After eighty-three years on earth, I happen to know how easy it is to influence some people. While in the army (1953–1955), I remember going to a special entertainment performance for military personnel at the Presidio in San Francisco where I was stationed. The performer was a hypnotist, and we were warned that he was going to call people from the audience. It was really amazing what he seemed to be able to make people do. He would hypnotize several people at a time and have each of them do something that they would never do normally. One person was told that he was a board and that two carpenters were going to carry him to the construction area. He was laying on the floor real stiff and two guys from the audience picked him up from both ends and carried him across the stage. His body was as stiff as a board, not bending even a little—he was a board. Another was told that he was a chicken and he hopped around the floor and cackled like a hen. There were many others doing strange things. Toward the end of the program, I was one of a group called up to be hypnotized. We were to close our eyes and listen to his voice and after a while he would say you are very sleepy. I knew I wasn’t hypnotized, and I looked up and everyone else that were called up with me were fast asleep, with their heads hung down. He excused me to go back to the audience and said to the audience, “Not everyone can be hypnotized.” I wasn’t sure what to think of myself at that time, was I different, was I not intelligent enough to be hypnotized, etc. I have to admit that I was very impressed with what he was able to make people do, even things they would never do normally. The power of suggestion, the power and influence of authority, the power of money, the power of crowd influence. All these can influence individuals even hypnotize them, in a sense, to do things that they would never do by themselves or with other reasonable people.
Yes, there is opposition in all things, and there always will be and we have to pray for the power to see, think through, and to resist the far left side, the dark side, as opposed to the conservative. Whatever works is their motto, whatever works to deceive and to make their ideas and programs be implemented. The best example is the Obama Care Health program. The Democratic house and Senate passed it without even reading it. It would supposedly provide free or low cost healthcare to many who otherwise would never have insurance. The Speaker of the House said, “Let’s pass it so we can find out what is in it.” They thought that by passing it, blindly, they would get the votes of the poor and uninsured and would be able to continue having the majority in Congress (power). In the end it increased the number who are poor. It also increased significantly the amount all others now have to pay for healthcare. Maybe more importantly it is increasing the size of our national debt. Those too poor to pay the premiums themselves are being subsidized with the subsidized money being added to the public debt. Feedback: “Obamacare Premiums in Illinois could rise as much as 45 Percent if that program is still in effect through 2017. Just in case you felt as if you weren’t paying enough for your Obamacare-mandated health insurance, Illinois residents could see a substantial hike in their premiums. How much? Well, according to WGN: Health insurance premiums for Illinois residents who buy coverage through the Affordable Care Act’s (Obamacare) marketplace could increase by as much as 45 percent according to proposals submitted by insurers. The leading insurer on Illinois’ exchange, Blue Cross Blue Shield, is proposing increases for 2017 ranging from 23 percent to 45 percent for individual health-care plans, according to proposals released Monday.”
I remember years ago when I was a Junior in college, I took a class in advanced Sociology, and there were many interesting studies that we were exposed to. The Crowd psychology was one of the main subjects and most interesting to me. Perfectly reasonable individuals when caught up in a crowd will do things they would never do on their own, including break storefront windows and even steal. I will never forget the power demonstrated by a crowd. A normal descent individual was observed as he became caught up in the social frenzy. The crowd brought him along as if he had no mind of his own. The use of psycho/sociological techniques to steer the uninformed and the ignorant is there way of gaining power and it is the left’s most powerful weapons.
Much of the media has been taken over by left thinkers, They twist much of the news to favor liberal outcomes even when the news item may have been totally non political.
I served as an administrator at a local university for thirty years of my professional career, and I was amazed at how far left many of the local professors were. One of them I played handball with several times a week. When it came to politics, his views were diametrically opposite to mine. Whether it be local or national elections we cancelled each other out. Brilliant people have always been able to describe social issues brilliantly, Winston Churchill was one such; He wrote the following over a century ago: “Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy; its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.”
This next story, written by Mallory Millett, I have abbreviated for space but it is the above story magnified by ten. Using social pressure to get reasonable people to behave unreasonably. She wrote: “During my junior year in high school, the nuns asked about our plans for after we graduated. When I said I was going to attend State University, I noticed their disappointment. I asked my favorite nun, “Why?” She answered, “That means you’ll leave four years later a communist and an atheist!” What a giggle we girls had over that. “How ridiculously unsophisticated these nuns are,” we thought. Then I went to the university and four years later walked out a communist and an atheist, just as my sister Katie had just six years before me. Sometime later, I was a young divorcee with a small child. At the urging of my sister, I relocated to NYC after spending years married to an American executive stationed in Southeast Asia. The marriage over, I was making a new life for my daughter and me. Katie said, “Come to New York. We’re making a revolution! Some of us are starting the National Organization of Women and you can be part of it.” I hadn’t seen her for years. Although she had tormented me when we were youngsters, those memories were faint after my Asian traumas and the break-up of my marriage. I foolishly mistook her for sanctuary in a storm. And so began my period as an unwitting witness to history. I stayed with Kate and her lovable Japanese husband, Fumio, in a dilapidated loft on ‘The Bowery’ as she finished her first book, a PhD thesis for Columbia University, “Sexual Politics.” It was 1969.
Kate invited me to join her for a gathering at the home of her friend, Lila Karp. They called the assemblage a “consciousness-raising-group,” a typical communist exercise, something practiced in Maoist China. We gathered at a large table as the chairperson opened the meeting with a back-and-forth recitation, like a Litany, a type of prayer done in Catholic Church. But now it was Marxism, the Church of the Left, mimicking religious practice: “What kind of revolution?” she replied. “The Cultural Revolution,” they chanted. “And how do we make a Cultural Revolution?” she demanded. “By destroying the American family!” they answered. “How do we destroy the family?” she came back. “By destroying the American Patriarch,” they cried exuberantly. “And how do we destroy the American Patriarch?” she replied. “By taking away his power!” “How do we do that? “By destroying monogamy!” they shouted. “How can we destroy monogamy?”
Their answer left me dumbstruck, breathless, disbelieving my ears. Was I on planet earth? Who were these people? “By promoting promiscuity, eroticism, prostitution and homosexuality!” they resounded. They proceeded with a long discussion on how to advance these goals by establishing The National Organization of Women (NOW).
Mallory Millett resides in New York City with her husband of over twenty years. She is CFO for several corporations and a long-standing member of The David Horowitz Freedom Center.
Ben Carson, in his speech at the Republican convention last week, made a statement that raised some eyebrows. “Now, one of the things that I have learned about Hillary Clinton is that one of her heroes, her mentor, was Saul Alinsky,” said Carson. “And her Senior thesis was about Saul Alinsky. This was someone she greatly admired….” “And let me tell you something about Saul Alinsky,” continued Carson. “He wrote a book called Rules for Radicals. It acknowledges Lucifer, the original radical who gained his own kingdom. Now think about that. This is our nation where our founding document, the Declaration of Independence, talks about certain inalienable rights that come from our Creator, a nation where our Pledge of Allegiance says we are ‘One nation under God,’” added Carson. “This is a nation where every coin in our pockets and every bill in our wallet says, ‘In God We Trust.’ So are we willing to elect someone as president who has as their role model somebody who acknowledges Lucifer? Think about that.” In response, the liberal media predictably went bonkers. “Ben Carson rails against Hillary Clinton, Lucifer,” howled the headline in USA Today. The liberal media is biased against Republicans, they will do anything to hand this year’s election to Hillary Clinton and the Democrats. You’ve seen the media’s biased reporting against Republican candidates. You’ve read their stories defending Hillary Clinton.
Saul Alinsky was a brilliant man. Evil, but brilliant. Unfortunately, whether we like it or not, everyone on the Left from the President on down is playing by his rules in the political arena. Not all liberals have read his book or know his name, but his tactics have become universal. Sadly for conservatives, when two evenly matched forces go head-to-head outside of a fairy tale, the side that tries to play nice usually ends up with its head in a box.
So, don’t lie or become an evil person like Alinsky, but learn from what he wrote and give the Left a taste of its own medicine. The following is the doctrine from Saul Alinsky’s book:
“Always remember:
The first rule of power tactics: Power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have.
The second rule is: Never go outside the experience of your people.
The third rule is: Wherever possible go outside the experience of the enemy. Here you want to cause confusion, fear, and retreat.
The fourth rule is: Make the enemy live up to their own book of rules. The fourth rule carries within it…
The fifth rule: Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.
The sixth rule is: A good tactic is one that your people enjoy.
The seventh rule is: A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag.
The eighth rule: Keep the pressure on.
The ninth rule: The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.
The tenth rule: The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition.
The eleventh rule is: If you push a negative hard and deep enough it will break through into its counter side.
The twelfth rule: The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative. The thirteenth rule: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.”
— Rules for Radicals
One acts decisively only in the conviction that all the angels are on one side and all the devils on the other. A leader may struggle toward a decision and weigh the merits and demerits of a situation which is 52 per cent positive and 48 per cent negative, but once the decision is reached he must assume that his cause is 100 per cent positive and the opposition 100 per cent negative. He can’t toss (the coin) forever in limbo, and avoid decision. He can’t weigh arguments or reflect endlessly — he must decide and act. — (P.134) It should be remembered that you can threaten the enemy and get away with it. You can insult and annoy him, but the one thing that is: unforgivable and that is certain to get him to react is to laugh at him. This causes irrational anger. — (P.134–135) I have on occasion remarked that I felt confident that I could persuade a millionaire on a Friday to subsidize a revolution for Saturday out of which he would make a huge profit on Sunday even though he was certain to be executed on Monday. — (P.150) For example, since the Haves publicly pose as the custodians of responsibility, morality, law, and justice (which are frequently strangers to each others), they can be constantly pushed to live up to their own book of morality and regulations. No organizations, including organized religion, can live up to the letter of its own book. You can club them to death with their “book” of rules and regulations. This is what that great revolutionary, Paul of Tarsus, knew when he wrote to the Corinthians: “Who also hath made us able ministers of the New Testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit, for the letter killeth.” — (P.152) etc.
Saul Alinsky is a manipulator, who by careful cunning will use and misguide people to obtain his goals. The ‘ends justify the means’ is his philosophy in a nutshell. Those who follow his abusive tactics are also manipulators. The liberals of the democratic party leadership have adopted his ways to maintain power. The last eight years of liberal control are the best evidence that conservative thinkers must regain control. Plato said that, “Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber.” Glenn Stanfield from Oklahoma sent the following on the Internet: Oklahoma is the only state that Obama did not win even one county in the last election…Look what Oklahoma has been doing!!!! An update from Oklahoma : Oklahoma law passed, 37 to 9 an amendment to place the Ten Commandments on the front entrance to the state capitol. The feds in D.C., along with the ACLU, said it would be a mistake. Hey this is a conservative state, based on Christian values!…HB 1330 Guess what… Oklahoma did it anyway. Oklahoma recently passed a law in the state to incarcerate all illegal immigrants, and ship them back to where they came from unless they want to get a green card and become an American citizen. They all scattered. HB 1804. This was against the advice of the Federal Government, and the ACLU, they said it would be a mistake. Guess what…Oklahoma did it anyway. Recently we passed a law to include DNA samples from any and all illegals to the Oklahoma database, for criminal investigative purposes. Pelosi said it was unconstitutional SB 1102 Guess what…Oklahoma did it anyway. Several weeks ago, we passed a law, declaring Oklahoma as a Sovereign state, not under the Federal Government directives. Joining Texas , Montana and Utah as the only states to do so. More states are likely to follow. HJR 1003 The federal Government has made bold steps to take away our guns. Oklahoma, a week ago, passed a law confirming people in this state have the right to bear arms and transport them in their vehicles. I’m sure that was a setback for the criminals. The Liberals didn’t like it…But, guess what…Oklahoma did it anyway. Just this month, the state has voted and passed a law that ALL drivers’ license exams will be printed in English, and only English, and no other language. They have been called racist for doing this, but the fact is that ALL of the road signs are in English only. If you want to drive in Oklahoma , you must read and write English. Really simple. By the way, the Liberals don’t like any of this either Guess what…who cares…Oklahoma is doing it anyway.
Lawrence W. Reed is president of the Foundation for Economic Education in Irvington, New York. He stated, “That we are at war, not with weapons that kill but a war of words and ideas.” In the past, ideas have had earthshaking consequences. They have determined the course of history. The British philosopher Carlyle stated, “For good or ill, they bring down governments and raise other ones up.”
The system of feudalism existed for a thousand years in large part because scholars, teachers, intellectuals, educators, clergymen and politicians propagated feudalistic ideas. The notion of “once a serf, always a serf ’ kept millions of people from ever questioning their station in life. Under the mercantilism practiced from the 16th through the 18th Centuries, the widely accepted concept that the world’s wealth was fixed prompted men to take what they wanted from others in a long series of bloody wars.
The publication of Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations in 1776 is a landmark in the history of the power of ideas. As Smith’s message of free trade spread, political barriers to peaceful cooperation collapsed and virtually the whole world decided to try freedom for a change.
In arguing against freedom of the press in 1924, Lenin made the famous statement that “ideas are much more fatal than guns.” To this day, ideas by themselves can get you a prison sentence in a lot of places around the world.
Marx and the Marxists would have us believe that socialism is inevitable, that it will embrace the world as surely as the sun will rise in the east tomorrow. As long as men have free will (the power to choose right from wrong) however, nothing that involves this human volition can ever be inevitable! Men do things because they are of the mind to do them; they are not robots programmed to carry out some preordained dictum.
Winston Churchill once said that “Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy. Its inherent trait is the equal sharing of misery.” Socialism is an age-old failure, yet the socialist idea constitutes the chief threat to liberty today. So it is that believers in liberty, to be effective, must first identify and isolate the socialist notions which have taken their toll on liberty. In doing that, and then refraining from advancing those ideas, we can at the same time advance liberty. As I see it, socialism can be broken down into five ideas.
Where Oklahoma passed several laws to challenge oppressive powers, Liberals pass laws to oppress: I appreciate the following commentary:
The Pass a Law Syndrome. Passing laws has become a national pastime in most Western countries. When a problem in society is cited, the most frequent response seems to be, “Pass a law!” Business in trouble? Pass a law to give it public subsidies or restrict its freedom of action. Poverty? Pass a law to abolish it. Perhaps we need a law against passing more laws.
In 1977, the American Congress enacted 223 new laws. It repealed hardly any. During that same year, the Washington bureaucracy wrote 7,568 new regulations, all having the force of law. (Thirty-three years later, the situation is even worse. Now, few in Congress even read the bills they vote for, some of which are in the thousands of pages).
James Madison in 1795 identified this syndrome as “the old trick of turning every difficulty into a reason for accumulating more force in government.” His observation leads one to ask, “Just what happens when a new law goes on the books?” Almost invariably, a new law means: a) more taxes to finance its administration; b) additional government officials to regulate some heretofore unregulated aspect of life; and c) new penalties for violating the law. In brief, more laws mean more regimentation, more coercion. Let there be no doubt about what the word “coercion” means: force, plunder, compulsion, restraint. Synonyms for the verb form of the word are even more instructive: impel, exact, subject, conscript, extort, wring, pry, twist, dragoon, bludgeon, and squeeze!
When government begins to intervene in the free economy, bureaucrats and politicians spend most of their time undoing their own handiwork. To repair the damage of Provision A, they pass Provision B. Then they find that to repair Provision B, they need Provision C and to undo C, they need D, and so on until the alphabet and our freedoms are exhausted.
The Pass a Law Syndrome is evidence of a misplaced faith in the political process, a reliance on force which is anathema to a free society. It’s also a sign that people have abandoned confidence in themselves and would prefer dependence upon politicians and largely unaccountable bureaucrats who usually are among the least capable in society to run the lives of others.
The ‘Get Something From Government Fantasy.’ Government by definition has nothing to distribute except what it first takes from people. Taxes are not donations!
In the welfare state, this basic fact gets lost in the rush for special favors and giveaways. People speak of “government money” as if it were truly “free.” It may not be an exaggeration to say that perhaps the welfare state is so named because the politicians get well and the rest of us pay the fare.
One who is thinking of accepting something from government which he could not acquire voluntarily should ask, “From whose pocket is it coming? Am I being robbed to pay for this benefit or is government robbing someone else on my behalf?” Frequently, the answer will be both. The end result of this “fantasy” is that everyone in society has his hands in someone else’s pockets.
We have to pray that even though there are problems with every candidate for public office, the candidate who believes more fully in conservative principles should be that person supported for any public office. Every person born in this great country, or any person privileged to immigrate here should feel a responsibility to qualify his or her self for a position in the workforce to sustain themselves and their families. Welfare can be justified, but not for the healthy.