WMail ezine "The Distinction TRUST" Essay

        How many times over the last few weeks have you heard or seen the phrase 'Good Things Are Happening Here'?
        Blatant, overt propaganda, that's all it is. The effort to drum such a slogan into the public consciousness of America would not be undertaken unless there was a need to dissuade those who see a glimmer of something else, to hide a national dis-ease, to counter the threat of Objective Reality.
        Yes, overt propaganda. You cannot trust the Culture-Structure, which does the bidding of the Oligarchy. They must be worried, cracks are appearing in the facade, light is getting thru or might be, and the Forces of Endarkenment must take steps.

Any venue where you see or hear the phrase 'Good Things Are Happening Here' is a context where you cannot trust the other content. So far I've seen this phrase on bus benches and billboards in Los Angeles, and on chain movie theater screens. We all know that advertising cannot be trusted, yet the ad media are quite effective in brainwashing you all, in replacing Reason, in stultifying the hearts and minds of the citizens. You know it is an ad, you believe the ads anyway, you buy their concepts or goods and add the price to your debt burden – you have as much chance as a salmon swimming upstream: the ads sing their propagandist tune, and you swim right alongside all the other fools. The Collective gives orders, and you obey.

Overt propaganda, which you did not even detect, you are so inured to its effect. But after reading this, some of you can and will catch and count – you'll miss a few while deep in your customary state of Unconsciousness – the times that you are presented with this or similar phrases. Point each occasion out to your fellows, whatever the setting, and break the thought[-less] patterns of the numbed, those whose minds are so full of balderdash that no room exists for the exercise of Reason.

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        How come general distrust is rampant? Why does so much of our interaction with our fellows leave us feeling worse off somehow? Degraded, ripped off, conned, stiffed, f***ed over? Beschtuft, even!
        Why do we compete tooth and nail with our fellow members of Mankind, reserving help of others to our closest circle or for times when we are being watched?

You have good reason not to trust others, or it would seem so. The real problem is that the Collective [aka the Culture-Structure] has decreed that all must obey the dictates of the Collec- tive, and never, never seek guidance from within, from your Individual Self. Advertising, for example, tells you what to buy, where to buy it, what is hot or chic and-or popular, so that you will know what is expected of the Collective Consumer. The 9-11-01 tragedy got milked clean in just a few months, down to the Presidential directive that spending money is a patriotic act.
And there is the clue: Patriotism is not accorded to one's country, but for the economy. Fly the mighty greenback high! Salute the Federal Reserve! Bow as you enter the check stand!

President George Dubya Bush cannot be trusted, for his first allegiance is not to the U.S. of A., or at least not to the people in it. His Enron pals will never see the inside of a jail. Co-payments for veterans were raised 350% so that Dubya can cut taxes for his wealthy friends. Let American school kids starve in illiteracy while the Military-Industrial Complex makes a fortune from the delivery of a doubtful Star Wars system. And of course, the Enron mess. The sad saga continues.
We all know that anyone in politics cannot be trusted; it is the nature of that game. Even the Good Guys in politics can be trusted maybe half of the time – which is execrable. Your government – U.S. and otherwise – cannot be relied on at any level, except that they do just enough to keep the machinery moving and to prevent riots in the streets (which doesn't always work). Crime is up or down, but you are afraid to walk the streets at night, and in a lot of areas, are in serious danger in full daylight. Each generation learns less in the school system, as standards are lowered or discarded, so that today a high-school diploma is next to worthless. Go to college and you get to fight for a minimum-wage job, or one that requires 60 to 70 hours a week of soul-breaking, mind-numbing effort – while the Oligarchy stashes tax-exempt profits in offshore banks.

Automobiles begin breaking down after only 2-3 years of use, partly because of poor design and also because the infrastructure has deteriorated: potholes abound, bridges are weak with rust, traffic wastes your time and wears engine parts – stop start, stop start – and if an SUV dings your car in the parking lot, the parts cost three times what the car is worth.

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        The Individual is a person who has learned to trust Silence, the Self. Outside experience helps the decision-making process, but the ultimate Responsibility always lies with the Self. When the Self is weak and abrogates Responsibility to the Collective, then that person has handed his/her Natural Power over to the Oligarchy, thru the Culture-Structure. The self-empowered Individual, however, can experience Power, retain it, by not surrendering it when the usual pressure is applied by the Will of the Collective.
        'They' do not exist except as a mirage handed down over generations, described as real by those who want your Power. Greed requires the Oligarchy to take Power from you, first thru manipulation, then thru trickery, then thru outright theft, and if you still resist, then thru the use of Force. 'They' cannot generate Power, they have to persuade you to surrender it to them, and they are ever fearful that their tenuous hold on your obedience may disappear, and they cannot stop the treadmill. Like sharks, the Oligarchy knows that if they stop robbing the people of Power, they will die.
        The mythical 'They' never identify themselves, or the source of their authority, they just assume dominion over you and other dolts who obey by default, by shirking their Individual Responsibility. Your instincts tell you not to trust the obsequious minions of 'They', but the Culture-Structure knows to push the right button – guilt, greed, fear, patriotism, bigotry, sleaze – and your attention is turned away from those instincts, which are the Self.

First you have to take a Stand, to Trust Trusting. There must be – there is – a Value to refer to that will work more than not, that will Empower rather than dis-empower, and that Value is Trust. You can Trust yourself [your Self] to Listen to the Self, which gets easier with practice, so that your Rational Self-Interest is brought to bear, one central manifestation of which is the Intention to Empower.
When you set out to Empower, from Intention, then you are likely to reach that goal. To the extent that you can evoke Empowerment as a goal, for yourself and for others, then you can Trust your actions. Whatever corruption or numbing or flaccidity has replaced your Self, the decision to clean up your act, to become Responsible, is your Responsibility. Only the Individual can Stand for being an Individual, Responsibility requires the Stand for Responsibility. The desire, the Stand, the Trust of one's Self, calls forth Proper Action.

You must locate a Value that you Trust, which will be your touchstone for who and what to Trust. You may have to change your party affiliation, even to the extent of registering Independent. You may have to replace all your 'friends'. You may have to renegotiate commitments to family and loved ones. You may decide to start over in a new career field or a new city, one that is a better one – for you.

Thus is the line drawn between Trust and Not Trust. By looking at your Trusted Value – such as Empowerment, or Well-Being, or Contribution – you will then determine what can and cannot be trusted. Not all the after-effects of this Stand will appear to be good news. Some tough choices will demand your attention, but these are choices long ignored and once addressed will return your Power to you. Each such choice will clear up nagging illusions, speed up results, and open new doors. The Stand to BE Responsible, kept in effect, will produce your intended Empowerment.

This Stand for Responsibility will present to you a strange world where others expect you to honor your Stand, to Keep Your Word, to generate on-goingly your Stated Future, the newly-defined Trusted Value, which makes you the generator of Trust. The Forces of Endarkenment cannot do this, they will in fact need to halt your progress, but the best revenge is the making of progress, the generation of Empowerment in spite of their malice. (The Culture-Structure is always out to rob you of your Power and your Self. No matter what you do they will oppose you. Why let them have it without a fight?)

        Be the source of an environment of Trust, and others will gravitate toward your Power, so that they can do the same. You can lay claim to being cause of your environment at all times, for that is exactly the existential case.
        If someone generates Endarkenment, then that person shall live in darkness.
        Whoever generates Empowerment shall have Power.

Generate Trust and Value and Empowerment =OR= generate Endarkenment, by default. You choose.
I trust your developing Working Mind to make the right decision.

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The WMail Newsletter EssaysVolume III - Issue #24: June 2002

"The Distinction TRUST"

The WMail Newsletter Essays
Volume III - Issue #24: June 2002