The Brainwashing Of A Doomed Society
Deborah Venable
April 16. 2006
Some
folks shy away from using the term, “brainwashing” because of the negative
connotations that it denotes. Visions
of Sci-Fi flicks and hidden commercial messages flash before their mind’s eye
and pose too great an assault on their senses I guess. Brainwashing, however, is a very real and
very tangible activity.
I
predict that if the disease of political correctness continues to eat away at
the American society, unchecked for another five years, the term (brainwashing)
will be on the long list of words not allowed in “free speech.”
Okay,
I’m obviously setting you up to receive the point of this commentary, so here
it is:
The
mainstream media and the educational system have become masters at brainwashing
techniques, skillfully employing all the tools of propaganda at their disposal,
while daring those of us with “un-sterilized” brains to make a stink about
it. They are so good at what they do
that ordinary citizens and intellectual giants alike fall prey regularly to the
attempts to de-Americanize Americans.
Political correctness serves as a very effective tool in the
process.
Case
in point – the most vitriolic attackers of American principles, American
history, and American patriotic ideals are Americans. Americans of
the brainwashed variety, that is. Facts
have no bearing in these attacks and even recent history is ignored or
forgotten.
Unmistakably,
the compulsion that drives the attacks and the attackers is promoted from
carefully orchestrated campaigns by academia and the media. Teachers and journalists are supposed to
keep accuracy at the top of the list of priorities in conducting their very
valuable services to the American people, but more and more we are victims of
their practiced and polished abilities of subverting fact for brainwashing
techniques. Important facts are ignored
every day while carefully scripted productions of propaganda supplant, what
should be our information capsules, with politically correct and American hating
rhetoric.
Why
is it easier for so many Americans to hate America instead of basking in the
goodness of American heritage? In the
real world, self-loathing is seen as a sickness. It is treated as a psychological illness, with part of the
treatment being to diagnose the cause.
What cause, then, exists for this disease of American
self-loathing?
Confusion. That must be cause. For some reason, far too many Americans in
this, the freest society that ever existed, think that they are answerable to
government more than government is answerable to them. They not only think that way, but they do
everything in their power to make it that way!
They willingly give up more and more personal freedom by demanding that
their neighbors’ personal freedoms are infringed upon. Yet these same people will vote one day to
reinstate an executive administration and be out on the streets the very next
day demanding that the administration be dismantled. They will conduct their personal lives according to the lowest
standards of morality and all the while attack the morality of others. They will buy into any far-fetched
conspiracy theory that they read about on the Internet while refusing to accept
factual information that disputes it.
They will glom onto six generals who demand the resignation of the
Secretary of Defense while ignoring any facts that back up his actions and the
many other military and civilian sources who support him – simply to
politically attack that aforementioned elected
administration.
I
find it absolutely absurd that Americans are second guessing our entry into a
war so long after the fact, and while we have so many brave young people still
in harm’s way. These “retired generals”
have books to sell, folks! Believe me,
it is very hard to turn down an easy buck to hold onto principles. Sensationalism sells – it’s that
simple. What can be more sensational
that a handful of generals coming out against the system that put them where
they are?
It
is becoming more and more obvious that so many teachers and professors are
using their classrooms to spout their personal hatreds and their political
ignorance. We get it. Everything wrong in the whole world is now
the fault of George W. Bush and his administration. The liberals are so frustrated by having lost so much power and
influence in government that they are willing to do anything to get it
back. The brainwashing is working quite
well in some circles.
Every
time I find myself in conversation with folks who are not of the conservative
philosophy, (and even some that think they are), as I listen to them express
their “views” on this administration, one thing sticks out like a sore
thumb. They ALWAYS parrot what they
have heard on the news media.
Independent thoughts never occur to them. It is so easy to listen to those well-paid media personalities
and the oh-so-intelligent movie stars to pick up all the talking points you
need for a “conversation” with those of opposing views.
Americans
cannot afford to take that easy route any more – and there is no excuse for
it. We are not a collective society of
spoon-fed morons – we are individuals with abilities to learn on our own, seek
real truth, and evaluate all sources of information. Lord knows I certainly pour over everything I can find to support
the liberal leaning, American hating crowd, and then weigh that against facts
that ARE obtainable if one bothers to look.
Okay,
let me stop right here for a moment. At
no time in human history has so much information been at the fingertips of so
many people about so many subjects as that which exists right now. And I dare say that fewer and fewer people
are bothering to take advantage of it in a positive way. Too many people no longer wish to learn for
the sake of learning. They go to school
not to learn, but because they have to for other reasons. Compulsory “education” has laid the
groundwork for susceptibility to brainwashing.
Academic prerequisites mandate educational degrees for lucrative
employment. The chance to succeed in today’s
world is almost exclusively dependent on securing a degree from attendance at
one of the most aggressive examples of brainwashing that exists - those revered
halls of higher learning.
With
America more interested in voting for the American Idol than voting in their
local and national elections for their government, it is obvious that the
media’s brainwashing is almost complete.
After all, it is much easier to be entertained than it is to do the hard
job of learning. But they will surely
not miss a chance to complain during the moments in the day when they have
flashes of reality about the problems in the country and in the world. It has to be somebody’s fault – and they
can’t see their own reflections in that mirror!
For
anyone who cares to do a little extra learning today, check here for an article about Rumsfeld by Donna Miles –
American Forces Press Service.
Another
recent article may be found here from the L.A. Times, (not a usual source for
unbiased reporting.)
Then,
if you’d like to take a look at a pretty concise biography of the man, go here for that.
Last,
but certainly not least, you can get a pretty interesting view of Rumsfeld’s
detractors by reading this and this – two articles found at The American
Thinker.
Now,
I could end by giving you a whole bunch of links to sites, blogs, and news
service articles that give nothing but a negative view of Rumsfeld, the Bush
administration, Bush himself, and even a few interesting facts about
brainwashing and how people like me are “brainwashed” because I’d rather
believe in the goodness of America than take the view that we are a totally
corrupt people and there is no hope for us except through accepting socialism
and communism and giving up all our arms and all our money to tyrannical
rule. But, since I am not ashamed to be
an American, nor have I been brainwashed by the aforementioned entities, I’d
rather leave those for you to discover on your own.
Time
will tell if we are a truly “doomed” society.
I will leave you with this final bit of history, though, because it is oh so fitting and was uttered by none other than the darling of the liberals some forty-plus years ago.
“In your hands, my
fellow citizens, more than mine, will rest the final success or failure of our
course. Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been
summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty. The graves of young
Americans who answered the call to service surround the globe.
Now the trumpet
summons us again--not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need--not as a
call to battle, though embattled we are-- but a call to bear the burden of a
long twilight struggle, year in and year out, "rejoicing in hope, patient
in tribulation"--a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny,
poverty, disease and war itself.
Can we forge against
these enemies a grand and global alliance, North and South, East and West, that
can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic
effort?
In the long history of
the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending
freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this
responsibility--I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange
places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith,
the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who
serve it--and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.
And so, my fellow
Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for
your country.
My fellow citizens of
the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do
for the freedom of man.
Finally, whether you
are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high
standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience
our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go
forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing
that here on earth God's work must truly be our own.” JFK – Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961