May be its because I've been reading Noam Chompsky, but I've been thinking about the various methods of social control that exist. The interesting thing I'm finding is that as I look harder at many aspects of accepted thinking the more I realise how controlled we are.
So this will be the first in a series of postings as I think about such things.
OK, so here goes... House Prices, carrot and stick in one!
We're coming to wards the end of a housing, sorry Property, boom in the UK and many people are feeling pretty smug about how much more their house is worth. Great, a happy population, good little consumers, just what is wanted. Then reality bites, interest rates rise a little and everyone gets nervous, so don't rock the boat, don't put your now huge mortgage payments at risk. Want to complain about the way things are done, better not we can't afford to risk it. So what to do? I know lets push house prices up a little further so we feel better again, then we can re-mortgage and buy a TV costing more than a months wages!
To quote Gordon Geko "Greed is good!", but what is relied on is not their greed, that's a given, its yours and this greed is blinding you to the fact that its being used to control you.
Could the government have kept a lid on house prices? I don't know, but I think that a cycle of boom and bust (but not too much) is just what they want. Keep us happy with a little boom and then scare us in to keeping quite with a little bust. Ask your self this, in every recession recently who paid, did you ever see a politician, a senior civil servant or a major company director scatching around to pay the rent or the mortgage or a food bill, no they seem to ride throught these pretty comfortably if you ask me. May be there is the odd sacrificial lamb but, some how, as a rule there is one group of people who never get too hurt by changing economic winds.
"The question is not am I paranoid, but am I paranoid enough?"
Monday, June 06, 2005
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
If you have nothing to say...
A wise man once said
"If you have nothing to say, say nothing"
So I won't be posting unless I think of something I feel the need to share. That said my wife wrote this recently and I would like to pass it on.
Just because you're rich it does not mean that-
You are better than anyone else
You are brighter than anyone else
You deserve more than anyone else
It just means you've spent a life pursuing money
Whilst others watch their children starve
It just means you've been a consumer, a taker rather than a Giver.
Think on that.
"If you have nothing to say, say nothing"
So I won't be posting unless I think of something I feel the need to share. That said my wife wrote this recently and I would like to pass it on.
Just because you're rich it does not mean that-
You are better than anyone else
You are brighter than anyone else
You deserve more than anyone else
It just means you've spent a life pursuing money
Whilst others watch their children starve
It just means you've been a consumer, a taker rather than a Giver.
Think on that.
Friday, March 04, 2005
Fixing your own axe
A while ago I broke the shaft on my felling axe. No axe, no fire wood! and my first reaction was "Oh no, I have to buy another axe".
It wasn't until I was looking in an old fashioned hardware store, for a new axe, that I realised (or remembered) that I could just buy an new handle and fix the old one. What I find interesting about this is that even though I consider myself to be reasonable environmentally friendly my first reaction was I have to throw it away and buy a new one. What does this say about the values that seep into our conciseness from society, the media etc.
Secondly and far more importantly I found that as well as being about a quarter of the price of a new axe the actual act of repairing the old one gave me a great sense of well being and...
... well you get the idea, its a small thing I know and on another day I might have just fixed it but it struck me as interesting.
It wasn't until I was looking in an old fashioned hardware store, for a new axe, that I realised (or remembered) that I could just buy an new handle and fix the old one. What I find interesting about this is that even though I consider myself to be reasonable environmentally friendly my first reaction was I have to throw it away and buy a new one. What does this say about the values that seep into our conciseness from society, the media etc.
Secondly and far more importantly I found that as well as being about a quarter of the price of a new axe the actual act of repairing the old one gave me a great sense of well being and...
... well you get the idea, its a small thing I know and on another day I might have just fixed it but it struck me as interesting.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Magna Carta - a lesson from history
Antioch Abouna: Antioch Abouna is launched!
Nice post here about not letting governments get too powerful
Nice post here about not letting governments get too powerful
Monday, February 28, 2005
Because men's work doesn't exist any more...
Because men's work doesn't exist any more
and who you know is more important than what you know
and what you drive is more important than who you are
and what you earn is more important than how you earn it
and owning property is more important than having principals
and being kind is seen as being weak
and being strong is seen as being unfeeling
and being assertive is seen as being arrogant
and being humble is seen as being stupid...
I'm a bloke and I'm off to my shed.
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