– You think, feel and act, as you have been told you should think, feel and speak. They have programmed you to be happy when they want you to be happy, you get sad following a programming in your mind. You laugh when you are told to laugh, you cry when you are told to cry.
They have told you how to live, how to dress, how to socialize, what to buy and where to buy it. You have been told what you should do for a living, what your goals in life should be, who you should admire. They have programmed in you what is good and what is bad, what you should consider beautiful or ugly...
- Wait wait! - I said overwhelmed. I already understood that I did not choose my way of being, but do you want to tell me now that I do not choose my actions either?
– Well, if you are not aware of your conditioning, no.
– Explain to me about conditioning because I hear it over and over again and I'm not sure I really understand it.
– Look, from the society in which you are born you not only inherit your way of being and thinking but also, its expectations, its tastes, its values, its dreams, its illusions, its fears, its beliefs, its moral codes, in short ; the way you are expected to act and react.
– Well, I understand that, but what's wrong with it?
– Nothing bad, however, it has two very small drawbacks: One, that if you are not able to realize that you are not those social conditionings, then you are nothing more than an automaton, a robot, a gear of an immense machinery, a chess piece moved by those in power.
The other small inconvenience is that if the values are wrong and we blindly respond to them, as in this case, we destroy nature, our relationships, we mistreat our fellow human beings and animals. We end up bitter chasing impossible dreams, frustrated looking for what we don't need, sick using alcohol and drugs because it is "socially accepted".
- Waiting for the moment - I interrupted him again- I'm sorry but, I need more examples. I find it so hard to believe that we are doing this to ourselves!
– Look, society needs sheep, sheep; people who don't question what they've been taught, what they've been told to do. Automatons that follow what is established to the letter.
Each gear has been given a role, it has been told where to turn, each one knows well what is expected of him.
– But we would have to be completely asleep or stunned to follow a role that has been imposed on us.
– So are most people.
– But how do they keep us like this?
– Well, I will tell you what the machinery of society is lubricated with: alcohol, tobacco, drugs, pornography, television and religion.
This society is based on the economy and those who govern it are a handful of people.
What do you think the world economy is based on? Surely you know it but I'm going to repeat it to you: in the arms industry and drug trafficking.
Who do you think owns the mass media, television and radio? The tobacco and alcohol industry. And now, what do you think are the most powerful manipulation tools?
– TV and radio?
- Exact! And when the world economy falls, do you know what revives it?
– The hard work of good citizens?…
– No. The war.
– Dear guide – I said timidly – I feel a bit silly but I have a hard time believing you. I can't think of us allowing ourselves to be manipulated in that way.
– You are not stupid, your mind refuses to think that reality is very different from what you thought. I will give you even clearer examples:
Imagine a group of businessmen in a meeting a few years ago. One of them has an idea to make money and presents investors with a new product called tobacco.
– We have here something that is easy and cheap to produce and that could be sold on a large scale: cigarettes. After showing the bosses the product and how it is used, there are several negative comments: The product stinks, it stains fingers and teeth, it is unhealthy and…a bit stupid right? Draw smoke into the lungs and then blow it out?
– Yes, I know very well that it is a bit strange – confesses the first – but this has an advantage: It is highly addictive. That is, after a few times the consumer will be tied to it, they will need it to be okay, they will do anything to get it, they will have become our slave. – Alright, that's a big plus for us, but how could we get people to continue to try it out? That they do something against their own health? Do you expose yourself to all the disadvantages?
– Leave that to me – said the publicist – that's easy. I associate the product with beautiful landscapes, with being elegant with being older, with the most basic needs of human beings.
– Even if it has nothing to do with them?
- Sure. No problem.
– Well, let's make lots of money!
– And the health and well-being of our customers? – A small voice was heard in the background – The cancer? Pulmonary emphysema?
– Fuck them! Said the powerful.
– And our young people? – The little voice finally insisted.
– Fuck them! Fuck them!
– Ha, ha, ha – I couldn't help laughing – It can't be.
- Can not be? Do you think that smokers are aware that they give a daily income to a group of people who don't give a damn about their health or their lives?
- I do not think so.
– Do you think they are aware that smoking is a self-destructive act and that the more they are warned about the disadvantages of smoking, the more they will do it because of the hatred they feel for themselves?
– No, no, no… I'm not laughing anymore.
– One more example.
In society, there is a set of concepts that are considered valuable, praiseworthy, admirable or sacred: The country, the nation, the flag, honor, honor, duty; just to name a few.
Have you ever considered that all those words are just ideas?
In the United States, to convince young people to join the army and go to war, they say: "serve your country, it is an honor to serve your nation."
Thousands of young people died in the so-called "Iraq Liberation War." Thousands of beautiful young people full of life, full of possibilities, of things to enjoy, were convinced by their government to go kill a bunch of strangers, men, women and children.
To parents who lose their children in war, the US government gives them a flag folded in a triangle and tells them that their beloved son died with honor fulfilling the duty of serving his country.
- Well, yeah it's true.
- It is not! The nation is a concept, something that does not exist. Honor and duty are just ideas. Their children died defending the economic interests of a few! They died because weapons are big business, only if they are used. They died because the one with the most oil is the most powerful.
Your political leaders are a bunch of psychotics, sick of money and power who don't give a damn about your welfare or the welfare of the people. They get into politics to see what they can steal, to see who they can boss around and manipulate, their thirst for money reaches ridiculous extremes: they have so much money that they won't be able to spend it for three generations. Even a child can see the madness in that.
– Okay, I understand you, but what does this have to do with daily life?
– Just as smokers and soldiers lose their lives by blindly following their conditioning, we all lose our peace, our tranquility and ruin our lives by “concepts” for things that we have been told are valuable, praiseworthy, admirable or sacred.
– Things that do not exist and that we have never stopped to analyze?
- Exact
- Like what?
– Success, excellence, wealth, social prestige…
– And what role does religion play in this? – I interrupted him.
- Let's talk about that later.