JustGetThere

Tuesday, December 15. 2009

in Spirituality

Defined tags for this entry: christianity, christmas, history, holidays, pagan ritual, religion, Santa, spirituality, wicca

Mi Kali D.

Witchvox | It has occurred to me at this time of year that some people are just looking for drama. Maybe you have noticed it too. The thing that I don't get is that being as this is the 'most wonderful time of the year' why do we experience all this emotional, psychological, dogmatic load of horse pookey? What's the point?

I used to get upset when I'd be shopping and the cashier would say, 'Merry Christmas'. I would make it a point to say 'Happy Holidays' or 'Happy Yule' or even the 'Blessed Winter Solstice' back. After a while though, I stopped this practice. Not because I didn't want to make a point that my faith was valid, but because those people never really understood what the point was.

First of all, being in a sales position in the past, one is paid a horribly offensive wage. You are doing a job a trained ape could do, have to put up with people who are less than kind (Some need to ask Santa for soap/Scope for the holidays) and quite frankly, after standing more than a couple hours on your feet, you just don't care.

Also, when I wanted to make sure I countered 'Christmas' with 'Yule' I was young and naive. Notice, I'm not saying everyone who chooses this practice is naive or young, but I was.

Maybe I stopped all this because I just got over it, got bored, got who knows what... but I just was done. I have friends from several different faiths, religions, paths or not much of anything at all. I try to respect them all, but I don't go overboard in protecting everyone's politically correct venue. I try to keep track of who thinks what and send out cards and emails that reflect their personal thing.

But I'm not going to get suckered into some big contest.

If my friend sends me an email about the right-wing conservative view on chicken feathers and the faith of a turnip, I don't send back a nasty reply; I just delete it. I don't respond...like I used to.

Now maybe I've just gotten soft and let those people have their way. But I don't really think so. I think it's just that I don't let it get to me anymore. I now know those people are looking for a reaction, live for it, exist on the energy of those people who send back the replies- knowing the people they send it to won't agree.

So, back to Christmas. I just am like 'whatever.' Maybe it's losing the fight. But maybe I'm above the fight. Maybe I'm too old to be bothered with the fight. Maybe I'm in a phase and lost steam. I can't pretend to have the answer to this but maybe it's not so important after all.

I came to this realization earlier this year. I went through a personal change. I grew up with fundamentalist ideals in all things; everything was church and often conflict for the sake of it. Without being negative, I found another way. I was pretty in your face with my new ideals and was almost preachy. This was precisely the same thing that irritated me about other people of other faiths shoving their doctrines in my ear.

But I was doing it, and I was so in it, I didn't even realize I was doing it. Or when I did realize it, I just didn't care because now I have a point of view that makes more sense than your old tired view does, and you will listen or I'll go mute from the shouting match.

But after 13 years, and after a time of much quieter reflection, I realized I don't need to shout to be heard. In fact almost without exception, people tend to hear more through silence and kindness.

There are members in my family -- as I am sure there are of everyone here -- that are of the more vocal mainstream religious persuasion. They just never seem to be tired of infiltrating my peaceful space with their hate mongering. Though I had at one point tried to counter with my own arguments, I then tried another approach. I read the Bible. I know this sounds odd. It almost can be seen as treason in 'our camp.'

But just give me a minute; there was a plan.

I had already tried to put them on ‘ignore’. I had tried to argue. I had tried to debate peacefully. None of these things worked. So maybe, I could try to understand them. (As I can hear you all gasp aghast...hang in there...)

I took an online Bible class and it was from the conservative point of view. Now I knew I could handle it. I grew up in it. So I knew though I may not agree with it all, I could still read it without falling into convulsions with 'thines' and 'thous' falling out of my mouth.

I also took a class in world religions. It was actually very interesting. Honestly, it was. I didn't agree with it all, but I did learn a few things.

Maybe the most valuable lesson I learned though wasn't in the classes at all because now when I talked to the members of the family that were forcefully attempting to abduct me into their conservative camp, I used logic from their own source. It really confused them.

Now I wasn't hateful about it. I was really nice about it. I admit, maybe that confused them too. But once I said, ’Well, the Bible says this and this in this book and chapter’... Reluctantly the family member often confessed, 'Well, I never really read that part of the Bible.'

I knew I was on to something. They became quiet! Maybe trying to understand them was the answer. At least for these people, at this time.

But this spawned a new line of thinking for me that bled over to this time of year and caused me to re-think my approach to the dreaded 'Merry Christmas.' I take people where they are.

Maybe it's not my job to make people say 'Blessed Winter Solstice' or to even understand what that means. It's not my job to educate all those Christians with the fact that Jesus could have been born on September 29, 5 B.C., (1) April 17, 6BC (2) June 17, 2 BC, (3) or any other time with endless supplies of data backing up what I believe to be so.

What difference does it really make in the world? Is arguing really going to make a difference? Isn't it the point to just be kind this time of year anyway?

Isn't that what 'the most wonderful time of the year' is all about?

Not about dogma but about just enjoying it. I live in Wisconsin -- and in the middle of the winter there isn't much to look forward to – so if I can smile in the middle of a snowstorm, it's a pretty good thing. Maybe the holiday season has simply become about making cookies, and singing stupid songs that make no sense, and watching old holiday specials on the TV… but so what if it has? It's still better than being bitter about ‘words’.

Though I admit it is tempting -- and sometimes entertaining -- to catch people who don't know what they believe (and just follow blindly) in their uneducated mind traps, it's probably much better karma to try to just let it go. It's not my job to get these people to understand that the whole holiday bloomed from the Solstice. That would be the same thing as me knocking door-to-door and handing out message-inscribed Yule logs and mead- a total waste of my time and energy.

I started to think with this phrase in mind: 'Sometimes when you win, you loose.'

So now, when I go to the store and someone says, 'Merry Christmas', I say, “To you, too.”

Happily.

I realize that this person isn't putting a 'Jesus is the reason for the season' sticker on my forehead. They aren't vindictive psycho-religious fascists wanting to hose down on my Yule log. They are just being who they are.

“Half of the world's population adheres to Christianity. Islam is the second most popular religion with more than a billion followers. Hinduism, which is mainly practiced in India, claims over seven hundred million members. There are close to four hundred million Buddhists, mostly in Asia. And fifteen million people are Jewish”, according to Susan Solomon Yem (4) .

I just doubt all those people want to snub those of us who are into celebrating the more obscure Yuletime cheer. So in that vein, I hope everyone has at least a few moments to celebrate (or not) in any way they choose: Happy Yule, Winter Solstice, Winter Holidays, Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa, Ramadan, Dewali, Three Kings Day, Epiphany...

As I sit in front of my computer here now, candy cane in my mouth, I wish you all a happy whatever!

Santa Claus, Magic Mushroom & The Flying Reindeer

in History

Defined tags for this entry: children, christianity, christmas, coca-cola, history, holidays, mushrooms, pagan ritual, santa, st nicholas

The Story of Santa Claus is the story of the Magic Mushroom! Santa Claus is the Amanita Muscaria or Fly Agaric Mushroom! Santa's Red and White attire is symbolic of the Red and White Amanita Muscaria and it's no coincidence the flying reindeer love eating 'Fly Agaric' ... Santa Claus lives at the North Pole, and he has flying reindeer pulling his sleigh through the air. Reindeer are native to Siberia, and the shamanic use of this mushroom in Siberia is well documented. Now, I know Siberia isn't the North Pole exactly, but it's pretty close, and the earth's magnetic pole is actually shifting away from North America and towards Siberia. Christmas trees are Pine trees. Pine trees are the trees that the Amanita Muscaria grows under. They have a mycorrhizal(which basically means non-parasitic) relationship with that plant and Spruce trees. Their shiny red and white caps blooming under the tree looks very much like the tradition of placing shiny wrapped boxes under there and a lot like the red and white stockings children hang under the tree!

By Mark Adams

Why do Santa’s reindeer fly? The role of ancient mushroom using Shamans!

Psychedelic Adventures | These red and white mushrooms, Amanita muscaria, were found in an alpine forest around Creede, Colorado. A. muscaria was the “sacred mushroom” used by the ancient tribal peoples of pre-Christian northern Europe. Its bright coloring suggests the colors of Santa’s garments and of holiday lights.

Although most people see Christmas as a Christian holiday, most of the symbols and icons we associate with Christmas celebrations are actually derived from the shamanistic traditions of the tribal peoples of pre-Christian northern Europe.

The sacred mushroom of these people was the red and white Amanita muscaria, also known as “fly agaric.” This mushroom commonly is seen in books of fairy tales and usually is associated with magic and fairies. It contains potent hallucinogenic compounds once used by ancient peoples for insight and transcendental experiences. Most of the major elements of the modern Christmas celebration, such as Santa Claus, Christmas trees, magical reindeer and the giving of gifts, are originally based upon the traditions surrounding the harvest and consumption of this most sacred mushroom.

The World Tree

Ancient peoples, including the Lapps of modern-day Finland, and the Koyak tribes of the central Russian steppes, believed in the idea of a World Tree. The World Tree was seen as a kind of cosmic axis onto which the planes of the universe are fixed. The roots of the World Tree stretch down into the underworld, its trunk is the “middle earth” of everyday existence, and its branches reach upwards into the heavenly realm.

Amanita muscaria grows only under certain types of trees, mostly firs and evergreens. The cap of the mushroom is the fruit of the larger mycelium beneath the soil which exists in a symbiotic relationship with the roots of the tree. To ancient people, this mushroom was literally “the fruit of the tree.”

The North Star was also considered sacred, since all other stars in the sky revolved around its fixed point. They associated this “Pole Star” with the World Tree and the central axis of the universe. The top of the World Tree touched the North Star, and the spirit of the shaman would climb the metaphorical tree, thereby passing into the realm of the gods. This is the true meaning of the star on top of the modern Christmas tree, and also the reason that the super-shaman Santa makes his home at the North Pole.

Ancient peoples were amazed at how this magical mushroom sprang from the earth without any visible seed. They considered this “virgin birth” to have been the result of the morning dew, which was seen as the “semen of the deity.” The silver tinsel we drape onto our modern Christmas tree represents this divine fluid.

Origin of phrase, “to get pissed”

The active ingredients of A. muscaria are not metabolized by the body, and so they remain active in the urine. In fact, it is safer to drink the urine of one who has consumed the mushroom than to eat the mushroom directly, as many of the toxic compounds are processed and eliminated on the first pass through the body.

It was common practice among ancient people to recycle the potent effects of the mushroom by drinking each other’s urine. The mushroom’s ingredients can remain potent even after six passes through the human body. Some scholars argue that this is the origin of the phrase “to get pissed,” as this urine-drinking activity preceded alcohol by thousands of years.

Reindeer were the sacred animals of these semi-nomadic people, as the reindeer provided food, shelter, clothing and other necessities. Reindeer are also fond of eating the mushroom; they will seek it out, then prance about while under its influence. Often the urine of tripped-out reindeer would be consumed for its psychedelic effects.

This effect goes the other way too, as reindeer also enjoy the urine of a human, especially one who has consumed the mushroom. In fact, reindeer will seek out human urine to drink, and some tribesmen carry sealskin containers of their own collected piss, which they use to attract stray reindeer back into the herd.

Legend of the flying reindeer and modern image of Santa

The effects of the A. muscaria usually include sensations of size distortion and flying. The feeling of flying could account for the legends of flying reindeer and legends of shamanic journeys included stories of winged reindeer, transporting their riders up to the highest branches of the World Tree.

Although the modern image of Santa Claus was created at least in part by the advertising department of Coca-Cola, in truth his appearance, clothing, mannerisms and companions all mark him as the reincarnation of these ancient mushroom-gathering shamans.

One of the side effects of eating A. muscaria is that one’s skin and facial features take on a flushed, ruddy glow. This is why Santa is always shown with glowing red cheeks and nose. Even Santa’s jolly “Ho, ho, ho!” is the euphoric laugh of one who has indulged in the magic fungus.

Santa also dresses like a mushroom gatherer. When it was time to go out and harvest the magical mushroom, the ancient shamans would dress much like Santa, wearing red and white fur-trimmed coats and long black boots. These peoples lived in dwellings made of birch and reindeer hide, called “yurts.” Somewhat similar to a tee-pee, the yurt’s central smoke-hole is often also used as an entrance. After gathering the mushroom from under the sacred trees where they appeared, the shamans would fill their sacks and return home. Climbing down the chimney-entrances, they would share out the mushroom’s gifts with those within.

The mushroom needs to be dried before being consumed; the drying process reduces the mushroom’s toxicity while increasing its potency. The shaman would guide the group in stringing the mushrooms they gathered and hanging them around the hearth-fire to dry. This tradition is echoed in the modern stringing of popcorn and other items.

The psychedelic journeys taken under the influence of the amanita were also symbolized by a stick reaching up through the smoke-hole in the top of the yurt. The smoke-hole was the portal where the spirit of the shaman exited the physical plane.

Santa’s famous magical journey, where his sleigh takes him around the whole planet in a single night, is developed from the “heavenly chariot”, used by the gods from whom Santa and other shamanic figures are descended. The chariot of Odin, Thor and even the Egyptian god Osiris is now known as the Big Dipper, which circles around the North Star in a 24-hour period.

In different versions of the ancient story, the chariot was pulled by reindeer or horses. As the animals grew exhausted, their mingled spit and blood falls to the ground, forming the mushrooms.

St Nicholas and Old Nick

Saint Nicholas is a legendary figure who supposedly lived during the fourth century. His cult spread quickly and Nicholas became the patron saint of many varied groups, including judges, pawnbrokers, criminals, merchants, sailors, bakers, travelers, the poor, and children.

Most religious historians agree that St Nicholas did not actually exist as a real person but was instead a Christianized version of earlier Pagan gods. Nicholas’ legends were mainly created out of stories about the Teutonic god called Hold Nickar, known as Poseidon to the Greeks. This powerful sea god was known to gallop through the sky during the winter solstice, granting boons to his worshippers below.

When the Catholic Church created the character of St Nicholas, they took his name from “Nickar” and gave him Poseidon’s title of “the Sailor.” There are thousands of churches named in St Nicholas’ honor, most of which were converted from temples to Poseidon and Hold Nickar. (As the ancient pagan deities were demonized by the Christian church, Hold Nickar’s name also became associated with Satan, known as “Old Nick!”)

Local traditions were incorporated into the new Christian holidays to make them more acceptable to the new converts. To these early Christians, Saint Nicholas became a sort of “super-shaman” who was overlaid upon their own shamanic cultural practices. Many images of Saint Nicholas from these early times show him wearing red and white, or standing in front of a red background with white spots, the design of the mushroom.

St Nicholas also adopted some of the qualities of the legendary “Grandmother Befana” from Italy, who filled children’s stockings with gifts. Her shrine at Bari, Italy, became a shrine to St Nicholas.

True spirit of Christmas

By better understanding the truths within these popular celebrations, we can better understand the modern world, and our place in it.

Many people in the modern world have rejected Christmas as being too commercial, claiming that this ritual of giving is actually a celebration of materialism and greed. Yet the true spirit of this winter festival lies not in the exchange of plastic toys, but in celebrating a gift from the earth: the fruiting top of a magical mushroom, and the revelatory experiences it can provide.

Instead of perpetuating outdated and confusing holiday myths, it might be more fulfilling to return to the original source of these seasonal celebrations. How about getting back to basics and enjoying some magical mushrooms with your loved ones this holiday season? What better gift can a family share than a little piece of love and enlightenment?

Wednesday, December 24. 2008

A Homeless Christmas By Mark Dice

in Video Journalism

Defined tags for this entry: a homeless christmas, christmas, documentary, mark dice, video journalism

Homeless man taken on surprise Christmas shopping spree

Given pre-paid cell phone, new clothes, and a new hope

PRESS RELEASE | An independent film maker just released a free documentary film on YouTube and Google Video titled A Homeless Christmas, which shows a heartwarming transformation of an unsuspecting homeless man on a freezing December day.

Mark Dice decided to pick up a homeless man from downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin and take him Christmas shopping. The film follows the two as Mark buys the man, whose name is Napoleon, a pre-paid cell phone, some new clothes, and a hot meal.

“At the end of the film, Napoleon looks like an entirely new man,” explains Mark. “He went from having a depressed hopeless look on his face when we first picked him up, to having a grin from ear to ear that just wouldn’t go away.”

“It was absolutely freezing that day,” recalls Mark. “It’s hard to imagine that anyone could survive the night after sleeping outside in that kind of weather, but a lot of homeless around the country face those kinds of conditions.”

Mark had originally planned to put the homeless man up in a hotel for the night to get him out of the cold, but Napoleon decided he wanted to be taken to his daughter’s apartment to tell her about his new lease on life, and that it was time to get his himself together.

Mark is hoping that a large television studio will help him do the same thing next Christmas, but with a larger budget, so he can set up an apartment and help a homeless person get a job, and document the transformation as part of a reality show.

A Homeless Christmas was shot on a $400 camcorder which was purchased a day earlier, and later edited on Mark’s lap top.

Mark Dice hopes that the film will inspire others to help the homeless this Christmas, and realize that while some people may be saddened that can’t buy all the Christmas gifts they had wanted this year because of the troubled economy, that if they have a roof over their head then they should be grateful.

Children's Books Use Christmas to Push Global Warming Agenda

in Media

Defined tags for this entry: Anne Margaret Lewis, childrens books, Christmas, Global Warming, media, Santa, Santa Goes Green

By Jennifer Lawinski

Fox News | Global warming alarmists, picking up where the Grinch left off, are trying to steal Christmas, some critics say. From children's books to school plays, the climate change crowd is dreaming of a green Christmas, angering opponents who say 'tis NOT the season to be preachy.

The children's book "Santa Goes Green" by Anne Margaret Lewis tells how a young boy named Finn gets Santa to leave the North Pole to help him track down Leopold, a polar bear he has adopted, because the sea ice is melting and Leopold's home is in danger.

“You see, it’s like this Santa,” Finn tells Santa in the book. “I’ve adopted a polar bear named Leopold. He is in danger of losing his home. I’m sure you being in the North Pole you know about the melting glaciers. All I want this year Santa, is to save Leopold and his home.”

Santa is so inspired by his visit to the polar bear that he decides to re-use last year's wrapping paper, recycle toys and start using wind to generate power for his toy shop.

The book ends with a note from Santa urging kids to send him notes on how to take care of the planet.

Read full article

Tuesday, December 23. 2008

Replication of Milgram's Shocking Experiments Proves 70 Percent of People will Torture Others if Ordered

in Science

Defined tags for this entry: authority, brainwashing, christmas, halloween, holidays, hypnosis, milgram experiments, mind control, science, shock treatment, torture

By Mike Adams

Natural News | The Milgram experiments from the early 1960's are classic (but shocking) studies that demonstrated the "sheeple-ness" of people everywhere. In the experiments -- which have been replicated numerous times across multiple cultures, races and age ranges -- subjects willingly engaged in administering extremely painful electric shocks to other human beings for no reason other than the fact they were ordered to do so by an apparent authority figure.

These studies have long demonstrated the "do what I'm told" mentality of approximately 70 percent of the population. Only 30 percent of the study subjects refused to torture fellow human beings when so ordered.

Now, this famous study has been replicated at Santa Clara University in California. It's important to understand that in none of these studies were humans actually being tortured or given electric shocks, but the study subjects believed they were administering such torture because the apparent recipients of the electric shocks were actors who screamed in pain to coincide with the apparent delivery of the electric shocks.

The true "subjects" of the study were actually the people recruited to administer the electric shocks. But as is common in many psychological experiments, they were told they were simply taking part in the study of the other person (the person being shocked), and they had to administer electric shocks to that person if they answered questions incorrectly. Meanwhile, the study "enforcer" (one of the true researchers running the whole thing) would command the administration of such electric shocks at increasingly painful levels, starting at low voltage and increasing the voltage well beyond 150 volts (which can be lethal).

The real reason why most people are willing to do whatever they're told

What's amazing about these experiments is the astonishing willingness of people to deliver shocks above 150 volts to victims who are writhing in pain, screaming and begging for them to stop. Using nothing more than the application of verbal authority, these study subjects continued to torture and apparently cause great pain and suffering to another human being.

For many years, psychologists speculated the original studies must have somehow been flawed. Humans beings couldn't be so cruel and gullible, could they? But now this repeating of the study immediately clobbers any debate on the subject and forces us all to confront the terrible reality: Most human beings of all ages, races, religions, cultural upbringings and professions will actively torture, harm and even kill fellow human beings if ordered to do so.

Why is this important to understand? Because it explains the sheeple effect that's so dominant in society today. Why do consumers obey apparent authorities so blindly? Why do they do what they're told even when it goes against all common sense and their own ethics?

You might hear many scientists offer a conventional explanation for this phenomenon, where they're talking about the power and leverage of authority symbols (such as the study researcher wearing a white lab coat) or the transmission of implied authority through voice commands and body language, but I have a different explanation for what we're seeing here.

My explanation is far simpler: Modern society trains human beings to be mind slaves, not independent thinkers.

You were raised to be a mind slave

Think about it: From the very first day you go to kindergarten, you're punished for getting out of line (literally), talking out of place, expressing your own ideas or refusing to follow commands. This psychological brow-beating goes on for thirteen years, and it's enforced by most parents, counselors and other authority figures.

In fact, the primary point of school is not to teach children things that are really true (American history, for example, is a laughable collection of outrageous lies and distortions), but rather to create an obedient mind slave that can function in society. By the time the average child graduates from high school, they may not know how to read or write, but they sure know how to do what they're told.

For many, this continues through college and graduate school. Medical schools, for example, are advanced brainwashing institutions where independent thinkers are rejected from the system long before they can practice medicine.

Only the arts or the theoretical sciences encourage free thinking, and that's why you'll find the most free-minded people in areas like theoretical physics, fine arts, dance, music, poetry and so on. (There are exceptions in every area, of course. I'm just talking about general trends.)

The delusional behavior surrounding holidays

The cultural madness surrounding holidays is a perfect example of brainwashing en masse. On command, people all across America will obey their commercial masters and go Christmas shopping. They'll put up Christmas lights and props and trees. And a few days later, they'll take them all down again. Ten months later, the same yards that used to host symbols of Jesus, angels and religious symbols will be replaced with images of bloody skeletons, vampires, decapitated human bodies and supernatural spirits.

Apparently nobody thinks this is strange other than myself and a few other free thinkers. I watch may neighbors with amazement as they cart off the bloody vampire props, store them away in their garages, and light up their yards with angels and Biblical scenes. These people have no idea they are totally brainwashed into following a system of commercial exploitation called "holidays."

You name the holiday, and there's a whole different system of commercially-motivated brainwashing behind it: Easter, Valentine's day, Fourth of July, New Year's Day, etc. On each holiday, the people obediently buy what they're told, drink what they're told, put up the props in their yards that they're told, and even run around knocking on doors begging for candy because that's what they're told to do.

It's utterly amazing to observe. I'm not saying we can't celebrate the Christmas holiday for what it really stands for, or spend quality time with family, or bless each other in whatever religious tradition we hold true. Those are all legitimate times of gathering, or celebration, or giving thanks. What I'm talking about is the commercial massploitation of the sheeple and how willingly people go along with the whole thing of spending money and decorating their yards with the appropriate symbols that merely serve as signs that demand other people get in line and follow suit.

I seriously considered putting up Halloween decorations this Christmas, because my neighbors erected a carnival of flashing lights and motorized reindeer so obnoxious that, in my mind, it was just begging to be contrasted with a scene of decapitated human bodies and bloody zombies taken from somebody's stored Halloween props. But I couldn't bring myself to actually BUY any of that stuff, and I figured the whole message would be wasted on the mindless neighbors anyway. But I reserve the right to try this next year! In fact, I'd love to see somebody do this and post a video of it on YouTube.

Seriously, folks: Why is it okay to have symbols of dead bodies and supernatural spirits in your yard on October 31st but not December 31st? Free thinkers don't have to follow the commercial calendar, didn't you know? We can put holiday props in our yards whenever we want, and they don't have to match YOUR holiday expectations.

Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer. Had a very shiny... decapitated head? I'll bet 99% of the people on the 'net don't even know where Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer came from. He was invented by the Macy's department store as a clever story designed to sell more stuff! Every time we sing that song, it's like singing a commercial. Let's all go Christmas caroling and sing TV commercial jingles, shall we?

Truly, holiday behavior reveals the best examples of insanity in modern society. And it's all happening right in front of your (shiny?) nose, oblivious to the common man (and woman).

Are you a free thinker, or an "obedient worker?"

The Milgram experiments merely prove that America's brainwashing education system is very, very good at producing what George Carlin called obedient workers. These obedient workers do what they're told, pay their taxes and will even follow orders that make no sense -- like Bush and Obama urging people to go out and spend more money in order to "help the economy."

It's senseless advice for a nation where the savings rate is already zero, but the 70 percent who are obedient workers also turn out to be obedient spenders and consumers.

Needless to say, NaturalNews is only read by the 30 percent who would walk out of the Milgram experiment. We are the independent, free-minded thinkers who evaluate each situation on its own merits, paying no special attention to the mad ramblings of apparent authority figures. In fact, the typical NaturalNews reader would blatantly refuse to administer electric shocks to another human being in any experiment. Unless, of course, the recipients of those electric shocks happened to be drug company CEOs, but that's a different experiment altogether. (That's also a joke. I don't condone the use of violence against fellow human beings; even criminals.)

The upshot of all this is one, important realization: About 70 percent of the people around you are dangerously obedient to even the most insane directives given by apparent authority figures. And if properly motivated, they would even torture YOU as long as they were told to do so.

To invoke the philosophy of The Matrix, about 70 percent of the people are still plugged in to the system, and until their minds are freed, they are potentially a danger to the 30 percent who can actually think for themselves. A good rule of thumb is to never be caught with too many 70-percenters around you. Hang with the 30-percenters.

Most people greatly overestimate their mental independence

There's another fascinating element to all this: Virtually everyone thinks they would never administer the electric shocks if they took part in the Milgram experiments. But when faced with the aggressive verbal demands of the researcher, they give in and punch the shock button anyway.

Just like most authority figures in modern society, the study researchers use clever psychological tactics to try to convince people they have to push the button. They'll claim that if they don't cooperate, the study will be ruined, or thousands of dollars will be lost, or the apparent "patient" will be somehow harmed by not receiving the proper correction stimulus. The researchers use every verbal tactic they can think of.

It's a lot like President Bush standing at a podium and talking about yellow cake uranium, or issuing a "terr" threat, or using all kinds of verbal scare tactics that are completely fictitious. The point is not to inform you but rather to alter your behavior so you do what they want. Not coincidentally, about 70 percent of the American people were also strongly in favor of the War on Iraq following the 9/11 attacks.

I can't wait to read the haters and flamers post negative comments to this story, because what they're actually doing is demonstrating the depth of the brainwashing they have embraced as 70-percenters. People who are brainwashed into obeying orders will aggressively defend the very system that brainwashed them. Any person threatening to think for themselves gets slammed, criticized or verbally abused in much the same way that the Milgram experimenters verbally abused the study subjects to cajole them into obeying.

Authority is all in your head

The relevant point in all this is to realize that the whole scheme of authority in the modern world is artificially constructed. Authority exists only in your mind, not in the real world. For example, when people drive on the roads, they're afraid to cross the yellow lines (or white lines). Why? Because in their minds, the lines represent borders that cannot be crossed due to the fear of being reprimanded by authority. This is true even when crossing the lines makes sense!

You see this behavior all the time in modern society. At Costco, people just wait at the exit for some lame worker to check their receipt and mark it with a pen. People actually line up like cattle even after they paid for their stuff! I just walk out the door with the stuff I paid for, utterly ignoring the silly "receipt checkers" who keep screaming "Sir! Sir! Sir!" What I've learned is that after three or four screams, they just shut up and go back to the line of sheeple. Just slap on a pair of headphones, crank up your iPod and walk right out of the store, folks. Why are you giving up your Constitutional rights and submitting yourself to illegal search and seizure for a cart full of stuff you just paid for? (Moooooo!)

Same thing at Wal-Mart. If your bags set off the security device, don't be an idiot and actually stop and let them search your bags like you're some kind of criminal! And yet more than 90% of the people will do exactly that! (More Moooooo!)

Just keep walking. You didn't steal your stuff, did you? Then what are you stopping for? The fact that the security alert sounds off is Wal-Mart's problem, not your problem. You have nothing to do with their security glitches. Just pretend you're deaf and couldn't hear the thing anyway. If they accost you, use lots of sign language that emphasizes the use of the middle finger.

Behavioral psychologist Pavlov proved that he could make a dog drool by ringing a bell. Wal-Mart has proven that you can make a human being stop and turn around by sounding a similar bell at the exit door. Amazing!

You'll also find that most people tend to walk on the official pathways when they enter or leave buildings. They don't take the shortest path; they take the "official" path, which may be much longer.

And don't get me started talking about television commercials. There's a great example of highly-effective brainwashing that nobody even seems to notice. People who watch TV will swear up and down that the commercials don't affect them at all, and then they'll go to the store and buy exactly the same brand names advertised to them on television.

It's downright hilarious.

It's not hilarious that they're brainwashed. That's just sad. What's hilarious is that people have been brainwashed into thinking they're NOT brainwashed even while they are! "The terrorists hate freedom," we're told, which implies that we're all free. Oh really? Then why do all my neighbors do exactly the same thing on every holiday? Why are they as predictable as a line of puppets strung up to the same control device?

The Milgram experiments simply prove that the vast majority of people are really sheeple who will do what they're told, even with zero awareness of being influenced.

So if you're a true free thinker, consider yourself fortunate: You're already in the top 30 percent of all the people in the country.

By the way, standard IQ tests don't take into account anything resembling real-world intelligent that would involve thinking for yourself. A person can have an IQ of 170 and still be a total robot zombie that does exactly what they're told by anyone with sufficient authority status.

I'd rather hang with a high school dropout who has some real-world street smarts than an over-educated yes man who's little more than a puppet for the mind controllers.

People live their entire lives in a state of perpetual hypnosis

By the way, as a side note, every time we run a story on NaturalNews about hypnosis, we get a few pieces of hate mail from people who claim hypnosis is evil and based on some sort of occult witchcraft.

What they don't realize is that the very beliefs they are demonstrating in their emails to us are perfect examples of hypnosis! (The belief that "hypnosis is evil," for example, is a hypnotically-induced belief usually programmed into somebody by an authority figure in a competing belief system that sees hypnosis as a threat to their own authority.)

Most people walk through their whole lives hypnotized and rarely, if ever, snap out of it long enough to think for themselves. The Milgram experiments demonstrate a very effective form of command hypnosis, by the way, which has been proven again and again to work on 70 percent of the population.

Most people are running around hypnotized most of the time. And some of them are medicated at the same time, which makes for a rather psychotic combination: Medicated and hypnotized!

Needless to say (but I'm gonna say it anyway), typically the most easily hypnotized people end up finding career paths in law enforcement, the military or government jobs where following orders is readily accepted. Again, there are exceptions to this (in fact, we've got some awesome NaturalNews readers in the military stationed in Iraq right now), but generally speaking, the easily-brainwashed seek professions that are compatible with doing what you're told while disengaging your brain.

I don't know why people tend to get so uptight about this topic, by the way. I'm just telling you the way it is, and I'm not sugar-coating it. The majority of the people are actually sheeple in disguise. And that means the majority of the U.S. voters are, in fact, the very same people who would be willing to torture a fellow human being if ordered to do so!

Now you know why watching politicians seems to hurt so much.

By the way, I've authored a book that teaches you how to stop being a commercially-exploited mind slave and protect your mind from the seduction of consumerism. It's called Spam Filters for Your Brain and you can get it here: http://www.truthpublishing.com/spamfilt...

If you value the freedom of your own mind, you'll love this book. It's strictly for the 30-percenters who can think for themselves.