masterwordsmith-unplugged

Here's another post by Cowboy Bob aka Sagebrush Philosopher, one of the few bloggers that I have been following devotedly. Born and raised in the State of Wyoming, he attended High School at Thermopolis, Wyoming and has a Bachelor's and Master's Degrees from U.C. Berkeley. His insightful and incisive writing is powerfully and passionately written with much wisdom, sincerity and patriotism. Many of the sentiments expressed by him sound eerily familiar. Are we like sheep gone astray looking for opinion leaders/media or MSM reports to show the way? God forbid! May we never be victims of propaganda, psychological warfare or media spins. The time has come for us to arise from slumber, to think and act rationally. Let us look beyond what we are told, what we read or hear. And I am sure the answer is at hand if only we would look a little deeper, further and nearer - even within our conscience. Please leave a comment to share your response. Thanks!


Vance Packard hit it right on the button when he titled one of his best-selling books, A Nation of Sheep. I believe we have finally arrived at the point in our societal evolution where that pretty well sums up what and where we are. It is not only a sad commentary on what we have become, but further indicts us on our complacency with all it means. Most of what we are seems to be determined by the entertainment industries, reality television, social networking and whether it brings us “fun,” whatever that is. We can’t carry on a conversation, we can’t read, we can’t write, we can’t engage in critical thought or reflective contemplation, we can’t demonstrate even a modicum of human curiosity. If the movies can’t do it for us, television can’t do it for us, computers and the internet can’t do it for us, social networking can’t do it for us, and the image makers can’t do it for us, forget it. We are not interested. It isn’t worth the expenditure of time and effort it would require of us.

We are ripe for the picking by every predator of the human condition imaginable. They numb our minds, they pollute our food, they rob us of our treasures, they evict us from our homes, they abolish our jobs, they create our system of beliefs, they define our morality and they convince us of their superiority over us. And, they finally impoverish us and reduce us to the subsistence level of existence. We exist by permission from all they own and control. They have overdosed us on all the shallow fun and materialism we covet, and they have reduced us to zombies. While we dismissed our responsibilities to society and the world we live in, they sapped the life-blood right out of us. They got progressively richer and we moved closer to becoming the living dead.

Who are these agents of change that do so at our peril? They are the oligarchs, the plutocrats, big corporations, corrupt political parties, and a government owned by big money. They are the ones that have fleeced us out of all that we need for normal, fulfilling and fruitful lives. We have become the sheep being led to the slaughter.

I am persuaded that it can safely be concluded that we have evolved to the point where we can lay claim to the fact that we are, indeed, totally disinterested in anything that does not bring us more “stuff,” pleasure, fun or a sensuous experience. The thought of having to engage in anything that would require even a modicum of intellectual effort or mental exertion just scares the hell out of us! What do these vessels of protoplasm do with their lives, after they go to the gym for a workout, caress their bodies in the shower and drink in the sheer beauty of all they have become? Intellectual stimulation? Who needs it? Reflective thinking? What is that and can I put it on my credit card? Where are my pills to fight erectile dysfunction and my sexual climax enhancement drugs? I can’t get through the day without them! My life has no meaning.

We are sacrificing our very survival on the altar of human greed. Sadly, few of us are even aware of the power of the forces that are in the process of destroying us and all that we hold near and dear as members of the human race. We have abdicated all that we have been and should be to centers of power and influence that control virtually every aspect of our existence. We are in denial about the perils facing us. We are blind to the wanton destruction of this planet that are glaringly apparent are crying out for resolution for our common good.

We have become the sheep, all too willing to be led by those to whom we have given power over us and all that we cherish. What they covet and what we hope for in return could not be further apart. Their preoccupation is with insatiable greed. Greed knows no limits and is fueled by “more, and more, and more …… ad infinitum.” The average American simply wants his/her fair share of the wealth of this country, honestly earned and rightfully taken.

We are quickly descending into a two-class society. There are those at the top who will have the lion’s share of the spoils of our common efforts, and those who are expected to be eternally grateful for a life of scarcity for all things allocated to those at the bottom of the food chain. Sadly, we hardly utter a whimper as we so willingly give up the last vestigial remnants of all they want from us.

Distilled to its most common denominator, Power is defined as the “possession of control, authority or influence over others.” Power can be generated by wealth, or it can reside with people because of their social position. It can be generated by what is inherent in an office or station in life. Power resides in expertise or a body of knowledge embodied in an individual or institution. Most ominous of all is, of course, “the sheer force of the means to wreak destruction on or inflict subjugation over others.” From all material pursuits by those who simply seek more, more and more, comes the prize to be most coveted – sheer, raw power.

Those at the very top have acquired and retain their power by a variety of means, not the least of which are the following:

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THE ENTRY.