POLITICAL BELIEFS AND THE BIGGER PICTURE

I just read someone's right-wing blog about the terrible state we are in as a country, blaming it on the democrats.  I don't disagree that we are in crisis mode in the US, however, I am mind-boggled at the repetitive, thoughtless rhetoric of political party loyalists.

You don't have to be right-wing to be mindless.  We have plenty of mindless left-wingers, too!  (We are an equal opportunity country--for better or worse.)  I find extremists in any field generally too motivated by their emotions, rather than their logic.  Their vision is usually clouded.

The following is the comment I left on his blog in answer to his rant on the state of the Union.  I wanted to shed some light on how peoples' psychology makes them believe and act.  It's always best to look at the bigger picture and not get trapped into mimicking rhetoric.

"And what do you offer as options or alternatives to the government we have?

I agree that there exists much hypocrisy in America that often makes me want to pull out my hair.  Especially overseas, America is known for its hypocrisy

I think, in most cases, if you are on the right or left politically it is a result of the information you are exposed to, starting from the family.  If you choose to believe one way, you will generally read literature that supports your belief, thereby continuing to strengthen your beliefs, even in the face of opposing facts.  That’s how our brains work.

Politics, like religion, is emotionally loaded. Because of this it becomes difficult for us to think critically. 

Personally, while I don’t like to be legally obligated to pay taxes to help the poor, etc., I would rather the system was more socialistic than to experience the mayhem, the suffering, the craziness we have these days.  Having lived overseas, I am not as afraid of socialism as most in America.  I have seen the quality of life and people’s happiness in Europe, for example, to be much higher than ours!  However, most systems will not work well if its citizens are not ethically and morally in tune with the needs of humanity.

Some people blame the religious right, some the religious left, some the non-religious. Religious people cannot be put in one basket.  They are as polarized as the US!  On one extreme, they feel that people’s bad fortune is due to some moral failing; on the other, they are extremely supportive of anyone who is a democrat, regardless of unsavory facts about the candidate.

We are under the thumb of higher powers (and I don’t mean God).  It has less to do with right and left than it has to do with money and power, banks and the elite.  Republicans seem to be different than democrats--but we are just looking at their masks.  They are ultimately after the same thing:  money and power.

These people in power are very sick, narcissistic sociopaths, for the most part.  It’s a very scary situation.

Life, politics, religion--nothing is black and white.  It is easy to criticize--and I support constructive criticism--however, I would like to hear more ideas about what we need to change to live better, freer lives.

We need to unite and take back our power!  Otherwise, our citizens will just continue in ignorance, complaining, and unwittingly giving their power to "those who pull the strings behind the curtain!"

DOES CRITICIZING ISRAEL MEAN YOU ARE AN ANTI-SEMITE?

Palestinian Refugee Camp in Lebanon After the 1948 War

A blog I recently read takes an interesting view on antisemitism, the Israeli conflict, and accountability. In short, the author asserts that, because Israelis have killed many less people in wars and conflicts than other nations, it is surprising that they are still hated.  The conclusion:  anti-Semitism continues because people are making excuses to justify hating Jews.  It is a long tradition that is unfair and will probably never change (at least in my lifetime).

There is no doubt that anti-Semitism is alive and kicking.  I believe hating Jews because they are Jews is a shame and a crime against human nature.  I do not consider myself an anti-Semite.  

However, I think the explanations for this phenomenon are more complicated than comparing how many people Israelis have killed in relationship to other countries.  Engendered hatred of the Jews has more to do with the potential danger Israel has created by invading Palestine and subjugating Palestinians, thus enraging the Arab world.   

The Zionist nation is a threat to world peace.  And, ironically, Americans are fostering this threat through their support of the Israeli state!

The blog states that Jews are only responsible (in modern times) for 0.07% of deaths through conflict.  I am interested to know the source of these figures on deaths caused by Israelis. The author argues that so many more deaths have been incurred by other countries, and yet they are not hated.  I see that as faulty logic. Therefore, I am compelled to argue the point.

First, a reason for hating a people should not be based on how many are killed by that people's country.

Second, let's take another look at the statistics.  Do the numbers include Arab deaths at the hands of Irgun and Haggenah before the creation of Israel by the U.N.?  Do they include a comparison of Arab and Israeli deaths during the 1967 war, which was a war of aggression on the part of the Israelis? (Even the UN considers the borders of the state of Israel after 1948 to be occupied territories. However, Israel insisted they needed "lebensraum".  Ironic, in view of the so-called reason for WWII.)

In my opinion, backed by numerous eyewitness reports, over one million Iraqis were killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom at the behest of Israel, through Israeli lobbyists and neo-conservative American officials, some of whom have duel Israeli/American citizenship.

(Some of these dual citizenship Americans served in the Israel army, but not the American army. Why didn’t these "dual citizens" also have enlisted in the American army, as well? This may be one illuminating factor regarding where their loyalties actually lie.)

The author of the blog asserts that Israelis have not been suicide bombers, hi-jackers, or bombers. That seems to be true on the surface of the facts with which we are presented.  

Hence, my third point:  I argue, why would they commit those acts knowing that it will incur the wrath of other nations, when they can cause a great amount of damage covertly?  (For example, there are many reports that the Mossad creates and engages in many conflicts.  If you think that sounds like a conspiracy theory, I say, read more!)

Fourth, Israelis have no need of resorting to such tactics; they have considerable military strength and international connections backing them up.

Israel's complaints that they are surrounded by enemies belies the fact that Israel has the most powerful army (financed and supplied by the U.S.) in the region, and possesses 200 or more nuclear weapons (that they will not admit they have).

Yes, anti-Semitism is alive.  However, more informed and thoughtful Americans, Israelis, Europeans, and other nationals will no longer be fooled by Zionists who label them as anti-Semitic simply for criticizing the unfair and dangerous policies of Israel.  They are not the same issue.  They are not excuses to hate Jews.  In fact, there are many intelligent, thoughtful people, among them Jews, who love Jews and Jewish culture, but who object to Israeli political actions in the Middle East.

Fifth, people are afraid of the strength and backing of the Israeli state and what that means for, not only Palestinians, but also the potential for world conflict erupting into WWIII.  This fear creates conditions for many people to hate the Jewish state—but not necessarily the Jews, themselves.  A crucial and important distinction needs to be made between a people and its country's politics.

Living many years in Greece, a pro-Palestinian country, I was exposed to another side of the propaganda machine.  There I had the opportunity to weigh carefully both sides of the argument.

 

In America, with so many pro-Israeli people at the helm of mass media, we are falling victim to propaganda.  Yes, the atrocities towards the Jews and many others are inexcusable.  We all seem to agree on that point.  However, using sympathies for Jews is a dirty tactic to convince the public that the Israel state is in the “right” and that we should continue supporting Zionist policies.  

Sixth, Judeo-Christian beliefs are also culpable for misplaced hatred.

Critical thinking skills are crucial to understanding this Arab/Israeli political morass--and courage to challenge the popular, misguided attitudes of the populace.

Increasing numbers of people in the world are sick of this incessant lethal tit-for-tat between Arabs and Jews and will no longer be persuaded by accusations of terrorism by state terrorists or otherwise.

WHY STILL OCCUPY WALL STREET?

LONDON  (FROM "THE ATLANTIC")

Some people just do not understand why others believe in certain conspiracy theories.  The common response is to deride them, call them names, and belittle them in an effort to make themselves believe that the party-lines are truth.  Some people have made a "science" out of conspiracy theorists, creating their own theories for why people believe stuff that is out of the norm.  They have their points.

PICTURE CREDIT:  THE ATLANTIC

However, people who believe in conspiracies cannot fairly be lumped together.  There are also very good points for believing in conspiracies.  Just take a close look at history.  It is full of examples of conspiracies.

Weird theories are very difficult for most people to accept--it is hard to wrap your head around them.  And if they are true, they are very scary to believe sometimes.  It's easier, feels better to stay coddled in warm comforting lies.

It is true, some conspiracy theorists may be unbalanced; however, it does not follow that all are.  What are most people's response to conspiracy theorists?  It is just easier to judge them altogether, and their theories with them, and call them "kooky" or "crackpots" or worse.  That way people can stay away from some things that demand attention and investigation; that way people won't stand out from the crowd and be called names; that way people can feel safer and more optimistic.

LOS ANGELES (FROM "THE ATLANTIC")

Using Culture Theory, we can explain why there continues to be a separation between the many and the few.  Most people do not like to be on the "fringe" of society, be ridiculed and some kind of outcasts.  They prefer the sense of safety in conformity.

Using Terror Management Theory, we can explain why people shy away from believing the outrageous--phenomena that cannot be easily explained.  We like pat answers; we want to believe what we were conditioned to believe; we don't want to think that, willingly or unwillingly, our parents, our society at large, our churches, and our governments have deceived us.

We don't want to rock our worldviews.  We are all looking for security--reasons for life and afterlife.  It is our existential person hood, our basic psychology.  Critical thinking interferes with the nest of lies society has helped us build for ourselves.  Anyway, it is easier to have others do the thinking for us.  Sadly, some of us never grow up or out of that mind-set.  Terror is a great motivator to stay blind and stay in-line.

Personally, I don't know whether to believe in God, crop circles, alien interference in our world, the Lochness monster or Bigfoot.  However, there are certain conspiracies that are difficult to deny with logic.  World banking is one of them.

PICTURE CREDIT:  THE ATLANTIC

Some Clear Message for Occupy Wall Street By Rand Clifford, Information Clearing House, October 10, 2011 is an article I urge you to read.  I've provided a few quotes from the article to give you a taste truth and history.

"Abraham Lincoln said:

"The money powers prey upon the nation in times of peace and conspire against it in times of adversity. It is more despotic than a monarch, more insolent than autocracy, and more selfish than a bureaucracy. It denounces, as public enemies, all who question its methods or throw light upon its crimes. I have two great enemies, the Southern Army in front of me and the bankers in the rear. Of the two, the one at the rear is my greatest foe.”

"James Madison, fourth president of the United States, called the private international banking cartel of which the Fed is a part, the “Money Changers”. And Madison said, “History records that the Money Changers have used every form of abuse, intrigue, deceit and violent means possible to maintain their control over governments by controlling money and its issuance.”

"President Monroe signed into law the charter for the Second Bank of the Untied States on April 10, 1816. This bloodletting also came with a twenty-year charter—at the end of which, President Jackson was able to disengage Bankula from America’s throat. Later, when asked what his greatest accomplishment had been during his two terms as President, Andrew Jackson replied “I killed the Bank.”

He stopped charter renewal of the second Rothschild-controlled central bank. Jackson even has “I Killed The Bank” written on his tombstone."

"In the words of Niall Ferguson, of the House of Rothschild:

There are now only 5 nations on the world left without a Rothschild controlled central bank: Iran; North Korea; Sudan; Cuba; and Libya.”"

Are you getting the picture?  (The article will fill in some blanks.)

Knowing these facts, do you wonder why some people believe that The Fed is involved with Israeli politics?

With world politics?

With world economics?

Do you wonder why some people believe there is a relatively small group of powerful people pulling political strings?

Do you still wonder why we STILL "Occupy Wall Street"?