Throw Off the Yoke of Indoctrination

We say we want change.
So, every few years, we elect new officials, and they continue to churn out
more of the same policies, legislation, and rhetoric. The rich continue to get
richer. The poor slide deeper into poverty. Corporations and the wealthy see
pet projects and sweet deals passed through Congress. The People receive yet
another bitter slap in the face.

This is because the
foundation of our populace is poisoned. The soil from which our people, elected
officials, and politicians grow is toxic. Every generation is fed the same
destructive falsehoods. By the time human beings become politicians they are
massively propagandized to believe the purpose of public office is to make
deals for big businesses … and from top to bottom we all continue to repeat the
false slogan: what’s good for business is good for the nation.

The wealthy and the
corporations own the media, the entertainment industry, educational and
cultural institutions, think tanks, research facilities, and, in short, every
vehicle that defines our thoughts, beliefs, culture, perspectives and
worldviews. They churn out mass propaganda that reinforces their power and
control. And we ingest it, absorb it, and ultimately believe it.

Through this
totalitarian control, the sicknesses that ail our country – lack of compassion,
the valuing of profit and wealth above all else, justified cruelty, hatred and
oppression – creep into the crevasses of our beliefs and worldviews and take up
toxic residence in our marrow. Layered and complex, this is the poisonous
legacy of centuries of violence, conquest, bigotry, greed, supremacy and
domination. Many of us spew this garbage out of our words, thoughts, and
actions … unless we consciously rebel against such mental indoctrination.

The path toward
cultural and mental liberation is three-fold. We must first disconnect from the
propaganda. We must unplug from corporate media: television, movies, books,
entertainment, news, and magazines that are owned by the wealthy and promote
-in subtle or blatant ways – the agendas of the wealthy. We must deny them
access to our minds and fast from the programming that is otherwise pounded
into our skulls on a daily basis.

Secondly, we must
clear out the programming as it resurfaces in our minds. We must become aware
of our thoughts and beliefs. We must learn to question them, critique them,
dissect and analyze where they came from and whom they serve. Every craving for
material goods must be examined to see if it originates in advertisements.
Every inclination toward hatred, discrimination or fear must be interrogated to
see if it serves the desire of the wealthy to use us to oppress others, or to
wage wars for their profits. Every thought that lauds the wealthy should be
questioned deeply. We have absorbed their propaganda from fairy tales to
rags-to-riches stories all the way up through economic theories in business
schools. Everything we think we know must be critiqued if wish to free our
minds, and if we hope to see real change in our world.

Thirdly, we must
rebuild the framework of our worldviews and perspectives. To truly rebel
against the programming and propaganda of an oppressor is not merely to kick
out their agenda, but to replace it with principles, beliefs, and
understandings of our own.

However, if it is true
liberation we seek, then a word of caution must be spoken here. Fleeing one
form of mental slavery into dogmatic subservience to another is still enslaving
your mind. Liberation is about freedom. It entails exploration, examination,
reflection, openness, adaptability, and flexibility. The most truly radical and
revolutionary people are the ones who dance through the tangled webs of
perspectives and beliefs, engaging with ideas, but not clinging to them. These
are the kinds of people that all tyrants fear. They are uncontrollable by
others, yet responsible to their compassion and the demands of accountability
set in place by the heart.

When such free
thinkers become not lone individuals, but thousands and millions of citizens,
empires tremble in their boots. Tyrants and bullies know their days are numbered.
Pedagogues and warmongers fail to gain traction for their domination games.

If we wish to see
deep, profound change in our politics, society, and culture, this is the mental
liberation we must cultivate in our selves and our communities. Only then will
our elected officials have the necessary freedom of thought to throw off the
yoke of indoctrination. Only then will we ourselves have the capacity to form
and shape our society in a way that cares for and nurtures everyone, not just a
privileged few. Only then will we become truly free human beings, the kind of
people we were always meant to be.

______________________________

Read more from
The Man From The North in Rise and Resist: Essays on Love,
Courage, Resistance, Politics, and Democracy from The Dandelion Insurrection

The Man From The North is a fictional writer in
Rivera Sun’s novel, The Dandelion Insurrection and the sequel, The Roots of Resistance. The novel takes place in the near future, in “a time that
looms around the corner of today”, when a rising police state controlled by the
corporate-political elite have plunged the nation into the grip of a hidden
dictatorship. In spite of severe surveillance and repression, the Man From the
North’s banned articles circulate through the American populace, reporting on
resistance and fomenting nonviolent revolution. This article is one of a series
written by The Man From the North, which are not included in the novel, but have
been collected in a book of essays Rise
and Resist which can be  read here

Author/Activist Rivera Sun has written twelve inspirational
and hope-filled books that celebrate our human ability to create change for the
better. Rivera’s writing is syndicated nationally and her articles have appeared
in over one hundred journals. She speaks and teaches strategic nonviolent civil
resistance inter-nationally. She was co-host for five years of several popular
radio shows and can be reached through her website:  www.riverasun.com