RE: "People's MINDS, like their bodies, must be A DOMAIN FREE OF GOVERNMENT CONTROL." (Terence McKenna) 💭
Unless we are free to think as we wish, there is no other freedom potential to us.
Even ownership of our bodies is but secondary to ownership of our minds.
Yet, laws in America allow the use of propaganda on American citizens - supposedly on the authority of Americans. This is not even possibly lawful, and just. It is provably false that the authority of a person can legally be used to mislead that person, and yet for them to retain their ability to have authority.
Essentially, those that willingly authorize themselves to be lied to, abnegate their actual authority. They give it away, and no longer possess it, by becoming incapable of exercising it. Fine. Consider that there are people that actually want this, to be chattel.
If they are chattel, they are not sovereign, and therefore do not have sovereign authority. The two states are mutually contradictory, and one cannot be both.
I have known many people, however, that prefer to be lied to than to know the truth. These people aren't capable of actual freedom, and only want license.
We should respect their wishes, and those people should not be considered to have legal sovereignty, since they don't want it.
Let's save sovereignty and authority for those that are willing to keep it.
I have to say that the strongest evidence that some people have cared about me, is that they endeavored to lie to me about things. However, I have no interest in not being aware of reality, and prefer to confine my associations to people that actually fulfill their obligations, rather than those that just want to pretend they did, and think everything will be ok if I just don't know the truth.
Working together is a thing. Being fooled into thinking people are working together doesn't attain the actual results that working together does, and I reckon politics, and war in particular, is all the proof of this we need.
Thanks!
Thanks for such a thoughtful comment, @valued-customer. I value the sharing of your thoughts, and agree with most of them... accept this one:
I disagree with this statement so strongly, lol I think the complete opposite is true: Those that lie to me, do NOT love me. They, themselves, may be deluded about the power of truth, but I am not. Truth IS a freeing agent, despite its unpopularity.
I actually agree regarding truth. However, some folks think differently, and I tried to convey my understanding of their thought process (which I don't share, so may imperfectly comprehend). Some people legitimately believe that lying to others about reality which would discomfit them actually is better than to tell the truth.
My particular experience of this mindset involves personal relationships, in which infidelity was involved. I vehemently disagree that it was better that I simply not know our mutual commitment wasn't really mutual at all. They felt that if I simply didn't know they were sleeping around I would be benefited, and this is why I understand that the best evidence of their affection for me was that they lied to me.
That was the only way they could maintain the relationship with me, as they seemed incapable of actual monogamy. I felt it was fraud, and eventually appreciated learning their true character, as my own commitment was being availed them, while they did not feel it was harmful to me that they weren't meeting their obligations, and felt only my knowing the truth would harm me.
They were wrong, but that's what they said they believed. Thus, in their mind, lying to me was beneficial to me. I reckon plenty of politicians seem to evidence the exact same mentality.
Now I understand what you meant, @valued-customer. I'm sorry for the hurt that must have accompanied that learning. Respect to you for sharing your experience.