Blaming The Victims

Propaganda. It overwhelms us. We see it in our television shows. We see it splashed all over the news. We even get it in Facebook posts (often couched as humor)!!! The way I see it, the propaganda is designed for mainly one purpose: to divide and, thus, conquer the masses. 

Recently, one of the favorite dividing memes seems to be to make fun of McDonald's or Walmart employees who are protesting for actual living wages. These employees typically work their butts off for very little pay. What I don't understand is how other people who work their butts off to survive in this economy can pick on people who work at McDonald's. Are they really that much smarter/better than McDonald's workers that they can complain about paying a McDonald's employees $15 an hour for placing pickles on burgers? Granted, it doesn't take a great deal of brains to do the job, but somebody's got to do it. Does it take much more in the way of brains to lay carpet or work at a bank? Standing for hours at a time in one position can be back-breaking labor (my definition of working your butt off). Why shouldn't they be paid a liveable wage to do it? Because the restaurant can't afford it? Maybe the big, bad McDonald's corporation takes in too much in franchise fees for the restaurant owners to afford better wages for their employees? Regardless, there is money enough to pay liveable wages for everyone, and to think it will make the price of your burger skyrocket is asinine when you understand where the real profits hide!

We have been programmed to believe it's okay for there to be jobs that are incredibly low pay while other more important jobs (?) deserve much better pay. Making fun of people who perform jobs we consider beneath us is a way to make us feel better about the crap jobs we do. Actually allowing those workers at McDonald's or Walmart to make as much (if not more) money than we do would put us all lower down on the totem pole, would it not? After all, wages are a way of keeping score. How else would we know if we are winning?

The bottom line is, these ideas are not our own! They are propaganda, designed to keep distracted and fighting among ourselves so the powers that be can continue to control and decimate our planet. When we bash each other spouting off such propaganda we are, in effect, blaming the victim. That's right! The McDonald's employees are the victims in this little scenario! We are all the victims each time this scenario plays out! Every time you choose to bash the little guy with no power, you play right into the hands of the people who are ruining this planet!

Isn't it time we stopped blaming the victims and turned our energies to fixing what is left of our world? I challenge you to get off your apathetic butts and make a difference! Stop buying into the propaganda and start changing your little corner of the world! You will be amazed at the results!!!

The Memes That Keep Us In Bondage

From Facebook this morning:

The way that banks work!
A story:
An old Native American wanted a loan for $500.
The banker pulled out the loan application.
"What are you going to do with the money?" he asks the Indian.

"Buy Silver, make jewelry, and sell it," was the response.

"What have you got for collateral?"
"Don't know collateral," replied the Indian
"Well that's something of value that would cover the cost of the loan. |

"Have you got any vehicles?"
"Yes. 1949 Chevy pickup," replied the Indian
The banker shook his head, "How about livestock?"
"Yes, I have a horse," replied the Indian
"How old is it?" the banker asks.
"Don't know, has no teeth," replies the Indian

Finally the banker decided to make the $500 loan.

Several weeks later the old man was back in the bank.
He pulled out a roll of bills, "Here to pay." he said.
He then handed the banker the money to pay his loan off.

"What are you going to do with the rest of that money?" the banker asks.
"Put in hogan", replied the Indian

"Why don't you deposit it in my bank," the banker asked.
"Don't know deposit," replied the Indian
"You put the money in our bank and we take care of it for you.
Whenever you want to use it, you can withdraw it."

The old Indian leaned across the desk and asks the banker...
"What you got for collateral?" (FB post by Denis Cooney)

What is funny about this joke is how the Native American calls the banker on a standard practice of banking. What is not funny about this joke is how we just accept that it's okay for bankers to earn money for themselves by charging interest on our money, and how we just accept no one else can do it!

The point is, there are many, many memes we have been programmed with to such a degree that we no longer question their legitimacy!!! It is exactly these sort of memes that keep us living within a subtle form of slavery. When we believe these memes are truth, we allow ourselves to be kept in bondage!

What's wrong with bankers charging interest on money they loan out to people, you ask? In order to answer that question, we need to look at what money actually is. Money is a system by which products and services are given values so that these products and services can be traded equitably. While the concept isn't all bad, there can be problems with ranking products and services evenly. Any good attorney (are there any good attorneys?) can argue why something should be of greater or lesser value. My question is, where does the fair come in? Who makes that determination? Society as a whole? The rulers? God?

Let's look at a concrete example. In our society we pay medical doctors extremely well because we value their role of bringing health to the masses. While it can be argued they provide an extremely valuable service, what makes their roles as healers any more valuable than farmers? Musicians and artists? Builders? Factory workers? Fast food employees? Bankers? Should working hard be a factor in this equation? What about talent? The irony of paying doctors (and other occupations) well is the fact that we often end up with doctors who are motivated to become doctors because they will be well paid as opposed to actually having the talent and ability to be gifted healers. Do we really want to be part of a society where we are not encouraged to use our talents for the benefit of all? A society where only certain things are valued and the rest considered unworthy?

Here are some of the memes we believe that keep us in continued bondage:

• It's okay for banks to make money off our hard-earned money.
• Bankers are too big to jail. If some of them go to jail, they deserve to be in special prisons for white collar criminals.
• Certain occupations are worth more than others.
• It's a dog-eat-dog, competitive sort of world. That's natural selection or survival of the fittest.
• Our world's finances should be in the control of people who understand money--the bankers.

There are many more memes we could come up with. The point is, our society is seriously broken. Many of us are hurting and in pain with little relief in sight. 

As a very empathetic person, the pain has become unbearable. I can no longer just sit on the sidelines and watch people die their slow, agonizing deaths.

It is time for us to look at our beliefs and decide whether or not they can still be used, or if they serve to keep us on bondage. Don't be afraid to question what you have been taught. The truth really will set us free!

Zombies And The Real World

I reposted a picture on Facebook the other day. It consisted of two pictures side by side where people were pressed up against store windows in each. The caption read, "Dawn of the Dead, 1978. Black Friday, 2013." The irony was, both pictures looked eerily the same.

We believe zombies are the stuff of myths and legends, and yet a critical look at the world today will yield tragic results. We have become a society of mindless addicts, ruled by the greed and competitiveness we have been programmed with from birth. There is no thought. There is no logic. There is no compassion. We are controlled by a force that has cut us off from there very things that make us human. In a very real way, we have all become the mindless, craving zombies we fear.

What can we do to change this situation? The best thing we can do is take a critical look at our own actions and question why we do what we do. Do we believe it's important to work really hard/"smart" in order to have the finer things in life? Do we pursue such goals regardless of whether or not other people or things get hurt? Do we define others who don't have as much as we do as "lazy" and "worthless"? Does mindless materialism and competition make us happy?

We do not have to be mindless, programmed zombies. We can question our own actions. When we come up with answers we do not like, we can take the simple step of changing the way we do things. Our actions do not need to be thoughtless. Our actions need to be conscious.

All it takes to change the world is to change yourself.