Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Doing Anti-Social Engineering: Part Three


Doing Anti-Social Engineering: Part Three - I like Coke, I hate killing people.
Required Reading:

First, we must change the message we're to contemplate, in whatever form it is, into a command. So if the message is “Coke is the real thing” then we simply ask, “What are the engineers trying to do?” Sell Coke. So the intention in action is delivered to you as some statement of authenticity, “coke” is “real” and due to our background understanding of coke, (we know it's a drink, we know it's a product, we know we have to buy it, etc.) We can fairly easily conclude that the prior intention of the engineers is to sell Coke. As we need to express this as a command, the command can be “buy Coke!” We can experience a Coke, if we need to make the best possible choosing and due to the fairly innocuous nature of the reality of Coke, this social engineering is of little consequence. However, “buy Coke” and “support the troops” are not any different in terms of mechanics of association, which is an important observation.

We have feelings attached to associations, as such they get attached to other feelings and associations via the building of paradigms. Sometimes we don't even notice them, such as we may describe a general “approval feeling” for both Coke and troop support. When we start breaking things down and asking “why” we begin to see the difference. Coke, we like for its flavour, presumably. (That's why I like it.) Flavour is an experience that is directly produced. You put Coke in your mouth and you are pleased. If you weren't you wouldn't do it. (This isn't always the case.) When you support the troops, what are you actually doing?

As we discussed earlier, if one says, “support the troops but not the war, one is actually saying “support the troopers.” If we are supporting the troops, it must be for the action they do. Intentionality has taught us that it is action that matters, so has the world. So if the actions of the troops are controlled by the intentions of commanding officers, which are controlled by the government, (normally,) then your troops support is war support, or whatever intention in action, (via bodily movement,) gets its conditions satisfied by the troop's actions.

So why do we really support the troops? Because they are brave? Patriotic? Because of what the troops have done in the past? Perhaps these types of reasons are more acceptable to you than others, or none. You will have your say soon enough. (Let's not forget there are a great many people who have no idea why they think the things they do.) You can try to turn the question on its head and ask, “who stands to gain by supporting the troops?” The troops themselves? Yes, I'm sure they would rather be touted as liberators than baby killers. Yet, here again, we are not thinking about “the troops” properly because we are discussing the troops' actions and these are determined for them. If the war on terror, as it is known, was as unpopular as the Vietnam war, one could expect troops support to dry up pretty quickly. So it seems that those who set the intentions of the troops have the most to gain from troop support. It is not impossible to run an unpopular war, but it's much more difficult. We support the troops only if we believe they are representing our intentions. If we are liberating Normandy, we are heroes. If we are napalming straw huts, we are monsters. The difference seems to be awareness.

So, in our awareness, in our hyper-reality, where the authenticity of our world is determined by our ability to believe in it, answer one more time, “why do we support the troops?” It must be because we support the business of war. That is what the troops do. At least, this must be the case if we are aware of the prior intention of the message. It makes perfect sense to me that this would be the case, yet it isn't. Who, in their right mind, wants war? I guess the only answer could be those who profit from it. Who profits from it? Only those who control it. It's simply ridiculous and appalling that this kind of behaviour never ceases spreading and does so without any real comprehending of the reality of the situation. Germans supported Nazi troops, Russians supported Stalin's troops, the French supported Napoleon's troops, the Greeks supported Alexander's troops, and so on. 
 
It must be that we are programmed to support the troops. The message certainly is being delivered, constantly, day in and day out. Walk down any main street in any town in America, turn on any TV channel, open any newspaper, there will be something that reminds you of the need to be in this, or any other, war. The modern “troop support” paradigm is strong and is a perfect example of a long-term, hyper-manipulative social engineering, in at least the US and Canada. It might seem that the message itself is semi-transparent in commercials asking me to join the Navy to protect Canada's arctic, because “the Navy offers me history, community, excitement and honourable purpose,” but you and I know who's intentions are steering that boat. The fact that they don't just say, “We need sailors!” leads us to find the prior intention darker still. (Transparency...) Then, if we add in the force involved in the “support your troops” paradigm, we can all but consider this intention opaque. The very mechanism of this conceptualization is built upon a misdirection and this misdirection begins being delivered at a very young age. This has been the experience of every American since Vietnam and every Canadian, especially since September 11th, 2001, if not before. Perhaps as young or two or three, we will notice our thought on troop support being developed and this, in spite of having no actual relation to the military. It could be television, or a simple parade for which marching soldiers are awarded my childish admiration, same as a clown or a horse. 
 
Expressions of the troop support intention come in various form. There are some that are blatant, such as a yellow ribbon stuck on your car that simply states, “Support your troops” or “Support our troops.” (Interesting that they distinguish the troops to “yours” or “ours.”) In Canada there is a well funded advertising campaign to join the military. Then there are the very public displays of the engineering as espoused in the media, by politicians and the public alike. To not support the troops is to be politically incorrect. Go to any town in the US or Canada and hold two public events, say in a large city park. One month hold a rally to support the troops and the next month hold a peace rally. See who comes out for each, count the numbers. Take note of how easy it is to secure funding, sponsors and permissions for each. I'm willing to bet there is going to a marked difference. It certainly was this way in my town, but we have our own army base.

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