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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