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Richard Woods' Ante up
- March
2008 |
| Dear Richard
Hey Kiddies,
Just got back from Vegas and a much
needed R&R... Hung out with my buddy Steve, the
Editor of www.kasidie.com which has turned into
quite a webzine. I am honored to be a part of it. We
discussed the article I was going to write for him
this month...so if you get the chance, make sure you hit the
site and check it out. I am also in the process of turning most
of my website material into video, so you can not only read my
self-important ravings, but you'll soon also be able to see
and hear what an ass I am. Keep sending
feedback...your collective dementia is
inspiring.
Til' next time!
Rich
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Conventional Wisdom does not always work in the
public's best interest.
If there is one
thing that our past has shown us, it is how gullible and
easily led we humans can be. History is rife with examples of
how the masses have been subtly steered, if not coerced into
how they should act and react to various stimuli. Often common
sense and perspective are abandoned for the knee-jerk
reactions people have been conditioned to have. Our
behavior is often predictably tragic.
Ready. Fire. Aim.
Fear
can be a powerful motivating factor in swaying public
perception. When people are afraid, they hate easily, and
react badly to things that may fall outside of their comfort
zones. Looking back it is often difficult to imagine how so
many people can share the same warped view on certain things.
Countries have gone to war because the masses were convinced
to perceive threats that weren't there. Literally millions of
people in different countries (including this one) were either
hung or burned alive having been reasoned through public
census to be witches. Many were falsely accused because they
dared voice opinions that were not commonly held beliefs.
The trouble with historical perspective
is, that it is often an attempt to objectively judge people
whose experiences were subjective. No doubt our children will
question our judgement about a great many things.
Our chronicles also prove that public
opinion can be swayed by dynamic personalities in order to
protect their own interests. If millions of people can be
convinced to wage war and commit murder, certainly they can be
coerced into more benign forms of bad decision making. If
something is said often enough, and with vehement conviction,
it can become accepted as a matter of course...whether it is
true or not. The self-serving, self-agendizing, self-help help
industry addresses marriage this way...to protect their own
self-interests.
Picture a long line of
lemmings, happily ambling along. One by one they reach the end
of a cliff, and proceed to jump off. About half of the
adorable little critters die upon impact, while the majority
of the remainder writhe in searing pain at the base of the
cliff. There are however a few lemmings who land softly upon
the fallen carcases of their chubby lemming buddies, and as a
result, what was an anguishing plummet for most, turned out to
be a fun ride for these fortunate
few.
Why would
lemmings want to do this you may ask? Why would so many of
them willingly take a course of action that had such an
abysmal rate of failure? Well as it turns out, there just
happens to be a few charming, charismatic, self-serving
lemmings who have convinced all of the other lemmings that
jumping off the cliff is a good idea. They conveniently point
to the few who land safely, and assure other, more easily
convinced lemmings that they have the knowledge it takes for
the common lemming to be among the lucky ones who land softly,
and laugh at the end of their fall. They are more than
happy to share this wisdom...for a price.
Not too bright, those
lemmings.
Which brings me to my obvious point...animal analogies
notwithstanding, here we are, a country full of people who
have roughly half of our marriages ending in divorce, while
the majority of those who manage to stay together aren't
exactly living in wedded bliss. Some might even say that most
married people range from unhappy, to extremely miserable.
Just like our lemming counterparts, we take our plunge
believing in our collective hearts that we will be
providential. On the way down, the reality of Sir Isaac
Newton's law almost invariably overtakes the naive idealism
that has been implanted into our collective conciousness.
Conventional wisdom is failing, yet the self-help business is
still managing to make millions of dollars selling books that
tell us that jumping off the cliff is a good idea.
Our collective bad decision making is
staggering.
The fact of the
matter is that there are many ways to get to the base of the
cliff without killing yourself. Depending on the individual,
there are many secular lifestyles that may, or may not be a
more plausible alternative to traditional matrimony for many
people. Yet the self-help industry would have us believe that
the only way to have a successful, happy marriage is to do it
the way it has always been done, only with their little twist.
So we jump, just like they tell us we should do.
Not too bright, we
humans.
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Unlearn! is
not intended to enlighten, nor does it offer the key to
the vault that contains any special wisdom. Instead, it
is a mixture of facts and opinion based on Woods's years
of experience and observation. Whther you choose to
agree or disagree. Unlearn! will open your mind to
an alternative world of
possibilites. | |
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