UFO Syndrome – Ducking the Truth

 It's suggested you read the original if you haven't.

In UFO Syndrome I spoke to how government uses language to control the actions and beliefs of others. We should thank Edward Bernays, the father of modern day marketing and propaganda for the world in which we live today. Bernays used the woman’s suffrage movement to sell cigarettes to women. He helped elect presidents. Well placed marketing can affect millions of people.

Recently there was Duck Dynasty-gate where the patriarch of the family said some things against gays and blacks that made A&E place Phil Robertson on hiatus. This coincided with with the Christmas holiday Duck Dynasty marathon. Viewership for the marathon dropped 71% compared to the previous week. We will never know if it was simply because they were reruns, it was the holidays, or because of the boycott against A&E for their actions. For the purpose of this writing it doesn't matter.

We might never know how this worked out for A&E, but I saw something important when it came to the Robertson family. Many rallied around the family and began defending them as if they were their own. Those who said anything close to negative about the Robertson's was attacked. What we witnessed was the power of television, marketing, and of words.

People attach themselves to others who are total strangers – be it a sick girl in a hospital, a German family, or wealthy Louisiana business men. Everyone is looking for a victim for whom they can support and protect. This is an instinct of humankind. This protection can extended to politicians who are portrayed as victims. We saw that with Ted Cruz as he was attacked, even by his own side, for his hours long filibuster. It didn't matter that in the end he accomplished little other than he gained a dedicated following. Was this simply a political stunt? It doesn't matter for purpose of the UFO Syndrome. It matters only that it worked to improve his popularity.

No matter if you are Democrat, Republican, conservative, or libertarian, we are all humans and most will react the same. We are shown photos of starving inner city children and the first reaction is to help. The disagreement always comes with how to help. It is there that people are purposely divided. This is how people fall under effect of the UFO Syndrome. Government along with politicians all shout that they have the solutions. We know they don't because poverty is at an all time high. Despite the numbers people still follow governmental promises.

There is the cartoon where people are following one another into a dark hole. There are experiments that indicate the cartoon isn't very disconnected from reality. Test have shown people will follow signs or lines even when they are led in a circle. Children who have been taught to never go with strangers will follow them if it's to help find a poor lost dog. Seven of nine children went with the stranger in a British experiment.

In most scenarios a few people will step out as leaders, while the rest are content to follow. No one wants to be mocked as being dumb or pointed to as lacking compassion. This isn't something that's been taught to us in life, but an instinct that is as much a part of us as our skin. I've made the comment that Washington and those who follow reminded me a lot of high school. This is because there are driving instincts that we will never outgrow.

No matter the political side of your choice it's taken for the same reason – the need to care. Each side sees themselves as caring the most. Government knows this and will use it to its gain. Government uses this knowledge to keep us divided. They use it as a tool to hide their secrets and mistakes. When a mistake or secret by government escapes we begin to hear conspiracy theories. Government knows all that's needed is to plant a seed of tainted truth and it will sprout into a full blow conspiracy. There are those who have gotten rich growing conspiracies. This is no different from those who have made a career of nurturing racism.

Unless you are full aware, and even then there is a possibility, you will succumb to the UFO Syndrome. You will find yourself carrying the water just as was planned by those in – or wanting – power. Government will seduce you by playing to your nurturing instinct. We have those news sources we see as reliable, but we must remember that even they can fall prey to instincts. Even journalists are humans first.

This leaves us with deciding when we are under the influence of the UFO Syndrome. We can never be absolutely sure, but we must question everything. Never fully trust anyone who wants your money or vote. There is always someone out there telling you what you need or want to hear. There is always someone ready to sell it to you. Government, politics, and marketing are no different.

They have come at us with our own history books. They are typically based on fact, but the stories have been distorted to favor a particular side. Remember the old adage, history is always told by the victor. In former Confederate states we were taught history from books written by those in the victorious North. Those text books differ from those in Canada and history as passed down from our southern parents.

History paints the picture of a government that saved millions of people from starvation during the Great Depression. History books and its tellers fail to tell how it was government that caused the poverty and helped preserve that poverty for a decade. Only those aware of the UFO syndrome will search for the the truths not recorded in official history. While searching for that truth beware of the rabbit hole, for there are many.