It's been said that the original computers are our brains. But what if that's more than a metaphor? What if I told you we could use that analogy as insight, and escape mental slavery by fighting our ignorance? True, you don't actually have to have a clue to struggle through life today- in fact, most people don't. 1984's warnings of self-destructive avoidance through distractions have become common in modern society.

We are trained in certain concepts from childhood. Respect "authority" - but never a word about when the self-proclaimed "authority" no longer respects us. Follow the "law" - but never a word about legislation being purchased against our will. Have "pride" in our Country - used to recruit soldiers and foster some allegiance to supersede our own morality- despite being founded on "no taxation without representation."

While letting a majority of civilization skate by in a sort of artificially insulated herd-mentality, it empowers short-sightedness, breeds irrationality, and reduces our abilities to make responsible choices. We rationalize irrational behavior by simply repeating that's "the way things are", or "how we always do it", or "everyone else is." Lowest common denominator group apathy then becomes "just following orders."

In a terrifyingly real way, we've surrendered our most basic right- autonomy. We've confused having lots of pre-selected choices with having free will. We allowed empowerment of non-representative politicians. We allow our government to impoverish the citizenry, then hire the most desperate and gullible as global terrorist soldiers under government-sponsored false nationalism- namely, our profitable "War on Terror".

That is American reality. We adhere to a ruling system purged of any valid democracy, obeying all orders the majority disagree with, dictated by purchased political powers now with record-low populace support. To claim it's "out of our hands" or blaming others while doing nothing is purposely indoctrinating one's brain to allow injustice. Which trains our descendants to do likewise; every generation a bit less sane.

There is a fine line between the imperfect norms of human civilization, and becoming domesticated drones that have relinquished all self-determination. That line is representation, or the obvious lack thereof. But everyone is busy trying to survive or stay distracted; there is no organized, monetary incentive for sitting up and figuring out why life keeps getting harder for everyone- except those who make the rules.

Any legitimate representative in government "of, by and for the people" would not be making a living off going against the wishes and best interests of the majority. Even if everyone else is doing it- in fact, *especially* then. Government positions are civil service positions to carry out the will of the people. It's morphed into the militarized corporate oligarchic tyranny our past presidents have warned us about.

Around the world, those in charge of making our decisions for us appear to have the same affliction. The theme is war, profit, and orchestrated distraction over representation, ethics, or even scientific fact. Individual short-term aspirations of greed and power are being openly pursued at the expense of anything and everything else- such as our planet's ecosystem, our species' survival or even basic human morality.

We're doing ourselves and our fellow humans a huge disservice by sacrificing our intellect upon an alter of routine convenience. We sacrifice our future by leaving it in the hands of corporate profit machines. It's common sense hidden under status quo civilization: when our policies and laws are based more around quarterly virtual numbers than people and principles, we discard reason to follow idiots off of a cliff.

But what if we stop being so willing to believe that an illegitimate Orwellian hierarchy of millionaires has the final say, even in our own head? Why must America remain a lobbyist-run militarized oil company? With both parties serving themselves and the interests of their highest bidders at our continual expense while legally blocking real competition, at what point should we finally think for ourselves once again?

We all inherited and now sustain the divisive, toxic, petty way our world currently operates. We can all claim to be victims while remaining a part of it, or we can cease the behaviors that threaten our world. Natural selection and evolution gave us opposable thumbs, yet we decide what to do with them. Just as we inherited higher reasoning skills- to either employ them, or sit back in amusement over our clever toys.

Our mental landscapes have become filled with sponsored advertisements and shallow imitations of values. There is little left that is genuine when duplicitous capitalism has infiltrated all aspects of culture. Ruled by con artists and wealthy businessmen, discernment of truth has become tied to our very survival; under their dog-eat-dog model of success through victimization, to be naive is to be taken advantage of.



Your mind is a logic machine capable of writing and updating its own operating system. Any introspective individuals can do so consciously, with practice, aware that our actions and habits shape who we become. One can gain situational awareness: truly grasping cause and effect, developing patterns of behaviors to help stay in control and learning, instead of erratic and lost. Wisdom is defending mental maintenances.

Casting off the unfounded beliefs, biases and bigotries one is born into is the first step; not from the reasoning of them being 'wrong', but because you were never given a chance to come to those conclusions. Choosing to value reason over rhetoric immediately gives you a mental advantage over those who still are ruled by the unquestioned opinions of their peers. It's not about smarts, but more using our tools well.

Imagine two people, each performing the same task on the same computer. One understands how it operates, the other doesn't. Who will have the easier time? Which will take longer? Who is more likely to succeed? That's not new age hippie mumbo jumbo, that's science. It's in our best interests- both for our survival individually, and biological advantage as a species- to refine and improve our own cogitative abilities.

We have almost infinite capacity for creativity, learning, exploration, and building collectively on all the data from our successes and failures. The key is honest objectivity and humility in using them both. The most ignorant man in the world is one who is absolutely certain he is doing the right thing; once we start rejecting new information, we become as outdated, irrelevant and dangerous as a medieval medicine.

It's continually proven that under proper conditions, even an individual success can benefit the overall group. Think of all the famous inventors you can; they're now responsible for today's global technology. Imagine the advances of an earth based on shared benefit, not just our own. A planet where "freedom" has meaning besides something to kill in the name of. Now in contrast, consider our current probable future.

If we wait for someone else to save us, we are already lost. We cannot keep blaming those who are tasked with responsibilities they repeatedly neglect or abuse while simultaneously saying it's Not Our Problem. We made this problem by accepting rhetoric over reason. The solution cannot come from those currently in power, whose expertise / operating model relies on our continued compliance to their domestic terrorism.

So stop settling for cherry-picked token offerings waved around like monumental triumphs. Stop accepting politicians simply because of their team color, or their ticking certain political identity boxes- which creates division while actually changing nothing at all. We have a rich conservative government battling a poor progressive public; let's act like it. Fill every office with civil servants, from the bottom up.

I'm voting for changes, not for a personality with connections. I can respect and trust an inexperienced honest representative more than anyone currently playing this con game. It's time to clean house, and it starts by dropping every single one of these career politicians getting rich off this legalized bribery. Run yourself, even if "unqualified"; ethical truth makes you more representative than our own president.

But we can't stop there. Demand a town hall, bring neighbors, and hold your representatives accountable. Just because they aren't doing it doesn't mean it's not their job. Demand real answers, no sidestepping. If you don't have confidence in what you hear, organize or get behind their opposition. The party elites may be untouchably corrupt like mob bosses, but we can flood both organizations with our own conscience.

In the meantime, teach your children well. Might doesn't make right. Legal doesn't mean ethical. This is not a version of America we want to protect, so we must make sure its future outshines the present. Only when we have replaced the focus-grouped demagoguery with true democracy might sanity return to the white house. Because currently, the human computers there are only skilled at calculating profit via imperialism.