I used to think I was somewhat immune to all the government and media probraganda bullshit since becoming aware of it, until the other day that was. While heading home on a train through Melbourne a man of middle eastern appearance wearing a turban stepped on board. There was nothing out of the ordinary about him at all, probably just heading home from work to see his family like thousands of other people in the city. Before we go any further I should make clear I am an extremely anti-racist person, just the thought of it gets me angry more often than not. Anyway as he got on and sat down, one of the first thoughts that went through my head was something along the lines of “…I wonder if he has a bomb?” I had to pause and think about what I had just said to myself.

Now I didn’t even know what a typical media portrayed “terrorist” was supposed to be until 9/11 when I was probably 10 or 11. The racist thought wasn’t what sickened me so much because I knew it to be untrue. What really got me was that even with all my filters and defences up against this bombardment of propaganda, some had still seeped through like a virus and buried itself deep inside, feeding on my fears and growing like a cancerous tumour without my knowledge. Granted I knew shit all when I was 10 and it probably all went straight in like a highway, but if these kinds of thoughts can still crop up in my mind when I am somewhat aware of what’s going on, how the hell is someone who’s still in the dark supposed to keep them out? Hell if Nike’s advertising was half as effective as this then we would all be running around in their latest pair of $300 sweatshop made shoes. I guess I just have to be thankful that I can brush thoughts like this aside as only media fed, stereotypical slander.

Another realisation that came out of this incident too.

That was ‘my’ answer to, what is fear?

…The Unknown.

Think back to when you were younger and still scared of the dark. What were you so scared of? When the lights were on you could see everything, nothing to scare you (except for a jerk of a brother hiding under a doona with a Freddy Krueger mask and gloves when I was like 2, he payed for that when I ran off screaming and slammed his fingers in the door… but as soon as those lights turned off you didn’t know what was there and the unknown came out just to f*ck around with your little over creative mind. Nowadays that exact same thing still happens, but our minds have had every ounce of creativity squeezed out ofthem by the latest reality TV show or mainstream gold selling record. Instead we are getting it spoon fed to us through any available shiny surface or piece of paper that they can brand with lies of their own sick and twisted “Unknown”. That monster that used to go bump under your bed has now transformed into a bearded man carrying a suspicious looking bag, a 5 pointed red star being waved on a flag, or the overwhelming fear of anyone who believes in something that contradicts the accepted normal.

Now by basic human instinct a person will do just about whatever they have to survive. This not only exists in people, but all living entities. This is a why a dog will become aggressive when backed into a corner,why a rose has thorns, its even why these very governments go to such extreme lengths to assert their control over us whenever we show signs of rising up. So when the public think they’re survival is at risk because of a man with a bomb, its no wonder they commit such atrocities to annihilate the threat and go to ridiculous lengths to prevent future ones. Although I want to, I cannot blame them for this, because it is natural instinct that is instilled in us from birth, not through lies and deceit, but through the DNA that has developed from the process of natural selection over thousands of years (this is not to beconfused with traits like greed and incentive that are more a result of cultural and environmental assimilation). In essence it is why we are still here today. But while it may have helped us survive against external threats, it has just made us more vulnerable to ourselves.

In my opinion, what needs to be done is widespread education. people need to know these threats are just a fabricated blanket of hateful lies, and those that aren’t have most likely been created by the same people giving you the warnings. We need to know how to sift through the truths, the half truths and the whole lies, until we can find the real answer. What we really need to realise is that we are all in the end fighting for the same thing, peace, which just seems contradictory as fuck to me (nearly reaching thesame level of clichédness as that sentence). It’s really something that does my head in. Because basically we are fighting to achieve something we already had before the fighting had begun. The only other thing you need to factor in are those who start the fighting for the own personal gain of power and profit.These are the ones that ensure the conflict is ongoing as well. Because after all, is the head of the Lockheed Martin(Americas top defence contractor) going to make more money if a war lasts for 1 year, or if it last for 10? This is exactly what’s happening in Iraq today. We need to wake up.

Now I could go on forever about any of these topics but there is no point until people wake to what is going on around them. We have to start questioning what we are told. All throughout this piece I have used persuasive techniques in nearly every sentence, I haven’t listed sources of information, and much of it personal opinion. So even what I am saying mus tbe questioned. I am guilty of the very techniques that made me think those terrible thoughts in the first place. You may think I’m being hypocritical butI have no agenda to sway your minds. While I may be putting forth my opinion and offering my own personal advice, the only intended audience is me. The very purpose of this piece was to sift through my own random tangle of thoughts that I felt I needed to get out and put into words before they became lost, to help me workout my own outlook on this world.

In summary:

Do your OWN research,

accumulate your OWN ideas,

and make up your OWN opinion.