Voting, Cognitive Dissonance and Fear of the Unknown

By Bernhard Guenther, October 20th, 2012

“One phenomenon all ponerogenic groups and associations have in common is the fact that their members lose (or have already lost) the capacity to perceive pathological individuals as such, interpreting their behavior in fascinated, heroic, or melodramatic ways. When the habits of subconscious selection and substitution of thought-data spread to the macrosocial level, a society tends to develop contempt for factual criticism and to humiliate anyone sounding an alarm.”

– Andrew M. Lobaczewski, Political Ponerology

The presidential elections in the US are coming up soon. Many people argue for their chosen candidate to vote for. As usual it is Republicans vs. Democrats. Romney vs. Obama. I’ve written before about the futility of engaging in this circus side show that is designed to give the illusion of choice and simply re-enforces the prison without bars where people get distracted by the shadows on the wall in a global Stockholm Syndrome. It doesn’t speak much for a “shift in consciousness” or “global awakening”, especially if many self-proclaimed “spiritual” and “aware” folks still ignore the facts and are driven by identification and wishful thinking, participating in a system that is deeply ponerized.

Lately I’ve received some messages and comments from such individuals on Facebook stating that I should stop the “Obama bashing” because it’s important that Romney doesn’t win.

“My bro, agree and disagree. … However Romney MUST be stopped by any means necessary. Please do not bash Obama this month, Romney must not win.”

or this one:

“So, I recognize the limits of our system and the many pathologies within it and, like you, do what I can to change things. Core question: would you prefer to vote for Obama, Romney or not vote at all? (I’m already decided as I work directly with some Obama appointees who are as committed to system change as I am….)”

and this one:

“Given that our current political reality is so grim that we are locked into either Obama or Romney (as in, there’s no way that a 3rd party candidate will win in 2012), is it not most appropriate to actively opt for the preferable candidate WHILE working as hard as one can to transcend this broken system? As in, as long as we are stuck in this game, for now, why not play the hand we’re dealt as best we can, for now, while we put our full effort into transforming the system itself…? […] So, I can certainly see why it would be clear to opt for opting out of the election-system if one only could only choose between buying fully in or buying fully out, but isn’t there a more ‘mature’ option: to play the game as best we can while we’re stuck in it WHILE doing everything we can to get unstuck from it? […] My take is that to get to where (I think) you (and I) would like to get, 4 more years of Obama would be a preferable environment for that process of transcendence of our current ‘Matrix’ to occur inside of than a Romney environment. …”

There are more messages and comments of the same kind I’ve received lately. What they are saying basically comes down to this: “I agree with what you are saying…..BUT I’ll vote for Obama anyway since he’s the “lesser evil”.

If they’d truly recognize the “limits of our system and the many pathologies within it“, then they would understand that voting and supporting any of the two candidates is not only a waste of energy, but also does more harm than any good, despite their well-meaning intent.

When I receive messages like that I provide information that would help them to see the point clearer. The system cannot be changed from within or without until the most important topic for humanity is addressed and understood: Psychopathy, Political Ponerology and how it affects our society. Rarely do any of the people writing me take the time to study this crucial subject. Either their ignore the information or just skim over it, filtered through their already made-up beliefs and convictions. It’s the classical mistake of putting one’s logic (conclusions) before grammar (research).

The main issue is this: It’s not really about ideologies, socialism vs. corporatism vs. capitalism, republicans vs. democrats, Romney vs. Obama, rich vs. poor, etc. . It’s also not about just looking for new systems or economic models, ecological or otherwise. Neither is it about the tea party vs. occupy movement or any movement for that matter. Many well-meaning folks who introduce “solutions” or new models to change the system still mistake the symptoms for the cause and do not go deep enough.

I’m not saying not to look for solutions of that kind, however, nothing will change fundamentally until we educate ourselves about Psychopathy and Political Ponerology and how it affects society and “normal” people, for the “virus” of Psychopathy will also spread through any alternative models/movements. Many people make too many assumptions about this topic or deny it off hand without having sincerely researched it. About 6% of humanity are genetic psychopaths, most of them to be found in positions of power. They have no inherent ability to feel compassion, empathy or regret, but they can emulate and fake these characteristics to manipulate and control “normal” humans. In short, they have no conscience by birth.

This knowledge (based on science that has been suppressed for obvious reasons), combined with offering sustainable economic solutions, would initiate true lasting change. It’s the foundation to work from. Anything else will eventually disintegrate, even if it looks/sounds promising at the beginning. Many may accept willingly that psychopaths exist. What they don’t seem to accept is the extensive research on psychopathy, how common they are, how untreatable they are, and how they affects all of us. Knowledge protects! Would you still vote for Obama or Romney, knowing they are psychopaths, hiding behind a “mask of sanity“?

The system is also not broken. It is designed that way to keep people imprisoned out of their own choice in a global Stockholm Syndrome. It’s not an irrational “conspiracy theory” but fact that can be proven with a careful study of our real history (not the one you learned in school) including Psychopathology. The word “conspiracy” alone has been so distorted that people don’t even understand its basic definition anymore. Entirely reasonable questioning can be ridiculed by labeling it a conspiracy theory. In the popular imagination the word conspiracy theory has been given a connotation of paranoid delusion. This has been done by deliberately circulating implausible allegations, giving them press and then shooting them down, by character assassination attacks against people asking inconvenient questions, by intimidation and by a host of other manipulation techniques.

Most people have “opinions” about something they haven’t sincerely researched or looked into. The fact that many people don’t recognize that there is essentially NO difference between Romney and Obama and that the two party system is a set-up where we essentially have NO choice, also shows that they don’t fully “recognize the limits of our system“.

It is quite tragic, because their way of reasoning and that of many other well-meaning people is based on wishful thinking and projecting qualities into Obama he doesn’t have. Both, Obama and Romney support the big lies, which none of them address. The ONLY difference they have are in irrelevant issues that are merely distractions and straw man/red herring arguments.

For example, I asked the person who claimed to work with “Obama appointees” the question, do you and the Obama appointees you work with address the following issues?

The Lie of 9/11

More than anything else 9/11 is responsible for the the majority of political decisions made by any given administration since that event. It has been used to start wars, killing millions of people under the pretext of the fake “war on terror”. It has taken freedoms away with Obama having actually a WORSE record in that regard than Bush. Just at the end of last year he signed the NDAA into law authorizing the White House’s ability to indefinitely detain American citizens without charge or due process. He also said “The fact that I support this bill as a whole does not mean I agree with everything in it. In particular, I have signed this bill despite having serious reservations with certain provisions that regulate the detention, interrogation, and prosecution of suspected terrorists.” He’s giving the illusion that he’s actually a “good guy”. It doesn’t occur to many people the utter contradiction in his words (not fully supporting that bill) and actions (signing it anyway). This is a good example of Obama’s politics in general. He says one thing and does another. In fact he’s a pathological liar. Just looking at his “promises” and what he has actually done or not done should be giant red flag.

Nothing will change until the truth about 9/11 comes to light. It is the ultimate litmus test. This is the one thing that defines everyone over the course of these early years of this new century. Everyone in government and every field of endeavor the world over is defined by their position on this event. The official 9/11 story is a lie that has shaped the world in ways that affect EVERYONE. Being silent about it at this point after 11 years is equivalent of complicity in one of the biggest crimes in history. More importunately do you believe in the official 9/11 fairy tale? Anyone who believes the official 9/11 story after over 11 years is living in a world of illusion and denial and actually contributing to entropy. Have you done sincere research about this topic? And if so, do you bring it up to your Obama pals without the insincere contrived need to stay “politically correct”? There is no such thing as “politically correctness” for the ones who sincerely seek truth and speak out about it. Nothing will change significantly if the truth of 9/11 doesn’t come to light and ALL presidential candidates continue supporting that lie. Period. It’s about making the darkness conscious. In short, people who still believe the official 9/11 story are either willfully ignorant, brainwashed or have simply no conscience.

Monsanto and GMO

It’s ironic that many anti-Monsanto activists support Obama, the man who has appointed Monsanto chills into government and who has supported Monsanto from the beginning. The publicity stunt by his wife about “organic gardening” was just another distraction to strengthen the hypnotic slumber of the masses. To ask Obama to stop Monsanto is the height of ignorance and wishful thinking. It won’t happen through “writing your congressman” either. In terms of Prop. 37 to label GMO foods, sure go ahead and vote for it. But the real issue is NOT to have GMO foods to begin with. People get so distracted fighting the symptoms that they never look at the cause. I do support food labeling, however, voting for Prop 37 and if it passes will just give the PTB (powers that be) an excuse to make GMO foods and justify it by being “honest” about it and labeling it. The fact is you cannot control GMO foods like that, because non-GMO foods and crops will get infected by it because it will spread to native vegetation through natural pollination. Nature does it regardless of what is GMO or not. In other words there will be GMO foods and no one actually knows they are GMO foods, even if they are labeled as “organic”.

Obama’s support of the Zionist regime of Israel

Most people do not understand what Zionism is and how it influences world politics and especially US politics. Criticism of Israel is not anti-semitism or anti-jewish. There is a difference between Judaism and Zionism. No one gets to be president who doesn’t support Israel, a true terrorist state which keeps committing systematic ethnic cleansing in Palestine under the pre-text of “defense” because they claim to have an absurd “right by God” to illegally occupy a land. Obama’s “critique” of Israel here and there is simply empty political rhetoric with red herrings (as from any other given president), never addressing the root of the issue. Just in July Obama approved $70 million in extra military aid to Israel. Again, a sound understanding of Zionism and its history is imperative before even beginning to discuss this issue. The fact that Vice-President Joe Biden can openly admit that he’s a Zionist without anyone challenging him on that statement shows how far removed society is from reality and how little they have an understanding of Zionism.

These are just three points out of many more that are never truly addressed by his administration. But then again, they won’t be addressed, for Obama is merely a corporate puppet with strings attached and so is Romney. Presidents are being selected, not elected, and your vote doesn’t really matter much in that process. You’re running against a wall, trying to work with Obama appointees for the REAL issues will NEVER be addressed. It’s how the system is set-up ever since it’s been put in place, including the irrational identification with a country/nation, which is the basic trap to begin with. If you see yourself as an “American” then you are already starting off the false foundation and the house you build will be shaky and off balance, despite any social and personal “success” it may bring you within the matrix.

The reply I received after my lengthy post (there is more than I posted here) with many links and resources for him to check out was this:

“Well, I have many years of experience the system changing from within… And as a beacon of such evolutionary change, I am more than aware of all that you speak of I remain true to my self and my truth while involved in a culture of denial, deception, ignorance and pathology. Thank you.”

He didn’t address any of my questions nor read any of the information I provided, although HE ASKED for my take on it. Apparently the asking was not sincere. On the contrary, he claims to be a “beacon of evolutionary change” with “many years of experience the system changing from within” (without stating what that actually entailed), justifying it with the usual distorted new age bit of “my truth” and “true to myself” which merely creates more buffers and lies to the self. Self-deception and self-importance comes in the weirdest disguises. But people feed off that and so does the Matrix.

It usually says a lot about someone who makes certain claims, asks questions, but does not take the time to actually read what has been posted but instead responds with over-generalized statements that actually avoid the issue altogether without addressing the points and questions of what has been said. This interaction is a good example I have with most Obama supporters, especially as of late. They claim to be “aware” of all the issues I point out but STILL vote for him. It’s a contradiction. Never mind that none of them actually read the information I provide and go deeper with it. They either just skim through it or ignore it all together, putting their logic (conclusions) before grammar (research), which relates to what I keep posting:

When getting into “discussions”, I’ve found that most people:

• don’t read the all links/information and resources provided or just skim over it.
• do “selective reading”and have “selected hearing”.
• do not address what has been ACTUALLY said. In other words, many people “talk” without “listening” first.
• make quick assumptions and hasty conclusions.
• twist words around and read into words something else than what they actually mean.
• engage in ad hominem attacks, straw man/red herring arguments
• are not aware of their own conditioning (for example national identification), tunnel vision and how it results in lack of critical thinking, lack of objectivity and logical fallacies.

However, as mentioned before, the issue is not really about Obama vs. Romney. It goes way deeper. If we want true change we need to get to the root of the issue, not trying to cut the branches for they will grow back. Like in Plato’s allegory of the cave, most people are distracted by the shadows on the wall, mesmerized and hypnotized, taking reality for illusion and illusion for reality. All kinds of defenses usually come up when I point out these things to others, from being called “judgmental” to “negative” and anything in between. It’s where psychology comes in and mind control, for the mind controlled victim (as is most of society) doesn’t know that he is mind controlled and hypnotized. You can present endless facts and information to such a person, but he/she will refuse or not able to SEE it, no matter how others point it out and ring the alarm clock:

“America, you have become a nation of enablers and apologists for tyranny and mass murder. You condemn the Nazi and gulag guards of times past even as you celebrate your own mercenaries and torturers, even as you explain away, if not outright cheer, the unspeakable crimes committed by your sons and daughters. You don’t care who you kill, as long as your soldiers are paid, and your munitions, bomb and tank factories are humming.

Safely ensconced in academic luna parks, your leading intellectuals lean slightly right or left, but never enough to rock this blazing gunboat, lest they sour the cocktail parties or, god forbid, have their tenure revoked. Mouths stuffed with antipasti, they’re expert at sidestepping Israel’s prolific crimes, 9/11, Bin Laden’s faux death or the parasitic Federal Reserve, and as another joke election nears, they’re all gung ho about candidates who back illegal wars and banking frauds, since each is supposedly the lesser of two evils.”

– from USA: Voting for Death

—

“I’m awfully disappointed. In terms of civil liberties his record has been shockingly, alarmingly disappointing. He has carried on the policies initiated by Bush’s justice department of suppressing information under the guise of state secrets. I’ve been witnessing his personal appeal to pass the National Defence Authorisation Act, an unspeakable legislation that would give him the power to detain any US citizen indefinitely without charge or trial. He’s covered up efforts to investigate torture. And Guantánamo still has almost 170 men in it who have never been charged or tried, and there’s no hope of getting them out anytime soon.”

– from Naomi Wolf on Obama: ‘His record on civil liberties is shocking’

—

“No matter who “wins”, humanity loses. Every four years, the deck chairs of the political Titanic that is the American empire get rearranged in the choreographed spectacle of another presidential “election”. The 2012 charade is particularly disgusting; the lies more blatant and shrill, as the world continues to burn.

It is critical to focus on the cold, ugly reality facing the world with either prospective White House occupant.

On one side, the Obama administration, and the traditional brand of neoliberal imperialism and international consensus, and false domestic populism. On the other side with Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, militant right-wing extremism, an apocalyptic war agenda and the politics of sadism at home.

The interests of the elite (Council on Foreign Relations, Bilderberger, etc.) is dutifully served with either Obama or Romney in the White House. The question for the elite is purely over style and execution.

Obama has been a servile facilitator and protector of the political establishment; an insidious capitulator and “consensus man”. For Wall Street’s billionaires, the Pentagon’s warmongers, and Washington’s most shamelessly corrupt, there has been no greater gift than Obama and his presidency. But with Romney and Ryan, the agenda simply speeds up and destroys faster, more violently, with true theocratic maniacal fervor.

The final choice will not be made by voters (who will be disenfranchised again, via electronic vote fraud and other manipulations), but by the criminal elements who seize final control of the apparatus over the final month of the “contest”.

The “children” are being allowed to fight it out amongst themselves. The side with ultimate command of the corporate media propaganda, the most effective back door deals, and the most effective dirty tricks and election night shenanigans, will prevail, the pre-determined result promptly encrypted into the software of controlled Diebold voting machines.”

– from The 2012 U.S. Presidential “Non-election”: Which brand of “fascism” this time?

Seeking truth in the world implies to seek truth within. In other words, one needs to separate truth from lies within and without. Most people lie to themselves and do not know they do so. They dream to be awake, but are sound asleep, and so the blind lead the blind and follow lies and “leaders” like Obama or Romney eventually off the cliff.

“A man must first of all understand certain things. He has thousands of false ideas and false conceptions, chiefly about himself, and he must get rid of some of them before beginning to acquire anything new. Otherwise the new will be built on a wrong foundation and the result will be worse than before. To speak the truth is the most difficult thing in the world; one must study a great deal and for a long time in order to speak the truth. The wish alone is not enough. To speak the truth one must know what the truth is and what a lie is, and first of all in oneself. And this nobody wants to know.”

–  G.I. Gurdjieff

Looking deeper into all the topics I mentioned, unbiased, confronting the lies in the world, the lies Obama tells and most importantly the lies people tell themselves with all the buffers, wishful thinking and justifications, WILL open up a can of worms many people are not willing or even able to follow through with.

Why?

Because it WILL conflict with virtually everything they believe in. It will conflict with their career, their associations and friends, their status, public image, etc. They WILL get attacked and ridiculed for speaking the truth about these topics, for no one really wants to hear the truth. They want to hear “comforting” and “inspiring” words that agree with their already made-up beliefs (based on lies) and anyone who dares to question these deep-rooted beliefs and sacred cows is being ridiculed and/or attacked for reasons that have nothing to do with the facts at hand. Then there is self-importance, political correctness and people’s inherent NEED to be recognized and praised for what they do or say, so truth usually takes a backseat for ambition, status and narcissistic admiration.

It’s cognitive dissonance:

“The theory of Cognitive Dissonance is one of the more proven theories showing a truly human phenomenon. At it’s simplest it can be explained as such: The brain does not like contradictory information which causes dissonance and adjusts competing facts to relieve dissonance so as to strive for a singular world view. This phenomenon works alongside a complimentary phenomenon known as the confirmation bias. The confirmation bias is the tendency to remember information which confirms your beliefs and ignore information which contradicts your beliefs…. There are a few commonly held beliefs due to a bias of the self that almost everyone has. They believe they are smart (even if they got bad grades and have low IQ scores). They believe they are good and moral. They believe they rarely make mistakes. They believe they are important. Some may not hold these due to self esteem issues but regardless of the evidence most will hold these near and dear to their heart.”

– Benjamin Buehne

As I wrote in 2012 – Collective Awakening or End of the World? , where I summarize 3 important topics that need to be confronted and understood before we can have any true change or shift in consciousness:

“The path of seeking truth within and without is not an easy one. It goes literally against everything we’ve been told and taught by society and governments. The indoctrination of lies, the conditioning and programming is deep and far reaching. It has been going on for millennia. It takes tremendous effort to wake up from the hypnotic slumber, where most people dream to be awake. At this Time of Transition, as more and more knowledge is coming to the surface, there is the potential to create a new earth. However, this is also the age of deception for there are forces at work that do not want this to happen. They do their best to vector us away from truth and the most effective way to swallow a lie is to sandwich it between some truth with some emotional hooks. As mentioned many times before, lies are mixed with truth, hence discernment is essential. We need to engage our higher emotional center connecting us to divine intuition and also activate our higher intellect, engaging in sincere, open minded critical thinking, fusing the heart and the mind, mysticism and science.”

It’s fear of the unknown that drives people to support lies and psychopathic presidential candidates who don’t know anything else BUT to lie disguised behind their “mask of sanity“. It gives them some sort of comfort and they don’t even see that there is another way possible altogether. Again, Plato’s allegory of the cave comes to mind. It is fear and desperation that drives people to vote for the “lesser evil” without actually understanding what “evil” is to begin with. You can see that in remarks like “Anyone but Romney” or “Romney must not win!“. They are afraid to realize that they have no choice by participating in the system and so they rationalize and justify their decision by any means possible which keeps them away from “Disillusionment”. Yet disillusionment is necessary and the first step before any true change can happen.

I realize now more and more that most people actually do NOT want change, or to state it better, they want change as long as it doesn’t interfere with their lives, their beliefs, their world view. They are not willing to give themselves to seek truth sincerely but focus on changing the tapestry of the prison (they are not even aware of) instead of breaking out of it. They prefer comforting lies over harsh truths, not facing reality as it is. They don’t want to give up their so-called authority, their status, and image. They are terrified (unconsciously), realizing that their whole life may be based on lies and so self-calming takes precedence over truth. It’s an unconscious self-defense mechanism of the ego or false self and they can’t see themselves clearly.

For the most part it’s not about the external information that people reject, but they can’t “receive” it to begin with because of cognitive dissonance, not questioning their own “thinking”. This also ties into this whole “resonating” idea in the New Age. I lost count how many people have rejected factual knowledge in “discussions” (not really a discussion) because it didn’t “resonate” with them or they “resonate” with stuff that is “not even wrong”, so to speak, but just dreamy castles in the air that confirm their inner landscape based on lies to the self.

However, this relates not only to “New Agers” but literally EVERYONE in varying degrees since we all are subjected to lies and social programming since birth. I’ve fallen into this trap myself, especially in the early days, where I thought I “know” and have “figured it out”, not being very discerning about certain information and not seeing myself clearly. I WANTED certain things to be true and that emotional charge is what I mistook for “resonating”. The same like many people WANT Obama to be the “savior” and “good guy” while ignoring all the facts that speak against that. Again, it’s the necessity of disillusionment before we can actually “do” as it has been so well written about in this article.

I’ve been reading “Strangers to Ourselves – Discovering the Adaptive Unconscious” lately, which is a real eye-opener. It shows how mirroring and networking is crucial in “the work” to evolve, wake up and truly get to know ourselves and the world, facing the lies we tell ourselves as we all have our blind spots. I think the hardest realization for anyone is to face to that we cannot truly trust our own thinking and alone we can do nothing.

“Why it is that people often do not know themselves very well (e.g., their own characters, why they feel the way they do, or even the feelings themselves)? And how can they increase their self-knowledge? There are undoubtedly many reasons for a lack of self-insight; people may be blinded by their hubris (a favorite Greek and Shakespearean theme), confused, or simply never take the time to examine their own lives and psyche very carefully. The reason…is that much of what we want to know about ourselves resides outside of conscious awareness….

People develop habitual ”tendencies of thought” that are nonconscious and that these thought patterns can lead to “unconscious prejudices which we thus form, [that] are often stronger than the conscious; and they are the more dangerous, because we cannot knowingly guard against them.“…

It can thus be fruitless to try to examine the adaptive unconscious by looking inward. It is often better to deduce the nature of our hidden minds by looking outward at our behavior and how others react to us, and coming up with a good narrative….

In fact there is evidence that it can be counterproductive to look inward too much. We will see evidence that introspection about feelings can cause people to make unwise decisions and to become more confused about how they feel. To be clear, I am not disparaging all kinds of introspection. Socrates was only partly wrong that the “unexamined life is not worth living.” The key is the kind of self-examination people perform, and the extent to which people attempt to know themselves solely by looking inward, versus looking outward at their own behavior and how others react to them….

A disadvantage of a system that processes information quickly and efficiently is that it is slow to respond to new, contradictory information. In fact we often unconsciously bend new information to fit our preconceptions, making it next to impossible to realize that our preconceptions are wrong….

It is fair to say that the tendency for the adaptive unconscious to jump to conclusions, and to fail to change its mind in the face of contrary evidence, is responsible for some of society’s most troubling problems….

The adaptive unconscious is an older system designed to scan the environment quickly and detect patterns, especially ones that might pose a danger to the organism. It learns patterns easily but does not unlearn them very well; it is a fairly rigid, inflexible inference maker. It develops early and continues to guide behavior into adulthood….

The human mind is an incredible achievement, perhaps the most amazing in the history of the Earth. This does not mean, however, that it is an optimal or perfectly designed system. Our conscious knowledge of ourselves can be quite limited, to our peril….”

– from “Strangers to Ourselves – Discovering the Adaptive Unconscious” by by Timothy D. Wilson

The book basically describes in modern cognitive science language exactly what G. I. Gurdjieff was talking about in terms of humans being machines. It is also somewhat frightening to realize how mechanical we really are, how we do, indeed, lie to ourselves all or most of the time, and that the only way we have of knowing what is going on inside ourselves is by inference and feedback/mirroring from a network engaged in the work to sincerely seek truth within and without. That’s the real terror of the situation: that you are nothing BUT a machine that thinks in programmed loops and lies to your conscious mind which then lives and breathes lies itself.

“People are machines. Machines have to be blind and unconscious, they cannot be otherwise, and all their actions have to correspond to their nature. Everything happens. No one does anything. ‘Progress’ and ‘civilization,’ in the real meaning of these words, can appear only as the result of conscious efforts. They cannot appear as the result of unconscious mechanical actions. And what conscious effort can there be in machines? And if one machine is unconscious, then a hundred machines are unconscious, and so are a thousand machines, or a hundred thousand, or a million. And the unconscious activity of a million machines must necessarily result in destruction and extermination. It is precisely in unconscious involuntary manifestations that all evil lies. You do not yet understand and cannot imagine all the results of this evil. But the time will come when you will understand.

The evolution of man can be taken as the development in him of those powers and possibilities which never develop by themselves, that is, mechanically. Only this kind of development, only this kind of growth, marks the real evolution of man. In speaking of evolution it is necessary to understand from the outset that no mechanical evolution is possible. The evolution of man is the evolution of his consciousness. And ‘consciousness’ cannot evolve unconsciously. The evolution of man is the evolution of his will, and ‘will’ cannot evolve involuntarily. The evolution, of man is the evolution of his power of doing, and ‘doing’ cannot be the result of things which ‘happen.’

People do not know what man is. They have to do with a very complex machine, far more complex than a railway engine, a motorcar, or an aeroplane—but they know nothing, or almost nothing, about the construction, working, or possibilities of this machine; they do not even understand its simplest functions, because they do not know the purpose of these functions.

[…]“You often think in a very naive way,” [Gurdjieff] said. “You already think you can do. To get rid of this conviction is more difficult than anything else for a man. You do not understand all the complexity of your organization and you do not realize that every effort, in addition to the results desired, even if it gives these, gives thousands of unexpected and often undesirable results, and the chief thing that you forget is that you are not beginning from the beginning with a nice clean, new machine. There stand behind you many years of a wrong and stupid life, of indulgence in every kind of weakness, of shutting your eyes to your own errors, of striving to avoid all unpleasant truths, of constant lying to yourselves, of self-justification, of blaming others, and so on, and so on. All this cannot help affecting the machine. The machine is dirty, in places it is rusty, and in some places artificial appliances have been formed, the necessity for which has been created by its own wrong way of working. These artificial appliances will now interfere very much with all your good intentions. They are called ‘buffers.‘…

‘Buffers’ are created slowly and gradually. Very many ‘buffers’ are created artificially through ‘education.’ Others are created under the hypnotic influence of all surrounding life. A man is surrounded by people who live, speak, think, and feel by means of ‘buffers.’ Imitating them in their opinions, actions, and words, a man involuntarily creates similar ‘buffers’ in himself. ‘Buffers’ make a man’s life more easy. It is very hard to live without ‘buffers.’ But they keep man from the possibility of inner development because ‘buffers’ are made to lessen shocks that can lead a man out of the state in which he lives, that is, waken him. ‘Buffers’ will lull a man to sleep, give him the agreeable and peaceful sensation that all will be well, that no contradictions exist and that he can sleep in peace. ‘Buffers’ are appliances by means of which a man can always be in the right. ‘Buffers’ help a man not to feel his conscience.“

– from “In Search of the Miraculous” by P.D. Ouspensky

If all the researchers out there (everyone in their respective field) and everyone who wants to truly be a “beacon of evolutionary change” would lay aside their personal ambitions based on self-importance or career goals and come together to seek TRUTH together sincerely without agendas, but with the sole intent to find out truth, no matter what it is, understanding that this process also includes sincere self-work, mirroring, giving each other feedback (without falling into the trap of the “make nice” program which relates to “political correctness), we’d make a true shift in consciousness. But for now that is just wishful thinking.

A mirror generally is perceived as shocking or socially disagreeable. This comes from the fact that if the mirror is any good, it will conflict with the subjective filters of perception most people maintain concerning themselves. In other words, people’s self image is more or less based on lies to self and in the degree the mirror reaches its intended truthfulness, it will challenge these lies. It would entail for many people to admit to themselves that they are/have been wrong about some things. However, this realization will conflict with their career, image and book sales, opening a can of worms, which may lose them some of their “fans”, friends, status and money.

There is this contrived “niceness” in today’s “conscious movements”, where people don’t want to say anything “negative”, in their subjective understanding of it of course. In general, some folks hide behind a “social etiquette” and mask without wanting to say anything “bad” or touching on any “taboo subjects”. They speak around issues in order to be spiritually or politically “correct” so as to “not step on anyone’s toes”. It shows in popular over-generalized sayings like “let’s be conscious of what we say, and if we don’t have anything nice to say, it’s better to be silent” or “don’t be judgmental!” or “we need to get out of the us vs. them thinking“. That is a good example of the distortion of “being conscious/aware” and relates to the fact why more “spiritual-minded” people do not look at the world more objectively, speaking out and standing up against the lies and psychopathic ways of our culture. They claim that there is no objectivity and truth is relative, which is simply not true (no pun intended).

We can see now, looking into cognitive science and how it mirrors ancient esoteric teachings as transmitted by Gurdjieff and others, that claiming to “follow one’s truth” and “being true to oneself“, as many people justify their actions and decisions with, can be buffers and lies to the self, justifying the programming and conditioning they are not even aware of, dreaming to be awake, but being sound asleep. It’s how the over-generalized and watered-down New Age teachings these days actually work in favor of the PTB (powers that be) and it seems very likely that they have manipulated and distorted TRUE spiritual teachings for that very purpose for thousands of years. Be it religion or the New Age. Same thing, different packaging, an opiate for the masses to keep them hypnotized and asleep; sheep dreaming to be men or gods.

For that reason most of the COINTELPRO “agents” are not consciously aware that they are spreading disinformation, but become “useful idiots” and tools for the matrix, despite their well-meaning intent.

“When a person has lied for a long time, the time comes when he can no longer distinguish between what is false and what is true. People convince themselves of their own lies, becoming victims of their own inventions as they begin to direct their lives by standards of behavior, ideas, feelings, or instincts which do not correspond to their inner reality.

What is truly serious in this matter is that the individual loses all points of reference regarding what comprises truth, and what comprises lies. He becomes used to considering as true only that which is convenient for his personal interests; everything that is in opposition to his self-esteem or in conflict with already established prejudices, he considers false.

A person lies in order to avoid difficult problems, to evade responsibility, or to avoid damage to his self-esteem. So the individual constantly lies to himself and to others, and becomes entangled in an illusory world born out of his personal fantasy. He forms concepts, ideas, judgments, aversions, and attachments that have no relation to actual events, but are only the reflection of a life full of lies and listening to lies.

One of the most powerful reasons for lying is to create a good image of oneself, and to prevent others from seeing us as we really are beneath the mask of appearances. Each mask is a lie, and there are thousands in each individual’s collection of disguises. It is necessary to be conscious of this phenomenon of lying, and to realize its magnitude and frequency, as well as the enormous damage it causes.

People are always infused with all kinds of fantastic ideas about themselves, the world, people, love, idealism, society, etc. Led by his eagerness to evade a disagreeable reality, man gives free rein to his imagination and is inclined to believe the first agreeable lie he encounters along the way. The individual projects his personal illusions onto a cold and immutable reality, and thus deceiving himself, he endeavors to contemplate reality through rose-colored glasses.

“Disillusion” is a painful process and can be prolonged, depending on how much time the individual takes to realize he is living artificially and that this condition is a product of his internal dreams. Great courage is required to face reality and to destroy the mirage of a pleasant dream.”

– from “The Stellar Man” by John Baines

There is another issue that come with voting in a corrupted system and believing in lies. On a deeper level (metaphysically speaking), by voting and by identifying yourself with a party (left or right) you actually give validity to the corrupt system, two-party set-up, and essentially your “permission” to keep it in place. In a sense you actually give up your free will by believing in lies (taking the false for the true and the true for the false) and supporting them with your vote. It’s how the “matrix” works and keeps itself in place: By the consensus of the people believing in it and supporting it through their actions and beliefs.

No matter how good a lie sounds, how good it feels or what “positive” effect you may think it has (wishful thinking), there are metaphysical repercussions that affect everyone and the whole world “negatively” and actually feed entropy, essentially keeping the false system and control in place by giving it “energy”, regardless if the people who support/believe lies (unknowingly or not) are very loving, positive and mean well. In a sense, by voting and buying into the illusion of “free choice” people tend to do more “harm” than any “good”. The exact opposite of what we’re being told (“Rock the Vote!”) and have been conditioned to believe.

Obviously it’s not about just not voting and doing nothing. It’s about gaining knowledge, educating ourselves, and seeing the fraud and the lies for what they are. Only then will we know what to DO and, most importantly, what NOT to do. The more people engage in seeking Truth and working together in that regard, the better the chance that reality (as a whole) will change for the “better”, because we DO create our own reality. However, it’s not as simple as portrayed in the many distorted New Age “You Create Your Own Reality” bits. This is a topic on its own, however, this article touches upon that subject in more depth: Order Out of Chaos.

The only question that remains to anyone who wants to vote for the “lesser evil” (or 3rd party candidates, who never have a chance, which is also a distraction, giving the illusion of choice) is this: If you sincerely read/study what is written here including all the linked articles and references, are you willing or even able to admit to yourself that you have been/are believing in lies which cloud your judgment and perception? It may go contrary to everything you believed in and your life is based on. It’s not an easy process and it never is/was for anyone, who is sincerely seeking truth. But that is the work to be done and our only hope before we can “do” and present “solutions” that will help us to make “The Shift” before mother nature presses the reset button.  It has happened before and it is happening now, while the masses are distracted by the political circus side show of two clowns who argue about who’s the “nicer” psychopath. Having good intentions is not enough. In fact, in can do more harm than any good for the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Most “evil” is done and supported by well-meaning folks with good intentions who are not aware of their conditioning and who lack objective knowledge of our world.

“Half the harm that is done in this world? is due to people who want to feel important. ?They don’t mean to do harm. ­ ?But the harm does not interest them.? Or they do not see it, or they justify it. ?Because they are absorbed in the endless struggle ?to think well of themselves.”

– T. S. Eliot