Thursday, July 7, 2011

The subtle art of changing your mind...

Hello Friends;
 
  Today the sky is orange.  That's right, I'm here to tell you that it's orange....in color, texture, and even smell.  Orange I tell you.
  You doubt me?  That's ok, I expect you to.  For years, your whole life even, you've looked up into the heavens and found a blue looking back at you.  I tell you, you were deceived and you need to wake up.
  You still doubt me.  That's not even a question, but a statement of fact, isn't it?  Well, that's ok, because I've bought a local news show and the news broadcasters are going to tell you that the sky is orange today.
  You will believe that something is still wrong, but you will begin to wonder how it is that these distinguished people find themselves seeing an orange sky when you only see blue. 
  Tomorrow folks at the water cooler are going to tell you about the news broadcast and say how the sky does seem a bit "oranger" than they recall.  "Yeah, I looked up and Wow!" says John, your nearby office cubby resident.  "There it was all along...an Orange Sky!".
  Soon, everyone is talking about the sky being reported as Orange.  They've learned how wrong they always were to see only the blue.  "Yep, that there is an Orange".
  This may take years, and you are going to get weary of telling people you see a blue sky where they only see orange.  In time, it will become the position of the government that the sky is orange - likely due to a considerable amount of pac money.  So, tell me......what color is the sky?  It's orange, isn't it.
 
   Such is the existence of the American culture.  News, it seems, is less about giving information than about presenting the "right sort" of information.  And, despite what we may want, despite what we may hope, after a bit of being chased and nipped at by the hounds of the establishment of what is real and what is false, we succumb if only for expedience.
  There's not one of us that would be offended to be referred to as a sheep being driven where we don't want to go.  But, the secret of the sheep is that they really just want to be left alone to eat and bang the woolies, maybe do the occasional baa'ing at the moon when the mood strikes, and sheep will only accept being driven for the hope of getting back to those preferred activities quite soon.  The fear and "safety in numbers" instinct drive them as much as the dog does, and all with the hope that someone else will be picked off so that they can be back to munching grass and that crazy thump of the wool.  If they ever thought far enough past those things they'd realize that they far outnumber the dog, are bigger individually than the dog, and if they were to stop and face the dog there would be little the dog could do to drive them further.  But, it's to the point where they've forgotten that they were ever not being driven, forgot that maybe they could be free.
 
  So, I guess the challenge today is:  What are you being bullied about?  Do you prefer the herd or do you want to be able to look up into the sky and say "I see blue".
 
 

13 comments:

Sammy B said...

Hello Randy
A very interesting and thought-provoking post. People do usually want a quiet life, and don't often want to stand out as different from the mainstream, and those who wield power, or aspire to, can easily take advantage of those urges to conform by pushing a particular worldview, usually in this day and age, it seems, related to making obscene amounts of money for the elite at everyone else's expense. Can enough people be made to see that by standing up to this kind of manipulation it can be overcome? Precedent doesn't fill me with hope, sadly.

Love & best wishes
Sammy B

Anonymous said...

Hallo Randy - hallo Sammy
You are right.
In the 70-/80er years throughout the Western world, the youth was in turmoil. Today, young people and many of the former rebels are / became matched consumers - according to the will of the economy. How could this happen? Why is only the opinion of the "mainstream"? Like the sheep who are led to the slaughter.
Nikki

randy said...

Hi Sammy and Nikki;
Great comments and thoughts. Thank you for them.
You know, sometimes just knowing I am being manipulated stops the effect. Sometimes.
Smiles all;
randy.

Anonymous said...

Hi dear commentaters,

I know what I do against being too much manipulated:

I always ask myself: Who is profiting from what they want me to believe??

- So I lived my life as a gay teacher
- Since 1992 I dont drive a car anymore.
- Since 5 years I have no TV any more.
- I've been kicked with my blogs 9 times already by the great blog-companies.

- I would never ever become a member of any "social" community

- I would never request a blog at google's, cause I don't want to be spied on every second I am surfing the internet by that "data-octopus"
My cookies are deleted every time I shut down my Firefox, the same holds true for my internet "History". I block google.analytics.com

What probably makes me so stubborn?

It most probably is my sense of justice

I will NOT take it, to be influenced by anyone, without having it given some thought and checking the facts.

So, in fact I neither will be a sheep nor would I like to be a shepherd's dog.
btw: I am not a member of any church since my 18th birthday.
:)
I like my life, although - with getting older - my health makes me somewhat dependent. :)
hugs around
miles

Scottie said...

I agree, I want to get back to thumping the woolies.......love it.

This was a great post, I had to read it twice to get all the flavor of it. Took a while to ponder it. Now how to we stop herding the sheep. Yes how do we encourage independent thinking. it would help all of us to learn to ponder things and see out side the box. Hugs

randy said...

Well, Scottie;
if one is willing to bang the woolies while being herded, that would have to confuse the dog, right?
Thanks for always calling it like you see it, my friend.
-randy.

randy said...

Hi Miles;
Somehow your comment got flipped into the wrong folder and I didn't see it.
Way to be aware of those who want to manipulate you!
Quite a conversation over at Milkboys, huh?

hugs, my friend;
randy.

Anonymous said...

Hey Randy,
Couldn't you bring up this case over here on your blog?
No? Because of a lack of haterz?.

It was the first time I had to read so much hate and prejudice on milkboys.
I would have liked, if "horselips" had answered. - who wrote so "academically" about "hate".
I guess he is one of the more intelligent ones to promote hate!!

Wish you a nice weekend.
Hugs all around.
<3 miles

Scottie said...

Randy and Miles I am not aware what you are talking about on milkboys, guess I should head over there. Randy I rather like the idea of banging the woolies while the herding dogs watch...it distracts them terrible and gets them all goofed up...unless they want to join in, in which case they stop herding and stead they are ....humping....LOL Hugs Scottie

randy said...

Thank you, Miles;
You know, I think the guys over at Milkboys did a great thing, one that I likely couldn't match here on this much smaller forum. You see, it is only when one is able to speak out what is inside that healing begins, that thoughts mend and change, and that the world hears what burns in one's heart. We have to remember to do the thing that is so hard: to respond to anger and hate with compassion.
When you look at Whiterabbit, he was so full of hate and anger, but in the end, around #133, he said what was driving him: he saw his brother murdered. Maybe that will be a point where he can now heal, even if just a little bit.
Oh, I know what you mean, though. The anger and darkness in some people. It's such a tragedy, it is just filled with only the worst that could come. You did well to encourage people to look into the teaching that brings about such anger and hatred, and I share your hope that it will come to an end one day.
hugs;
randy.

randy said...

Sorry about that Scottie;
And everyone else equally as lost... here is the link. You will find that the article is fairly small, but the number of comments it gathered...!!!
http://www.milkboys.org/article/he-couldnt-stand-his-eyeliner/

Scottie said...

Ok now I understand what you are talking about. I am torn here. I find an incredible sadness at the loss of two children and what they could contribute to society. Yes a child was murdered. But one child has already been almost lost. Can we not find a way to save him. %3 years in prison, for a 17 who has been in jail since he was 14. I don't claim to have the solutions, but I know this is not right. There are smarter people than I, can they not use their heart on this and save at least one child, while honoring the one we have lost. Can we use at least as much passion and energy and money to teach the rest of the children , those to come, how to better handle such a situation?

Really sad hugs,
Scottie

randy said...

And that, Scottie, is where those with compassion seperate from those with vengence.
I think I come a bit closer to understanding "he who sets out for revenge should first dig two graves". When we give up compassion, we lose ourselves and numerous others, too, sometimes.
hugs;
randy.