Help! I’m Being Brain Washed

Help…I’m Being Brainwashed

Bet you haven’t heard that one in a while, but during the 1950’s, the term struck fear in our hearts. For someone who was brainwashed was a ticking time bomb, ready to go off when least expected. And our enemies, The “Commies”, were the ones most likely to be in control of that laundromat.

Mind control (also known as brainwashing, coercive persuasion, mind abuse, thought control, or thought reform) refers to a process in which a group or individual “systematically uses unethically manipulative methods to persuade others to conform to the wishes of the manipulator(s), often to the detriment of the person being manipulated”.

A few mornings ago, I was up early (again), and watching the Business station, CNBC and MSNBC, and doing some stretching while waiting for my medicine to kick in, and work it’s magic; when I came to the conclusion that I (we) are being brainwashed by the media, politicians, and our government. You name it, and they’re screwing with our minds.

OK, you may think that my brain ain’t being washed, but watered down, and if anything needs washing, it’s my mouth out, with a bar of soap. While all that may be very well and true, the real truth is we are being programed and persuasively coerced to act and think in ways to our detriment.

In Buddhism there are 3 Worldly Poisons: Greed; Ill Will; and Delusion, all of which if indulged in, are the source of suffering, and lack of peace in the world. As an aside, you gotta love Buddhism, cause they have  lists for everything. There’s the 4 Noble Truths; the 8 Fold Path; 6 Sense Gates (they include the mind); the 5 Hindrances: 4 Divine Abodes (kinda sounds like a 50’s doo-wop group); and not to forget the 4 Worldly Winds; The 3 Fetters of Existence (a 60’s psychedelic band); and on and on. I’m just glad they didn’t throw in 10 Commandments, cause that would made things even crazier.

So…Are we being subject to 3 things that are poisoning us here in America…Damn right we are. Today, in the USA, (pretty nifty phrase) not only are these poisons abundant, but we’ve institutionalized them and made them sacred. Greed has be institutionalized by Wall Street, where it runs rampant. Our Military can spread Ill Will, at will, anywhere in the world with a push of a button ( watch out Mr Gaddafi ). And speaking about this whole Libyan adventure, is it just me? Or are we witnessing the same worn out tactics with this new middle east “Boogie Man”, what with ‘a no fly zone’, “limited” military action, cruise missiles shooting off???  Naw, there’s no weapons of mass destruction this time around; just a Libyan population that could be massively destroyed if we don’t intervene. Is Delusion filling the airways once again? Be it from Fox to MSNBC to the White House. The media controls what we see, and can manipulate how we feel.

Let’s look at this whole Budget crisis we have in the States. Assuredly, Uncle Sam’s financial house is not in order, and something needs to be done. My feeling is, just like the whole September 11th Crisis , we are being brainwashed to think in a manner that’s only gonna cause more pain. Now the crisis isn’t “Terrorists” (although that one is rolled out occasionally to scare the shit out of us). It’s the Financial Crisis, and it looks like the extreme right wing is gonna take another scoop out of our liberties and freedom, just like they did with the Patriot Act. This time they’re after Unions and collective bargaining; which will destroy the middle class.

Here’s where the 3 Poisons really start to kick in. Delusion is being cranked up via the media, and our politicians, in order to further the greed of some, which is gonna cause a lot of ill will for many. The Budget Crisis delusion: We just can’t raise taxes, let alone tax the wealthy, it would destroy the economy and nothing would trickle down to us lowly peons. If you’re having a personal financial crisis, yeah, you gotta cut spending, but getting a second job or more income, would go a long way to solve the problem. We’re screwed as long as Taxing the wealthy is sacrosanct.

So what’s left? Cut everything that benefits the middle class. I know, sounds conspiratorial, and I’m not into conspiracy theories (mainly because nobody can keep their big mouths shut long enough for anything to become conspiratorial), but I do know that Greed, Delusion, and Ill Will are powerful forces, and poisoning our country and how we treat one another.

Japanese earth quakes, tsunamis, nuclear plant meltdowns, another adventure in the Middle East.  We’re doomed; the end is near. Have a nice day.  I will, now that this rant is out of me.