Insidious Mind Control

In the 1950's, my husband's Kansas high school Constitution teacher disappeared. The students showed up one morning and the teacher was gone. The only explanation was that he had been "indoctrinating" the students. The topic had been rural co-ops used for distributing electricity and managing the storage of grain. These are very common in rural America, but they are (or were) also very common in Russia. And there's the rub. The teacher was accused of teaching "communism" to the students. In Springfield, MO, the high school science teacher refused to take a loyalty oath that included the belief in God, or what the local vigilante group defined as God. He wasn't even allowed back in his classroom to pack up his personal belongings. Anyone too young to have experienced the McCarthy era of the 1950's can just look around and watch what's happening to our country today. The irony is that in the 1950's there really was a large, powerful communist Soviet Union whose power reached across most of Eastern Europe.Today, the "enemy" is within our own borders and it's not communists but corporatists. It's almost eerie to watch what's going on today because the movies produced by the anti-communists in the U.S. back in the 50's warned us to watch for friends and neighbors who wanted to destroy America. We were told to be careful because they wouldn't be wearing Russian uniforms or talk with an accent. The "enemy of America" might be living next door or down the block. And we were to report any suspicious persons or activities to the local authorities. Yes, this really happened in the good old U.S. of A. The other night I watched a video of a woman in a wheelchair at a town hall meeting in New Jersey explaining that she is afraid she will lose her home because of her medical bills. During her short comment, members of the audience were heckling her with insulting "boo-hoo" noises. The man who shouted the loudest and who, after the event, asked why she had "more rights" than he did, looked like the kind of guy I'd have a friendly chat with at church or in the grocery store. But something has taken over this man's soul. Just as we were warned in the 1950's that the "enemy" might enter our bodies and control our behavior, something is poisoning the minds of perfectly nice Americans today. Maybe, after the man saw the video with his face full of hatred, he regretted saying what he did. Maybe not. Maybe he's a hero to the anarchists who want to destroy America today. Another young woman at a town hall meeting in Kansas explained that she has no health insurance for herself or her two-year old son even though she works full time. The Congress woman hosting the meeting was not the least bit sympathetic and told the young lady she should buy insurance. What planet do these corporate puppets live on? They obviously don't have to worry about paying for rent, utilities, food, car payments and medicine for themselves or their families. When interviewed by the host of a show on MSNBC, the young mother was asked if she was surprised by the response she got from the member of Congress. She said she wasn't surprised because "The people on the other side of the line have a problem with empathy." Do ya think???Historians love to analyze why some societies are successful and others are not, why some countries win wars while others don't and what part ideology plays in these successes or failures.One popular line of inquiry is called the "weakness within" theory, and it seems obvious to me that it applies to us today. The "American Century" is over. That term is used to describe post-World War II America when we were at our peak of power. We had helped to defeat two major military powers and had the economic advantage for almost 40 years. We invested in our human capital by passing the GI Bill and other programs in support of public education. The "space race" motivated huge investments in science and technology. We recognized the need for full participation of citizens by passing civil rights legislation, and we cared enough about our grandparents to guarantee them some basic health insurance.It was only a matter of time, of course, before other major economies developed enough to offer us some competition. We are not the economic engine of the world anymore. Whole blocks of countries are setting up their own trade agreements without fear of retaliation from us, and we are now the ones beholden to other countries who prop up our materialistic lifestyle by lending us money to buy their goods. It hurts to watch multinational corporations do what they are intended to do which is to maximize their profits. We love capitalism but hate the capitalists. I'm not a psychologist and won't pretend to understand everything that is going on right now. Maybe the people who hate President Obama and everything liberal are wrestling with the reality that the system that supported them for so long in a superior economic position has moved on to greener (or more "golden") pastures. They've sworn allegiance to unregulated capitalism and "free" enterprise and hate to admit that their loyalty was worth nothing more than a pink slip. Although their frustration and anger are understandable, we can't let bullies make decisions for us, especially when the bullies are using hate speech, lies and intimidation to get their way. Children are taught in school to not let bullies push them around. Too bad local school administrators don't have the courage of their convictions when they are presented with an opportunity for a pep talk from President Obama to our school children. He wants to encourage them to do all the things their parents and teachers want them to do - stay in school, do their homework, join community efforts to help others, etc. But a handful of insanely hateful people can make a few phone calls and the school administrators run for cover. I agree that lunch time is not an ideal time to interrupt the school schedule, but where there's a will there's a way. Sadly, the "will of the people" (according to a recent poll on the President's talk to students) has been replaced with the terrorism of the bully. And we thought the communists were going to destroy our country !! The enemy within is much more insidious.