Abused By Illusions

Here are a couple of quotes that I recently ran across. Tell me what you think about them?

"What a man believes upon grossly insufficient evidence is an index into his desires - desires of which he himself is often unconscious. If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, hewill scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence. The origin of myths is explained in this way."-- Bertrand Russell, philosopher - "Roads to Freedom"

The fastest way to succeed is to look as if you're playing by other people's rules, while quietly playing by your own. ~Michael Korda

I was just wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience to mine? I've been on Myspace for ages now and connected with very few old friends. I get on my Facebook a few days ago and damn I can't quit finding people. Is it that Myspace is mainly the younger crowd and Facebook is the old fuddies which most of my old friends would be? Or does it have something to do with the software itself? Inquiring minds want to know. Whats you opinion?

All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. Arthur SchopenhauerGerman philosopher (1788 - 1860)

How does Arthur Schopenhauer’s quote above apply in 2010? What has become of truth as we enter 2010? After being lied into two unnecessary wars we elect a president that rides a landslide of demanded change into office. Yet, although his speaking ability is a vast improvement, he continues the policies of his lying predecessor. He spends massive amounts of taxpayer money bailing out financial institutions that are "too big to fail." Yet the mass of the population is told that we are to do more with less and endure the pain. We are told that this financial crisis came about because these very same individuals in the financial sector had been playing fast and loose in financial casinos of their own creation. No word is mentioned of the money dumped into the black holes of Afghanistan and Iraq. How far would this money have gone in shoring up the county’s finances and crumbling infrastructure? No one knows as it’s not discussed and is unlikely to be so considering that we now have to stay the course in these disasters. Which, to me, is the equivalent of one bashing her head into the wall today, tomorrow, and everyday into the future. Why? Because, by god, that’s what she started doing and she has to see it through. But I guess, in looking at much of our countries recent history and probably no small part of it’s distant past as well, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is an unwritten rule of US government policy.

Not long before I stopped posting on my blog I had an interesting conversation with a young lady in attendance at a small get together. I forget now what movie had initiated the conversation but for the stories sake we will say it was Oliver Stone’s JFK. The conversation moved onto discussion of Gary Web’s "Dark Alliance" series of articles written for the San Jose Mercury News and later published in book form that detailed the CIA and our governments participation in the cocaine trade as part of the Iran-Contra scandal. I started to tell her about an event that I witnessed as part of my job back in the late 80’s or early 90’s that had direct bearing on what Gary Web was trying to bring out with his series of articles. What this young lady said stopped me in my tracks. She said that she thought that most people were aware of the truth to this or that conspiracy but that they really didn’t want to know about any of it as it was all too scary. She went on to use the example of Orson Well’s "War of the Worlds" and the pandemonium that such a fake event caused and stated that we were all better off not to know.


My people are destroyed for LACK OF KNOWLEDGE: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
Hosea 4:6

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." --Thomas Jefferson to Charles Yancey, 1816. ME 14:384

This conversation resulted in my awakening from my own self-delusion. I had always assumed that those around me needed only to be informed of things that they were unaware. Thus, my odyssey began. As I held similar conversations, throughout my travels, it became apparent that far and wide almost everyone I met was informed but preferred willful ignorance. Willful ignorance you see is both easy and safe. It requires no action on your part. It allows those in power to repeat the same lies over and over and you can pretend anew each day that they are fresh and new. The media and politicians make this easier by periodically repackaging the lies so that once again they might seem fresh.

So once again what is truth in 2010? I posit that it remains to be seen. It is up to each one of us. What say you?

TRUTH SHALL spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven. Psalms 85:11

And ye shall know the truth, and the TRUTH SHALL make you free. John8:32

If you love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home and leave us in peace. We seek not your council, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you; and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.
--Samuel Adams

I've decided after my lengthy absence to start blogging here once again. In the days to come perhaps I can try to catch up here on why I have been gone. Stay tuned!! Did anyone miss me?