Monday, September 04, 2006

Truth and Freedom

Most people have heard John 8:32. And you will know the truth and the truth will make you free. Politics, on the other hand, seems to operate on this quote from Cats Cradle: “All of the true things that I am about to tell you are shameless lies.”

Early in human development ambitious people discovered that controlling hearts and minds was more effective than brute force. The simplest way to do that was get control of “ the truth.” The struggle for freedom is in part a struggle for individual, direct access to the truth for all people. In the process, numerous techniques have been developed to manipulate truth in the pursuit of power and control.

The first class of techniques involve hiding the truth. What people don't know can be used to control them. The problem is that what you don't know can hurt you. One example: Agent Orange. Information hiding has a problem. People want answers and can be pests until they get what they want. Which brings us to our next class of techniques.

Misinformation often fills the voids in a search for truth. Sometimes it is unintentional, such as the primitive belief in evil spirits causing disease. It is often deliberate as in classic propaganda. Look at issues such as immigration, global warming, crime, terrorists, etc.. All the information out there can't be correct. Only study and research can get to the the truth. This leads us to our last set of techniques.

Disinformation is the set of techniques used to discredit and discourage the quest for other truths. Calls to authority, guilt by association, attacking the messenger and character assassination are all well known disinformation techniques. Most of these techniques rely on a simple observation: people most readily believe what makes them the most comfortable.

This leads me to this observation: Most people prefer a comfortable lie to an uncomfortable truth. The lies may be very comfortable, attractive chains but they deny freedom.

Lots to think about here. This could be a key to freedom, or maybe all of the true things that I told you were shameless lies.
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2 comments:

  1. Anonymous2:42 PM, September 04, 2006

    A few things that we are not hearing enough about that we need to keep in the forefront of any truth and freedom movement: NAIS (National Animal Id System) and the Trans Texas Corridor project:

    http://www.survivalblog.com/nais.html http://www.corridorwatch.org/ttc/cw-i-propertyrights.htm

    These two programs do more to manipulate truth in the pursuit of power and control than perhaps any bureaucratic policy we have seen thus far. With each step we allow govenrnment to take toward the implementation of these programs, the closer we get to establishing a international feudal / fascist state and more our identity as Americans will be lost forever...

    From wikipedia:
    Fascism is a radical totalitarian political philosophy that combines elements of corporatism, authoritarianism, extreme nationalism, militarism, anti-anarchism, and anti-liberalism.

    Fascism is also typified by totalitarian attempts to impose state control over all aspects of life: political, social, cultural, and economic. The fascist state regulates and controls (as opposed to nationalizing) the means of production.

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  2. Jim Turner5:03 PM, September 04, 2006

    Thank you for the information on NAIS. Hadn't seen it before and will be looking into it more.

    We have been looking at the Trans Texas Corridor (part of the Mid Continent Trade Corridor) and have some serious problems with the project. The more I read about it, the more it qualifies as "another what are they thinking" issue. Any additional information or an article on these topics would be appreciated.

    Thanks again for the comments.

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