Maynard Ponders
I mentioned Obama in the title, but this post isn’t really about Obama; it’s more about me and maybe you. So skip this if you’re not in the mood for some philosophical meandering. Maybe I’ll somehow justify the title somewhere down in the text. Or maybe not.
Since I’m being profound today, I’ll start with the most basic question: Why are we here? I mean here, on planet Earth, alive? The answer, if there is one, must necessarily be of a spiritual nature. About 14 billion year ago the universe (that is, time and space) exploded out of an anomalous singularity (as in “Let there be light”), and now here we are. How or why a glob of particles can coalesce and manifest consciousness is a mystery that defies natural explanation. Any intellectually honest scientist will acknowledge this.
We’re born into this, so we take it for granted. Of course we’re alive and conscious; isn’t everybody alive and conscious? The miracle of our existence is so fundamental that we overlook it.
So we carry on with our lives and we grow up and want stuff. But why do we want? Why do we put on fancy clothes and drive around in a Ferrari? Why is that better than going bald and puttering along in a Civic? What does any of this matter? It’s all vanity and nonsense, one atom wanting another atom…but then, life totally devoid of vanity and nonsense wouldn’t be human life, would it? So we play our games, but there’s got to be more to the game than that.
A substantial part of the human equation is the way we interact with each other. We’ve got something of the herd animal in us…more than cats, but less than sheep (or so I’d like to think). So we look to our leaders, our alpha creatures. We struggle to control or possess each other. We beat each other into submission for countless reasons that run the gamut from fundamental issues of survival to cruel demonstrations of megalomania. Few of our pursuits have anything to do with necessities (food or shelter). No, we fight over a bruised ego, or the abstraction of who controls a spot of land halfway around the world.
We require a common culture to build a common infrastructure. This means there are rules, and of course those rules must be enforced. But to what extent does our cultural framework empower us, and to what extent does it stifle us? I might argue that it’s good that we paint lanes on the street and demand drivers stay in those lines, but excessive when we tell the driver he must wear his seatbelt or he can’t smoke in his car.
The foregoing are examples of honest, naked coercion. They may or may not be justified, but at least they’re clearly laid out. But what about more subtle forms of control? And now, at long last, I’m getting to the real point of this post. I’m even going to mention Obama. Forgive everything I’ve said up to this point; I thought it was needed.
Consider the advertising industry, which spends untold billions of dollars a year to accomplish — what? Either advertising controls people, or all those billions of dollars are being wasted.
Have you ever been to one of those hypnotism shows? Or perhaps you’ve even joined in? You know what I’m talking about? The hypnotist typically picks a group of people from the audience, and those that are successfully hypnotized become part of his act. What’s going on there? Are the participants just hamming it up, or are their minds transforming external suggestions into a subjective reality? I think this is more than a ham phenomenon, but I’m really not sure. I’ve watched the shows, but I’m not the kind of person that plays along. (If you’ve never seen a show of this sort, go to YouTube and search on keywords “hypnotist” and “show”, and you’ll find endless samples of humans turning themselves over to an external power.)
I thought of the foregoing when I happened upon this article, “Obama Does Use Hypnotic Technique in Speeches”.
A number of people have already suggested that Barack Obama’s popularity is not simply the result of well presented speeches, winning people over with his style and easy going manner, but something more sinister.
Having studied his speeches more closely, I would certainly agree that he uses hypnotic techniques on his audience, and delivers these in a very capable and effective way…
That’s a dramatic allegation. But is this just another kooky rant? Is it true and does it matter?
It wouldn’t surprise me if all politicians have a knack for something akin to mind control. Salesmen, too. It’s probably not fair to dump on Obama alone. But I do wonder how such an unqualified and wrong-headed man got a majority of the vote. Something had to convince people that ought to know better that he was okay.
(I’m remembering a lab experiment I once saw on a science show, in which a baby is placed on a table and his mother across the room calls for it to crawl toward her. To reach its mother, the baby must crawl off the table. The experiment observed what happened when the baby reached the table edge. If the mother put an expression of horror on her face, the baby would believe its eyes and stop at the edge. If she continued to smile, the baby would continue across the fall-off point. (Not to worry; it came to no harm.) This illustrated our natural inclination to take signs of danger from others rather than believing our own senses. I think of this when Obama placidly tells us the deficit or some other destructive pitfall is okay.)
I asked Pat what she thought about that article on Obama’s hypnotic techniques (or, along the same lines, this one). She echoed my uncertainty, and mentioned a British entertainer named Derren Brown. Here’s his Wiki.
Since the first broadcast of his Channel 4 show Derren Brown: Mind Control in 2000, Brown has become increasingly well known for his “mind-reading” act. Brown states at the beginning of his Trick of the Mind programs that he achieves his results using a combination of “magic, suggestion, psychology, misdirection and showmanship”. Using his knowledge and skill, he appears to be able to predict and influence people’s thoughts with subtle suggestion, manipulate the decision making process and read the subtle physical signs or body language that indicate what a person is thinking.
Pat pointed me to this YouTube clip, which is absolutely fascinating. If you can spare 7 minutes, watch it through to the final explanation at the end. Do you believe this is on the level (that is to say, it’s not staged)? I would question its integrity, except that Brown seems to do this sort of thing all the time. Here’s another YouTube clip; one of many.
It seems that people are disturbingly malleable. And a few of us have a special talent for putting ideas into the heads of their fellow creatures.
This is an alarming notion, isn’t it? But we all know there’s a degree of truth in it. Again, if it weren’t so, there would be no advertising industry. And we all get manipulated, and we all do some manipulating. Some of us are more straightforward, and aspire to make our arguments plainly. But I fear that those who value integrity are at a disadvantage in the political arena.
Maybe, but at the same time we can characterize Democrats in 2008 as giddy with the realization that they could now win one. So their political events took on the fever of any mass mob instance, lots of ‘true believers’ and easily led minds, and a few mechanics shaping expectations and emotions (and the ordinary toil of applied political muscle). Much of what we on the right bandy about in youtube vid clips and the like expose both the easily-led and the mechanics. Frankly, we were pissing into the wind for how long? Two years? Three? They — Democrats — had the wind at their back and they knew it. Some of them, most of them perhaps, luxuriated in letting go, confident of the result, and heady with how good it felt.
As to Teh One, he spent twenty years watching Wright’s technique. The content and words of Wright went over his head — he probably didn’t hear Wright’s hatreds. Instead, he was absorbing how to shape a willing audience.
The key to Obama is his head tilt — I have never seen another politician who tilts his head 30 degrees back. His 30 degree tilt is, to my mind and maybe his as well, Obama becoming Simon Legree. He owns what he sees and despises what he sees. He does it in speeches and when he’s just sitting around.
Whatever. You may have a different analysis. I do too. For instance, on even days of the month, I think he is compensating for his weak chin. Here’s a handy guide to The Tilt. And here’s a photograph, albeit somewhat contextualized, for your consideration.
(ps, that’s from a terrific blog, Autographed Letter Signed, one of my favorites. Afrocity has impecable taste in pictures, and telling way of relating big ideas — politics, progressives, history — to her own life and ours. She writes just one or twice a week but I don’t mind waiting. Neither will you. Go there now and bookmark it, then read it.
That Hillary pic is from the last post on today’s page, The Nanny State Diaries, And be sure to look carefully at the woman’s hands in the 2-up baby photograph. Once we were a gracious nation. And I don’t think it depended upon racism nor issues of class.)
[oops, closed the italics with an anchor tag, and when I edit it a red box shows up threatening me with moderation. Hmmph. Anything but that.]
Actually, Mussolini had a head tilt, and it worked better for him than it does for Obama. Of course, Urkel does not know that. But he`might have heeded Hitler’s notion that “the masses of people do not reason. Like animals, they are driven forward by fanaticism and hysteria.” The hypnotic effect wold be easy, then.
I never play cards for money, and this stuff is why.
So now I have to consider adding a pocket full of garlic and a crucifix tattoo to my precautions, before election day. Twitch. Twitch.
All we do comes down to survival, mating and reproduction, the propagation of our species. Responding to advertising is part of our DNA. It is how we choose a mate, it is how we decide whether a food is worth the risk of hunting/gathering, or whether it is safe to consume. Nature plays this game too. A peacock struts a color parade to attract a mate. A big orange splashy flower attracts a hummingbird. Nature engages in false advertising like we do – the butterfly with “eyes” on its wings or the big hairy spider that isn’t venomous. Just gotta be informed enough to differentiate true from false advertising.
We’ve all heard the adage attributed to Lincoln: “You can fool some of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.” Coming from Honest Abe, that would be a caution to favor honesty. Others attribute the quote to P.T. Barnum. That changes the interpretation to something more like the actual mindset of most politicians: You can fool enough of the people at the right time. Eventually the truth catches up with them but they are winding up another pitch by then. I wish it were something like hypnotism or supernatural powers needed to accomplish the trickery. Regrettably it is far too easy to fool enough of the people at the right time.
Lincoln advocated government by the people and for the people. Obama isn’t for the people so he tries to buy the people. It’s the oldest trick in the book, but we still fall for it.
I don’t think it’s a trait that’s unique to Obama. He’s very good at it, but I’ve seen lots of Democrats over the years who try to do the classic Jedi mind trick: “These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.” I saw it during the Clinton Administration as well. You could watch something, even an entire event, hear something that makes you sit up and say, “What??”, and then when the surrogates come on they “spin” it, basically saying, “What you saw is not what you thought you saw.” They try to convince you to *not* trust your own discernment, but instead substitute their fabricated POV for yours, and somehow conclude that green is purple, and purple is green. It comes across as, “What s/he meant was…” Now, Republicans do a version of this as well, and it seems to me Democrats have at times used this tactic, where they don’t even acknowledge a different POV. They state theirs as fact. If you don’t know any better, you accept it as fact as well, because it sounds like information based on real evidence, not an opinion.
Their emotional expressions also are part of it. The classic was Rep. Weiner’s interview on O’Reilly about the IRS being involved with the health care bill. Weiner did a very convincing job of giving all the signals that O’Reilly was wrong. Yet, if you listen to a factual analysis, O’Reilly was right. I’ve seen this quite often with Obama as well. He’s given some convincing signals that the Republicans and the “Tea Baggers” are wrong and screwy. You have to be informed to understand what’s really happening, and why you’re seeing what you’re seeing.
What I notice Democrats are often concerned about is shaping public perception by careful word choices and calibrating how much they emote, with an aim towards making people calm “at the right time”, making people alarmed “at the right time”, making people turn away “at the right time”–“That person’s crazy!”…eh, like the mother and the baby experiment. I don’t know for sure, but they seem to see this as critical to maintaining a stable society (and of course moving their agenda forward). What I find with Republicans is they’re not so concerned with this. They can be careful and crafty with their language at times, but they’re less concerned how other people react emotionally to what they say and do, and it seems to me this is one reason Democrats react with disgust towards Republicans. It’s turned out to be a liability at times for Democrats with Obama. They don’t feel he shows the right emotions at the right times. He’s just stuck on “cool”.
The more insidious thing I’ve seen with Obama and Pelosi (I think it might have more to do with Pelosi) is they’ll put forward something that they know the opposition will have a knee-jerk reaction to, and then while you’re reacting to that, they’re working on what they *really* want. While the Republicans and the talking heads on the news have you distracted with this thing over there, which they figure is going to die anyway, they pull a rabbit out of the hat, which was barely in the news cycle, and most people don’t even notice when it gets passed, but it’s going to have severe consequences in the future. The only reason I became aware of it is I listened to a few select talk radio outlets who got onto this pattern, and revealed what was really happening.
All I know is the universe is too orderly to be a big accident. There’s a reason why Obama is president, and a reason why I’m posting this comment. Unfortunately, my mind will never comprehend it. Fortunately, I have turned off the drive-by news media permanently, therefore my integrity is safe. As far as the question Maynard asked, I somehow doubt that Obama has the brains to pick his nose, much less manipulate his audience.
There could be something to it. It’s not that crazy a notion and was certainly used as a plot point in the DUNE sci-fi series – a group of women trained to be able to detect all kinds of minutae and to even use their voice in a certain way to get you to obey.
However, I still believe that we have a certain amount of free will. There are few things I have bought because of advertising. I mean, I need certain things – food, soap, etc. And I buy what works for ME, not because some advertisement told me it was good. I might check something out that I wouldn’t have otherwise known about, but I’ve never felt COMPELLED to buy anything.
I like what makeshifty is saying because I’m beginning to notice this more and more, especially since I left the dark side a few years ago. I am more attune to it now. I pay attention more to what is being said but what is also NOT being said. The clearest was the AZ Law and how many MSM news stations were just parroting what the Left was saying – that you could be stopped and asked for papers for no reason whatsoever.
And what that means is this – we CAN be manipulated, if we LET ourselves be manipulated. Being aware and educating ourselves is key to not being manipulated.
Unfortunately, people are dumb. A person is smart, but collectively, people can be as dumb as a box of rocks. And Obama came during a crises, after the end of a Presidency fraught with controversy. Americans are pendulums – we swing one way for a while and then another depending on the circumstances. Democrat, Republican and back again. Over and over and over.
Add to it that Obama is black (or half-black at any rate) and it was the perfect storm. Plus McCain was so ineffectual. He only gained some ground with Palin, but it wasn’t enough.
Also, add to it the notion that people tend to not want to think ill of others, even if they disagree with them. They always find an excuse for that person’s deeds or statements. They give people the benefit of the doubt. I tend to shy away from anything that sounds conspiratorial because I think one can get bogged down really easy and wind up holing up like a militia group, afraid of everyone and everything. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
However, I found enough of the information on Obama to be rather troubling. And I don’t understand how others didn’t. Even if you take away the conspiracy theory that he’s some kind of Manchurian Candidate, what he has said and done is troubling, even if just a little.
I think Americans have become dumbed down as a collective. Not through all our own fault. The Left took over education and media and entertainment. I remember just parroting things that the Left said about Reagan in my youth. Now many years later I understand and appreciate what he stood for. Why? Because I stopped being dumbed down and started thinking for myself.
Things I thought were constitutional because I was told that they were, I now know are NOT and why they are not.
I realize now that the Left despises the Constitution and either disregards it or twists it to mean whatever helps them. I think Americans need to understand that so they can make an informed decision when it comes to election time – do you want to uphold the Contract that made this country or do you wish to rescind it and start over with no Constitution or some other form of contract? And do you understand the implications of throwing away our Constitution and doing something else?
I don’t think most Americans think this way. Things have been a certain way for so long, they have forgotten how to think, they have forgotten our founding principles.
We have become the Eloi, easily led. The Tea Party is trying to awaken people – to think, to engage, to remember what our country was founded upon, to get back to those founding principles.
So I suppose there has been some manipulation, but I think it’s only because humans can be easily led when they turn off their brains. I don’t think it’s mystical. It’s just human nature.
And I think it has been more obvious and less subtle than we think it has been. And we gave in because it was easier. We let crises like the Depression cloud our thinking. In other words, when the chips were down, we folded like a deck of cards. Yeah, I know we stood up for WWII and such, but when it came to domestic policy, we folded. We lost our spine. We didn’t stand up. FDR needed a Tea Party and he didn’t really get one. FDR used our goodness against us, which is common for the Left and for terrorists as well.
That’s why we have to learn to play a little dirty, as well as being aware of these things. We have to put our collective foot down, like AZ is doing with their law, like Christie is doing in NJ.
We just have to learn to say NO! Or better yet: HELL NO!
Maynard I have to say I really enjoy reading your posts, they are quite simply excellent, please continue with your philosophic posts as I am always in the mood for them 🙂
Thanks, Laura. We’re often too busy for anything but sound bites, just like we’re too busy for anything but fast food. And I’m guilty too! But we’d better not completely lose touch with real food and real contemplation. I sometimes want to meander through some life issues that are fundamental or maybe just interest me, but I’m never sure whether Tammy’s space is the proper venue for that sort of thing. But as long as Tammy lets me get away with it and someone out there finds it worthwhile, I’ll try to continue.
ladykrystyna “And I think it has been more obvious and less subtle than we think it has been.”
Very true, I have been looking at this from the perspective of how brazen this administration has been in and of itself, a couple of examples: ‘”We are 5 days away from transforming America.” “A civilian army more powerful more funded than our military.” Everything seemed subtle in the past but now it is in the forefront enabling us to cue in on what should have been more obvious in the past…’they’ have been showing themselves in the presence of a facade. They went with an idea that no one would expect, assume or suggest that one would out their agenda to those who would oppose it, so they put it right in the forefront for all to see.
Now out in the open for all to see they have made themselves to be the Nemesis that they are.
This admin has been scarily brazen. And I’m surprised that this brazenness has not translated into lower approval numbers. I mean, the whole healthcare reform debate/vote was just blatantly crooked! Things Obama has said have just been so outrageous, I just don’t understand why his numbers aren’t lower.
He’s degrading us, talking down to us, disrespecting the American people. I don’t think he could be any clearer on how he really feels about America and its citizens.
And what creeps me out the most is WHY? Why are they being so brazen all of a sudden? Why are they just pushing forward despite the negative feedback? Why are they being so cocky?
1. They know that even if they are voted out the Republicans don’t have the onions to actually undo most of what they will pass before getting kicked out?
2. They know something we don’t know – how they are going to entrench themselves in power and turn us into either a Brave New World or 1984?
3. They are just plain dumb and think most Americans agree with them?
I hope it’s 3 because I think they are wrong about that and I think we can defeat them and turn it around.
I hope it’s not 2.
I hope it’s not 1 because I hope the Republicans are actually going to really turn around and learn a lesson.
Otherwise, all is lost.
i have to go along with wilhelm reich on this, again. the answer for obama’s election and his moonie cultists lies not in obama but as with hitler it lies in a psychological analysis of the people who elected him. the masses hypnotized themselves. they opted to believe barak obama was what they wanted him desperately to be despite all and any evidence to the contrary. giving supernatural powers of any sort to the boy-man is a way for people to collectively relieve themselves of the blame for what they have brought upon themselves. Obama did it to us using the magics!
yeah, and hitler personally killed each of the 6 million jews with no help whatsoever from anyone else. we were following orders!
adolph hitler was indeed a malignant narcissist but he wasn’t all that and a bag of sausages: so -so artist, failed fringe political mobster( sounds like a ‘ community activist’) , horrible derivative ranty writer( did urkel even write any of his books? at least hitler did write current palestinian best seller ‘mein kampf’). he did however understand the psychological underpinnings of the german people, applied some of the methods of the communists in manipulating them, told every group what they wanted to hear , never ever argued specifics, targeted enemies to dump blame upon and was voted in in a landslide. how is this different very much from urkel and the democrats?
reich posits that humans have been conditioned through authoritarian patriarchal religions and societal structures to seek to be dominated by what we would call fascist dictators- big all powerful daddy. emotionally they crave this sort of dependency and indeed run from liberty and personal freedom because it requires the utmost in personal responsibility. he calls this emotional plague. fascists like hitler and urkel, indeed any socialist or communist, identify with this human failing and nurture the dependency it requires ( ‘obama will pay my bills, pay my mortgage..’).
our own founding fathers understood that liberty is based squarely in having a profound sense of personal responsibility and integrity(rule of law), requiring both to survive. reich , who was a psychiatrist, had been a communist(turned rabid anti-commie) and was a jew living in austria at the rise of national socialism, is pretty much saying the same thing. modern socialist leaning governments and political entities have such a hold on modern democracies because they derive their appeal from eons of damaged human psychological development that finds security in giving away individual freedom with the promise that in dependency and enslavement lies safety and ease- oh yeah and if you don’t go along with your enslavement you’ll be ostracized, unsafe and maybe killed. but the trains will run on time.
“But the success of this mass organization[National Socialism] is to be ascribed to the masses and not to Hitler. It was man’s authoritarian freedom -fearing structure that enabled his propaganda to take root. Hence, what is important about Hitler sociologically does not issue from his personality but the importance attached to him by the masses. And what makes the problem all the more complex is the fact that Hitler held the masses, with whose help he wanted to carry out his imperialism, in complete contempt.” Wilhelm Reich p.37, The Mass Psychology of Fascism.
thierry, excellent post and reminds me a lot of Escape From Freedom by Eric Fromm (which helped me on my way to leaving the dark side and embracing the Light of our Founding Principles).
I think that is the best explanation ever.
I used to think that all people loved freedom. But when I hear and read Lefties talk about the Constitution and how outdated it is and how the industrial revolution changed everything and it meant we had to change (read: abandon our founding principles), I realized what an anomaly AMERICA really is. All those things – rule of law, individual freedom, personal responsibility – are an anthema to much of the world, including some of our fellow Americans.
To accept all that is to be in the truest sense of the word, an ADULT. But most human beings are just children in disguise.
It’s truly frightening actually. We are fighting against real human nature here – the natural desire to be taken care of, the fear of responsibility that freedom brings. I hear it in all the arguments against conservatism, against limited government, against welfare reform, social security reform, etc. “But what if . . .” is the usual excuse.
I realized that if you “what if” enough, you get a totalitarian society, all in the name of protecting everyone from every conceivable bad thing that could befall them. And I realized I didn’t want that.
I’d rather be dirt poor and still be able to voice my political opinions and vote and worship (or not), own a gun, etc., then be well-taken care of in some socialist country where I could not speak my mind, etc.
That is when I knew I was always a conservative (or a classical liberal).
thank you- my copy of ‘the mass psychology of fascism’ is falling apart. i can’t recall a time i have so repeatedly gone back to it. leave it to urkel to make books critiquing fascism popular and indispensable again.
i originally obtained a copy while studying one of my obsessions- the holocaust- and found it also helped address aspects of serial murder and other forms of virulent misogyny. of course you know fromm and reich were contemporaries, both jews, both in europe at the rise of hitler. fromm was however way too in love with marx(all the jewish intellectuals and psychiatrists were apparently) and seemed to have less of a grasp on the real world mechanics of how politicians and leaders implement their real objectives which in keeping with human nature is always amassing power over others. reich loathed communism and socialism because he saw right through them and their rosy facade of faux humanitarianism. he had been a communist party member in germany and upon rejecting it the rest of the psychiatrists tossed him out of their boy’s club. reich originally wrote his critique of fascism, which was more pointedly then against marxism, in 1933. both the nazis and the communists banned it. he was targeted directly by the nazis and fled to scandinavia.he came to america only to see our country burn his books and imprison him for no good reason- the man who wrote the definitive critique of both national socialism and communism. his story is as heartbreaking as he was insightful.
reich helped me define what i had always found so disturbing about the liberal left- as when they call israel a nazi state while ignoring outright hatred of women, jews and gays by islamists or when they champion vicious common criminals (especially if they are of a certain race or class) over the rule of law and victims. reich made me see exactly who the fascists are and eventually i could no longer live within the madness of their contradictions nor in the naked brutality of their intolerance .
I’ve heard that about Fromm, btw. Still it was a good starting point for me.
Can you still get copies of the Reich book? I’d like to add that to my reading list.
As for fascism and the Left – I had similar problems and questions about the Left as time went on (I considered myself a moderate Liberal back in college). I was having problems reconciling their description of the Right as fascist when there seemed to be so many things the Left wanted to regulate (except for abortion, of course) and control.
I guess there were little things as time went on, but I remember the big things – Escape From Freedom was one that helped me understand why people would gravitate toward fascism.
John Stossel’s report on Free Speech (especially on university campuses) was the other. It opened my eyes to the hypocrisy of the Left.
9/11 was probably the next big thing. I probably started listening to conservative talk radio in the year or so before the 2004 election. Slowly but surely I went from moderate liberal to conservative with libertarian tendencies on certain issues.
Having read Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg also opened my eyes and explained a lot about the Left in America.
And I think it all comes down to psychology and the human fear of freedom and responsibility. I think that’s why it’s going to be really hard to bring America back from the edge. We have the basics ingrained in us to a certain extent. There is still a kind of Don’t Tread on Me, Live and Let Live kind of attitude, but it’s been shoved down so far, it’s going to be hard to bring it back up again.
I think we might have to be pushed around for a few more years before more people become Tea Partiers. Their oxes have to be gored before they wake up. As long as they aren’t being bothered with it they’re fine.
It’s going to be a long haul.
mass psychology is still in print: http://amzn.com/0374508844. many people prefer older approved translations of the book- it was written in german- because they were done by a close friend of reich’s theodore wolfe, the man who rescued him from nazi germany .so an older used copy might be a good idea.
peter reich, wilhelm’s son, wrote an extraordinary book about his father’s persecution in america called ‘a book of dreams’. it’s impossible find and expensive to get and i refuse to tell you you can find a torrent download of it online. kate bush’s song ‘cloudbursting’ is based on this book. the burning of wilhelm reich’s works( by the FDA if you can believe it) is one of the worst cases in american history of ,well, government book burning and censorship. reich died in jail. it’s a shameful incident that’s ignored today.
in the end i have found that i have always been extraordinarily stubborn. i don’t like anyone telling me what to think or do and that more than anything i think has kept me from being able to just go along with things. garbo didn’t say,’ i want to be alone’- she said’ i want to be left alone’. amen, sister. i am not hanging with the borg in the hive.
Thanks for the info, thierry. I will definitely check the books out.
Yeah, I’m highly stubborn and defiant. A rebel at heart.
😀
Wilhelm Reich wasn’t on my radar, but I checked Wiki. Hmmm, I get the impression that he was a brilliant man who wasn’t entirely sane. Such people sometimes make vital contributions to the sum of human knowledge, but some of their output may be viewed with a skeptical eye.
The tale on the Wiki page is pretty outlandish, so I figure it can’t be judged without knowing all the gory details. I can’t imagine how the government-mandated book-burning and equipment destruction could have been justified. In a free country, you have the right to publish literature, even if it’s kooky.
It might be interesting to try out one of those Orgone machines….
i find myself looking somewhat askance at some of what reich wrote however he strikes me more the extremely eccentric professor/inventor type driven to paranoia that was somewhat out of bounds but not entirely unjustified considering what happened to him. he escaped the communists and nazi germany only to be done over by the FDA. he died in an american prison for wooden boxes that caused no one any harm but people got naked and happy or something so the gummit had to rush on in and put and end to it.
peter reich’s book describes both the boxes and book burnings and his father being dragged off to jail. although he was only a child at the time it is an intimate look at the kind of person reich was.
this book describes in detail the government’s prosecution of reich: wilhelm reich vs. the usa, jerome greenfield
http://amzn.com/0393074846
the blueberry growers in maine who hired him claim reich did make it rain as promised- with his orgone energy machine. who can tell? you can buy a box and give it a go. maybe they’ll let you try one on a test drive:
http://www.orgonics.com/humorac.htm
People are no longer looking within themselves, they are looking at others to guide and save them, this is what I have noticed in other people and it is the lack of self identity, self-respect and self-esteem. Very few people really excel at anything anymore, only the few, achievement is a very hard process, most people do not want to work hard for something anymore. If you have a strong sense of who you are and truly self aware, you automatically know you are free, free to make your own life choices, when you desire something you will do whatever it takes to achieve it because you believe in yourself and your desire. I think people have lost their desires due to being lost to begin with, how many people are really doing what they want to be doing? Is anyone really truly living their passion? Or are they simply just working a manufactured job that has absolutely nothing to do with who they are as a person? People get caught up in a lifestyle contrary to what they were meant to do, some have no clue who they are or what they want, these people strive to be in a collective environment whereby they can finally feel safe, secure and taken care of, they do not know themselves or what they want, they do not like to work hard for something, they view anything that anyone does for themselves as an individual as selfish and self absorbing, they cannot possibly achieve for themselves so they lash out in petty jealousy against the achievers and demand that they be brought under control by those who coddle them…I have only been slightly politically in tuned prior to this current regime and I do not have near the political background or education in that area as you all have, however in the past I did see something amiss when those who were coddled and taken care of blindly placed their heads in the sand when the contradictions were so blatantly revealed before their very eyes, I knew there had to be some mental disorder that dwelled within them; I now know what that is; liberalism.
Individualists see themselves as existing for a specific purpose, their own achievements ‘I’ is now a minority, I was not placed on this Earth to appease anyone, I believe I was put here to achieve my own personal desires and passions for my own self satisfactions, we are to do what we are genetically designed/gifted and born to do, and it takes knowing thyself in order to realize it, no one else can make that determination for you, and it takes personal responsibility to act on the realization of who you are.
We are dealing with a mindset consistent with being drone-like, people who are incapable of thinking for themselves, they can only function with a collective and it is this collective that has placed this communist regime in our midsts.
My natural inclination is to avoid politics. I think political focus is something of a brain-damaging activity, or at least it is for me. If Washington had been willing to live within the framework of the Constitution (that is, attend to the fundamental national infrastructure and defense), then we could all just do what we do best and pretty much ignore the inevitable waste and corruption. But Washington has grown into a monster that threatens to micromanage our lives and seize our wealth; as it illegally and endlessly expands its power, it fails and refuses to do its real job. So we’re forced to become political, simply as a matter of personal and national survival. It’s a tragedy for all of us, because we’ve got better things to do than fight with each other. But what choice is there?
Forced is right and it irritates the hell out of me that I have been imposed upon, this regime has disrupted my peace and tranquility, placing complete chaos into my life and onto my country as it is no longer recognizable, they have got me enraged and have put me in a position I do not wish to be in, however there is no choice and I will not comply with anything they legislate/demand, so I will be what I have to be in order to preserve every ounce of freedom and liberty that is mine to begin with…The most dangerous man is one who has their freedoms threatened, they have simply grabbed a tiger by the tail and should realize the consequences will be getting their eyes clawed out.