“The vested interests – if we explain the situation by their influence – can only get the public to act as they wish by manipulating public opinion, by playing either upon the public’s indifference, confusions, prejudices, pugnacities or fears.” ~ Sir Norman Angell
We have a serious problem that pervades our culture. This problem is the sphere of elitism, and the herds of sheep that support this ideology are even more a part of this problem. Being born into a culture where the achievement of wealth and power is literally taught in school, we have little to no weaponry in a battle that revolves in a perpetual cycle, never seeing a victor other than the elitist system itself.
We can see the state of our demise coming if we look close enough. The empty rhetoric of leaders in elitist economies brings little relief to their “public masses.” There is much to say, but very little to do. Those in control care less about “the people” and more about the offshore bank, the fresh lobster and the silk sheets. Meanwhile, so many stare outside the deli window and starve… This isn’t the simple upper, lower and middle class economy that we always hear about. This is a very real and vastly polarized class order.. it is the strong versus the weak, the rich versus the poor.
In the U.S. we see it firsthand.. the wealthiest of our population holds public office, makes laws and suppresses the people with the perpetuation of not only fear.. but with hope as well. They create false hope again and again and always fail to deliver… they do this because without hope, they have no support; no true power. This is how and why a sheep is born.. through hope and fear.
Take the popular books and movie titled “The Hunger Games.” If you’ve seen it or read it, pay close attention. This fictional world could easily become our own reality unless the materialistic, power and money hungry elitists are left in place to control everything, and moreso if they keep getting support from sheepish followers. The movie itself has a very socialist concentration camp feel to it, and on a very large scale. This could very well be the world today had Nazi Germany never been stopped.
People need to realize that for many many years, they’ve been manipulated and controlled by fear and hope. Until the people begin to take a stand and demand change; to think for themselves, to honestly take a step back and realize how much of life they have spent struggling to feed their family or to try to become wealthy under this system, then we will be stuck in the class system, with the cream at the top and the crud at the bottom. Unless we can nurture compassion for all, the notion of equality for all and refute the false need for power, wealth or status, we will remain under the stagnant stench of an elitist system.
One thing is true throughout history… a people can only take so much before they rise up and show their governments just how powerful they are.. We have seen this happen around the world for centuries, and we see it currently in many countries abroad.
Sure, you can step on an anthill… but I bet you don’t leave your foot there for very long.
HeartSphere 
When man worships Mammon, instead of God, these “vested interests” become the very Devil himself!
Indeed.. very true.
This is very true and very sad. I talk about this often. We have politicians-“servants” of the people, that put on a good show of being on one side or another, but at the end of the day they pat each other on the back and go off to their privileged lives…not giving a thought of the people they are supposed to be working for.
Politicians have no wish to unify us because they would see it as a threat to their own wellbeing. We have class envy where people hate the rich, yet long to be one of them. If only more people would take the time to get to know their neighbor and make the wellbeing of their neighbor as important as their own. Apathy and envy are destroying us, they too are master manipulators.
Look at the Presidential elections-both Obama and Romney are one and the same. They’ve pandered to our fears, and played We The People for fools. They (and their cronies) give false hope to those who truly need it.
Speaking of “The Hunger Games”, I’ve started to read it. Trust me, it’s a world we could easily fall into if we don’t watch out!
Very timely post! Peace!
I was very intriguied with this post (always am with every one of them) wish I could have you as a college professor, but this caught my attention in many ways than one and you spoke of something that amny do not bother to, but enjoy to surely give their opinions on in a quite class room or between peers. But what you mentioned, about how the system of today works and what it pays sole attention to is very true. I can saya lot of how of things, things that even books don’t mention because of having grown with my Nonna who, after World War Two dealt with many of the Nazi soldiers and changes, she later came here to the U.S.A and told me just how DIFFERENT it was back then from what it is turning out to be now. I even shock some proffesors I’ve had about those topics or am told that I am wrong because I’m just a 19 year old college student, I have been told this. But how can I be wrong when I’m talking to someone, who is living history, who is telling me what they experienced/lived through/saw/witnessed/etc. The U.S, my Nonna told me was never about giving most if any, all the attention to those who were exceedingly rich and wealthy, back then it was full of such diversity between the difference of the classes that it was mostly about helping everyone and actually making the system better. But now, and I could go on about this topic forever, everyone is simply worried about the wealthy and how to fill their pockets and about all the new gadgets and fast pace, money makers and care to give little to no attention to those who ACTUALLY have things to worry about and care for. One thing my Nonna has always told me, when she was growing up in Italy, she told that the Fascism way of Mussolini was one that had affects, but without his having signed a certain treaty or wording with Germany, Italy would have been history. But what people didn’t see was how it saved them from the Socialistic ways, but definitely not from communism, and Italy has always been communist, sad but true. But if people do bother to give glance and turn to listen to what is really happening here in the U.S they would see just how bad things are getting with how things are continuing and forming.
It is very saddening to say, but if the system is not “fixed” or altered in some form for the better little by little, I hate to say this, but the words of Stalin will be true, it will lead to a division and one America can not afford. As in the words of Abraham Lincoln “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” So, lets hope people begin to slowly pause for a moment and bother to pay attention to what’s going on before it’s too late.
“One thing is true throughout history… a people can only take so much before they rise up and show their governments just how powerful they are.”
Very true. It is also true that after the people rise up and overthrow their oppressors, the oppressed become the new oppressors over time. This completes the cycle.
It is an ugly truth about humanity, but true nonetheless. We have seen the enemy, and they are us.
Indeed that seems to be the cycle.. the love of power often subdues all who taste it. I find this phenomena very peculiar and wonder if it is part of human nature, or if it comes from conditioning..
I believe both, with human nature serving as the roots, and conditioning the environment that allows that nature to grow. Fruit is produced, seeds are dropped, and the infestation spreads.
This vile human nature that exists potentially within all of us is given a word in Christianity: sin. Many understand the word “sin” to be a wrong behavior. The true meaning is what we are observing: a nature that potentially exists within all of us, readily apparent in the sphere of elitism, among many other darkly colored orbs. By dying to that nature, the individual will is melded with the divine, allowing the individual to flourish as a counter-example to the growing infestation.
It is one path among many, and it is up to the seeker to assess the validity of the path presented. If the chaff is separated from it, I believe the wheat to be wholesome. Regardless, one thing is becoming certain. The light from the collective body of truth-seekers is fading. When it is gone, the cycle will repeat. Will it be the last time?
Interesting interpretation my friend.. I believe the very nature of a cycle is that it’s always in motion, always repeating.. thus the everlasting “swirl” of chaos and order that exists within and around all life.. one cannot exist without the other, and to live properly one must balance both and walk in both. If there is a last time, we may be on the cusp of it, or not.. but no matter as all paths are relative to the traveler.. Peace is my path, and I can only hope to help guide others toward it.
I agree with you. Have you watched the documentary series – The Century of the Self ? How Freuds ideas were deliberately abused to control opinion? I had thought that the Internet would be a wonderful counter by allowing individuals to connect each to each. But see how google Facebook and the like are dominating collecting our information the better to control our opinion!
Wordsworth put well the endless pointless round of materialism “Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers…”
No I haven’t but that sounds quite interesting.. and though the internet has brought the ability to stay informed, it has also brought with it another element of control.. sadly it will probably begin to be infringed upon by governments even more in the coming years.
You can view “the century of the self” at the following link …
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/the-century-of-the-self/
Really recommend this in relation to the topic you so eloquently raised.
Powerful and well written as usual…an important message!
Thank you!
Well and good on an old, oft-repeated riff, especially by ‘fear the government’ types — but what’s the solution? Bullets vs ballots? And not to be contentious with your last commenter, “Gothic,” study history. The egalitarian nirvana has never existed. It’s long been a lofty ideal but in practice, the ‘golden rule’ has been about those with the gold making the rules.
– Mo
I’m not sure that a solution is possible to be honest.. though I wish that it were so.. it seems people crave power, control and wealth far more than they crave peace and freedom. If any solution is available I’d have to say that it could only come with a paradigm shift of consciousness, an evolution of thought perhaps.. Or from a reckoning that cannot be ignored.
That last line was one of your best yet. Awesome post.
A lot of the sentiment shared in this post is familiar to me because of my development as a young person with a strong sense of justice and a desire to understand how things work. The two most impactful music artists from my pre-teens and teens were NOFX and Public Enemy, who both share with you a high degree of frustration and impatience with how things are. I am with that.
The leading question is then: “Now what?”
We’ve identified some problems and some systemic flaws in ourselves, in our communities and our institutions, so how do we on an individual or collective level work to bring about the change we hope to see?
What needs to be the collective revolutionary mantra that will bring people into habits and practices that would produce a different mode of behavior, so that if the power of the present “elites” was placed in the hands of those who practiced this mantra, the world would be a better place?
My vested interest is in hearing of people who are actively practicing to make the world better for all, and how many ways can it be done…
Perhaps we are experiencing a pivot in history. I sometimes wonder if the internet will have the combined effect of the printing press and the library of Alexandria. When knowledge flows, deception crumbles. Let us pray for the way ahead, to understand how best to serve all.
I’ve nominated you for the “Super Sweet Award” It will be posted this friday.
Sue Bock
http://couragetoadventure.wordpress.com
Now, about your post. As always you make me think. What you say in some sense is true. Congress has about a 10% rating with the American people. I think that speaks volumes. What I believe is that they’ve, yes lost trust in Congress and the politicians, and they’ve lost for a “savior” to make it all better. When choices show up like the gentleman, and I use that term loosely, regarding the rape of women, what are we left with.
When we continue to do things the same way and expect different results, or we go to extremes, like the tea party, the right wing evangelists, and the far left democrats, where does that leave us? Apathy and no hope.
There’s a shift happening in this country. A messiness that it seems we need to play in before we actually create something that is “of the people, by the people, and for the people.”(I hope I got that quote right).
Sue Bock
http://couragetoadventurecoaching.wordpress.com
Reblogged this on snee made me do it.