A Hollow

Or is that shallow? Man (no, not politics! No.) who stands there and tells us what life should be – what he will make of our lives. His hand primps at his sewn-in hair, and slides over his zillion-dollar suit.

Salesman? Politician? It’s all the same really; someone wants us to follow their dream, make us slaves to their vision, fill their pockets with money that once sat in another pocket (those words about money making the world go round as we go without [dental work, food, sewn-in hair, super-duper suits, etc.]).

This isn’t about politics – it’s about seeing through the people who know how to press our buttons, who lean us this way and that to get us in the right position to benefit them (and then toss us to the sharks when they’re done). And it’s not always a man – women can be as callous and heartless in this endeavour. I’ve seen it, you’ve seen it – we know these people.

It’s about seeing the value of your own thoughts and visions, your own dreams of . . . [you fill that in – my dreams are mine, yours belong only to you].

The only reason cons have any sway at all is because we allow it – we believe them, and follow their reasoning (flawed, usually understood only once our pockets are of no further use/value) to the gates they show us in the glossy brochure. We sort of know the gates probably don’t really exist, don’t we?

What happened to self-belief? Or the concept of self-value? The course of a mind with a thought that isn’t influenced by rhetoric? (the art of persuasion.) Where is our self-confidence?

An answer? It’s been knocked out of us by the systems of education. In all countries. If they wanted people who knew their own minds, they’d make sure they got sent to [insert the most expensive places here, affordable to only the mega-wealthy (they do occasional freeby places for people they want to use)], and the rest of the populace is used to prop up the system that already exists. Don’t just yell at me here, go out and see the curriculum, show me where it helps students think beyond the moment, beyond a life of drudgery supporting the [business] economy. Where does it align with the values of the places like [you know them, you research their curriculum – see the differences]?

Education of the masses creates: consumers.

Consumerism is the ‘ism’ of this time of the world. If companies don’t get bigger, they are designated as failures; if people don’t spend more each year, they are designated as [is it undemocratic, unpatriotic, un-everything (people MUST spend, or the economy dies)] failures; if individuals in business do too well and don’t go up the rung (listed, bought out, humungified), they are designated as failures (and undemocratic, etc.).

We don’t need to be this way – we don’t need to primp and pander and puff up; nor do we need to believe the words spouted by the biggest heads of steam.

Step back, see the value in the small things, think for yourself, move under your own steam – stop the cons at the first ‘flash’ word (which means you have to use your mind to recognise their use of language).

Live your own life, with the rules that apply moral standards (and I don’t mean religion) to the interactions of the members of your community. Be.