CONTROL

Sometimes, whether there is a lot on my mind or very little, I still have problems sleeping beyond 6 hours and since I retire to bed very early most evenings, the result is that I am fully awake on these mornings before 5:00 AM.

I typically use this time, once coffee is in my system, to think about what I would like to write about for the Blog which prompts me to read the news on my Droid via the various apps I have installed for that purpose.

This morning was one such morning.

There are 7 billion people living in the world today, many of which are living below a global poverty level than is much lower than the poverty level we have set in the US.

But, more importantly it is not what level of poverty do they live but how their lives are being controlled.  In point of fact, it is not just those people who are being controlled but those of us who live on various socio-economic levels.

Aside from the various global forms of government that have set up laws to govern and control the people, there are other more insidious ways that we are being controlled.

Control takes place through:

• A civilian police force
• A military command and control center
• A religious philosophy or belief
• A healthcare system
• An educational system
• A marketing concept
• A political philosophy
• An economic system
• A recreational system
• A family system
• A community system
• An employment system
• An entitlement system
• A military conquest system
• A system of isolation
• A technology system
• A system of censorship
• A prison/punishment system

Each of these, depending upon one’s global location, can be applied individually, consecutively, or simultaneously.

While I am not that familiar with the rest of the world, my focus will be on perceptions here in the US.

For example:

1.       We are graduating uneducated people from both High School and College for jobs that they are either not qualified to have or are rejected because they cannot pass drug tests or because they want too much money.

The result is control.

2.      We are creating a society of non-thinkers, convincing them to go into debt, purchasing items they don’t need so that a few can get wealthier.

The result is control.

3.       We have created a society of people that have become dependent upon the government or religious doctrines or military doctrines or community doctrines teaching them to behave in specific ways that keeps them mentally and physically suppressed or in a false state of euphoria.

The result is control.

4.       We have created a society through social media of anonymous or covert thrill seekers as well as a society who are the exact opposite through video games, athletics, reality TV shows and other escapism tactics revolving around the use technology and technological devices that must be repurchased over and over again as the technology improves.

The result is control.

Now, you may think that I might be getting a little ODD with my thoughts here and that this can only happen if people allow it to happen; after all, we all have the ability to make choices or not make choices.  But, let me suggest that you reflect upon the TV commercials which is a constant bombardment, that:

• Suggests to us what to wear…
• Suggests to us where to eat…
• Suggests to us that we should stay young…
• Suggests to us that we cannot live without this car…

The result is control, is it not?

Let me remind you what Henry Ford once said:

“…you can have any color you want as long as it is black…”

So, is there really

any alternative here?

                 

A way out from under this control?

                                        

I would venture to say no.