As we progress into 2024 the world seems to be alive with the barbarities that «we»as civilised people have long rejected.
The question in my mind is «how civilised are we?»
Personally i have close connections to my feelings and to who and what i am, i nurture them because the only way i can do anything about them is if i know them.
Society on the whole rejects the notion that behind the facade lies a barbarian capable of «barbaraties» Thus it is capable of the most extreme barbarities because they have never faced them.
Consider fishing – an animal is caught out of the sea and then is killed for food. Many cannot face the prospect of killing and so put it in a container where it suffers for some time before dying. Others brace up to this. A quick knock on the head and then the throat is cut, death comes quickly to fish thus treated – farming the same. The vast majority dont want to know, but they happily go on eating meat of every kind.
Reading Mad in America by Robert Whittaker it is fascinating to see how the «lower strata of society « was treated in the usa in the first part of the 20C and later. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_in_America_(website)
I think it may be true that those people have for the time being at any rate, more intellegence than they can handle and that a reduction of intellegence is an important factor in the curative process. It is a fact that the best cures one gets are in those individuals who one reduces almost ametia (simple mindedness) From Dr Abraham Myerson.
Thus the treatment of the insane in the usa was persued by damaging the brain with electroshok,Insulin coma,Metrazol convulsive therapy and Prefrontal Lobotamy. a good deal of this still goes on in so called civilised countries today.
It is a fact that skitzophrenic( This so called disease is a catch all for all kinds of unbalances in the phsyce) outcomes are far better in poor countries than in the usa and other «developed nations»
(This is perhaps because the «disease» and the diagnosis thereof is closely connected to the income for pharmaceutical companies.)
Eugenics, where in its ultimate form led to the gassing of those deemed «unfit» was instigated in the uk, developed in the usa then taken further by Hitlers germany. Initially Eugenics was promoted by a commitee of 99 in the usa, members were drawn from the best universities in the usa, they include harvard, yale and columbia.
They proceeded with a program of propoganda which led to it being taught in educational establishments.
Consider – the brutal fact about eugenics was that it assumed that the upper classes (the rich and well to do) were superior to the lower classes and that their lives did not matter in the same way.
The American Eugenics society was funded by John Rockefeller and several other worthies(in 1926), it became a big national organization with chapters in 28 states.
Americas influence spread to other countries as well, they included Denmark,Norway,Sweden, Finland and Iceland. The influence was particurly powerful in Germany where it was taken to its extreme.
The Rockefeller foundation gave 2.5 million dollars(in 1925) to the phsyciatric institute in Munich which swiftly became the leading center for eugenics in Germany.
Thus Eugenics in Germany was funded by American donations.
The eugenics laws later passed in Germany were based on a careful study of the American Eugenics laws, notably those instituted in California.
This led ultimately to the gassing of over 70,000 mental paitients.
In august 1941 the gas chambers initially used in this were dismantalled and sent to concentration camps in the east.
Consider – The English upper classes considered themselves superior due to their breeding, this was prooved by the study of the superior traits of the ruling British elite by Galton – this found its way to the us then to Germany and the demise of over 6 million in the most hideous of ways.
The american public were horrified once they saw the pictures of the liberated concentration camps at the end of ww2, however worse was to come.
In the book «The shame of the states» Deutsch described visiting a mental hospital called Byberry in the usa.
As i passed through the wards of Byberry i was reminded of the nazi concentration camps of Belsen and Buchenwald.
Sure soon enough this was taken up by the press and the true horror revealed, it became a national scandal. The horror of medical treatment and confinement of mental paitients is still a major concern for those of us who are concerned with liberty,freedom and justice.
Today the business ethics of many american corporations disregard the human suffering they cause all over the globe, from pollution to environmental destruction, to wars.
It is considered to be part of the cost of doing business.
Living on the west coast of Norway i can see this plainly as the trawlers plough up the seaweed beds for the american owned FMC corporation and lately DUPONT. The science is clear b ut the state chooses to ignore it, aided and abetted by propoganda produced ultimately by the companies themselves. It doesent matter the source, or who paid for it, its science and thats all that counts?
Further the worldwide pollution from Fluoro chemicals responsible for serious diseases is again ultimately from an american Corporation – nearly all of humanity has these chemicals in our blood.
It is almost as if our governing bodies (countries states) have decided that they are superior and are the only ones capable of governing, an echo of eugenics.
But the fact is states are tools, like almost all tools, those who understand them make best use of them. Thus we have networks of companies coupling polititians and businesses so most issues are resolved in short order often ignoring the grounding principles entirely.. Many of the senior polititians in Norway have worked for the companies mentioned, they include many who lead political parties.
In connection with this is the idea that American citizens must be armed, that is equipped with weapons whose only purpose is to kill. This ultimately comes from the system – the system of free enterprise so highly valued.
How?
A good quality pistol or rifle is worth over 1000 dollars, in some cases far more than that. If every household feels it necessary to have firearms then how many households are there in the usa.
The sums are enormous.
How much does it cost to suborn the press and polititians and the system?
Very little in comparrison.
And they are, information is easy to find.
We must have firearms says most of America.
Its strange to think that most countries do not consider this necessary – in fact the downside of supporting this is the annual deathtoll from firearms in the us – between 40 and 50 thousand each year. In comparison Norway has about 5 deaths from firearms annually.
Here are plain signs of manipulation, predjudice and a callus selfishness manifested by the named issues, institutions and individuals – it is entirely possible that this is an exhibition of free democracy taken advantage of by business to the extent that multiple deaths would be seen as a hindrance, nuisance and not a question of major importance. Why should it be when the aim is to make money no matter what. When the aim of society is to maintain the freedoms it so hugely values.
If you combine all the threats, without wishing to sound too dramatic, the outcome is strictlly against the survival of the human race.
Thus sounds ridiculous in terms of what society is and how it functions but if you draw graphs where one factor is human deaths from ilnesses which have strong connections to the pollution caused by the indescriminate use of chemicals for the benefit of the producers – against time and production then there is a strong correlation – a downwards correlation. Further, the use of computers, mobile phones and entertainment resources leave many of us in a happy cocoon where the belief that the fantasy world that has been created for and by us, will never end, that it is something we cannot exist without – thus many never look out of the window and leave such things to those strange beings – environmental campeigners. (after all, the real world doesent have an accompaniment of music) Worse still many environmental campeigners follow blindly the dictates thrust upon them by their leaders, essentially leaving the thinking up to them – it would be interesting to see how many major groups owe their funding to the very businesses they apparently stand against.
Thus we have a downwards spiral, inflicted upon us by what we are and have become,
So what is the answer??
We must go inwards, to understand ourselves, to understand how the world relates to us, how it relates to our nature.
Then we must learn.
For instance in the real world there are very few absoloutes.
Many of the things we have become to believe are only partly true, thus the electric car is not going to save us but is an essential part of progress, that to stop using oil is madness – to deny completely
gene modified foods is foolish, the same with plastics.
The answers lie within our grasp – the only issue is can we GRASP, and the answer is NO, given the current phsycological factor inherrent in most humans.
Consider, the issue with oil is not its use, its how much we use it.
Sitting beside a main road in rush hour is instructive, 80% of cars with one person driving a vehicle capable of carrying 6.
Just a quick trip with the car down to the supermarket could be turned into a once a week trip. Or even better, a cycle ride for all the family.
The same with plastics, to make for only one use is ridiculous – we should have carriers made for use over years, they should not be available at the checkout, foods should be delivered in containers substantially made, restocked from large containers in the shop.
We should learn how to sow and harvest and to share. The idea of going to the gym to maintain the body would become a thing of the past because you would get all the exercise you would need in other ways.
The words small farming have become a catch phrase.
There is a large section of society currently very much aware and doing just those things.
It is clear for those of long sight that our society is due an overhaul because it is not working. I only hope that the soloution is not the ones the Romans chose when their democracy failed and that is the selection of a ultimate ruler.
Perhaps one has already been selected and we are unaware?
