SHAME on you

Shame is absolutely one of the lowest vibrational states in existence, it's power to paralyze is paralleled to none. Shame may seem like something that merely controls people on an individual level. It may seem it has nothing to do with our society as a whole. Because shame is something we feel so personally, it's hard to see it for the tool of control and manipulation that it is. It is hard to see how it is used by the government, society, and major corporations as a means to keep us quiet, obedient, unquestioning, and consuming.  Sure, it may seem like I am over reaching here, but how else can you describe an entire nation of people who don't even question going into endless wars with people who we do not even hate?

 How is it that several generations have bought into the idea that government is always right no matter how much it serves to strip us of our peace and prosperity? How did we become a nation that was once willing to give up everything we had for our freedoms, yet we now hand over our liberties and freedoms at even the slightest hint of a "threat"? How is it that we have created an entire generation that is losing its individuality and diversity? Everyone is to have the same values, the same morals, believe the same about historical events and how they went down, students are poured into public education where rooms full of children are taught the exact same things interpreted the exact same way. No questions please.  We have nation whose houses were once filled with talks of political revolution, world events, religion, love, and philosophy, and now those same homes are filled with their new generational counterparts, where speaking of such things is "rude" and one should instead talk about the shoes they want and where they are going for vacation.

This did not happen overnight, but through a very gradual slope of shaming those who question and stand out in any way, and a very gradual slope of shaming the very things that keep a nation and peaceful world running. I'd like you to take note of these various forms of shame and you will see, it's no "wild theory", but something that happens to us constantly, every single day of our lives. Let's begin with the media, and you can see for yourself how this slow yet consistent shaming has served to completely destroy the culture and diversity of our nation. 

The Media

One of the first ways the media serves to shame you is through fashion and and idealized vision of what "beauty" is. If one is ashamed of their own self image, it is far less likely they will feel as though they are even a capable or a worthy enough tool for creating change in the world. Fashion is the perfect tool for shame, it changes every season and is completely subjective so there's no way to argue.  If you are out of date you are no longer "cool and hip" but outdated and "stupid". So incase you were wondering... all of your clothes suck.

 To prove it, we will bombard you with thousands of images a day of ridiculously good looking people wearing clothes that are better than yours. Want some nikes? Are you going to the sale at Macys? Are you really going to let your friends at school make fun of your jeans? Of course not! What's a few dollars if it can help avoid public humiliation and who knows, maybe even make people like you? Who cares about Syria, when we are having a JEAN CRISIS here people! 

Ok, so now that we have established your clothes suck, it's time to let you know you are also fat. You think you are in good shape and your doctor tells you are within a healthy weight range?... haha thats cute. You're still fat. So now spend alot of your time on gym memberships and diet pills, this *may* lead to eternal bliss. 

So, now that your shirt is stupid and you are fat, it's time to tell you how ugly you are. I know your husband tells you, you are pretty, and when you go out into the "real world" it actually seems like you are downright attractive, but you are just comparing yourself to other ugly people. Beauty only exists in .5% of all human beings. They have perfect symmetry (and lives) and somehow these .5% of people make up 99% of the television and advertising you consume on a daily basis. You don't look like that. You are ugly. 

So, now that you are ugly, fat, and your clothes suck, what was your opinion on our education system again? What was that philosophical stuff you were saying earlier? You actually think as a fat, ugly, stupid person you have the right to an opinion? You should be way too ashamed of how you look to worry about things like having an opinion, please leave that to the prettier more qualified people, K thanks. 

You can say this is an exaggeration, but its not. I can not even tell you the times I have seen videos of people sharing the most beautiful words I've ever heard about life, the world, and the betterment of our society, only to look down at the comments section and see a slew of comments telling this person "You're fat, shutup and go eat a cheeseburger"  or "What a stupid tacky shirt" or "he's/she's ugly"  As though you don't even have the right to speak unless you fit some idealized vision of beauty that those criticizing you do not even possess. However, since they do not show their face, we all of course know that *were* these criticizers to ever post a video themselves they would look absolutely perfect, but it just so happens they haven't so we arent able to see how "perfect" they are.

 As long as they don't try anything, as long as they never put themselves out there, as long as they never form long developed opinions on issues, there's nothing to criticize, they hold the "moral high ground" and are the "perfect" people who pass judgement on those who are actually in the ring, being present to the world, and living a life. It is much easier to criticize someone else's work, to sit back and say "you could do something, if you put your mind to it" than to actually do it, As long as you never put forth effort you can still live under the umbrella of illusion that were you to ever put forth effort, YOUR work, your thoughts and your appearance would be perfect. 

moving on.... 

So now that the media has you educated on your terrible wardrobe and fat ugliness, its time to make sure you stay down, waaay down. It's time for us to make sure you spend most of your spare time watching garbage, when one flips through the channel they are given choices between reality sitcoms and base entertainment that makes us feel ashamed just for watching it. At the same time we subconsciously know we are wasting our time filling our heads with fluff and garbage and the details of someone else's life that we will never meet. While such shows are something no one really WANTS to want to watch, they still watch, and  vast majority of what is on fits the description of shows we dont want to want to watch, but want to watch..

 Have you ever gotten up from watching the television and had a slight "guilty" feeling for wasting 30 minutes of your life, watching something you cant even believe you were bored enough to sit through?  You have? Wow, not only do your clothes suck, but you are fat, ugly, AND wasting your life?. what a pathetic loser. What were you saying about our currency again? Because we all know a fat ugly time wasting loser has *all* the answers. 

Modern Social Conditioning

Moving on to the second tool for shame: Modern Social Conditioning.

Being accepted by those around us is an important part of the human experience. No one WANTS to be ostracized or hated. We want the people around us to like us, "get" what we are saying and "get" what we mean, relate to us, and likewise share their thoughts and experiences. So what better way to do this than to assume anyone who disagrees with you hates you, shun anyone who says something you find "rude" and ensure anyone with a novel idea feels ashamed, humiliated, and stupid. Oh also, the sex tapes, don't forget the sex tapes. If anyone says something you don't like make SURE to find an old sex tape of them and broadcast it on national TV. K. Thanks. 

We have seen this time and time again. 

Natalie of the Dixie Chicks dared to utter the scandalous words "I'm ashamed to say George Bush is from Texas" as we were entering the Iraq war. A public figure sharing her genuine feelings about a knee jerk war that would end countless lives and cost Americans trillions of dollars? Wow, that's kind of cool, I'm sure a very thought provoking dialog on the issue among-st the American public ensued. 

Oh wait, that's not what happened?   

Calls flooded into radio stations demanding the heathen woman be removed from the air. Callers said very mature things like "We should strap Natalie to a bomb and blow her up over Iraq" There were public Dixie Chicks CD burnings where hundreds of people gathered to crush her C.D.s pour gasoline over Dixie Chick memorabilia and light it on fire while cheering and dancing. She was publicly chastised, ridiculed,called a slut and a whore. 

The message was clear, sure you can say your true thoughts about the administration if you really want to, but prepare to be destroyed. To see such hate hurled toward a woman for merely expressing her opinion taught everyone that such an opinion is NOT ok to have. Who needs to have a government enforcing censorship? Instead we can use an education system that teaches children from a young age that anyone who expresses politically incorrect opinion is an evil American hating monster, and get the people to mute the voices of dissent themselves like a bunch of programmed psychopathic zombies. 

Here's another example, in 2009 a beautiful young woman named Carrie Prejean took the stage of the Miss USA pageant. She was asked by one of the judges to express her personal opinion on the legalization of gay marriage in America. Miss Prejean answered the question with grace and tact saying that she thought it was great we lived in a country where people could choose, but in her personal opinion marriage should be between a man and a woman. A thoughtful dialog ensued over cups of tea, some saying they agreed with her response, while others said they disagreed and explanations were given as to why. Everyone respected her right to her own opinion, thanked her for her honesty and continued to treat her like a human being with basic dignity and respect.

oh wait...that didn't happen. 

Twitter went wild with people calling her bigoted, and an idiot. Her worth as a person was minimized as men wrote that the drop dead gorgeous blond was "ugly" and "not that hot anyway" The judged who had asked her for her opinion went on a viral rampage on the audacity of her to honestly answer the question. She was called a whore, a slut, a cunt, hateful, and a hypocrite. She was stripped from her title as Miss. California, and a sex tape was leaked of her to prove that she wasn't really a good conservative girl but a dirty whore who dared to have an intimate relationship with her boyfriend. Intimate details of her life were analyzed and broadcasted on national news. All this, literally for answering a question. She never once said she was "perfect" never once claimed to be a saint, never once even told people how to live their lives, just simply expressed the opinion she was asked to give. 

Again, the message was clear. Fall in line with this agenda, agree with the politically correct crowd on this issue or be crucified.You are a christian? You have conservative views? You should be ashamed. You should be ashamed of who you are, what you believe, shutup, and think about what you've done. Isn't it great to have a choice? 

At some point in our society, it became the assumption that "if you disagree with me, it means you hate me." This has destroyed dialog, and desecrated any possibility for people to discuss the important moral, religious, and political issues of our time with any sort of freedom or candor. Every opinion is given with the possibility of  severe harsh and detrimental repercussions. Topics of any weight are now riddled with anxiety and it simply does not even seem worth it to express your thoughts or exchange ideas, and the result is we don't. Instead we talk about football, and shoes or we discuss the "heavy issues" in a very superficial way without really delving deep or really saying much of anything, and as a result nothing much gets said. 

If you are against a war you are told to support, you should be ashamed, you American hating bastard. If you are a christian you should be ashamed for your bigoted disgusting intolerant world view, If you still support gun rights you are a closet domestic terrorist who is more than likely a closet homicidal maniac. Anything beyond milk toast pseudo "controversial statements like " I respect all religions" and " I respect my president" and "let's all volunteer together and sing kumbaya" "I stand for hope and change" is to be shunned and shamed as hate speech. 

Our society is now built on a basis of never speaking beyond broad generalities, a society that avoids discussing what these statements actually mean, and what the execution of ideas like "peace" and "diversity" really look like. This is shutting down discourse, shutting down diversity, and the end result is Justin Bieber.  

Truly, what our society upholds is figures who really don't talk about anything, are milk toast, and make us think "controversial topics" are "what team are you supporting? Do you agree with twerking? Do you REALLY like the new red Nikes more than the blue? 

Just because something is the "popular" opinion does not mean it is right by any means. Hitler was voted man of the year by Time Magazine during his reign. He was widely supported and praised.Those who dissented were viewed as unpatriotic cowards. Natalie of the Dixie chicks was crucified for expressing her disdain with our invasion of the middle east, yet we would all be much better off now, if we had just listened and allowed people the freedom to express ideas and discuss the issues without getting death threats. 

As in the case of Carrie Prejean, your past will be used against you. People will bring up that guy you kissed for 12 seconds in the 8th grade, the fact you got fired from a job 3 years ago (however they will forget to mention you immediately got hired at a much better job) They will use past opinions against you (because we all know human beings NEVER change their opinions or beliefs). In reality who cares? Is all this really worth destroying our society and world. Who cares who someone was 2 years ago, what matters is who they are now, heck who even cares who someone was 2 weeks ago! I have honestly had people hate me so much for my disagreement with the military industrial complex that they have told me they will not tolerate associating with me and blocked me from facebook, only to have the exact same person two years later re add me and say "oh yea, by the way, I totally agree with you now,  how ya been?"

I've had people taunt my religious views only to tell me months later that something I said "got them thinking" and now they agree with me. 

I've known people who were such hardcore christians that they went on mission trips abstained from sex and drinking only to stumble across them a few months later to find they are a hardcore atheist. 

How do I know people can change? Because I've experienced it myself. I used to be a hardcore supporter of the war on terrorism and the war on drugs only to find myself a hardcore advocate against those things a matter of years later...why? 

Because of discourse, because of the ability to freely express ideas and each passing day come closer to the truth. 

I had a friend come to me once telling me he was ashamed and embarrassed because he had supported harsh treatment of immigrants into this country. He was one of those "go back to your own country" type guys. A few years later he had completely changed his mind on the issue, and regretted his previous actions and beliefs. I responded by telling him he had no reason at all to be embarressed, that as human beings we grow and evolve and that is nothing to be ashamed of, its something to be proud of, that even when he was supporting the wrong thing atleast he had picked a side, atleast he wasnt afraid to stand up for what he thought was right, atleast he was still out there, involved in my society and community and trying to make the world a better place the only way he knew how at the time.

The things I was wrong about slowly became revealed to me and when that happend, when the facts proved otherwise, I didnt scoff and pretend I didnt know better, I simply changed my position. So dont let people make you feel like you do not have the right to believe something you believe simply because 7 years ago you believed something else, 

 Whether it is bringing up your past, calling you names, or minimizing you, the truth is if you stand for anything these days, you will at some level feel the wrath of our modern societal conditioning. Most likely the novel ideas of our time that could truly turn around our economy and lead us into a more peaceful and loving society, are ideas that the vast majority of people will initially be averse to, and hate. Why? Because they are different. You can not get out of a situation with the same level of thinking you had upon entering it. We have to stop the shame. Expressing a belief should never cause you shame, it should make you proud, make you happy, make you free, that you are a person who can stand by the courage of your convictions and possess the patience to understand it will take time for people to understand you and see the truth of what you say. Your truth will be shown over time. 

I love the way this is expressed in the novel "Atlas Shrugged". The heroine, Daphney Taggart was a well educated woman who was confident enough to trust what she knew to be true. She risked everything she had on building her railroad line with the "controversial" rearden metal. She knew what good metal was, she knew rearden metal was the strongest, cheapest, most durable metal on the market. Scientists told her she was crazy, that "studies show" the metal is unsafe, and the entire scientific community was in 100% unanimous agreement that the metal was dangerous. None of it mattered, because she knew it wasn't true, she knew time would show she was right, and took on the challenge of proving the world wrong. 

"Never Apologize For Being Correct 
Many people, especially ignorant people, want to punish you
for speaking the truth. For being correct. For being you.

Never apologize for being correct,
or for being years ahead of your time.

If you're right and you know it, speak your mind.
Speak your mind.

Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is still the truth."


~Mohandas Gandhi

Success (Or lack thereof)

 Our third and final tool of shame used in American culture today is a distorted view of success and failure.
This is the belief that in order to have value as a human being, in order to be a person worthy of thoughts and opinions you must first rise to a certain level of "success" One problem, This success actually has only been attained by maybe 4 people in the history of all the world (one of which is Bill Gates, and maybe Mark Zuckerberg). By all means, listen to these guys, they are the only two people in the world today who have any intelligence or are worthy of an opinion.  Our culture has us so convinced that we must attain some high measure of success in order to be worthy of a voice, an opinion, love, and happiness.  Let me shoot out a few examples....

I was watching a really inspiring and insightful video by Will Smith, (you know, the multimillionaire actor) His advice could have been given by anyone and still rung true, because the subject matter of his discussions were universal truths. I scroll down to see comments expressing in various forms the following:

 "Who does this guy think he is? All he is is some stupid actor and he thinks he has the world all figured out."

So if Will Smith, a multimillionaire with fame, fortune, health, and a beautiful family is not "successful" enough to have a voice, then what does that say for you and I?

In order for the state to continue its power we can not feel as though we are worthy human beings, with infinite value. The goal is to make the standard of success seem so high, that no one can reach it, Then our society will be so filled with people scraping and clawing to reach some sad form of validation that they don't have time to care about the world around them. It is completely self absorbed. What does an unconfident discontented person do? They buy and consume.

Who cares who Will Smith is? Why does it matter? Who does he have to be in order to be worthy of an opinion? The truth is he can be anyone, he does not have to obtain some level of success to be allowed a voice, and neither do you. Our voice is our birthright, it is not something earned. 

Did your boyfriend break up with you? loser. Did you lose your job? Have you considered suicide? You lost all your money in that "dream business" of yours? haha, I knew you'd never amount to anything. Have you ever accomplished anything in your life? I know you have a beautiful family, and all your needs met, and your standard of living is higher than 90% of all people in the world's population (many who live off $2 a day), I know you say your so "fullfilled" from all your "mission work" and volunteering,  but have you reeeally accomplished anything?? Did you invent facebook? yea, didn't think so, go kill yourself.

Exaggeration? This was actually a comment from someone on an article I wrote on peace in the middle east:

 "Wow, there are people in the world who have actually accomplished something like Mark Zuckerberg who invented facebook, what have you ever done? NOTHING!!! go die!!!"

What is it that I need to accomplish in order to be worthy of an opinion? Especially now that facebook has already been invented. Humanity is screwed!! No one will ever be worthy of an opinion again! Except maybe Bill Gates...maybe.

What do people do who do not think they are worthy of a voice? What do people do who think they are failures? They get a job they are overqualified for, they clock in, they dont ask questions, they acquire just enough intelligence to complete their assigned job in order to pay their taxes, They become completely consumed in their own drowning pathetic lives and die having never stood for anything, never really having done anything, and never actually accomplishing anything because what is the point in trying anyway? Its not like you will ever be as rich as Bill Gates.

Even me, who enjoys a very high standard of living, a beautiful family, and tons of friends is called a "failure" by these standards, don't get excited, you are too. (unless you are Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg) then your ok.

People who are confident and happy with their lives, people who understand the blessings they've been given in life, people who see their lives as valuable, people who see themselves as a minority of one, people who see themselves with the power to change the world, don't shut up and follow the status quo if hey think it is wrong. This is why the state and the media will do whatever it takes to ensure you view yourself as a failure, as inadequate, Who are you to say anything? Who are you to change anything?

Who are you not to?

Career gains, a beautiful family, health, vacations, accomplishments, believe me, are wonderful, but they are not the be all end all of happiness. Jesus Christ started a religion that would spread across the world and he died single, broke, and hated. Do not let anyone make you buy into this notion that unless you've achieved some great accomplishment you don't have the right to a voice. You were born with that right and don't let others shame you into thinking otherwise. It is a huge lie, the more you gain, the more you will want, as we simply get accustomed to new standards of living and that becomes our "normal" causing us to need more to get the same high. If you are depending on such things for your value or self worth, it will never satisfy you and will never be enough. ever.

The shame is used to control you, to keep you in fear, to keep you from thinking you are valuable enough to make a difference. The power of a single human being is infinite, that is something that if we all realized this world would be a very different place. It starts with you, yes you the poor kid, yes you the overweight girl, yes you the girl with sex tapes on the internet, yes you who used to have dumb beliefs, yes you with last years fashion, yes you who didn't invent facebook. You.

Why DUI Checkpoints are Unconstitutional and Wrong

The issue that many constitionalists, libertarians, and limited government supporters have in regards to DUI checkpoints is not that they "prevent drunk driving" because of course no one wants drunk drivers on the road. The issue is that checkpoints are a violation of our forth amendment rights. And if stopping all drivers on the road is ok then so is police randomly raiding old ladies houses to make sure there are no drugs, or patting down everyone who enters a mall to make sure they don't have a bomb. If the forth amendment is not respected there is no end to how intrusive things could get in the name of keeping us "safe" as there are millions of dangers in the world.

Most who oppose checkpoints believe that police don't have the right to stop a car unless they have reason, Ex: the car is swerving. If they are pulling everyone over then it's not BC the car is acting suspicious but bc they are doing it to everyone. It's very disrespectful to both the individual and our constitution to interrupt drivers who are on their way home or work without cause. But most are up set BC of the violation of the constitution it's kind of like that Ben frank quote "those who would give up essential liberty for security deserve neither and will lose both.

Syria

I would describe myself as a conservative libertarian. I am personally conservative but believe the government should be as limited as possible and stay out of peoples everyday lives and be as decentralized as possible. This is even more apparent in my views on foreign policy, especially in regards to the issue right now regarding Syria.

I do see this going full force, and unfortunately see our government stretching its imperialism even more into other countries, however this action is so blatant that it is serving as a catalyst to wake many people up. Conservatives and liberals alike are banning together to say enough is enough, one war was able to be explained without people raising eyebrows, two wars with a few questions and objections, but this situation with syria is showing people how insatiable the us military's appetite truly is. they can no longer "explain these things away". Let's use this as an opportunity for waking people up.

There is talk of a draft being reinstated in order to support the U.S. war machine, I do see a draft being reinstated, as more people wake up and want no part in a system that meddles in every country and serves as policeman of the world. However, I do not see a draft happening anytime soon, as there are still many willing volunteers, a draft would be many many years down the road, however when it happens, the results will be catastrophic. The parallels between Iraq and Syria is that the United States is sticking its nose where it does not belong, and once again using its military for a purpose it was not designed for. The purpose of the united states military is to fight and kill enemies who are an imminent threat to us and attacking us. Not to get involved in other wars, not to nation build and not to be policeman of the world.

When it comes to war issues, I honestly see no difference between libertarians and (principled) left liberals. Both want to see an end to the endless unjustifiable wars and crimes against humanity committed in our name. There not only is a "possibility" for meaningful and effective cooperation, but it is already happening. I have seen people at anti war and peace protests of all different political backgrounds. we are being brought together by the belief that human life is important, and we no longer want these atrocities committed in our name.

Both the anti war movement and our youth that would like to see peace in our lifetime need to realize that change starts at the individual level. We need to stop promoting the U.S. military and enlistment in the military and instead encourage entrepreneurship and education. We need to spread the word that there is nothing noble or honorable about joining the military in 2013. I think too many people are afraid to say this because it is so taboo. But you can not say you are against war, while at the same time congratulating and idolizing those who sign up to fight in these wars. It takes us all standing up as individuals and saying we will not take part in these wars at any level. Military service should be avoided and not looked at as a means of providing for ones family and paying the way through college. We also need to start paying attention to voting records of congressmen and make sure to hold those accountable who support military intervention and either vote for those who have a long history of supporting peace or not vote at all.