I have often felt, and I have heard others express this, too, that it would sometimes be nice to be able to go back to being a "sheeple". To be like the oblivious masses of humanity who are able to look at the flag flying over the courthouse and have the simple-minded "America: love it or leave it" kind of attitudes that so many of the "patriotic" people out there have. The kind who can ignore the US government torturing "other people". The kind who can pretend that Wayne Fincher really did do something bad, or that Kathryn Johnston shouldn't have shot back at those "fine young officers" who were violently invading her home in the course of the hideous "War on Drugs". The kind who can pretend that "it is for our own good", whatever that happens to be.
For the sake of my family and friends I have tried many times in the past to "just go along to get along". The problem is that government and those who work tirelessly to prop it up are a ravenous dragon, seeking to devour and destroy all individuality and rational thought. They demand an almost religious devotion to their evil causes. You must submit to their numbering and tracking or you will be ground up and used as fertilizer for those who do embrace the wyrm.
In many cases, to acknowledge the true situation is to have family and friends think of you as a malcontent, or a nut-case. It can lead to a lonely existence, as it is very hard to find another of the same awareness with whom to share your life. Yet to turn away from the truth is to live a lie. How does that make your life any better or more livable? Could you "fake it" for the rest of your life? Could you truly change your world-view and accept the status quo?
Unfortunately (or fortunately?), once you "take the red pill" there is no turning back. You can try to ignore it; you can try to deny it; but the truth will keep slapping you in the face. It won't leave me alone. How about you?
It's true...you cannot go back.
ReplyDeleteDuring my college years, I was fairly liberal, believing that government had a responsibility to help those unable to care for themselves. Now, as a libertarian, I recognize the value of personal responsibility and individualism. One must be self-sufficient and, even if one is not, government is a horrible "mommy" on which to be reliant.
Government does few things well, and ought to be minimized to the maximum extent possible.