by Ray Jason
This
sea gypsy life has rewarded me so richly. A
philosopher’s yearning for knowledge, for
understanding and for
wisdom,
requires certain conditions in order to be achieved. For
me, those necessities are Solitude, Simplicity and Silence. These
qualities are essential
if one is to discern worthwhile
lessons amidst the frenzy and cacophony of modern life.
And
they are abundant in my quiet, watery world.
Long
years of pondering the bigger questions, have convinced me that
humanity is silently surrendering its independence to nameless,
faceless social engineers. They have severed us from our historical
brilliance as strong, self-reliant, members
of the natural community. They have converted us into fragile,
dependent clones in the artificial world of cyber-cities.
These
Life Programmers have transformed us from
pioneers with rugged skills wearing sturdy clothes, into consumers
with useless diplomas squeezed into skinny jeans. They
have replaced face-to-face friendship with face-to-screen
“connectivity.” And
now the streets are strewn with hipster zombies who are as addicted
to their devices as a ghetto junkie is to his fix.
*******
If
such criticism seems harsh, please permit me a few minutes of your
time to awaken you to a reality that seems obvious to me, but which
is invisible to so many. Let
me begin with a quotation from a man who you have probably never
heard of, and yet he
has profoundly
influenced
your life.
His
name is Edward Bernays and he wrote the extremely influential book
entitled, PROPAGANDA. It may not have been in your family library,
but it certainly was prominent in the homes of the rich and powerful.
Here is a quote from it:
“There
are invisible rulers who control the destinies of millions. It is not
generally realized to what extent the words and actions
of our most
influential public men are dictated by shrewd persons operating
behind the scenes.”
Bernays
was the Godfather of Propaganda - or the deliberate
shaping
of Public Opinion. One
of his most successful (and malevolent) campaigns involved women and
cigarettes.
By
dubbing them “Torches of Freedom”
he
made smoking fashionable for women, who had previously reviled the
smelly, unhealthy practice. Did he do this for actual emancipation?
Of course not. His motive was to open a vast new customer market for
the rich tobacco barons.
Since
his influence in the early decades of the 20th
century, the powers of propaganda have expanded enormously. Our
society is drowning in it as the fiefdoms of politics, economics,
media, education, medicine,
sports,
and entertainment bombard us with messaging. And the truth
hidden behind the slick, appealing packaging is that the Ruling Class
wants you to have much
less
independence and personal sovereignty.
Our
Malignant Overlords already have enough wealth. What
they truly seek is greater power and control. And
what
frightens them the most are independent people who are capable of
critical thinking and who are unwilling to be manipulated by the
latest trendy but meaningless fad.
So
allow me to remind you of some of the ways that we have been
steadily, subtly and silently herded into the corral of dependency
and
surrender.
These have all occurred during my single human lifetime.
-
Two income families. As recently as my generation, a family could flourish with only one wage-earner, but those days are long gone. Indeed, government policy in recent decades has encouraged NO WAGE- EARNER families, with the father absent and the mother on welfare. And how dependent is a population with nearly 50% relying on food stamps?
-
Megalithic franchise commerce. The huge chains now dominate the mercantile mono-scape. Fast food joints are splattered between dozens of big box stores offering free parking and free alienation as people grapple with this question: “Is there not more to Life than Shopping?”
-
Screen addiction. TV screens, computer screens, GPS screens, Smartphone screens are all actually screening us off from the real world. All this entertainment and convenience and yet this gnawing abscess of Emptiness. Not to mention the addictive webs that these technologies weave, with the Ruling Spiders in the center, pulling the strands of dependency.
-
Financial handcuffs. The Elites want as much control of your monetary transactions as possible. This allows them to skim fees from your dealings and it simplifies their ability to track your activities. Buy a quart of raw milk at a Farmer’s Market and there is no trail. But the “cashless society” is rapidly being forced upon us even though we the people were not consulted as this has been implemented.
-
Suffocating surveillance. As I type this, there is a piece of tape over the eye of my computer’s camera. That’s because I don’t want them mapping the contours of my head for their facial recognition data base. Every week there are new revelations of how relentlessly we are monitored and tracked. Most people just shrug it off saying that they have nothing to hide. But practically all of the prisoners in the gulags of history felt the same way.
-
Enfeebling complexity. The social engineeers have applauded the increasing complexity of everything that humans interact with, because it makes people extremely dependent on experts and techies. True ocean-striding sea gypsies have to be able to repair their equipment when there is no assistance nearby. Such self-reliance, in a world of self-ineptitude, is liberating and intoxicating.
What
these bullet points seek to prove is that we 21st century
humans are far less independent than we think we are. And that is
the brilliance of the strategy that our Rulers have implemented. The
great quote from Goethe leaps to mind: “None are more hopelessly
enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.”
*******
Fortunately,
it is still
possible
to sculpt a life that has Freedom as one of its hallmarks. My sea
gypsy neighbors are a testament to this. And, in my own way, I have
pursued that Path. I have never owned a Smartphone and never used
Facebook or any social network. I can still navigate with my sextant
and the stars. And almost none of my usual pleasures involve
screens.
In
fact, after
I
post this essay, I will grab
my handsome re-curve bow and a quiver full of arrows. Then I will
spend an hour happily
shooting
down-range at a little target I made from an old rice bag filled with
cardboard. I might even have a friend roll a few coconuts in front
of the bulls-eye.
Then, if my aim is true, I’ll remove the arrow and gulp down some
delicious Tarzan Tea. Now that’s good livin’.