Tag Archives: #perception

GAY, TRANS, CIS, BLACK, WHITE, BLUE, GOD, CHURCHES, LIBERAL, LABOUR, GREEN, THAT, THIS AND WHAT’S THE POINT, WHO ARE WE?

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The Label Drawer

Somewhere along the line, we all got handed a little label maker and told it was “personal growth.”

Gay. Trans. Cis. Straight. Non binary. He him. She her. They them. This. That. The other. And if you do not pick one quickly enough, someone will kindly offer you a set like a waiter listing specials.

And look, I get it. For a lot of people, those words are not decoration. They are survival. They are belonging. They are the way you find your mob when the world has been rough. I am not here to take that away from anyone.

But I am here to ask a blunt question: why is the label so often the first thing we ask for, like it is the password to the real conversation?

Who Are You When Nobody’s Watching?

Here is my problem. Labels can be useful, but they are terrible at doing the job they keep getting hired for. They do not tell me if you are kind. They do not tell me if you apologise when you are wrong. They do not tell me if you are safe to be around when things get messy. They do not tell me if I call and 3.00 am you’ll come?

They do not tell me how you got to here?

And that is what I actually want to know.

What did you crawl through to get here? What are you proud of that nobody claps for? What do you hope for when your head hits the pillow and the day is finally quiet? What do you want to build, or fix, or protect? What makes you laugh so hard you snort and then pretend it was a cough?

Tell me about the dream you have not said out loud because it feels too big. Tell me about the grief you carry like a constant dead weight in your pocket. Tell me about the time you were brave and nobody saw it.

That is the stuff that makes a person. Not a checkbox.

Pronouns, Tribes, and the Great Human Hunger

I am not offended by pronouns. I am not terrified of identity. I am not declaring war on anybody’s flag.

I am just saying that sometimes it feels like we are collecting categories the way kids collect footy cards. Got one. Need another. Rare edition. Signed. Limited release. And, it just ends up in the box with the rest. No really adding to my life, just sitting there to show once in a while to show I have something you don’t.

We are starving for belonging, and we keep trying to eat it through labels. We keep trying to connect by pushing people in and out of a group.

But belonging is not a word. It is behaviour. It is how you treat the barista when your coffee is wrong. It is how you speak to your partner when you are tired. It is how you act when nobody is recording you, and there is no applause, and you could get away with being a dickhead.

If you want to tell me who you are, tell me what you do when you have power, even tiny power. Tell me how you handle anger. Tell me how you handle someone else’s pain. Tell me what you do with your attention, your money, your time, your words.

Because character is identity with receipts.

What’s the Point?

The point is simple. I want a world where the first question is not “what are you” but “who are you.” I practice saying when I meet people for the first time, not “What do you do for a job?” But, “What do you love to do?”

I want conversations where we do not lead with a label and end with silence. And, when we don’t agree the winner is the one that yells the loudest and blames the other. I want friendships built on curiosity, humour, honesty, and the strange miracle of being two humans who both made it through their own storms and still have the nerve to hope. And the understanding that hatred is a disease not a source of energy. And anger need only the addition of one letter to always signify “D anger.”

Maybe if we get good at seeing the person first, we can make someone’s day a little lighter. Maybe we leave a place better than we found it. Maybe we leave a person a little happier, or at least a little less alone.

So yes, be whatever you are. Call yourself whatever helps you breathe. I will respect it.

And then, once that part is done, come closer and tell me the real story.

Tell me your story, without fear or favour, with heart and truth. Tell me, who are you?

Some Alone Time at Christmas

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I think about loneliness sometimes.

Not my own, as I rarely get lonely. I’m more likely to get lonely in a crowded room where everyone is wasting my time?!

When I think of loneliness, I think often of those who may be.

My Mum Gloria lived 25 years after my Father Lindsay passed away. My Nana Cooke lived for 45 years after my Grandfather, Pa died and she had lost both her bothers in World War 1.

I think of loneliness in our culture not as cruel, although it can be, but almost inevitable for most of us; particularly the elderly.

So, at Christmas perhaps don’t be sucked in by the Santa Clause created by Coca-Cola (Look that one up, it’s TRUE! I’ve even given you a link click here!) and spare a thought for those spending it alone.

So, every year around this time year, I start thinking about people who find this time of year hard. I am sure some, perhaps many in today’s world, feel lost, forgotten and some sit in a quiet house while the rest of the world seems to be celebrating.

And sometimes the loneliest people are standing right beside us and we never notice. I always remember Robin Williams quote about loneliness:

I used to think the worst thing in life was to end up alone. No. The worst thing in life is to end up with people who make you feel alone,”

I’ve learned over the last few years, when your own heart has broken once or twice, you start to see the cracks in others more clearly. I know what it feels like to hope someone will reach out, because you’re to embarrassed to ask, or worse afraid you do, and nobody comes.

Christmas has a way of magnifying whatever we carry inside, as the lights seem brighter, red and green is everywhere and then that moment when the sadness becomes heavier. And that’s why the real spirit of this season matters. Not the gifts or the lights, but because it’s a chance to remind people they aren’t alone in the world.

That I believe, when you ignore all the commercialism and Santa Clause, just perhaps the entire idea behind this Christmas, is hope.

Whether you believe or not, the celebration is about the birth of a bloke who later on in life would give up his life for the rest of us. It is somehow noble when we think about it in the context of war and quote: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends,”

Just a hint, that is from the bible John 15:13. Bear in mind I’d rather mow a mates lawn than get nailed to a cross: but, you do what you have to do for mates.

Connection doesn’t have to be grand or complicated, it’s a coffee, a phone call, an invitation, or even just asking someone “How you going mate, dont bullshit me? …. And then, the hard part, taking the time to listen to the answer (Not waiting for a gap in the conversation to tell him you’ve got a new TV or you think so-and-so Politician is an idiot!).

I’m not an expert in anything, but, I do know what it’s like to feel broken and to slowly put the pieces back together. I know how powerful it is when someone takes a moment to see you, to check in, to care. I know that loneliness isn’t fixed by speeches or sermons, only by people.

So this Christmas, I’m reminding myself to look around more carefully.
To notice the person who seems a little quiet.
To reach out instead of assuming they’re okay.
To make room at the table, or the shed, or wherever people gather for someone else.

And, today I heard at a lunch with mates, a few saying they were going to ring, or visit someone and that ‘someone’ died before they got to visit them. Think of someone, ring or visit that someone, now! That when you get around to it may never come….

Because none of us get through life alone.
And none of us should have to face Christmas feeling forgotten.

We may not be able to heal every hurt, but we can sure make someone feel seen.
We can remind each other that this world is less cold than it sometimes feels.
And we can offer the simplest Christmas gift of all, connection and our time.

If you’re struggling this year, please know this: You are not invisible, to me, you matter to me, and even in your hardest moments, you are not walking alone.

It’s Jesus’s Birthday, he’d want us to celebrate!

When Life Breaks Without Warning

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I keep seeing a post on Facebook where an old work associate is breaking and sharing his pain on numerous posts. Many kind people are replying with their love and support. It doesn’t seem to be helping.

Today he posted about ‘seeing himself’ and understanding things he was blind to before. That is what tragedy brings you, as its unwelcome gift, a world covered in shit that rolls down hill and you live in a valley.

Sometimes, there are moments in life when the floor simply gives way.

One minute you’re steady. The next, something blindsides you: a relationship collapses, a dream dissolves, someone you love disappears from your world, or life just… turns.

A life that was going alone nicely, with hopes and dreams and something to look forward to gets, real hard, real quick, it just seems life suddenly got very cruel. Bad things mostly happen quickly, without warning.

And, they happen without asking permission.

Hearts don’t crack politely, minds don’t break with affection.

They break loudly, silently, suddenly. That suddenness fills your life with grief, rejection, loneliness, uncertainty, tragedy, betrayal, and mostly, a pain in your chest, heart, head that seems impossible to bear. The reasons are endless, but the feeling is unmistakable.

And in those moments where nothing makes sense, where you’re left staring at the pieces thinking, “How the hell did this happen?” there’s an ancient line from an old shepherd-turned-king that still hits the human heart squarely:

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; He rescues those whose spirits are crushed.”
Psalm 34:18

Now, whether you see that as literal truth from a higher power, or as ancient poetry describing what humans have always hoped was true, the message lands the same:

You are not alone in your pain.

David, the guy who wrote that verse, lived a life that swung between triumphs and absolute disasters. He wasn’t preaching theory he was naming something he had survived. Something we all have survived in our own way: the belief (or maybe just the stubborn hope) that even in disaster, we’re not completely abandoned.

(PS: ‘Fact Check’ on the bloke above. The ‘rock-slingers’ in ancient armies were the most feared combatants as they could kill you from 50 yards away with a single stone. ‘Little Rock Slingers’ easily killed big giant dudes with armour and swords by hitting them in the head with a rock. A fact, not a miracle!)

The funny part about the Old Testament in the Bible is that its a horror story, filled mostly with bad people doing bad things and getting pulled out of the shit at deaths’ knock by a God they’ve just been ignoring while they worship golden cows, having orgies and getting on the piss. (I’d get rid of the Old Testament if I was doing a rewrite – not that I’ve read it all, to much begetting of sons and fathers!)

So, when it comes to tragedy, ask yourself quietly: Is your heart broken? Is your spirit crushed?

If so… take this next part however you need it:

From a religious point of view: God is near.
Or if you don’t believe in “God” or any higher power perhaps consider the truth in any case:

Comfort is near.
Meaning is near.
A way through is near.

You haven’t been left to fight this alone.
You are seen, even when no one seems to notice.
You are held, even when no one seems to reach for you.
You are not forgotten, even when your mind tries to convince you otherwise.

And no, as we all know, there is no free pass from hardship.
Life doesn’t work like that.
But it does mean there is something, call it God, call it strength, call it the human Spirit, call it stubborn human resilience that steps closer when everything else falls apart.

That is how we survive. That is how we, as a species have always survived the hardships and tragedies of just living.

The Bible says God is called the Comforter, a presence that soothes, steadies, guides, and whispers encouragement into the wreckage. Even if you’re an atheist, that word Comforter still makes sense. We’ve all felt comfort that came from somewhere we couldn’t fully explain.

Maybe it was a friend.
Maybe it was a memory.
Maybe it was a moment of calm when your whole world was burning.
Maybe it was just your own heart proving it still had some fight left.
Maybe it is that undeniable resilience of the human spirit shining through.

Whatever the source, comfort is real. And it keeps people alive. Sometimes it just arrives, sometimes we may need to seek it, sometimes we may need to be the one offering.

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So, if today your spirit feels crushed firstly take a breath. Look around, and realise the world is still there, understand it is mostly happening within you and not too you. The human race, I believe has always been in good hands. We just use our gifts for a lot of the wrong reasons. And it doesn’t matter if you call those hands divine or simply human.

Life will always contain trials and hardships.
But pain doesn’t get the final say.
You do.
Your healing does.
Your next chapter does.

Name, even quietly, whatever has cracked your heart open. Acknowledge it without rushing to fix it. A wise old soldier mate of mine once rewrote a old saying into:

”Don’t just do something, stand there.”

Then give yourself permission to sit, in a divine presence if you believe in that, or simply in a moment of stillness. Not doing something and taking a moment is often the best answer.

Let the weight shift and lift a little.

Irrespective of fate, divine plans and the chaos of human existence, somehow we are all connected. Even if we don’t notice everyday, as we are cruel, unkind and indifferent to each other. I believe, no, I know under the surface, in all of us there is closeness, comfort, connection healing and better days to come..

We that are all here, are still just here, living everyday as it comes.
And that means something good is still possible, wether it be divine or not, as tomorrow will come, with our permission or not.

Random Policing or Tyranny?

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I read the news paper the other day (I scold myself again for wasting the money….) and found the below article hidden in subtext after the winner of a game show and the elections and ramblings of overseas political incomprehensibility.

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The article just reminded me of a conversation I had in the mid 1990’s…..

As a bit of history first. I graduated as a Police Officer in 1980.

Drink driving in those days meant that you were not allowed to drive drunk. We often pulled over a driver a bit after midnight (the pubs ALL closed at midnight) and had the following conversation:

“Hey mate where you off too?”
“Just going home”
“Where you coming from”
“Just been down the pub.”
“You had a few?”
“Yeah but I’m okay…”
“Okay mate take it easy, be careful.”
“Yes sir, can I go?”
“Yes mate…..”

Then a short time later ‘The Limit’ came in at 0.08 which nobody really knew what it meant. It became illegal to drive above the limit of alcohol in the blood, whatever that meant. But, the Government put advertisements on TV and it was a catchy phrase, and maybe it was a song something like “Four Men and Women Two” which turned out to be pretty wrong! Who knew?

Drivers then had to ‘blow in the bag’ (some of you will recognise the ‘altho-test’ in the above photo – no fancy electronics!!!) to show us they we sober. Sorry not sober, or too drunk to drive, but, ‘under the limit’ of 0.08. By the way it was still illegal to drive drunk!

Setting up the bag was a nightmare, breaking off the ends of little glass tubes filled with crystals, then connecting it to a bag and a mouth piece (with bare hands…). Then going through the legal jargon of saying blow until the bag is full. Then if the crystals changed colour above a little red line it meant you went over the limit, which was bad.

But, we didn’t do too many, as you had to be observed committing a traffic offence or driving in a manner which indicated your driving was impaired. This had to be see before the Police could pull you over a get you to ‘blow in the bag.’

Okay, later they brought in electronic breatherlsisers and legislation that gave Police the power to take your car and cancel your license on the side of the road. But, before that they did something else which, brings me to the point of my ramblings.

They (the infamous ‘they’, normally meaning the government or big business…) brought in:

RANDOM BREATH TESTING!!!!!!!

Wow! Randomly Policing the public just in case they were committing a crime with no indication that they have ever committed a crime, might commit a crime, let alone are committing a crime…. it’s all ‘random’ ….. dare I say ‘just in’ case Policing?

It was strange, as this is the main point of my story. When they brought in this ‘random policing model’ I was a Detective and studying to be qualified as a Sergeant. It was an era of enlightenment when Policing studies were aligned with TAFE and University Courses and qualifications actually meant something.

I went along to TAFE as a 30’s something fifteen year ‘veteran’ in the Police with the other students in the class being adolescents and kids all around 18 years old, which was a lot of fun. It came to a bit of a head in class discussions when we were doing something relating to random breath testing and drink driving.

I saw an opportunity to cause trouble, never an opportunity I would let pass by and spoke against the principle of random breath testing. Remember everyone was there just to get qualified in something and each 45 minute lecture in Adelaide TAFE was attended just so you could get a basic pass and get on with life.

I realised something while being the ‘devils advocate’ in this lecture it all came down to one question. I asked that question….

DO YOU BELIEVE IN RANDON BREATH TESTING …. AND IF SO, WHY?

Oh yeah, they were all for it. IT Stopped dangerous people on the road, saved lives, lowered traffic injuries and deaths. Unfortunately, experience tells us other than complete tyranny, enforcement has never actually ‘stopped’ a destructive community behaviour or crime problem. I love the story of alcohol prohibition in the US, it worked so well, it created “Organised Crime!”

Now, I want you to imagine you are at home one night with your family just finished tea and taking your positions to watch “Farmer Wants a Wife” or some other inane TV show designed to make you dumber. There is a knock on the door: the family all look at each other in surprise “Oh, I wonder who that could be?” We hear Dad open the front door and a measured and authoritarian voice is heard to say:

“Good evening sir”
Dad: “Hello Officer how can I help you?”
“We are conducting random house searches for drugs and stolen proptery… blah, blah, blah…

Okay, you say not probable, but, I say inevitable…?

But, can you not apply your reasoning for agreeing with random breath testing to this ‘random house searching’. Are they not justified on the same principles?

By allowing the Police to randomly ‘police’ us we are handing over our ‘right’ to go about our business peacefully without interference from an over controlling or oppressive regime. We are handing over all our rights to not be considered ‘possibly guilty until proven innocent.’ That is really the crux of the matter. Your presumption of innocence is surrendered by any form of random policing.

Oh, I hear you say again but that will never happen in Australia!

Well, you mean like, when you are randomly stopped in your car, and the Police have the power of ‘judge, jury and executioner’ when they cancel your licence on the spot and impound your car…. but, aren’t you innocent so why the ‘roadside penalty’ when Court, like a real Court, could be months away. Just point out to me in these situations where is your ‘presumption of innocence.’

Well, sorry too late….. ask those in Port Augusta if they enjoyed tyranny. (PS: The statistics they quote in the article below don’t mean anything?)

A Reflection at Christmas

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I may not be a great man …
A rich man …
A man without regrets …

A man without enemies …
… I mostly deserve …
… and those I don’t, should tread carefully and make no mistakes …

A man with friends…
… for seasons and reasons …

A man with lifelong friends…
… where silence …
… distance …
and time, means nothing …

A man with a Band of Brothers…
… as I am to them …
… they call, I come …
… I call and he or she comes … sometimes together …
… they are formidable… some very dangerous … some smarter then me … some just to hold me up …

An orphan man …
… of true family …
… one who chose me …
… one of blood …
A man who found a small few, who became family …

A man as a brother …
A man as a Cousin …
A man …
… who has the honour …
… as a Father …
… a Father-in-Law …
and an Uncle …

A man who lives under the protection …
… of God …
and his Band-of-Brothers when prayer is not enough …
… and when dangerous people are required …
… and the family around him …
… protecting and to be protected … at all costs …

I am a man …
… included in a group of flawed, but, good people …
… family, friends and those I have not yet met …
… people who accept me with all my bad choices and trail of broken hearts …
… broken promises …
and
… regrets …

A man …
… nevertheless …
… who is here so temporarily …
… yet loves every second …
and looks forward to the next …
… who will not leave this mortal coil without a fight …

A man who …
… is lucky …
… is loved …
… loves …
… is grateful …
and… forgiven …

A man …
… who loves Christmas …
… for it’s real meaning …

A man …
… just taking a moment …
… to reflect …

Amen …

Short Post: Biden Speech

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I do go on…

So short blogs …… as I see the world….

Biden just told the world he would hand over the US Presidency to Trump peacefully and they met and had a nice chat…..

I love being wrong in my predictions…… but: I make them anyway….

Biden will be dead before Christmas (gently in his sleep?)
Kamala will be President for a bit under a month…..
Multiple assassination attempts on Trump….. they will probably get him…..
There will be a US Constitutional “Crisis”…….

….. and it goes on…. And on…. And on….. And on……

(The new civil war in USA is still not avoided…..)

War ….. in Australia

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(See disclaimer before you attack me…)

We can stop the war in the Middle East, the Ukraine/Russia and all the wars in Africa if we……

Stop sending “War Aid”….

We can just send “Humanitarian Aid”….. to the communities and families just like us…..

Look in the ‘background’ of all the footage of these wars……. They are just people like us…. With a kitchen like us, as TV, working a mundane job, having kids, a dog….. and all the stuff we have…..

They are Doctors, garbage collectors, nurse, tradies; with kids going to school….. and then….?

While you think about this, after feeling outraged, offense, deciding your gender and the fairness of your life in Australia….

Take a break….

As you will go to bed, with no fear that someone will drop a bomb on your house tonight.

….. and mostly., we, MUST NOT GET INVOLVED!!!!!!

Dunning-Kruger Effect: Dumb People Think They Are Smart!

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Have you ever encountered someone who seems utterly confident in their abilities despite clear evidence to the contrary? Or perhaps you’ve caught yourself feeling overly confident about something you later realized you knew very little about? Welcome to the fascinating world of the Dunning-Kruger effect.

Some of you who have read my stuff before may remember another less scientifically supported syndrome that once you know it you can’t unknow it. This is the group of people who are know as “Six-Percenters.” It’s worth a read but, again I caution, that reading the below post and the Six-Percenter” post can not be unlearned and it will change the way you look at the world (go to Six-Percenter post – click here). There is a disclaimer that if you suffer from either of these two ‘syndromes or effects’ even after reading these posts you won’t necessarily realise it if you are someone who may be afflicted.

What is the Dunning-Kruger Effect?

The Dunning-Kruger effect, named after psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger, describes a cognitive bias where individuals with low ability in a particular area tend to overestimate their competence. In simpler terms, it’s when people who know the least about something mistakenly believe they know the most. This phenomenon can lead to unwarranted confidence and poor decision-making.

How Does It Work?
  1. Ignorance of Ignorance: At the heart of the Dunning-Kruger effect lies the inability of individuals to recognize their own incompetence. This lack of awareness prevents them from accurately assessing their skills or knowledge level.
  2. Overconfidence: Due to this ignorance of their own limitations, people affected by the Dunning-Kruger effect often display high levels of confidence in their abilities. They may assert their opinions strongly, even in the face of contradictory evidence.
  3. Incompetent Performance: Despite their confidence, individuals with low competence typically perform poorly when objectively assessed. Their lack of knowledge or skill becomes apparent when compared to those who are more knowledgeable in the same domain.
  4. Self-Reflection: Interestingly, those who are more competent in a given area may underestimate their abilities. This occurs because they assume others have similar knowledge or skills, leading to a modest self-assessment.
Examples in Everyday Life
  • Social Media: You might have seen individuals confidently arguing about complex topics like economics or politics, despite having little to no formal education or understanding of the subject. I just love these keyboard warriors and spend many hours agreeing with them and providing further false information!
  • At Work: Just note this is where Dunning-Kruger is a plaque. In professional settings, the Dunning-Kruger effect can manifest when employees overestimate their capabilities, leading to the dumb boss being in charge of experts and demanding the experts agree with them. This is also called Politics.
Mitigating the Effect

I had a really scientific and ‘workplace consultant’ answer for this but decided that it sounded too much like I was suffering badly from the Dunning-Kruger effect myself – which incidentally since I learned of this effect I catch myself a lot of the time falling for it.

What I do is, when I am being espoused obvious bullshit from a Dunning-Kruger ‘specialist’ is just nod my head and say ‘really,’ ‘how interesting’ and ‘I didn’t know that.’ It is also a fantastic time to practice active listening and actively observe those also listening to see who is buying the bullshit and who is not. I also encourage those other people to argue!!!

I also use this strategy with ‘bosses’ that are obviously a Dunning-Kruger suffer, which most are, as that’s how they got there! If they require you do do something really stupid, just say ‘Yes.” Mostly they don’t care if you do it, they just want to wield power over you because they believe they are smarter and will never check if you do it or not. So just don’t, they’ll never know. If the argument comes from the Dunning-Kruger subordinate, who thinks they should have your job, just asked them what they would do and then say ‘we’ll all share the responsibility’. They’ll do what you ask.

You Now Know About Six-Percenters and Dunning-Kruger, Sorry

The Dunning-Kruger effect serves as a reminder that humility and self-awareness are essential traits in navigating life’s challenges. It also important that you are not following fools into business or war!

So, next time you find yourself feeling overly confident about something, take a moment to to think about it. Are you truly as knowledgeable as you think, or could the Dunning-Kruger effect be at play? Are you the smartest person in the room, or the Six-Percenter?

René Descartes was wrong! The conspiracy of The Matrix!

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I have been alive for a bit over 62 years and a lot has happened in that time. Other than the ridiculous adage of old people bragging about drinking out of the garden hose when they were kids and riding their bikes with the only rule was to be home before it was dark…..????

The world has changed more in the way we are able to understand it than what we can see and do in it.

I read, like in real books, some written hundreds of years, and often centuries ago. I see all the stuff on social media and have friends who not only believe in all the conspiracies but want me to believe as well.

To name just a few of these great conspiracy theories:

  1. The Moon landing (and the hollow Moon theory)
  2. The Rothchilds.
  3. The Great Pyramid
  4. Atlantis
  5. 9/11
  6. Antartica
  7. The flat earth
  8. Ancient civilisations and lost technology
  9. Aliens
  10. Every secret society you can think of

The funny thing about conspiracy theories is that some turn out to be true! A nice little list of conspiracy theories that turned out to be true are in a list on another site with an explanation for each – click here.

I think, dare I say ponder, what if a lot, or even some of the current conspiracy theories are true?

Plus, don’t even mention the price of oil per barrel and the price at the pump…. or the ones that decide how we live. The true global and tyrannical conspiracies that rule our lives and control our minds….. are TRUE. I so hope they are true.

If they are, it means we can do something about them.

The really scary thing is, if they are not true; the alternative is horrifying….

It means:

Our leaders, our Presidents, our Prime Ministers, our Politicians, our Government Departments and all our leading institutions….. are complete morons…..

I hope there are conspiracies to set up a new world order and we are controlled by lizard people who are conducting an experiment on our flat earth from the hollow moon.

For if they are not: we are doing this to ourselves: sorry, we are letting this be done to us, voluntarily without any form of mind control other than advertisements and the fear and hope sold to us by politicians who we all must remember didn’t get their jobs on merit but by winning a popularity contest.

There is no certainty other than ‘I think therefore I am’……

Except….. what if I am a computer program living in the matrix confined by the algorithm that tells me ‘I think therefore I am’ which falsely tells me of my existence, unfortunately in a world that does not exist except in a string of ones and zeros.

So, if you are sitting at home or somewhere else, reading this on your electronic device (smart phone, computer or tablet), I ask you this question……

How, do you know you are?

WE PROVIDE OUR CONSENT TO BE GOVERNED…. FOR NOW?

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We are better societies because of good Goverments, our legal and economic systems, our Police and institutions, because, we give our consent for them to exist and for us, to follow their rules and their leadership.

The difficulty is when any, or all of them, as cogs in a great wheel of society, start to take advantage of our benevolence, trust and good will.

When the separation of their power disappears and they become one intertwined and dependent only on themselves to run as a ‘mega-machine’ who’s only purpose is to serve the elite, the powerful, the rich and themselves. This happens while we obliviously continue to provide our faithful consent.

  • the electricity companies continue to raise prices because we consent to this by continuing to pay our bills
  • petrol prices go up more and more, interdependently of the wholesale price and we continue to buy petrol
  • the Police issue more and more fines as the road toll goes up and the roads deteriorate because we pay our fines and drive on the roads without complaint (we actually consent to being abused by the Government and Police when they call us “selfish pricks.”)
  • every way we turn we are being taxed, often twice, three times or more for services, products and our actual work, we consent to this
  • a temporary levy never is; the Emergency Services Levy was impose after the Ash Wednesday Bushfires in the 1980’s. Yet theI Country Fire Service Brigades still have to fund raise to buy there own equipment; as do the Royal Flying Doctor Service

Most do not notice the creeping of the law to erode our freedoms; firearms prohibition orders; freedom of assembly laws; terrorism detention laws etc etc, all done with our consent.

Capitalism is the system we have and not withstanding so much rhetoric we hear nowadays, the best system we have at the moment. But, it requires two very important things, private property and the rule of law.

It provides for us to have freedom of expression and freedom more generally. It allows for us to keep the things we create and work for.

However when our Government serves itself and the separation of powers no longer exist, it is time to stop pandering to a morally corrupt, if not literally corrupt regime. We now have generations being taught to hate their own society and even themselves and to create ideologies based on no empirical evidence.

George Orwell in his book titled 1984 which he wrote just after World War II, in the above ‘quote’  intended it as a warning against a totalitarian government that controls every aspect of citizens’ lives.

Look how our ‘history’ is being rewritten, reinterpreted and weaponised against our current society creating the group and tribe mentality that divides a society.  This is a know political strategy “the concept refers to a strategy that breaks up existing power structures, and especially prevents smaller power groups from linking up, causing rivalries and fomenting discord among the people to prevent a rebellion against the elites or the people implementing the strategy.“. If you think this is not happening, you’re not looking.

I know it may feel like a democracy, but, more and more it is just beginning to only feel like it, and not truely be one. I hear the defeatist already saying what can I do about it. Well there are many things, but it will require concentration.

I wrote a blog post not long ago called ‘The Revolution – Phase 1 – You Can Join for Free’ which can be located by clicking here. That is the first step in ‘doing something’. I did promise more and will expand on this in a future post, but how about a few quick ones that do require effort, a pen and paper (or a computer if you write in cursive like me and no-one can read it), an envelope and a stamp. You will see that some of the letters below are written in cursive. I do it deliberately as it drives them crazy!

Also, writing these letters gives a feeling of achievement. There are just a few rules I abide by:

  1. I am always polite.
  2. I stick to the facts.
  3. I put in something humorous, usually a personal anecdote that caused me to write and what I am feeling
  4. I remind them about this involving people and not just things.
  5. I put a reminder in my diary three months into the future to follow up if I don’t get a reply in that time.

I have done this many times, sometimes having to follow up multiple times but I have a formula; I follow up in 3 months, write another letter with the first letter enclosed;
A month after that I do the same thing:
A fortnight after that I do the same thing:
A week later the same:
I never give up.

I also have another strategy which goes hand in hand with this one. In addition to sending the hard copy, I go to their website and send the same text electronically, and if possible load up the documents and send them that way.

The beauty of this strategy is that ‘they’ hate getting hard copies and even more wonderfully the electronic copy and the hard copy never match up and you get two different replies – and away you go again!

Stay sane, and do it mostly to say you are doing it for fun and fairness. Then you can say at least you are doing something. Ask yourself and others, is the cost of living effecting us and does the 500% markup by retailers effect us….. Well, I have written them a letter?!!!

So, who am I writing to:
(Some of these may take a little research on the internet, but, that in itself can be informative and stop you – well mainly – we wasting 5 hours watching YouTube ‘shorts’)

  • Write to any company who’s product you buy and find it substandard.
    ( I once wrote to ‘Sharpie’ markers as one in a new pack was dry – they sent me a shoe box full!).
  • Write to Woolworths and Coles.
  • Write to the fuel companies.
  • Write to charities and ask them what percentage of their donations is spent on Administration.
  • Write to your local and federal member, and the current ministers in Government about what is hurting you at the moment, what you need, what your communities needs, what our country needs (which is not billions of dollars in nuclear submarines 25 years in the future, when we don’t have enough hospital beds NOW!!!)

This doesn’t sound much. But, imagine ‘a company’ that gets maybe 10 complaints a year suddenly gets 5,000 – they will start to take notice as will the Media (the Merchants of Misery).

I have a few other ‘revolution strategies’ I just do for me:

  • I write letters of accolade and thanks.
  • Any bill I pay electronically I pay one cent less or round it up or down to the nearest five cents.
  • I never pay traffic tickets. I elect to go to court and talk to a Magistrate, not explain myself to a belligerent 25 year old on the side of the road (blog post coming up about how to do this and pay less than the ticket!)
    • I never pay my fines but ring up or email fines enforcement branch and pay the minimum amount a fortnight.

I have included a few of my letters to give you ideas and one I got back from Gamin after I returned a broken GPS to throw away on my behalf as it belonged to an old mate and I didn’t have the heart to throw it away?!

Letter from Garmin. Letter to Office Works. Letter to Council. Letter to Strongbow

Marching on the street has a place; but it only last a day – and you better not disrupt any business as that is now a $25,000.00 fine recently legislated up from $500.00. I will attest to the pen being mightier than the sword and knowing that “Dripping water hollows out stone, not through force but through persistence.” (Publius Ovidius Naso, a Roman Poet circa 33B.)

Be that dripping water.