21. The Illusion of Progress

Convert or Else – Nothing's Changed

Where are we now?

In the first sections of this book, we saw that the Establishment - who controls the American government - maybe even called the Insiders - have established an elaborate propaganda machine - whereby they have convinced the Public - that our Government is a positive international force - attempting to spread justice - and the American way - throughout the World - when they are instead deliberating exploiting the third world economies - turning them into slave states - which support our bloated economy - on the backs of the indigenous people in the region.

While we don’t tend to think of the American way as a religion we treat it in the same way.

To the Native Americans the Europeans said: “Convert to our cultural values, which include our religion and our notion of property, or we will enslave, displace, and slay you. And even if you do convert we will probably do the same, anyway - But this rationale at least gives us a good excuse, initially anyway - to commit atrocities in the name of God and the King.”

In the present time, the custom is not to believe in God and the King. Instead we now believe in Democracy, Technology, the Free Market, and the President.

To the third world countries we say: “Accept our cultural values, which include our political and economic system, or we will exploit and terrorize your citizenry. And even if you do give in to our way of life, we will probably exploit you anyway. But this at least gives us an excuse to commit atrocities in the name of Profit and the President.”

The American way. Freedom and justice for all - who live within our boundaries - who agree with us - and have enough money. But beyond our borders anything goes - which will increase the wealth of our people - which mostly include the elite Insiders at the top of the economic chain.

War for Profit & Exploitation of Neighbors – What else is New?

Is this any different than it has ever been? Probably not. The question was posed at the beginning of this paper as to the whether this has always been the System. Has it ever been better? When did it start? Is there anything that can be done about it?

The Crusades paper attempted to point out that the Germani tribes of northern Europe conquered the rest of Europe at the end of the first millennium, supplying them with a hereditary military aristocracy, which has existed in some form for centuries, even unto modern times. So the ruling class has remained the same.

The Warrior Cult paper established that the implicit beliefs of the military aristocracy were based around the idea that dying in battle was good, that conquering the land of your enemies, leaving the ground red with the blood of the their bodies - was what a ruler was supposed to do. In other words a good ruler is one who conquers, attempting to increase his and the nation’s power. The implicit belief that power is good is deeply embedded in our culture. Hence for at least 1000 years our leaders in an unbroken chain have attempted to expand their power at the expense of their neighbors.

Anyway we can certainly say that the tendency for political leaders to exploit their neighbors and subjects by creating a state of constant conflict is certainly nothing new. Thus we can say that our leaders have neither evolved nor devolved over the last millennium. While there have certainly been some peaks and troughs, the actual sea level has remained the same. The global exploitation of our fellow man continues unabated.

The atrocities that befell Panama, Nicaragua, Colombia, or El Salvador in their connection with the United States are none the better or worse than those perpetuated by the Vikings on the Europeans, the Europeans on the Native Americans, the English/American/Spaniard on the Africans, the German Nazis on the Jews, or Christians on the Moslems living in Jerusalem, or Genghis Kahn on the great Muslim cities in Persian and Russia or the Israelites on the Canaanites or the Jews on the Palestinians. When a culture is terrorized militarily there is no better or worse, it is all worse.

The Illusion of Sustainable Material Progress

On the other side of each of these scenarios, many times the people at home, i.e. inside the military barrier, never had it better, materially at least - whether the Euro-Americans, the Romans, the Vikings, or King Solomon’s Israelites.

The slaver cultures drain population and resources from the slave cultures. This transferred wealth from one area to another. One area became fabulously wealthy while the other became devastatingly poor. The same was true then as is now. Vast quantities of New World gold and resources made the Europeans fabulously wealthy. Similarly vast quantities of natural resources drained from the so called Third World countries allow the Euro-Americans presently to live excessive lives of waste while elsewhere many starve to death.

The Fairy Tale of Progress is Over. Things are no better now than they have ever been, nor are they worse. Happiness and sadness alternate throughout life, whether rich and powerful or poor and weak. The real Bliss lies behind the Experience in just Being. The idea the things are getting better is patently false. The rise for one tends to be connected with the fall of another. The good for one is bad for another.

Progress is a relative term that is based in the illusion of time and the separate self. While there is certainly local progress the global eventually overwhelms it. While on the local level of a life time the pianist starts poorly as a young child progresses through young adulthood and then even unto the prime of life, but then inevitably aging sets in. The power is not as great, the fast passages not quite as fluid, then the fingers stiffen up and death follows. Local Progress followed by the global leveling - the Grim Reaper - Death.

Political Propaganda: nothing new

Political domination has been the same for a long time. What about the Propaganda? It too has been around since at least the Pope of the Crusades - convincing the populace that the Muslims were evil human beings that deserved conquering. His message was inspiring enough to have tens of thousands of people uprooting their lives and heading off {]=< 6(j`#g'=S9Z#7T  1 6cW+|  8tiXWG~_b2Bo5K%1Eo,97B(HFvj  ONqqN:Zef^AN4'1>i&U_/{#)sWH-D(N$Umhv * UwM+[!V"0X95~N(k-/v/}]d|2D"-o# b V ~  I V 6B. n y ' dTW  e `o N?Ts" . W_ sjo1j3@.[~O6wsKAzUKH,\r06Kp^,VgTvqbL2Z*h p 7 L`=fHU*{mwYMes v)hY:i%m|1HI rM GIKhzP7h m NAJ ! Xz Z    KH1@X`0$G Mo8cq@T:GtS_ Xwmc;8 bl Z= /Bz |URgPv3$?fb`Z-T0~m.2$gRKRr'!tC5Pe KRX+^ 9 Ig0Az n y75|} fq<q  ,w-`KV\q7c$GWTk*ZXB@t`nX+=0A4/zDm0/Y(w%  ] ,]g p  %W4i s?KV.U6toYnA;Z,_  $ ' P   )gf o a "dUh -  4 C Y.Y eJ/eb]c !Vf9]EB^j5]7TKE7[~v5^IOa|OB v$37/pK[_lWYl=\fQu]lsh=&s[r!2'oMjX]94mt4 CV/`a^ ? i K^RT p )  $1FFt5 N=9 p0@bA6ygrc]Lp)#Pi|hdamb>[ @\%yeqkD']*RFQ 2fLxeFL\\ / AjT`w1<@R5a;:syQI8r[8&@A" ;Br.< ;R"*>Xy_9" N tpI|d  ]$0l6{v ZU:<2{U_Y.P '*, / gai718