You probably shouldn't read this if you like being comfortable in your own vision of the world; this will challenge that.
Take a quick second to think about all of the fears you've had in your life up to this point. For me it used to be when my parents left me alone as a young child. To my babysitter's dismay, I called them very upset on more than one occasion claiming I had a bad feeling and that they should come home. I remember always feeling very silly once they came home in one piece, as if I shouldn't have bothered them. Honestly, this fear hasn't really gone away now that I think about it, I just deal with it differently. Now that I've ruined my example due to me being a child with rather rational fears, let's be realistic for a moment. Most kids are afraid of monsters in some capacity, right? First it's the monster under the bed, then it's the monster that will steal you if you talk that stranger, then it's the monster overseas somewhere that we are fighting at war. Or maybe it's the monster in whatever religion you associate yourself with. That probably seems like a pretty big jump to you. "That's not the same thing," you say? The way I see it, no matter what the monster, we tend to react to them the same way, regardless of our age. It's always the same we-they dichotomy. Could it be that we're conditioned to feel this way? Or is it just that this is a balance that is necessary for our survival?
We certainly each have at least one type of person, or group of people, that we think of as bad. This is usually a large class of people that either do not agree with our religious beliefs, political agendas, lifestyle choices, or anything else that we consider to be absolutely imperative to our way of life. Because of this, we tend to generalize these people in our minds to be making the wrong choices because they don't agree with us and what we're trying to accomplish at the time. Here's an example:
When you think of Germans, you probably see something like this.
Take a quick second to think about all of the fears you've had in your life up to this point. For me it used to be when my parents left me alone as a young child. To my babysitter's dismay, I called them very upset on more than one occasion claiming I had a bad feeling and that they should come home. I remember always feeling very silly once they came home in one piece, as if I shouldn't have bothered them. Honestly, this fear hasn't really gone away now that I think about it, I just deal with it differently. Now that I've ruined my example due to me being a child with rather rational fears, let's be realistic for a moment. Most kids are afraid of monsters in some capacity, right? First it's the monster under the bed, then it's the monster that will steal you if you talk that stranger, then it's the monster overseas somewhere that we are fighting at war. Or maybe it's the monster in whatever religion you associate yourself with. That probably seems like a pretty big jump to you. "That's not the same thing," you say? The way I see it, no matter what the monster, we tend to react to them the same way, regardless of our age. It's always the same we-they dichotomy. Could it be that we're conditioned to feel this way? Or is it just that this is a balance that is necessary for our survival?
We certainly each have at least one type of person, or group of people, that we think of as bad. This is usually a large class of people that either do not agree with our religious beliefs, political agendas, lifestyle choices, or anything else that we consider to be absolutely imperative to our way of life. Because of this, we tend to generalize these people in our minds to be making the wrong choices because they don't agree with us and what we're trying to accomplish at the time. Here's an example:
When you think of Germans, you probably see something like this.
Obviously this is not what the general public used to conjure up if such things were mentioned. And this truly wasn't all that long ago. Here's what they may have seen:
And this.
(I hope that's a real department). Before you get too offended, let me be clear. I am in no way suggesting that we are incorrect in seeing the Nazis negatively. Certainly it's never a good idea to commit mass genocide of any group of individuals for any reason, at least as far as I'm concerned. What I am saying is that no matter what, there's always a group of people that is being portrayed in such a light. And they're always doing something bad. And we're always told to hate them. Because we love to have a common enemy to fear.
Not convinced? Take a moment to think of the last country on earth you would ever want to be stuck in alone. Keep that in your mind. And figure out what the reasons are. Be honest with yourself - I'm not gonna make you explain it to me or anything. Chances are, it's probably the place where your human bad guys live. We all have our reasons, maybe they're aggressive, maybe they're all participating in a 'cult' religion, maybe they're known to sell children in to armies, either way - we agree that they're our monsters and we are afraid of them.
I am not calling you a bad person for this. So what if you just generalized an entire group of people that you've probably never been exposed to. It's not really your fault that you feel that way about them. After all, you've been taught forever that this is the way of the universe - there are bad guys and there are good guys. Obviously everything is black and white and these people need to be taught the correct way to think...right? The reality is that these people are probably just as scared of you too. And they're taught to think and react the same way as you. This is because humans all have the same reaction to fear and hate.
Think about the last time you got angry. Like really angry. Didn't it kind of feel good? Remember that rush you felt and it just made you feel like you had the energy to throw a car at someone, or to command your military to drop a bomb somewhere. The fact of the matter is that anger kind of makes us feel a bit invincible. Without getting too technical on you, here's what's going down in the biological sense:
Our bodies go in to what is called a 'fight or flight' response. It's pretty self explanatory, and fight is obviously the stronger instinctual response to stress. When that evil person walks right in front of you and just stops and you have to fight the urge to dead leg them to teach them a lesson about survival of the fittest (I can't be the only one), your body is releasing its equivalent of a painkiller. _ This hormone that is released quite literally has the exact same effect on the body as whatever hard drug you feel like picturing in this moment. That means that your brain can't tell the difference. So guess what that means? That means that we're actually addicted to the way it feels when we get angry at something or someone. And that's why everything we see is about someone or something that we should be angry at or about. And why do you think people connect so well to negativity? It's so easy for us to discuss what makes us angry because it actually feels good. We love to hate our job, or our boss, our the weather, or another team, or a terrorist. And now that you're beginning to accept this, here's an example:
Not convinced? Take a moment to think of the last country on earth you would ever want to be stuck in alone. Keep that in your mind. And figure out what the reasons are. Be honest with yourself - I'm not gonna make you explain it to me or anything. Chances are, it's probably the place where your human bad guys live. We all have our reasons, maybe they're aggressive, maybe they're all participating in a 'cult' religion, maybe they're known to sell children in to armies, either way - we agree that they're our monsters and we are afraid of them.
I am not calling you a bad person for this. So what if you just generalized an entire group of people that you've probably never been exposed to. It's not really your fault that you feel that way about them. After all, you've been taught forever that this is the way of the universe - there are bad guys and there are good guys. Obviously everything is black and white and these people need to be taught the correct way to think...right? The reality is that these people are probably just as scared of you too. And they're taught to think and react the same way as you. This is because humans all have the same reaction to fear and hate.
Think about the last time you got angry. Like really angry. Didn't it kind of feel good? Remember that rush you felt and it just made you feel like you had the energy to throw a car at someone, or to command your military to drop a bomb somewhere. The fact of the matter is that anger kind of makes us feel a bit invincible. Without getting too technical on you, here's what's going down in the biological sense:
Our bodies go in to what is called a 'fight or flight' response. It's pretty self explanatory, and fight is obviously the stronger instinctual response to stress. When that evil person walks right in front of you and just stops and you have to fight the urge to dead leg them to teach them a lesson about survival of the fittest (I can't be the only one), your body is releasing its equivalent of a painkiller. _ This hormone that is released quite literally has the exact same effect on the body as whatever hard drug you feel like picturing in this moment. That means that your brain can't tell the difference. So guess what that means? That means that we're actually addicted to the way it feels when we get angry at something or someone. And that's why everything we see is about someone or something that we should be angry at or about. And why do you think people connect so well to negativity? It's so easy for us to discuss what makes us angry because it actually feels good. We love to hate our job, or our boss, our the weather, or another team, or a terrorist. And now that you're beginning to accept this, here's an example:
See, now I'm pumped up. I want Liam to catch those people so badly, and I want him to kill them. He's my moral high ground automatically in this scenario, he can do no wrong, and I'm on his side no matter what. Go get 'em! You know you feel that sensation in the pit of your stomach, like this strange kind of excitement that he's gonna get his revenge and wreck havoc on those people's lives. And they deserve it....right?
What I've learned:
People can use their understanding of our human nature and the way we react to fear and anger to manipulate us. And they do. We are told to hate certain groups of people at certain times, depending on the global atmosphere. This is perpetuated by every facet of pop culture and the media. We love to blame our problems on the 'bad guy.' Everyone does this. Check out any political ad out there. It's Obamas fault. It's the Bush administration's fault. It's going to be Romney's fault if he gets elected. This is what we do to get people to act. We piss them off. It's the only way. But what does this have to do with us secretly liking to have a common thing to fear exactly?
Society uses that addiction to hate and fear and it constantly channels it to get you to react a certain way. This is what triggers your emotions. Cancer is bad, tornadoes are bad, hurricanes are bad...it's not that these things aren't actually bad. It's just that they are also unavoidable. It's not like they're an enemy we can fight. But what if there was an enemy that we could use to empower our people to a common goal? Oh right, there are plenty. So let's first create that fear, then let's tell everyone that we're doing all we can to fix it, and then let's ask them to support us in doing that...but let's not forget to remind them from time to time that this danger is still very real, we don't want anyone getting too comfortable.
Here, I'll show you a photo:
What I've learned:
People can use their understanding of our human nature and the way we react to fear and anger to manipulate us. And they do. We are told to hate certain groups of people at certain times, depending on the global atmosphere. This is perpetuated by every facet of pop culture and the media. We love to blame our problems on the 'bad guy.' Everyone does this. Check out any political ad out there. It's Obamas fault. It's the Bush administration's fault. It's going to be Romney's fault if he gets elected. This is what we do to get people to act. We piss them off. It's the only way. But what does this have to do with us secretly liking to have a common thing to fear exactly?
Society uses that addiction to hate and fear and it constantly channels it to get you to react a certain way. This is what triggers your emotions. Cancer is bad, tornadoes are bad, hurricanes are bad...it's not that these things aren't actually bad. It's just that they are also unavoidable. It's not like they're an enemy we can fight. But what if there was an enemy that we could use to empower our people to a common goal? Oh right, there are plenty. So let's first create that fear, then let's tell everyone that we're doing all we can to fix it, and then let's ask them to support us in doing that...but let's not forget to remind them from time to time that this danger is still very real, we don't want anyone getting too comfortable.
Here, I'll show you a photo:
This is a photo of some of the first responders to one of the many fires on 9/11. This of course is the aftermath of the act of random terrorism by the Middle East that killed thousands of innocent people. Some of these men probably died too, as heroes defending their country.
As you look at this photo, I'm certain that you feel some form of emotional response. You want to find them and get revenge. How could they do this to your country? Your people.
However, this is actually just a photo of a random accidental fire started by a gas leak. People were still killed as a result of this. And it was carelessly installed thus leading to this disaster. The people still suffered and died just as much. But somehow, you're not as upset about it are you? (Ps, I made up that story to prove a point, though I'm sure that's happened. This is just a random google image). Unfortunately, it's not enough of an emotional reaction from the people to just tell them that it was an accident - we've always got to set the blame on someone or something. BP is terrible because of the oil spill. Is it possible that they just made an error in judgement while trying to save money and that led to a series of unfortunate events that they were actually trying to fix? Probably yes. But that kind of talk isn't gonna make you stand up out of your seat and act now is it?
And that's why this makes us feel a little sad for a period of time. (And possibly inspires some of us to donate to some charity somewhere):
As you look at this photo, I'm certain that you feel some form of emotional response. You want to find them and get revenge. How could they do this to your country? Your people.
However, this is actually just a photo of a random accidental fire started by a gas leak. People were still killed as a result of this. And it was carelessly installed thus leading to this disaster. The people still suffered and died just as much. But somehow, you're not as upset about it are you? (Ps, I made up that story to prove a point, though I'm sure that's happened. This is just a random google image). Unfortunately, it's not enough of an emotional reaction from the people to just tell them that it was an accident - we've always got to set the blame on someone or something. BP is terrible because of the oil spill. Is it possible that they just made an error in judgement while trying to save money and that led to a series of unfortunate events that they were actually trying to fix? Probably yes. But that kind of talk isn't gonna make you stand up out of your seat and act now is it?
And that's why this makes us feel a little sad for a period of time. (And possibly inspires some of us to donate to some charity somewhere):
And this makes us want to go to war to kill the people responsible for the pain they caused:
And in case you're still not sure if you believe that you share this common fear with everyone else in your country. Think about the person that comes to your mind as responsible for all of this. And how did it make you feel when you saw this photo:
FInally! We are vindicated, right? Now their entire operation will fall to pieces and America will prevail once and for all. The good guys win!
Let's focus on North Korea for just a moment. I think we can all agree that their government is a mind controlling machine of a magnitude that is truly terrifying and incomprehensible to us as Americans. Take a look at some of the anti-American propaganda they have out there today. Today.
Let's focus on North Korea for just a moment. I think we can all agree that their government is a mind controlling machine of a magnitude that is truly terrifying and incomprehensible to us as Americans. Take a look at some of the anti-American propaganda they have out there today. Today.
When was the last time you shot a baby in the head, just for kicks and giggles? It's my understanding that Americans tend to not behave this way. If anything, I believe the exact opposite. We let our people vote and speak freely, we let them practice whatever religion they choose, we let them be whoever they wish to be, and on top of that we work to try and make the world a better place by helping them too. Right?
Obviously that's not what these kids believe. Look at the happy ones in the back smiling and laughing at such an act! The point is that, people will grow up to believe what they are taught, and in the way they are taught it. I see few ways that one could ever convince these children, once they're fully matured, the truth about America and the type of people we try to be. The reality is that we're exactly the same. And we totally are still justifying it. But their countries are bad, their leaders are teaching them to kill us, their religion tells them to kill themselves as sacrifices. The fact of the matter is, we always need to have someone to be afraid of.
But why? Because the hatred of our fear brings us closer to our people. When we set our sights on a common goal, we become as one. That's what empowerment and nationality is all about. Do you like to watch your favorite team play with your friends? Yes. Do you love it when they beat that team that you dislike? Of course. (And I bet you also love to say how much you hate that other team). This is how we connect to one another. Again, it's all about the we-they dichotomy. We can't be happy without this occuring. It's completely human nature. This is all a necessary evil that exists to perpetuate our happiness. What's safety without a little danger? How can we prove our country is so much better without others to compare it to? We can't. No matter what we do, we are equipped with brains that get off to winning, especially when someone else loses. This is why you don't care when Scar gets thrown from Pride Rock and the hyenas are left to starve to death - they aren't a part of your group and thus they're bad. (Not that Scar wasn't a jerk, but does he really deserve to die because of it...yes! Anyone who does that to Mufasa has it coming).
So my point is that no matter who we are or where we come from, we will always make someone the bad guy. If we can understand this quality about one another and work to fight against it, we could work to solve many of the world's problems. It's not that some people aren't actually bad, it's just that we shouldn't let that fact completely control our emotions and cloud our judgement. Next time you're listening to the news or hearing someone complain about something they hate, why not think of the root of that issue and try to ponder both sides of the scenerio. We all think we're right. And that's why we get along with like minded individuals so well. Remember that you are easy to control, all anyone has to do is manipulate your emotions. Control yourself and do some research before you make up your mind about something. Maybe society is right. But that's up to you. Either way, we need those monsters in our closet to exist so that we can work together to drive them away. So no matter what we want to believe, the truth is that we love a good scary movie to make us all warm inside.
But why? Because the hatred of our fear brings us closer to our people. When we set our sights on a common goal, we become as one. That's what empowerment and nationality is all about. Do you like to watch your favorite team play with your friends? Yes. Do you love it when they beat that team that you dislike? Of course. (And I bet you also love to say how much you hate that other team). This is how we connect to one another. Again, it's all about the we-they dichotomy. We can't be happy without this occuring. It's completely human nature. This is all a necessary evil that exists to perpetuate our happiness. What's safety without a little danger? How can we prove our country is so much better without others to compare it to? We can't. No matter what we do, we are equipped with brains that get off to winning, especially when someone else loses. This is why you don't care when Scar gets thrown from Pride Rock and the hyenas are left to starve to death - they aren't a part of your group and thus they're bad. (Not that Scar wasn't a jerk, but does he really deserve to die because of it...yes! Anyone who does that to Mufasa has it coming).
So my point is that no matter who we are or where we come from, we will always make someone the bad guy. If we can understand this quality about one another and work to fight against it, we could work to solve many of the world's problems. It's not that some people aren't actually bad, it's just that we shouldn't let that fact completely control our emotions and cloud our judgement. Next time you're listening to the news or hearing someone complain about something they hate, why not think of the root of that issue and try to ponder both sides of the scenerio. We all think we're right. And that's why we get along with like minded individuals so well. Remember that you are easy to control, all anyone has to do is manipulate your emotions. Control yourself and do some research before you make up your mind about something. Maybe society is right. But that's up to you. Either way, we need those monsters in our closet to exist so that we can work together to drive them away. So no matter what we want to believe, the truth is that we love a good scary movie to make us all warm inside.