"That's what Good Little Patriots are Supposed to Do"

We bestow incredible power upon certain individuals in our societies but take few precautions to prevent those people from succumbing to the desire to misuse their agency. Many blindly accept their rule and never question their abuses. I believe that there is a clear cause behind our self-harming tendency to "bow" to the unworthy authorities of the world. We were culturally conditioned throughout our lives and to accept and even embrace the misuse of power by the authorities of the world and that has led to this current state of affairs but if we can break free from the propaganda and liberate our perception, that needn't the case.

Many people embrace the idea of giving despicable individuals unreasonable amounts of power, often, they will blindly accept the abuse of that power as though it is the natural and correct course of action. For example, the police in this country have been known to, occasionally, murder unarmed citizens and while this generates some degree of outrage among the public, there are always a few who will come out to defend those killings because they believe them to be just by definition. With the upcoming election, there has been an endless procession of unpalatable war criminals, corporate shills, and authoritarian "dumpster fires" posing as our saviors who have come to deliver us from the "tyrannical" rein of the "other side" (which is just as terrible, by the way). I, Personally, wouldn't trust most of those people to check my mail without fucking it up or purposefully screwing me over in the process but for every worthless piece of shit who is asking for our support ("support" usually means our money) there are legions of people who unquestioningly think that handing them enormous amounts of power is a good idea. These supporters will accept justifications for their "leader's" abuses and tell themselves that "this is the way things should be." The true believers say, "God Put the king in charge and the majority elected the president so everything they do must be right." I am reminded of the old "we can't tell you about our wrong doings because 'national security'" line of reasoning from the Bush years. It was as weak of an argument then as it now but the masses largely bought it, at the time.

I don't think that accepting the power that others have over us is always the best way to go about living our lives but many of us have been tough that it is. The systems of authority under which we live favor the wealthy, the strong, and the well connected. These authoritative structures have a great deal of influence over what we are taught to be the "ideal" or "natural" order of society. These "ideals" usually (and conveniently) feature a linear, vertical organization of power. "In the 'best of all worlds,' the 'leaders' must lead and the 'followers' must follow" they say. This message (or some variation of it) is drilled into us throughout our lives. Educational authorities tell us to obey our teachers even if they are cruel or incompetent because that's what good little children are supposed to do. Legal authorities tell us to follow the law no matter how unjust it may be because that's what good little citizens are supposed to do. Political authorities tell us that we must give up this right or surrender that freedom because that's what good little patriots are supposed to do. Bow down before your king because that's what good little peasants are supposed to do. All these "truths" are delivered with a "do as I say and not as I do" tone and some percentage of the population is gullible enough to take them to heart.

We can always unlearn the nonsense that we have been taught and that is the first step toward change. Cultural conditioning and long term indoctrination are more effective than we often like to think but they are not without their weaknesses. One must begin to question what appears to be the natural order of society (psychedelics work well to facilitate this) and that will bring attention to the flaws that hide within what had appeared to be the "ideal." Then, he or she will notice how the official or popular narratives begin to crumble. This person comes to understand that the police are not 80's movie heroes and, contrary to what CNN or Fox News might have said, the politicians are not here to save, serve, or represent us. In short order, the damage is undone. That won't reform the world but it might stop people from blindly defending the abuses and atrocities that are routinely committed by the authorities and others with power.

Peace.

All the images in this post are sourced from the free image website, unsplash.com.