When will they awake?

When will they awake?

by Matthew Edward Hayward Posted by Matthew E Hayward on 06/19/09

Last updated 04/06/10

Is it all a bad dream? For some, ignorance is bliss, but for those who have a greater understanding, the direction in which we are headed is troublesome. From left to right, pundits feed us catchphrases and slogans, eliciting emotions and furthering our thought pattern associations. From subliminal messaging to outright propaganda, Americans have either become overestimated and apathetic as Naomi Klein's shock doctrine or partisan controlled automatons working to propagate the divide for corporate interests.

What I found shocking to learn is that often, the more educated one is, the more susceptible to propaganda they become. Contempt becomes a powerful defense to those who have invested vast amounts of emotion into their foundational beliefs. Pride as well as other mental defenses help us to maintain our comfort bubbles. (see group think)

What is truth? The truth is people generally act on emotion rather than logic and reason. People justify and rationalize their values, principles, and beliefs based on their best interests. Paradoxically, they expect others to sacrifice and do what's best for the community, society, or civilization. While there can be a sound reason to suggest helping others tends to trickle down to the rest of the community, it is easier to ask others to do it than to lead by example.

Facts are facts, and the primary motivation of Americans, if not all humans and other animals, is self-preservation. When it comes down to life or death, family, and various other dependent variables, the ends justify the means, and the larger picture loses precedent. Only when people have enough depth to look past their own selfish interests can they begin to understand the larger picture. Freedom and Liberty are essential to all other desires, wants, and needs, for without Liberty, you’re a slave.

Complacency is the silent destruction of civilizations. It is the slow temperature increase in the boiling pot where we all slowly trade our freedom and liberty for the illusion of security. As the heat intensifies, the ability to form sound reason and question information diminishes. When confidence subsides and solutions seem elusive, we tend to tune out and hope for things to naturally get better or, through cognitive dissonance, support failed logic and platitudes.

What, then, is the solution? Do you want the chicken or the egg? It is a combination of motivation to action and education. People must both feel a sense of empowerment and urgency. Ignorance breeds apathy, and apathy leads to ignorance.

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