We ‘alternative media’ enthusiasts sometimes use the term ‘sheeple’ to refer to people we consider non-enlightened, blinded and hypnotized by the veil and siren song that society provides all of us with. While this term may be accurate, I also think of it as rather unkind, or more importantly, unfair. The default, initial condition of humanity is ignorance. There is a reason ‘enlightenment’ is the term used to describe the attainment of understanding, the gradual accumulation of wisdom and the ability to truly see the world in its entirety (or at least more clearly than those who are completely in the dark).
Morpheus: “The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it.” IMDB.com
Initially, those one-eyed men who would be kings among the blind had little else to do but to keep educational options at bay, and to keep existential concerns of keeping fed, clothed and sheltered to consume nearly all of everyone’s life. As civilization advanced, grew more organized and generated a higher standard of wealth, this was no longer an option – organized institutions for channeling the direction of human thought had to be constructed and maintained. Whether one looks at the hemlock Socrates eventually had to drink, the heretics burned at the stake by the Inquisition, of the absolute authority of thought police that The Church represented in centuries of yore, the reasons Prussian educational doctrine was developed – it seems independent thought and enlightenment IS the natural direction of development from the initial state of blindness. And it has to be beaten back with ever-increasing force and craft.
Looking at the ‘modern’ society of today, there are so many trappings, so much complexity, so many layers separating mankind from its core, that the mechanisms of control have much less trouble hiding, blending in, pretending to be part of the ‘normal’ surroundings. The lotus-nectar is with us from the amniotic fluid, the siren-song begins to lull us before we are even born. And those few, who succeed against all of these odds to free their minds from those who would control them? They are but tiny islets in an unrelenting ocean of those who accept the programming readily. There is no ‘new frontier’ to escape to, no harbor or respite, no fabled city hidden deep within the Earth or far above among the stars to which one could withdraw to be amongst like-minded individuals, to work productively alongside them, to benefit from the sense of a community of shared values. There seem to be only an ever-shrinking set of small communities – perhaps village-size is necessary to be able to withstand such constant and unrelenting influence.
BUT, there are places like Turdville. There is a growing (slowly, but growing) number of alternative news channels. The snark and hyperbolic venting of ZH is finally getting through, the conspiracy theories are dropping like dominos and laying flat as conspiracy facts. The PTB are making mistakes with ever increasing frequency (or at least are being forced to deal with SOME situations not entirely according to script). They are starting to acknowledge, and to forcefully try to discredit those who seek to expose the truth:
https://twitter.com/IMFNews/statuses/411633448730636288
@zerohedge is wrong: IMF does not propose a 71% income tax.
— IMF (@IMFNews) December 13, 2013Yes, it’s glacial. No, it does not NEARLY reach enough of the population yet. But this interconnected system of near-instant information flow carries dangers for the Establishment (or perhaps it should be ESTABLISHMENT) despite their ability to suppress, falsify, keep classified, gate-keep and spin information.
The collective consciousness that is beginning to (re)emerge, and show ever-so-slight flutters of life, is a topic of a much longer post I’ve been wanting to write for a very long time. For now, I can merely raise the question, and suggest the possibility of the existence of such a thing. With each human being a node, the internet makes an adaptive and ever-growing neural network of us all. A network that is already perhaps beginning to rival the complexity of the human brain – which was heretofore already so absurdly complex as to be deemed unknowable for centuries.
Despite what one may think of Google (often with cause), they are an outfit that has become almost inseparable from our ‘modern’ concept of the internet (as compared to the wonder years of the nineties and early 2000’s). They have a neat (if purposely dumbed-down) tool for showing you what their product is used for: Google Trends.
Now, allow me to indulge in a fantasy of the idea that people MIGHT, just MIGHT be slowly catching on. The page showing the top trending searches in 2013 is here. No, that's not in itself the point -- even the topic selection is depressing as all hell due to its vapidity. Google is in a many ways a funhouse mirror – showing us who we are, what we are collectively interested it. But no one ever reads the fine print – it can only effectively search for that which has already been made known to many. It’s first and foremost function is to amplify, and only with skill, diligence (and some luck) will it lead you to secrets. But I digress. Take a look, insted, at the top 10 items in the 'Events' category for 2013:
1. Boston Marathon
2. Government Shutdown
3. VMAs
4. Moore, Oklahoma Tornado
5. Royal Baby
6. Zimmerman Trial
7. Typhoon Haiyan
8. New Pope
9. Syria Conflict
10. Mayweather vs. Canelo
Granted, much of this is distraction and opiates for various masses, as well as events most would consider beyond human control. BUT, #1 and #9 warrant some attention. Yes, both were extensively pumped by MSM, they both are part of a narrative that our ‘handlers’ want to make sure they hammer home. However, compare and contrast those aims with the following: go to this page (Google Trends: Explore)
If one searches for ‘false flag’, this chart is the result:
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Now, this visualization intentionally obscures actual volume of searches, and merely indexes the highest point on the graph to be 100. Nevertheless, I am seeing a decent amount of curiosity here, especially during the period April 14-20, 2013. The labeling by letter is merely what Google algorithms were able to match to actual news results (MSM, that is) or YouTube videos – but nevertheless passable
A – Navy Yard
B –Chemical attack in Syria
C – Egyptian rallies
D – Boston Marathon
E – Sandy Hook
OK, big deal – so some conspiracy kooks got all bent out of shape and started jumping at shadows everywhere. So what? What the heck is the significance if they searched for this?
Well, perhaps not much. But perhaps there was a reason these questions were prompted, perhaps there were questions unanswered by the traditional keepers and disseminators of news. So I dug a little deeper, and happened upon this graph:
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This is a graph purporting to show mentions of the phrase ‘false flag’ in all English-language online media, though I suspect Twitter is excluded from this, as historical querying of that data stream is not possible unless you have a large enough data storage facility.
Well… big deal, many will say. So those tinfoil-hatted, crazy, antisocial paranoiacs not only jump at shadows, they go on to write extensively about them and create a virtual echo chamber of conspiracy idiocies.
Or, you could see the fact that social/historical events are being viewed in an increasingly critical manner. The narrative provided by the system is no longer being swallowed whole as easily by the population. People are becoming increasingly skeptical as to the official explanation for what is being done to them and their fellow humans around the globe.
Perhaps, there is yet reason to hope. Awareness (especially in such nascent numbers) is in itself insufficient for making any kind of change, taking any concrete action. But it is a NECESSARY prerequisite.
PS: Whatever you do, do NOT compare ‘American Idol’ or DWTS to any meaningful topic in Google Trends, for all built-up hope for humanity that is based on its search habits will immediately dissipate…
