t is a curious phenomena of our present time that there are so very few who are genuinely disposed to seek the reality behind this modern tragedy we are presently discussing and actually attempt to root out the source of our present social dilemma. When one considers the excessive amount of conflict, anguish and suffering to which our senses are exposed, either through the media or by our own experience - whether it be the poverty, hunger and cruelty we witness in other lands or whether it is simply the misery of litigious confrontations, divorce actions, neglects, or a multitude of other psychological abuses here at home - it seems we have become quite desensitised and impersonal toward our own plight. Yet, in the midst of all this, we congratulate ourselves for being civilized.
If the problem could be summed up in a word, it would, no doubt, appear too simple, or too abstract for most to recognize and accept and it would be overlooked and ignored in the assurance that there is no way the absence of a single simple quality from our lives could have the power to transform our world from Heaven into Hell. What word might we use to describe such a meaningful, yet imponderable, absence, such a universally influential void in our present world.
The word, of course, is TRUTH.
Many will say that truth is merely an abstraction and cannot be defined or understood directly as a forceful quality. While this may be true, we might understand it better in these terms: Truth, though not a dynamic force in itself seems, through its presence, to attract beneficent forces to itself, and, through its absence, to attract malignant forces. For those minds that respond only to tangible, materialistic evidence for the answers to their questions, I can offer no solutions. I would simply say (if it is not too bold to make such a sweeping statement) that it would be more accurate, in view of such perceptions, that it is mankind’s lack of recognition or awareness of truth that is confounding him with regard to his relationship to life. It is possible, that his mind is being persuaded into somehow NOT recognizing, not comprehending (an induced state of personal denial), or not being aware of something which, under other circumstances, might be quite obvious, abstract or not. We are presently in the process of developing an effective precept for examining an illogical theme or quality. Religionists and philosophers would most probably agree that in the absence of truth, or in the absence of an awareness of truth, it would follow also that neither could there be any presence of justice, peace or righteousness, not to mention a host of other virtues, the absence of which, quite obviously, contribute to conflict, anguish and suffering in our society.
Let us begin our hypothesis by reviewing the statement made by Aldous Huxley in the foreword to his classic novel, BRAVE NEW WORLD, in the vignette at the beginning of this chapter. He wrote: "The greatest triumphs of propaganda have been accomplished not by doing something, but by refraining from doing. Great is truth, but still greater, from a practical point of view, is silence about truth." What might we suppose he meant by this statement? He has stated a truism that certainly indicates a possibility, but he has not given us a concrete example of how such a thing may occur.
For such an example, let us revisit the year 1953 and a now infamous comment made in a toast before the New York Press Club by the retiring Chief of Staff of the New York Times, Mr. John Swinton, called by his peers "The Dean of his profession". He stated: "There is no such thing, at this date of the world’s history, in America, as an independent press. You know it and I know it. There is not one of you who dare to write your honest opinions and, if you did, you know beforehand that it would never appear in print. I am paid weekly for keeping my honest opinions out of the paper I am connected with. Others of you are paid similar salaries for similar things, and any of you who would be so foolish as to write honest opinions would be out on the streets looking for another job. If I allowed my honest opinions to appear in one issue of my paper, before twentyfour hours my occupation would be gone. The business of the journalist is to destroy truth; to lie outright; to pervert; to vilify; to fawn at the feet of mammon, and to sell his country and his race for his daily bread. You know it and I know it and what folly is this, toasting an independent press? We are the tools and vassals for rich men behind the scenes. We are the jumping jacks, they pull the strings and we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes." The present writer, having spent a brief sojourn as a journalist in the Middle East during the 1967 crisis known as the "Six Day War" between Israel and the Arab world, has strong reason to believe that nothing much will have changed since that odious disclosure conveyed above was originally made.
In June, 1991, in Baden Baden, Germany, speaking before his fellow conspirators in the Bilderberger Group, Mr. David Rockefeller, globalist billionaire, CFR kingpin, Trilateral Commission founder and Godfather of the New World Order, lauded the "controlled" United States media agencies for standing by their pledges not to reveal the International Banker’s plans for a "global plantation". He stated: "We are grateful to the Washington Post, The New York Times, Time Magazine and other great publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected their promises for almost forty years... It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world if we had been subjected to the bright lights of publicity during those years. But the world is now more sophisticated and prepared to march towards a world government. The supernational sovereignty of an intellectual [*"Power"] elite and world bankers is surely preferable to the national autodetermination practiced in past centuries."
What we are attempting to identify by examining these admissions voiced by these extremely resourceful and influential men, is a condition which we may not have previously thought or believed existed. The condition, of course, is that of a powerfully deceptive influence created by those we have been taught we can trust and respect and which has formed the basis of our beliefs, the framework of our perceived reality, the premise from which we perceive the world in which we live, in fact, the paradigm from which we think our very thoughts. It would logically follow then, that all our behavior and actions are also governed by the beliefs and attitudes that are impressed upon us and conditioned into us.
Perhaps the most important and influential factor in all of this, and which we must, at all costs, become aware, is that today’s media, all media, omits important (key) news. Often they omit the most important news of the day and this tactical or strategic omission is the most significant, intentional and evil, fault in virtually all of our present media organizations. Following this in importance is distortion of the news and fabricated influences purposefully intended to mislead and beguile the public awareness. There are a growing number of examples of this phenomena being dramatized by the film industry (though some carry a message of warning cleverly disguised in allegory). There are many more than we can mention here, but to name a few films, which are analogous to what we are describing in this inquiry, are: THE WIZARD OF OZ; THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE; 1984; ZARDOZ; and, more recently, ALIEN NATION, CONSPIRACY THEORIES, THEY LIVE, THE TRUMAN SHOW, BULWORTH, WAG THE DOG, and CAPTAINS AND THE KINGS , "V", and TAKEN, the three popular TV mini-series’.
It is doubtful that many viewers who witness the process and effects of such nefarious and insidious mind control in their entertainment, ever suspect that they themselves are the victims of similar programs of influence and plots of intrigue in real life. They are totally unaware that their thoughts and their lives are controlled entirely by the Power Elite who, behind the scenes, created the social institutions that engineer and teach them how and what they think, how they behave and what they do with their lives. The molders of society are able to do this in a fashion that brings to themselves the greatest advantage and returns, with little or modest regard for the actual welfare of the members of that society. It is this fact that reveals to us why truth has been all but obliterated from view, and tells us that it is because our perceptions have been altered to such a degree that it is no longer visible to us.
Consider for a moment the thought-provoking words of Joseph Sobran: "Those who believe that mankind is essentially good always find themselves having to account for the real evil of the world. And so, as the historian Herbert Butterfield observed, they generally wind up blaming a few monsters -Hitler’s and Stalin’s, in whom badness is inexplicably concentrated. It's far more realistic to suppose that these 'monsters' are simply the culminations of the sins of countless lesser men who have enabled them to rise to positions of power. Blaming monsters for everything, especially if those monsters are our enemies, allows the rest of us to become morally complacent, even fanatical, believing ourselves virtuous merely for opposing them. We may then fail to see real evil in our leaders – and in ourselves.”
Thus, we flounder, awkwardly and helplessly, not knowing exactly what we should do. To conceal our confusion we go into a condition of denial. This is because the enemy has become so imperceptible, so unidentifiable. The enemy is attacking our minds, and his weapons are his thoughts and ideas. In many instances it is not the person behind the thought that is the enemy, but the idea embodied in the thought itself. The person may be carrying it unwittingly, like a contagious disease, yet having the power to gradually erode the values and integrity that could shield us from conflict, anguish and suffering. The idea pretends to be benevolent, yet it may carry in its message murderous venom, a message that may eventually destroy us if we do not challenge its presence in our own minds.
In order to challenge it we must awaken the ability to discern its presence in our midst and its corrosive effects upon our judgement and our morality... our very social fabric. Yes, as a society we are rotting from within and we are, with the exception of the few, the "remnant", refusing to recognize it. How can we challenge something we cannot see? We convince ourselves that if a thing (or a quality) is invisible (undiscernible), surely it cannot be there. Yet, slowly, imperceptibly, we sense ourselves becoming more uncomfortable, less secure, losing control of what we believe ourselves to be, what we have been, as a people. If not so in our own lives as yet, then certainly the lives of those we hear about, read about and see around us in our daily routine must arouse some measure of concern in us. If we are not completely drugged into a stupor, we cannot deny that something is happening to us and to our society. Everyone, even the most terrified soul victimized by denial, must admit this to himself or herself.
Denial, it must be realized, is one of the most potent psychological weapons our "enemy" can use upon us, and it is encouraged and motivated by the very skilful use of fear propaganda. It induces ignorance, lack of integrity, and cowardice, much as we find portrayed allegorically in L. Frank Baum's wonderful fantasy, THE WIZARD OF OZ. The Wizard was all powerful until Dorothy's little dog, Toto, finally pulled back the curtain in the Emerald Palace to reveal an ambitious little old man, who was really nothing but a "humbug", who had mastered the art of creating illusions that induced fear and impotence in the people of the land of Oz and made them his credulous subjects, which afforded him absolute control over this domain.
Wake up, America! There is considerable evidence of a wizard in our midst. Denial leads to discontented complacency, and complacency, almost inevitably, is the warning signal of self-deception. Self-deception is, of course, the absence of truth. When the people in a society are no longer able to perceive truth they are ripe for slavery. A weak mind is the breeding ground for an irresolute conscience. Those who are thus handicapped are seasoned for tyranny. They will follow any show of strength, whether it is morally sound or not. Weakness is drawn to strength, even to the appearance of strength, which is merely a disguised lust for power. The condition of people’s minds and morality breeds the quality of leadership they attract. The brilliant Eighteenth Century poet and dramatist, Johann Von Goethe, left the following words echoing in posterity as a warning for mankind: "None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free."
Americans today seem to be falling prey to the same weak-minded philosophy that propelled the German people into the disastrous outcome of Nazism and its result, World War II... “My country, right, or wrong!” This simply does not hold true in the greater picture. There is a point at which individuals must take responsibility for recognizing right from wrong, regardless of whether an entire nation agrees with them, or not. Despots, tyrants and dictators of all ilk’s have the ability to cunningly redefine their purposes and relabel the qualities of their character in such a way that their inherent evil becomes invisible, not only to those over whom they exercise their control, but to themselves as well. Freedom... true spiritual freedom, is as near as the next breath you take, yet it is not yours to keep. Nor does it enter into your life until you "take it" and then your experience will depend upon your awareness. We are never further from “God” (the domain of Spirit) than our next breath. This "idea" is a two-edged sword. It is our personal realization that determines whether the distance inferred above is near or far. Personal realization is the "counterpoise", so to speak... the factor determining our proximity to our Creator and the experience of spiritual liberation.
This statement, to many, may seem merely another abstraction and perhaps have no meaning. However, abstraction has its own reality that can be fathomed or grasped only in intuitive self-realization. The realm of "mind" has its own dimension of reality, just as the physical realm has its perception of reality and "instrument" of realization, touch, while the visual realm has its perception of reality and "instrument" of realization, sight, the scent realm has smell, sound has hearing, flavor has taste. Mankind is, for the most part, being persuaded out of his legacy to the reality of the "Mind" and its true intended potential. He is being persuaded, conditioned, trained and socialized away from this realization through distractions and preoccupations that hold him down. It would be helpful to remember, at this point, that this is the actual and intended function of capitalism and communism and their "offspring", socialism. Any doctrine or "ism" which is either adopted or imposed as a "rule", and must be disciplined or enforced, will, eventually, cloud or block the realization of closeness to “God” and thwart spiritual and mental liberation.
Only when a doctrine or “ism” is viewed as a guideline and recognized for its own intrinsic truth, whether its truth is helpful or obstructive, only then is it valid. When a thing must be disciplined or enforced, it destroys the very essence of experience it is hoped will be achieved by being subject to such a discipline or enforcement. Thus, it invalidates itself and the truth it represents. This can be said of religious movements, political doctrines, economic practices, governmental controls, and social and cultural restraints. To be completely truthful with the reader, it must also be said, the more I say about truth, the further I lead you from it. This statement brings to my recollection a rather poetic thought that came to me many years ago: "Thought is to Enlightenment, as Smoke is to the Flame." The more one ponders truth, the more elusive it becomes. If man cannot rely on his traditional institutions to bring him to where truth may once again be revealed to his overwhelmed senses and deadened intuition, where might he turn, in trust, to find the appropriate influences which will facilitate the re-discovery of the Self and its true potential while living, naturally, out of the experience of spiritual freedom.
There is considerably increasing evidence that it is the artists of this world who will be responsible for the restoration of integrity, harmony and tranquillity to our lives. It is the one domain that embodies within itself the potential to communicate the pure message which all the other doctrines, disciplines and dogmas have distorted, yet which influence the thinking and feeling, the attitudes and behavior of all mankind. As such, the artist will become the priest, the teacher, the executive, the sociologist, the psychologist, the economist and the cultural champion of future society. It will be the artist who will define and reflect, complimentarily or critically yet with integrity, the many facets of human endeavor, human relationships and human achievement with the fundamental quality of awareness needed to fulfil our presence, or perhaps I should say, the "purpose" for our presence in this world.
The artist (and the architect) will become the "barometer" by which we will measure the true quality of our lives. That fundamental quality is appreciation, and when mankind is mature enough to make this a part of his experience, he will be prepared to perceive truth in which the reality of life is embodied. When this realization, this quality of perception, is awakened in man, he will live in a perpetual state of humility, awe and reverence, for a distinctly new and previously unknown paradigm will suddenly embrace the world he gazes out upon. He will find that the sun still rises and sets as dependably as it did before, that the ocean waves still break upon the shore, that human beings still go on enduring their frenzied toil and that thirst and hunger will continue to roil... yet his experience of these things will be profoundly altered and changed forever. He will have discovered the undiscovered country, and the change that allowed it, occurred within him.
When mankind has sufficiently prepared himself for this cherished transformation, then, and only then, will we witness a reversal of the present tendency to degenerate and even self-destruct. Let us hope that a sufficient "remnant" of humanity will recognize and accept the responsibility and the privilege to hold this possibility in trust, however quietly and symbolically he must do so during the tumultuous times that inevitably are to come. Perhaps we are approaching the time of the "Warrior/Artist" who must find the courage and craftiness to preserve himself, unswayed by the tempests of deception that are ravaging the minds of our society at present, so those who genuinely desire to avoid the impending juggernaut, by improving the quality of their lives, will have a reference point, a touchstone, from which to embark.
The artist... the true artist, has the power to express this possibility to great numbers of people through many mediums; literature, music, poetry, sculpture, theatre, cinema, architecture, painting and crafts all offer scope on many levels to uplift and awaken the spirit of humanity and bring him closer to truth and divine realization. We must take it upon ourselves to re-educate and re-create ourselves, as individuals and as a society. If we do not, we will go on subject to being trained and conditioned by the intellectually select, but morally deficient, educators and creators (molders) of society, the Power Elite. Unfortunately, it seems, a single generation of hard working, but distracted and preoccupied parents, unwittingly permitted their trusted leaders to remove moral instruction and character-building education from the system they were struggling to support and maintain for their children’s benefit. Their children have thus been deprived of practical, yet essential, wisdom and integrity and thus they have also been rewarded with a generation of unqualified and unconcerned parents to follow them. Such are the tragic consequences of this far-reaching faux pas, that our present leadership is attempting to convince us that parenting, since it is failing, is obviously passé and our children must soon be made subject to the responsibility and ownership of the “State”. The frightening reality of Aldous Huxley's BRAVE NEW WORLD and George Orwell's 1984, is well upon us, dear friends, and the ONLY solution is to take responsibility for our own lives (mentally and morally).
Mr. William J. Bennett, Secretary of Education during the Reagan Administration (See Addendum), in a concerned and revealing speech inferred that if Americans think they have problems inside the “Beltway”, they should also take time to examine what is occurring outside the “Beltway”. There are many who now consider Washington, D.C. to be America’s “toilet bowl” and is badly in need of flushing. It is thought to be a vortex containing the highest concentration of human defilement in the country whose effects are reaching out and infecting the entire nation, not to mention the world. The one positive aspect in it’s existence being that, like a festering pustule, the source of infection which has sickened the body politic is focused and localized, which encourages the idea that it may be possible to contain it. To do so, however, the cells of the body, we, the people, must become awakened to the disease which permeates our social consciousness. This disease is primarily threefold in nature and can be identified by the qualities of avarice (greed), perfidy (treachery), envy (jealousy) and licentiousness (lust) among the leaders, the spread of which is facilitated by fear (trepidation and anxiety) and apathy (denial and avoidance) among the citizens. Those who thrive in the infected environment of course, encourage this condition. Washington, D.C. has become a magnet for those seeking power and wealth at the expense of the unwitting public. The Capitol City has become America’s “Babylon” and the people have been tricked into worshipping at the altars in this repository of evil icons, “golden calves” and temples of doom. Like the Vatican City in Rome, Italy; the European Union in Brussels, Belgium; or the ancient Forbidden City, in Beijing, China, it is cloaked in mystery and intrigue. While giving the appearance of benignity on the surface, in reality, most of the ills of mankind are conjured within the sanctum of it’s secret inner chambers.
Let us take a moment and examine the thoughts of Mr. William J. Bennett in his introductory remarks to the chapter on "Responsibility" in his recent publication, THE BOOK OF VIRTUES. He states:
"To ‘respond' is to ‘answer'. Correspondingly, to be ‘responsible' is to be ‘answerable', to be accountable. Irresponsible behavior is
immature behavior. Taking responsibility - being responsible - is a sign of maturity. When we strive to help our children become responsible persons we are helping them toward maturity. James Madison delimited the parameters of responsibility with characteristic clarity in Federalist No. 63. `Responsibility, in order to be reasonable, must be limited to objects within the power of the responsible party, and in order to be effectual, must relate to operations of that power.' Persons who have not reached maturity have not yet come into full ownership of their powers."
"It is a truism that everything which has ever been done in the history of the world has been done by somebody; some person has exercised some power to do it. Our share of the responsibility for what we do individually or in concert with others varies with the social and political structures within which we operate, but it characteristically increases with maturity. It was an immature Adam in the Garden of Eden who, when discovered to have eaten of the forbidden fruit, laid responsibility on Eve. And it was an immature Eve who in turn laid it on the beguiling serpent. `She made me do it'/`He made me do it' is an archetypal drama reenacted in every generation where siblings and playmates are called upon to answer for their misdoings."
"But it doesn't stop there. An unwitting acknowledgment of this sort of immaturity commonly continues on into adulthood. Nearly everyone has an excuse when things go wrong. In Washington, D.C., common parlance makes ample use of the passive voice to avoid blame: `mistakes were made'. There is no shortage of persons ready to claim credit for contributing to an enterprise that goes well, however, even though a maxim familiar to those in public service observes that: ‘There is no end to the good you can do if you don't care who gets credit for it.’ "
"Responsible persons are mature people who have taken charge of themselves and their conduct, who own their actions and own up to them." "As Aristotle was among the first to insist, we become what we are as persons by the decisions that we, ourselves, make." President Madison also stated in reference to the loss of freedoms (which only occurs when a lack of responsible vigilance by the people prevails.): "I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations..."
In order to reveal to the reader what one major example of these "gradual and silent encroachments" are, we shall examine a statement by former member of the U.S. Congress, the Honorable Ron Paul, who said: "Strictly speaking, it is probably not necessary for the government to tax anyone directly; it could simply print the money it needs. However, that would be too bold a stroke, for it would then be obvious to all what kind of counterfeiting operation the government is running. The present system combining taxation and inflation is akin to watering the milk; too much water and the people catch on." Further, if we visit any United States Law Library and take the time to look up a U.S. Court of Appeals observation made in the case: The United States versus Dickerson, 413F.2d., 1111; we find the following statement: "Only the rare taxpayer would be likely to know that he could refuse to produce his records to the IRS agents. Who would believe the ironic truth that the cooperative taxpayer fares much worse than the individual who relies on his Constitutional rights."
Blasphemy??? Not at all! On the outside cover of the HANDBOOK FOR SPECIAL AGENTS: (Criminal Investigation Intelligence Division), which is published by the Department of Treasury for the Internal Revenue Service, the following warning is clearly embellished: "AGENTS... Our tax system is based on individual self-assessment and voluntary compliance... the material contained in this handbook is confidential in character. It must not, under any circumstance, be made available to persons outside the service. - Mr. Mortimer Caplin -Internal Revenue Service Commissioner."
It might be interesting at this point for the reader to be made aware of the tax system in Switzerland. Their representatives have the authority to prepare a tax bill, and have it made ready for approval; but the difference in Switzerland and how it is done in the United States is that the citizens, not the Congress, must vote affirmatively on the bill before it can be made law. The Swiss people give their direct consent or veto on any bill that directly effects them. Does it not seem evident that the American citizen is being denied an important function in the so-called "democratic" process of our representative, republican form of government? I am moved to suggest, at this point, in view of visible evidence, that if one submits to paying a tribute, tax or tariff that is forcibly imposed by government, one is also subverting one’s own sovereignty and agreeing with and submitting to slavery. The American government is presently a thinly veiled dictatorship. It is de facto despotism. The American people seem to live in denial of their fear and awe of their own leaders, and their leaders, no doubt, relish the cowardly grovelling they witness from their lofty perches.
Those who read my words may recoil in horror and in anger at such a thought, yet it appears to be true none-the-less. Yes, the great body of the American people can be compared to the mythical traveller, Gulliver, who, when he awakened from his sleep, found himself bound to the turf upon which he lay by scores of tiny, "small-minded", Lilliputians, who had silently, yet methodically and perseveringly, overpowered this great giant of a being whom they felt had imposed himself upon their complacent, despotic status quo. Being suspect, they immediately deemed that he must be subdued and brought under their authority. In similar fashion, so has America and its "athletic" republic been suspect as an interloper among the community of nations who have, traditionally, been ruled either by dictatorial monarchs or by a privileged aristocracy. America is, and has been, a maverick among nations and has long been the object of both suspicion and envy by those who would desire to control its vast resources and enterprising, but unpredictable, people. If an ambitious, yet patiently despotic leader could manoeuvre himself into a position of authority over such awesome potential and power without the knowledge of the people governed, it would be the final great step toward conquering the entire world. This is what the American people are allowing to happen at the present time. America has been all but conquered from within, it simply hasn't been officially announced as yet. All that now remains is to fit us appropriately into the world scene. I understand how disturbing this information is to the reader who is just beginning to awaken - many will refuse to believe or accept it.
Mr. Al St.Clair, President of Informed Consent, summed it up for most Americans when he said: "How is it then, that most of us are seeing this shocking truth for the first time (in 1992)? The truth is that those we trusted with positions of leadership, both state and federal, have betrayed our trust. Blinded by ambition and the fear of loss, they have denied the real consequences of their actions even to themselves and at the expense of their own families. It is difficult to acknowledge that all these men and women could individually and collectively be guilty of treason against the Constitution and the people they claim to represent. But the facts tell an irrefutable story. Now, We the American people, must face and deal with this problem before we become Feudal Slaves in their newly constructed New World Order." There it is, my fellow countrymen. That is the paradigm from which this intellectually superior, morally deficient, Power Elite, who educate our thoughts, attitudes and behavior and create the circumstances in which we live and also which govern our lives. It is up to the individual person to ultimately determine the substance and verity of this paradigm's existence and influence over his or her life.
Thus, we have come full circle and are faced once again with the importance of three essential qualities mentioned at the beginning of this treatise: Self-realization, Self-responsibility and Self-reliance! In the absence of these qualities there is also the absence of truth... you may not serve it, nor may it serve you... for you have, from a spiritual perspective, already begun to enter the abyss. Tragic...? Perhaps... yet even in the most pronounced case of denial, where one finds oneself floundering and groping helplessly in the darkness of the abyss, there still exists the tiny glimmer of that most important truth of all... choice! Never - under any circumstances - is the freedom of choice ever denied to you. It is also one’s own choice not to choose! Ponder this seriously, for it is here where the tenuous threads of hope are found, and "hope" is the "rope" on which one climbs out of the abyss. For those to whom this might apply... Start Climbing!!!
Our purpose in this final inquiry is to establish, beyond reasonable doubt, whether we have, in fact, been deceived by forces and influences contrived by others of our own kind, hitherto unknown to us. So, rather than abandoning compassion and leaving the reader at the "end of a rope" feeling hopelessness, desolation and futility because of a growing conviction that, if reality is not what one had believed it to be because of what one had been taught it was, then, what does one restore to the void that remains, where all the lies and deception had resided complacently for so long? Does one allow it to become filled with fear, with anger, with hatred, with confusion and a sense of futility? I suggest that none of the above will suffice. However... if one is to emerge relatively unharmed and in one piece from the final effects, yet to be experienced as a result of this great deception, one must be ready and willing to take full responsibility for the very next action one takes in the direction one chooses to allow ones life to move. This responsible attitude of mind and spirit will be the determining factor as to whether this new, seemingly terrifying, quest will be met with success and become the foundation for a continuing sense of freedom for the remainder of ones life, possibly for eternity.
In the country of Spain, this occasion is philosophically referred to as "the moment of truth". Western society will perhaps be more familiar with this "moment" as the "crisis" or the "turning point". However one chooses to define it, its manifestation is a spiritual/psychological threshold, or crisis point, at which a sudden maturity is attained. It is a moment of intentional and unyielding decision, made when the pressure of divergent moral tensions converge upon the individual, causing a momentous choice to be made, and very often a complete change of character, for the better, in the individual can be noted. This "moment" arrives, usually, after a lengthy period of uncomfortable tension has been plaguing the individual. It is particularly noticeable in the life of one who suffers from an increasingly defensive conviction of the supreme value of the creature comforts one has created or achieved in one’s life endeavors. In their intensifying determination to acquire and maintain these comforts they seem to lose touch with the fact that they are, in actual fact, becoming more discontent and uncomfortable.
There is a marked difference between being "comfortable" and being "familiar" in ones circumstances, yet this familiarity often becomes misconstrued, aux abois, as comfort. Thus, one is beguiled into defending, unnecessarily, what is familiar, while in fact one is becoming more and more dissatisfied all the time. What is needed, at this point is some impetus some incentive to encourage the individual to move out of his ambiguous comfort zone and into the unknown or the unfamiliar, the as yet, unexplored areas of his own psyche. When this choice is finally acted upon decisively, the individual is invariably amazed and exhilarated to find that one suddenly feels liberated and free of invisible shackles one had bound oneself in... upon the suggestion of invisible fearmongers hiding behind the curtains of a cowardly, yet bullying, bureaucracy (like in the Land of Oz).
Enlightenment is not the discoveries of all that you know, or what you don't know, but instead of all that you didn't know you don't know. The world suddenly unfolds before your new perceptions, fresh and clean, bright and fascinating - the undiscovered country stands revealed to you
- -
- a new paradigm... and it’s virgin territory, as yet unexplored, beckoning and challenging the daring and enthusiastic adventurer who stands in astonishment at its awesome frontier. It may be so that all the continents of this world have been adequately explored, the highest mountains bravely scaled, and the deepest oceans have disclosed their most hidden secrets. Even the moon and planets have not escaped the determined scrutiny of man’s insatiable curiosity and courageous urges. So what remains... one of little imagination might be compelled to ask? Once again, in our perplexity, we might approach the Delphic Oracle for such advice. One of the greatest commands (suggestions) ever directed at our species stands to this day, etched in stone for all to see and heed, if one so chooses: "Man, Know Thyself".
The tragedy, of course, is that many will not choose decisively, and so their choice is made.
To digress briefly, Professor Adam Weishaupt, of Inglestadt University, Germany and founder of the Order of the (Bavarian) Illuminati, which is now recognized as being responsible for the origins of the "Master Plan" that outlines the modern Power Elite's quest for world governance and control and fostered down through recent centuries by the various organizations previously mentioned, speaking before an early assembly of these ambitious Globalists on May 1, 1776, marvelled that even churchmen could be gulled. "Oh! Men, of what cannot you be persuaded?" (Nesta Webster, World Revolution, 1921, p. 27 -*Author’s note.)
These tragic mortals will turn away from that portal which is the gateway to the highest good within themselves. They will deny themselves entry to the undiscovered country, for their unwarranted fears, their anger, their hatred, their confusion and their futility will overwhelm them, never realizing, even for a moment, that the ultimate responsibility does not belong to those who create the lies and deception, but to those who, in their foolishness, believe them. They will have denied their responsibility for learning what is truth and will have played "into His hands", who has inspired their ignorance of truth, from which their hopeless "weeping and gnashing of teeth" is caused.
Those few who are the “remnant” will have played “into His hands”, who has inspired their realization of truth, from which each will choose intelligently, independently and confidently, their own destiny.
Addendum
William J. Bennett served as Secretary of Education and as Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities in President Reagan's Administration, and as Director of the Office of National Drug Control under President Bush. He holds a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy from Williams College, and a doctorate in political philosophy from the University of Texas. He also holds a law degree from Harvard University, is a co-director of Empower America, a Distinguished Fellow in Cultural Policy Studies at the Heritage Foundation, and a senior editor of National Review magazine.
Mr. Bennett has collected and edited in THE BOOK OF VIRTUES, an enriching, inspiring and instructive anthology of stories, poems, fables and fairy tales that will help children to understand and develop moral character, in an American tradition, as well as assist adults in teaching them. His book and his personal notes are well worth pondering.