How did you manage to avoid becoming brainwashable when so few do?
Submitted by tonym on Sun, 01/22/2012 - 19:36I grew up staring at the tv for hours on end, but I still turned out to be quite the skeptic and critical thinker. I've analyzed my childhood trying to pinpoint events that have caused me to become the person I am, but I'm really not sure. We all grow up basically watching the same movies, eating the same cereal. Is there anything in particular that you guys attribute your independent thinking to?
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That!
and Ruby Ridge. What disasters!
I come from a traditional conservative family
and I'm the youngest. I think the youngest child when all three are the same gender (3 boys in my family) tend to be a little more "out there'. Less willing to walk the oft-traveled path. Looking out for the next "big thing" rather than accepting the current "big thing".
It would be so easy to accept things as they are, but why?
And as has been suggested, its a matter of education as well. A Liberal Arts and Sciences education teaches you to question everything you are told or taught. I accepted that rather easily, when others in my classes thought that was too much work.
In relation to Ron Paul, I didn't accept his message entirely until I digested it and tested it my way. I wasn't going to read his position and accept it as gospel. I wanted more proof that they were valid thoughts. Anybody can oppose the establishment's ideas. It when those ideas are tested and proven that they get me on board with them.
I have believed that this country and its system are tainted and astray of their correct place. We need a revolution. I said that 3 years ago to my wife. Systems can be flawed and fouled and I have believed we just need to dump the system rather than trim off the bad parts. Trimming is a cute maneuver when you have a small problem. Small doesn't begin to describe our issues. Trimming our budget is just putting a band-aid on a bullet wound.
It was forced upon me by a corrupt cops and corrupt courts
and corrupt schools, and corrupt congressmen and people that fought in Vietnam, corrupt laws.
but most of all, the teaching of the constitution and the lies they use to get people to think something is constitutional.
Here is my reason.
I worked in business all of my life and running my own for over 20 years. I dealt with the EEOC, HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION, EPA, OSHA, WISHA, LABOR RELATIONS IRS and all the other local and Federal tax collecting authorities and probably more I can't remember. In many cases I was subjected to thugs who don't care in the least about your side of any issue. They are there to get you and get promoted as a result. Period.
Within a couple of years after retirement with a decent savings account, which was my only source of income, they began the big money give away program that brought interest down to less than 1% and have kept it there for about a decade now.
I began, many years ago, reading books by many authors that spelled out the many many problems with our political system and realized our news media was a big part of that problem. I have been supporting all alternatives to this two (one) party system for two decades and pestering everyone who will listen to help change the problems with little success. It is clear to me that people are unwilling to get involved until they have been treated unfairly themselves and, of course, then no one else cares.
The Internet
I am in high school, and a few years ago, I was a brainwashed little sheeple who happily went along with the Republican party herd. I trusted Fox News, I supported McCain in '08, I just agreed with what I was told without even thinking about it. There were some things I didn't really believe in, like the wars in the Middle East, but I just figured that the people who supported it were smarter than me and knew what they were talking about. But less than a year ago, I started to really research things. That is when my eyes opened. That is when I found Ron Paul. People are always saying to not believe everything you read, but the Internet is the last source of the free-flow of information we have left! It is one thing the government can NOT control.
No wonder they want SOPA and PIPA so badly...
“It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till." -J.R.R. Tolkien
Thank Goodness!
Thank goodness you discovered how to do your own thinking at a young age. Now, perhaps you can influence some friends! The young supporters of Liberty are the future of our nation, and both D's and R's are ignoring that powerful trend.
Keep it up!
To fathom Hell Or soar
To fathom Hell
Or soar angelic
Take a pinch
Of psychedelic
-Author unknown
Viet Nam veteran father
Viet Nam veteran father disillusioned with the system, subsequently witnessed CIA operations destabilizing central american countries. I heard all about it growing up. This and other related experiences vaccinated me against the propaganda.
"Is there anything in
"Is there anything in particular that you guys attribute your independent thinking to?"
My parents and siblings.
Montessori preschool.
Montessori preschool.
I have young children; please
I have young children; please explain.
The Truth will set you Free
I can trace back to when I was 4-5 years old when I would get in trouble. I always had to make sure if it was fair, and if it was I was OK with it. If not I screamed like hell. I've always pursued truth my entire Life. All through college and before I bought into the idea, educate yourself then go find meaningful employment. I got a top notch job at a leading strategy consulting firm. They bragged about putting the expiration date on Vaseline to increase sales, so I quit. Soon after I discovered that Zeitgist movie, and then Ron Paul. I'd already read an understood Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, but until then never realized most of what we're taught is a lie. I also realized that the NBA and other sports are so clearly rigged. Looking back, it the truth is always obvious. People lie to themselves because they get what they want that way. What they want depends on where they are on Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Some want to belong, so they believe what will be accepted. Some want safety so they reject what scares them. And some want either self esteem or actualization. These people can avoid the truth only for a time, but it will inevitable show itself. I don't know what factor DNA plays, but your parents meeting your needs as a young one play a large part. So if they refuse to see the truth, you can still thank them for providing a loving environment for your mind to develop.
Ron Paul's ideas aren't new. That are true to human nature. Just as food is essential to our bodies, freedom is essential to our minds.
When I learned the truth about Santa Claus.
I realized I could never trust authoritarians to speak truth. Always check the story, and don't trust anyone. Especially yourself. ( Don't worry, three out of five psychiatrists have said I am not crazy. But they are not too sure about some of my other personalities ).
I like your sense of humor!
Humor, right?
Yeah. Humor. That's it, humor.
Thanks.
Were those 3 psychiatrists
Were those 3 psychiatrists your alter egos? Lol.
my views
I was initially in the process of being brainwashed...for the most part it was in the high school where I went. Most of the teachers were primarily left-leaning liberals who did nothing but knock President Bush and praise Obama at the start of his career. I graduated 2 years ago, but it was around my 11th Grade year that my father took an active interest in politics and became very conservative. At first the constant political implications and talk drove me crazy but it steadily seeped into my mind, and I became conservative as well. But, more recently within the last year, I have grown more Libertarian with some slight conservative leanings remaining. Most importantly, I took interest in the Constitution and sought out the works of Thomas Paine and the Founding Fathers. I am in college now and have been the past 2 years and am constantly surrounded by the nonsense socialist, anti-capitalist, secular, liberal beliefs of professors and other students. The fact of the matter is, that anyone who is interested in political affiliation should really go by history, and that is how I feel. The Founding Fathers and Thomas Paine are the true liberals, before it skewed off into the monstrosity it is today. So, I identify myself as a Libertarian, a classical Liberal. True history and politics go hand in hand, and political leanings should be based off of history and your personal morals/traditions/values, not the typical social framework that has been established.
We ignore history
We ignore history at our own peril. There is so much to be learned from those who have gone before.
That's very true, because it
That's very true, because it does open the eyes. I also believe that it's best to read the works and writings of those men, such as Paine and the Founders, because that is a primary source, and TRUE history. It isn't filter - it's in their own words as well.
On a side note, everyone
On a side note, everyone should read the works of Thomas Paine. I'm beating a dead horse here, but he's one of my favorites, and all of his works can be found reasonably cheap in Barnes & Nobles or other book stores. Check out The American Crisis, Rights of Man, Age of Reason, and Common Sense, they're all fantastic. Also look into Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith - well before Marx's Capital.
I daydreamed in school. I
I daydreamed in school. I did not pay attention in class, a sure brainwashing preventitive.
therevolutionwas
When I was 16 years old
I read The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand.
That book opened my eyes. They've remained open ever since.
I was also influenced by the writings of Neil Peart and listened to Rush constantly back then. Free will!!
Irv Homer, a Philadelphia libertarian radio personality, was an awesome educator!
Learning about the government began when I was six
when my Dad called me over as he was doing his income taxes. He was a dairy farmer. He told me he had to decide how much less "Linda" (one of our cows) was worth this year compared to last year. He had to "depreciate" Linda.
I remember him asking me how that could be figured out. Linda still gave the same amount of milk this year as she gave last year. She ate the same amount. She was still friendly to all of us and liked being petted. Nothing seemed to have changed about Linda, but Dad said he had to figure out how much less Linda was worth this year compared to last year so he could tell the government in his taxes.
He asked me if I understood why this was a difficult thing to figure out ...he told me he thought it was ridiculous but he had to depreciate Linda or he could go to jail.
I always thought about that and how there was a connection between Linda and the government and going to jail.
Not only did it seem like a waste of time to have to figure something like that out, but it seemed sort of inhumane to even say that Linda was worth less this year than last year. I mean we LOVED her ----nuf said?
SequoiaTrees4RonPaul
Such a comical way to explain
Such a comical way to explain it, and so true. Thanks.
I'm a skeptic
I never, and have never, just believed something that I am told simply because somebody says it - no matter the source. I always do additional research before I buy into anything. I have always found that this is the best way to go about life, because I am amazed by the amount of false statements that people are "positive" are correct.
Many would call me a skeptic, and I won't refute them. I have always kept a very open mind, but always fact check and investigate on my own, and come to my conclusions on my own. I think it is a very dangerous game to just believe somebody on their word, because simply put, people's words just aren't worth that much without anything to back them up.
This is what has led me to Ron Paul. And while I certainly don't agree with everything he says (I don't agree with everything ANYONE says, other than me of course), he is by far the closest of any politician. He will absolutely get my vote; and I am convinced, to the bone, that MOST of America would agree with Ron Paul over any politician, if we can get his word out. There are so many misunderstandings about Ron Paul (I attribute a lot of this to the major media outlets who sadly distort, ignore, and simply lie), and it has been a difficult journey to try to get the truth out. But I'll keep at it until the bitter end.
www.ingotnews.com
Support Oriented
I have been a support oriented person since I can remember. I always has a fascination in everything that was confusing. I guess support was a great career choice. I have to have answers to any questions I come up with. With that urge to have information, I became infatuated with the Internet, and everything it had to offer. I would read for hours and hours, just to read and learn about a wide variety of subjects. What isnt more confusing than the government? So you start reading, and nothing makes sense, so you read more to try to make sense to it. You gravitate towards whatever makes the most sense for you.. and here I am.
It's not our fault, really..
Most of us spent 12 years of our formative years being trained and indoctrinated into statism, collectivism, moral relativism, the irrelevancy of family and the importance of "society" and the peer group. I took the red pill when I red John Taylor Gattos "Underground History of American Education", learned that the "educational" system was not designed to educate but to train, train kids like animals to respond to bells, grades, stimuli, become as herd animals, accept cognitive dissonance and illogic as normal, to become fearful and sneaky. It is how the elites have managed to get where they are: train children to manage themselves by chaining them with their own minds. They reinforce this training using the MSM and Hollywood. And so we have people actually VOTING for their mown (preselected) masters and thinking they "govern themselves" and are their own government. It takes years to overcome this brainwashing, some never do. By the time most of us overcome it, our own kids find us irrelevant because they are going through the same processing.
"None are more hopelessly
"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free" ~J W Goethe
PETER SCHIFF WAS RIGHT!!
I stumbled across the "Peter Schiff Was Right" video on YouTube. After seeing that video, I wanted to know what he knew that everyone else didn't know.
Through Peter, I found Ron Paul!
Silence Dogood IX
I went from
being a person who believed whatever my dad did politically, to becoming a warmonger begging for a police state. Then someone on a gun forum posted an alex jones film link. I watched it and something sparked in my head. I started questioning stuff. Then someone on that same forum talked about Ron Paul. Said to check him out. It was game over from there! I got rid of my back!