Reality is a funny thing.
It is something that you are supposed to share with others. And for the most part it does work. We all agree that if we walk into that table we’ll hurt and will develop that nice and colorful bruise. OK, admittedly, there might be some that don’t get stopped by a table and walk right through it, but then we have probably so little reality in common with them, that we will not even see them. As a matter of fact, as we probably can’t see them they might be more numerous than we are.
But I digress – this is not really the level of reality I want to scrutinize today. I want to look at that reality where we are perceiving each other still very well, but where one displays behavior that the other just can not imagine being possible.
For me that would be a person with ambitions to tell others what to do. I have a little son and I would really like him to make his own decisions. Only out of pure self-preservation do I have to tell him what to do or not do – like NOT watching TV all weekend. But I know this is only temporary and I will remind myself repeatedly to better raise him to be more annoying by NOT doing what I tell him to.
But then there is this group of people who just can’t help telling others what to do and not do – and not only that, also punishing them if they disobey. You already know, what’s coming, right – it’s the P-word – Politicians – my favorite people. Favorite, because there is something for me to learn. Not necessarily to practice myself, but something to wrap my mind around, to fully ‘get’ it.
My favorite anarchist, Larken Rose, has an interesting take on this and helped me to ‘get’ it better.
Being evil has its advantages, one of which is that good people, who don’t think like deranged psychos, can be taken off guard because they imagine others to be like them. For example, consider the ever-popular plot for a horror movie: the kind-hearted soul who, out of pity, picks up the rain-soaked hitchhiker (who also happens to be an axe murderer). Us good folk don’t WANT to suspect everyone of being a villain, and we don’t EXPECT them to be, either. And when you’re talking about “respected” people in positions of great power, then we REALLY don’t want to consider the possibility that they may just be well-dressed axe murderers. But if we are incapable of considering the possibilities of what evil people might do, what kinds of things they are capable of, then we allow ourselves to be vulnerable.
“The individual is handicapped by coming face-to-face with a conspiracy so monstrous he cannot believe it exists.” [J. Edgar Hoover]
As a result, when someone brings up some “conspiracy theory,” suggesting that people in “our” government have committed theft, torture, murder, etc., part of us doesn’t WANT it to be true. We WANT to be able to dismiss it as nonsense, rather than face the possibility that there are some people with a LOT of power who don’t at all mind torturing and killing other people.
Recently a story broke – though not very loudly in the mainstream media – that six nuclear warheads had been “accidentally” flown from North Dakota to Louisiana. (“Oops, how did that get in my suitcase?”) Some have argued that that simply can’t happen “accidentally,” and have gone on to suggest that the nukes may have been intended to be part of a surprise nuke-attack on Iran. (The feds say the nukes were about to be “decommissioned.”) Well, someone in the Air Force spilled the beans, and the military higher – ups feigned shock and outrage, and said the matter would be “investigated.”
By itself, that story could be a toss-up: was it something devious or was it incompetence–each of which the government has plenty of? However, several air force folks from the two involved bases (Minot in North Dakota and Barksdale in Louisiana) have since turned up dead. Oh, and that was all “accidental” too. The following link lists those who have died, with links to the “mainstream” stories about the deaths.
Now, there are two ways people can react to all this:
- Um, it must just be coincidence–are you alleging some sort of conspiracy!? Are you saying OUR government would kill Air Force people!?!!?!
- There is no way that’s a coincidence, but what does it mean?
The second is the rational response, while the first is wishful thinking bordering on insanity–and it’s probably how most Americans would react. If those in power can kill off several people with obvious ties to a recent, serious “incident” WITHOUT causing widespread public suspicion and outrage, well, then this country deserves to be enslaved.
If people won’t LET the rational part of their brain function, because of what it might conclude, we’re in really bad shape. I’ll give an example, which is pure speculation. I’m not pretending to have a shred of proof or evidence that the following happened; my purpose is merely to suggest the possibility, so you can see how YOU instinctively respond.
PURE SPECULATION:
In an unheard-of “mistake,” several nukes–warhead and trigger together (though not “armed”)–get flown across the country. Shortly thereafter, several Air Force personnel from the two bases involved then die in different “accidents.” If they were killed – which seems pretty likely–WHY were they killed? Well, it could be that it was for exposing a blunder – moving the nukes improperly – but that seems pretty unlikely. What’s the point of killing people AFTER they spill the beans, especially if they can be identified as the ones who did the bean-spilling?
It seems more likely that folk would be killed to STOP them from saying something. But saying what? It can’t just be the “accident,” because someone already exposed that. Might it be that the Air Force folk were about to publicly complain about the U.S. planning to nuke Iran? It’s possible, but really darn unlikely. First of all, the possibility of an attack on Iran is being widely discussed already. Exposing such a plan wouldn’t surprise anybody. Second, it would be a huge “breach of national security” for a soldier to release such information, and he would be locked up for a very long time (or possibly executed for treason). Third, folks in the military believe in chain of command, and pride themselves on their loyalty to “authority”–it takes a LOT to have them disobey orders. Would they do it to expose a possible strike on Iran, which would probably just happen anyway?
So what would make several Air Force folk say something the powers that be REALLY didn’t want said–something serious enough that the “government” would murder its own to keep it quiet? And remember, it wasn’t just ONE guy, and to make a bunch of different military folk publicly “squeal” would take something pretty darn bad.
How about plans to nuke a U.S. city? That’s pretty bad.
Like I said, I’m making a wild guess here, for the purpose of testing what YOU are willing to consider, and what you dare to think about. So I’ll leave you with two questions:
- On a scale of one to ten, how likely is it that U.S. officials would be willing to nuke a U.S. city to get public support for another war, declaring martial law, or something of that nature?
- What is the basis for your answer to the first question?
Too many people throughout history have naively declared, “That can’t be happening in MY country! MY government – my countrymen – wouldn’t do THAT!” And so they chose to remain blind to the horrors of “authority” in action. And, in all likelihood, the American public will do the same.
Sincerely,
Larken Rose
www.larkenrose.com