He ended up walking his bike to work...

When he arrived at work, he was in obvious pain.  As word spread about what had happened, the owners eventually found out- and insisted on taking him to go to the hospital.  He found out that he had a deep bruise on his shoulder, but that he was going to be okay.

Now, can you imagine if my co-worker had instead ridden in the ambulance?  Perhaps it seemed like a reasonable thing to do after such a crash, but it would have been very costly for something that is truly not life threatening.  About a week later, he is doing fine, and I am sure he is glad to have avoided the bill he would have received for such nonsense treatment.

Jul 4, 2013

The Global Panopticon

The recent public revelation that the U.S. government is officially tracking everyone via cell phone calls, email, internet activity (certainly blog posts), etc. was not a surprise to me, because I heard about it probably at least a year ago or longer from several different sources.  If I am not mistaken, Alex Jones had on a guest a long time ago who discussed how he was setting up the infrastructure at AT&T for these NSA spying programs.  Gerald Celente mentioned this likelihood over a year ago in his newsletter, Trends Journal

However, at that time if one were to discuss this idea that the government is tracking everything you do, people would look at you like you were literally wearing a tin-foil hat!  No more!  Now it is right out there in the open...but why? 

The mainstream news outlets (in true Pravda fashion) regularly bury or fail to report stories that are embarrassing to the government- but, for reasons we will get into, this story has become ubiquitous.  In other words, you hear about it over, and over, and over.  Of course, the story is framed in such a way to distract from the crucial issue of government surveillance.  The spying is but a subliminal part of the story, while we are to focus on the other, more benign aspects which make for "compelling" entertainment reporting.  The manipulators of public opinion are clearly up to something devious- a subtle propaganda campaign designed to make it a part of public consciousness that everyone, everywhere in the world is being watched.

The effect is similar to what we see from the TSA at airports.  This agency herds people into lines, and gives them a choice to either let a stranger view their naked body or submit to a full pat-down.  What could be more dehumanizing, and humiliating than this degrading act?  The common person says, "Well, I have nothing to hide, so who cares?"  However, the psychological damage has already been done.

 
Presidio Modelo, Isla De la Juventud, Cuba



The open admission that the U.S. government is gathering all data it can possibly acquire domestically and internationally on ordinary people has created a global panopticon.  It is like a constant body scan or pat-down every time someone communicates- we are all now naked before our masters, and we know it.  This moment, the death of privacy, is an important milestone in the march toward tyranny- now everyone in society is aware of the intentions of the regime- total control.

One positive aspect of this shift in consciousness, is that there can be no more denial of the totalitarian intentions of the U.S. government.  No longer should we have to endure the eye-rolling and dismissive attitudes of those who are interested in talking politics only if one stays safely within the John Boehner/Harry Reid paradigm.*  This is the opportunity to open the lid on that box, and guide many people to a new perspective.



*Thanks Tom Woods