By: Gary D. Barnett
“The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently.” ~Friedrich Nietzsche
Sometimes one has to be blunt. Considering human behavior, there is no other way, unless mediocrity, apathy, and stupidity are what are sought. Humans regard themselves as the most intelligent of all creatures, but reality seems to contradict this assumption. The human condition is disturbing to say the least, this due in large part to the fact that logic and independent thought are not often evident, especially in the crowd. Murder, war, torture, divisiveness, hatred, perversion, self-mutilation, thievery, rape and rampant ignorance are all evident, and yet humans consider themselves to be most intelligent and superior. And Americans as a rule think they are not only superior but also exceptional to everyone else.
Today’s America has become little more than a mob. A group or collective can be as few as two people, or as many as group together in a mass with like thinking or objectives. The most devastating aspect of the mob, regardless of size, is that intelligent thought disappears when crowds gather. This is true whether the group is random or knowingly structured for any specific purpose.
One of the major reasons for this is the planned and implemented mind destruction that is evident in the state run “public” school system. It is the tool used to extinguish the individual intellect of the masses at large, thereby creating a society of subservient and obedient citizens. That is the mission it was founded upon, and it has been completely successful in that endeavor. Compulsory schooling is a virtual prison environment, where all are relegated to be a compliant cog in the wheel of the school society. All are bound by the same rules, the same curriculum, and the same mundane structure. The only difference in public schooling and the prison system as I see it, is that the school system preys on children while the prison system preys on adults.
This collectivist ideology destroys all order, and creates aggression or violent chaos by pitting the mob against the individual. This is by design. The controllers of the state understand this, and have over time through indoctrination and brainwashing used these government schools to advance collective thought, while shunning the individual and individual thought. This brainwashing of the young by state institutions, and almost from birth, has in large part been responsible for breeding a society steeped in socialism. The mantra of many schools, including those in my town, is “School, community, state, and nation.” The idea drilled into these heads full of nothing is that they do not count. Only the group is special. This of course is backward, but what chance do these children have when their parents have already accepted this communistic mindset, and their obedient “educators” are little more than ignorant complicit pawns of the state.
When groups are formed by like thinking people with a single objective, stupidity is the result. Intelligent and critical thought exists only with the individual, never with the group. A group of individuals can and do exist, but once opinions are formed by the group as a whole, individuality and objective thought are lost. This is evident throughout our society.
Since we are currently in the midst of another mindless election, consider the ridiculous spectacle of voting, another group endeavor. It is most definitely a circus environment made up of a giant collective, one in which millions of these trained seals called citizens fight over which party will rule over them. The bottom line of this insanity is that half of this group hates the other half, although both vote for the same things. There is no tangible difference between either of the parties, so the voters fight tooth and nail to accomplish nothing. This idiocy has been going on since the beginning, and what has it accomplished? It has accomplished nothing other than divisiveness, hate, and loss of liberty. To paraphrase Einstein, doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is the definition of insanity. I agree, but it is also stupidity exemplified.
The individual is being replaced by the worship of community. This is a basic tenet of Communism. The basis of this country’s political system, as is the case with all political systems, is that the group or mob is more important than the individual. Once the individual is destroyed, nothing of value remains. Freedom is impossible to achieve or hold when the group has power over the individual. Critical thinking disappears.
Collectivism is nurtured and grows out of group ideology. These ideological transgressions provide the easier way, and human nature is attracted to this concept of false security and laziness. Ideological thought is normally very attractive to specific social situations, and therefore is sought by large numbers of people banding together in society. Once these large numbers of people accept the group ideology, a disease of sorts is established. Ignorance and malevolent behavior are the result of this sickness. This disease affects the souls of the masses involved, and the masses are the creators of the state. In other words, the state is a product of those who create it out of loyalty to the group, and the ensuing destruction is collectively endorsed. Whether this consent of the group is implied or explicit matters not, as the consequences remain the same.
Why do so many blindly accept the idea of collectivism? Why do those who created and support the state apparatus blame those they hired to rule over them instead of taking personal responsibility? As I see it, the people are responsible for their own fate, and the years of indoctrination they experienced in early life help guarantee that fate.
Since the basis for this groupthink paradigm begins at an early age, it is imperative that any solution sought to remedy this psychotic collective mentality should begin by abolishing compulsory schooling. A daunting task indeed, but necessary if individual intelligence, common morality, and entrepreneurial spirit are to be restored. There is genius in the free individual but only ignorance in the collective mind.
“Schools teach exactly what they are intended to teach and they do it well: how to be a good Egyptian and remain in your place in the pyramid.”
– John Taylor Gatto, Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling
When individualism is replaced by collectivism, sanity and intelligence are sacrificed for false safety and chaotic ignorance. What remains is emptiness and slavery.
Reprinted with permission from LewRockwell.com
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