I apologize if you see this more then once. If you are pissed that this is in the MJ forum, take another hit. With the advancement of technology we went from biological and chemical warfare to a insane nuclear arms race. With enough weapons to blow up the world many times over perhaps someone realized that this is something which needs only to occur once for the world to become no more. We are still caught in the middle of an arms race however the battle wears a disguise, appearing to be less lethal to the public’s eyes compared to the idea of being caught in the middle of a nuclear holocaust. Welcome to the age of information. Wouldn’t people in positions of unchecked power find ways to profit from abusing their power? Since it is certain that some people will abuse their power if they think they can get away with it, somewhere along the line information and people are going to get exploited. When politics are involved corruption surely will follow. You cannot stop the occurrence of something if you don’t know about it. How easy it is to manipulate people into handing over their civil liberties. Remember, you are not giving up liberties because anything that is being done against you is all being done in the name of national security. “Move along people, move along, there is nothing to see here.” The foundation upon which the current political and economical system is built upon is beginning to wobble. Sooner or later it’s bound to collapse because a weak foundation can only stand for so long. History repeats itself because people don’t learn the first time around. If we repeat the mistakes of previous eras we are bound to end up following their footprints. If things were bad before, they are probably worse now because over the years the technology has advanced and mistakes made in today’s world may carry greater long terms consequences then they once have. Knowledge is power. If you are a thinking person you are a threat to the corrupted who want you to accept everything presented word for word without questioning the validity of the content. If you don’t think for yourself someone else is going to think for you. Does this idea make any sense? Discuss.
It is asking too much that we should expect people to be original and creative, yet conformist and unable to dispense with our prejudices and preconceptions. Alienated and encapsulated, he has become trapped by his history in outmoded institutions which disfigure him with the creed of original sin; corrupt him with fear of economic insecurity; dement him with the delusion that mass murder is an inevitable outcome of his nature; debase him to believe that butchery in the name of the state is a sacred duty, and leave him so crippled that he is afraid to seek self-understanding or to love and trust himself, his neighbor or his God. [size=-1]"To be a leader means to be able to move the masses." Hitler's aim was first to move the masses and then, having pried them loose from their traditional loyalties and morali*ties, to impose upon them (with the hypnotized con*sent of the majority) a new authoritarian order of his own devising. "Hitler," wrote Hermann Rauschning in 1939, "has a deep respect for the Catholic church and the Jesuit order; not because of their Christian doc*trine, but because of the 'machinery' they have elab*orated and controlled, their hierarchical system, their extremely clever tactics, their knowledge of human na*ture and their wise use of human weaknesses in ruling over believers." Ecclesiasticism without Christianity, the discipline of a monastic rule, not for God's sake or in order to achieve personal salvation, but for the sake of the State and for the greater glory and power of the demagogue turned Leader -- this was the goal toward which the systematic moving of the masses was to lead. [/size][size=-1]Let us see what Hitler thought of the masses he moved and how he did the moving. The first principle from which he started was a value judgment: the masses are utterly contemptible. They are incapable of abstract thinking and uninterested in any fact outside the circle of their immediate experience. Their behav*ior is determined, not by knowledge and reason, but by feelings and unconscious drives. It is in these drives and feelings that "the roots of their positive as well as their negative attitudes are implanted." To be success*ful a propagandist must learn how to manipulate these instincts and emotions. "The driving force which has brought about the most tremendous revolutions on this earth has never been a body of scientific teaching which has gained power over the masses, but always a devotion which has inspired them, and often a kind of hysteria which has urged them into action. Whoever wishes to win over the masses must know the key that will open the door of their hearts." . . . In post-Freud*ian jargon, of their unconscious. [/size]
I would guess he copied and pasted like a mofo.. And this doesnt have too much significance to the thread but I think it was einstein who said if there was ever a fourth world war it would be using sticks and stones.
The best rulers are scarcely known by their subjects; The next best are loved and praised; The next are feared; The next despised: They have no faith in their people, And their people become unfaithful to them. When the best rulers achieve their purpose Their subjects claim the achievement as their own. When government is lazy and informal The people are kind and honest; When government is efficient and severe The people are discontented and deceitful. Lao Tzu
to quote a conversation with an old friend: "where are we going?" "I don't know." "what will we do when we get there?" "smoke a bowl." people refuse to listen to the past, they want to be independent from it, even though it has shaped us all. those who do see the past as a guide to bettering the future have fewer voices than the many who are blind. the past is not the future, but we can look into the past and see the nature of humanity, and we can predict how that will effect the future. humanity is stubborn. it will take many voices to change it for better. it already has plenty of voices to push it to deeper extremes of hatred and violence. there is no future, only the present, and the hope that the sun comes up tomorrow. we are primitive deep down, with fancy gadgets and botox on the outside. like a twinkie.
Your premonitions are apt, but the focal point of them is not: barring some kind of technical mistake, a nuclear weapon will almost certainly not be detonated by any countries that have a nuclear stockpile great enough to inflict enough damage that the fate of Mankind will hang in the balance. I think the real threat lies in the vulnerability of the USA. They have no sense of camaraderie and, in fact, face an alarming disparity that exists between the upper and middle/lower classes; the latter comprises the majority in number, while the former wields a ludicrously disproportionate sum of money (i.e. power). In the event of war, do you guys really think that the poor, the weak, and the exploited are going to step onto a battle field to protect the very people who oppress them? No. We'll see an upper class that feels it's too good for fighting, a large proportion of the middle class that feels shorted, and an inept lower class that will probably contribute little in the unlikely event that they're swayed to participate in either the expansion or preservation of the American Empire. That's how America will crumble, which will effectively result in the world as we know it crumbling since the 'up and coming' nations are only seen as such since they're able to export so much to *surprise surprise* the US. It's going to be an interesting next couple of decades...
Don’t take it literally to mean a nuclear holocaust in terms of explosions and the world blown to smithereens. There will still be a physical planet left unless human beings really fuck up big time. Those of us who oppose the changes may be the first to go. People will be manipulated to do things they would normally not do. Frightened people seeking safety are easy to manipulate and control because they will trade in their civil liberties for what turns out to be false security. It seems a great probability that chaos and corruption will rearrange society as we know it.
I agree with you that the gaps between the rich and the poor will become fuel for an uncontrollable fire.
