Shop Local Black Friday

Shop Local Black Friday

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We are starting this national Shop Local Black Friday movement in order to educate consumers about the positive impact they can have on their local economy by choosing to shop at locally owned businesses instead of large corporate owned retailers & chains.  By being educated consumers we have the power to turn our economy around in one holiday season.

Journalism

There are many instances in life that we either hear or read certain words and assume we understand the meaning only to later find out that our preconceived definition was totally off.  For instance, when a word like ‘journalism’ is used we all have a basic concept of its definition.   I think we all can picture a reporter trying to get the scoop on a local story, hurrying back to his typewriter so his story can be on the front page of tomorrow’s daily edition.  However, most of us do not understand the basic ethic that revolves around the world of journalism.  In many ways it is similar to the Hippocratic Oath that medical doctors take.  A journalist has the same responsibility to stay ‘objective’ and present both sides of the story.  

  

A true journalist will investigate a story without any preconceived notions of what he or she may find.  They will gather what they believe to be the pertinent information in order to present a balanced account of what they found.  The idea is to allow the reader or viewer to decide with whom they agree.  If the writer would choose to place his or her personal opinion in the story then the piece would be considered ‘editorial.’

It is important to understand that there is definitely a time and place to present editorial, but it should never be presented as ‘news.’   Over the past 30 years we have seen a drastic change in the way ‘news’ is presented.  Journalists used to present news in an objective manner while a certain section of the paper or news broadcast would be dedicated to personal opinion in the form of an editorial.  Slowly over the last 30 years we have seen this ‘editorial’ become more and more pervasive until it has completely replaced any objective journalism.  All you have to do is look at Fox News Network and MSNBC to see how extreme this editorial format has become.   There is absolutely zero authentic journalism taking place on those stations and in most of the main stream media.

Problems arise with ‘editorials’ when a journalist compromises their ethics and decides to selectively choose material that supports an agenda.  Let’s say a journalist is writing an article during the period right after the United States revolution.  The journalist, either for a personal agenda or a business agenda, decides they want to write an article in support of central banking.  That journalist might decide to only present Alexander Hamilton’s points about the positive aspects of central banking while either ignoring Thomas Jefferson’s points or presenting them in a manner that is unappealing to the reader.  This is when journalism borders on propaganda.  The story the journalist is presenting might be completely factual, but the manner in which the material is being presented can deceive the public.  

As consumers of information we need to be aware of these tactics and demand a more authentic form of journalism.   We need to inform our family, friends, coworkers, and so on about the dangers of information manipulation and teach each other the skills to identify and refute bad journalism.  The power to change this is something that we possess individually, without any need for government involvement, legislation or regulation.  We the People...

Straw Man Fallacy

Non-Partisan

One technique I have learned through years of raising children is that you always want to present a child with a choice.  This makes the child feel empowered in their own life.  For example, when it is time to get dressed I will ask my children if they want to wear their red shirt or blue shirt.  Notice that putting a shirt on is not up for debate, but they do have the choice of color.  This type of framing is very powerful, not only with children, but with rational adults as well.

Although this technique can have a very positive effect on raising a child or in interpersonal relationships, it can absolutely destroy a healthy democracy. Throughout my entire life I was led to believe that there were only two political options to choose from.  Voting for any ‘small’ third party was considered a ‘waste of a vote’.  Most people I know will vote for the ‘lesser of two evils.’  They know that the candidate they are voting for is probably in it for himself, ‘but at least he isn’t the other guy’.  This type of mentality has led us to the point we are at today where neither political party has any bit of responsibility to their voters. In fact, they represent special interest groups and lobbyists right in public view.

It is essential in a healthy democracy to have independent media serving the role as political watchdog for the citizens, so we can be informed when politicians are being corrupted. This way, when politicians are not representing our interests, we can take action at the ballot box.  However, if you research the 'mass media' now, you will see the same special interests that lobby our politicians owning and funding their programming.  Therefore, it is only logical to conclude that the media's agenda would be for the benefit of those special interests. This agenda would be to put out a well-timed effort between pushing legislation and framing agendas for the public. 

Over the past 15 years I have seen this country slowly transform.  Thanks to social media like facebook and twitter, corporations no longer control all mediums of mass communication.  This mass decentralization has allowed other messages outside of the corporate agenda to reach the public’s ear.   For example, if you are reading this blog post you are living proof of the transition.  What I am seeing take place in society is a new paradigm starting to emerge that is not based on democrats versus republicans, but rather independent versus partisan politics. There are those that still engage in the American framed political spectrum and are still trying to decide between republicans and democrats. However, there is a growing community of empowered individuals that are not buying into the framework that is being presented by the main stream media.

So what can we do as individuals to help our culture evolve?  First, you have to stop engaging in partisan rhetoric and debate.  I know it is difficult when you see a Democrat or Republican on TV saying something you don’t agree with not to have a knee jerk reaction and engage in the debate, but we have to realize that even engaging in their talking points is enough to allow them to control the framework.  These kinds of manufactured talking points are what make this country easy to divide and conquer.  They will present talking points on social issues that are known to divide the country, such as healthcare, immigration, welfare, and many others.  The truth is that both parties agree on 99% percent of the policies, since they represent the same special interests.  So the public believes Democrats and Republicans hate each other when in fact they couldn’t be more in love.  Neither party could exist without the other and the appearance of choice.

The truth is that third party/ independent candidates do have more than a chance to win elections.  We have seen Jesse Ventura win the Governor race in Minnesota, we have seen Ross Perot make a legitimate run at the Presidency in the early 90’s, and so on.  It is our civic duty, on a daily basis, to maintain a healthy democracy and fight for our freedom.  We cannot relax for a minute because there are numerous well-funded interests trying to subvert our political representation on a federal and local level.   Talk to your neighbors, coworkers, friends, family, or anyone who will listen and spread the word that we will not engage in partisan politics any longer.  You will be surprised at how many people are already on the same page.  

the Medium is the Message

Shop Local

I'll never forget the feeling, as a child in the 1980's, of being one of the luckiest people in the world because I lived in the United States.  It was during this time that one of the most popular Presidents of all time was in the white house, the Cosby show owned Thursday night primetime, and Michael Jackson was the King of Pop.   I grew up in the suburbs near the Westside of Chicago.  I grew up in a house full of political dialogue.  I can recall numerous discussions, if you can politely call these arguments that, between my mother and grandfather about the military, welfare, and other poignant political topics.

One activity I begrudged as a child was shopping with my mother or grandmother, even though I was pretty effective at begging for toys and could usually get them to cave in.  I’ll never forget one particular trip with my aunt and grandmother.  We were in the car and they were discussing the ‘Made in America’ campaign that became popular in the mid 80’s.  The concept of considering where a product was produced had never crossed my adolescent mind.  The ensuing conversation involved my grandmother explaining why we need to buy American products instead of giving our jobs away to overseas factories.  This made sense at the time…
                                  
Fast forward a few years to the early 90’s. I am in high school living in southern California.   One of the popular talking points of this era (and still to this day) is ‘free trade’.  It made sense to me; if we can get bananas from Guatemala cheaper, then our standard of living will improve.  I didn’t see the rationale in taxing or putting up tariffs.  I figured two American dollars a day was probably a pretty good wage for someone living in a third world country.
                                  
Fast forward a few more years. Now I am in college studying political science.  It is around this time that the government first started formulating NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement).   I began reading and reading and reading and reading until I started to get a better understanding of the big picture.  I discovered the reason those bananas from Guatemala were so cheap was not because of fair trade.  It was the same story with the coffee bean pickers in Colombia, the miners in Chile, and the list can go on and on and on and on until you see that it reaches to all corners of the globe.  Every culture, village, human has in some way been touched by ‘Globalization’. 
                                 
It’s so important to shop at local retail for locally produced goods, because of the direct impact it has on you, your family and your community.  Think of things this way: when you go to a large corporate retailer most of your community's wealth leaves your region and goes to international foreign investors all over the world.  Most of these individuals probably have never heard of your town nor do they care anything about it.  On the other hand when you shop at a local business your wealth stays in your community.  This has a catalytic effect.  When a local business does well, it allows for growth and expansion.  This means more employees, more contractors, and many other jobs.  This wealth keeps cycling through the local community raising everyone’s standards of living as well as your standard of living.   But as soon as you spend that dollar at a large retailer that wealth vanishes from your community forever.
                                  
What I have come to realize over the years is that it’s not what they’re selling; it’s what you’re buying.  We have the ability as ‘educated’ consumers to shape the market in any manner in which we choose.  The ‘market’ does not have a mind of its own and will respond to whatever is most profitable.  There are times when we need to look to ourselves for answers instead of expecting for the government to fix the problem.

100th monkey presents Euthydemus By Plato

Sloganism

The online dictionary defines a slogan as, "a phrase expressing the aims or nature of an enterprise, organization, or candidate; a motto" as well as "a phrase used repeatedly, as in advertising or promotion." (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/slogan).  Sloganism is a powerful tool.  People and groups use this tool to convey a message in a simple form that is easy for those of all intellect levels to understand. The use of sloganism predates history.

The danger of using sloganism as a means to promote an agenda is that people can simply repeat an idea without thinking it out for themselves. If people actually went through the process of reasoning, they might come to a completely seperate or more precise conclusion. Perhaps, each time they go through the reasoning process they come to a different conclusion. You would almost hope that people have 'open' enough minds to be able to adapt and calibrate to any situation as it presents itself.  Perhaps the negative connotation of hypocrisy should change in order for people to feel free to completely change their views on a particular subject. It is this type of citizen, because they do not blindly pledge their allegiance to any cause or group, that is less likely to be manipulated.

The fact is, that if we allow ourselves to repeat slogans or rhetoric we become susceptible to manipulation. Most people will repeat things they hear from those they respect, whether it is their father at the dinner table or the guy that looks like their father on the ten o'clock news. This inborn instinct in us to conform to the 'alpha' members of the group or tribe is actually basic survival. Without the instinct to conform to the 'alpha' members, you would risk being ostracized from the group. Almost certain death would follow, either through violence from the group or banishment into the wild where you could not survive on your own.

One example of the dangers of sloganism is well known in American culture. Everyone I know is aware of the nazi party using 'sloganism' to spread propaganda to the masses, keeping the population from forming ideas for themselves. To quote Hitler, "Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it." Sometimes, as a society, we fail to make the connection between sloganism and propaganda.  However, anytime we repeat something we've heard without coming to our own conclusions through independent, reliable sources of information we are being manipulated.

The power of sloganism and rhetoric can be seen more clearly when a topic is offered for debate in which they do not exist. It is interesting to see how most individuals won't have an opinion at all and others will try to form an opinion by classifying the topic into a pre-existing argument. For example, if I post something online about popular topics, like healthcare or immigration, everyone will have an opinion. However, if I post something about land reform you can hear the crickets chirping through your flat screen monitor.  Notice the difference between truly being 'open-minded' and having 'open-minded' ideas?

We would ultimately like to see the people of our society become independent thinkers. Independent thinkers who don't merely repeat prefabricated talking points. Rather, they actually sit down with an open mind to discuss and share information with one another until a proper conclusion based on the merits of each situation is reached. This is what makes democracy such a strong form of government.  The people have the power to calibrate and to make any change neccessary for the society to succeed at any given point. In a mere few months, technology, the economy, or society itself could force such changes. The people have to be 'open' enough to ideas from all over the political spectrum to keep our democracy healthy and strong.

100th Monkey

The 100th Monkey
A story about social change.
By Ken Keyes Jr.
The Japanese monkey, Macaca Fuscata, had been observed in the wild for a period of over 30 years.

... ... In 1952, on the island of Koshima, scientists were providing monkeys with sweet potatoes dropped in the sand. The monkey liked the taste of the raw sweet potatoes, but they found the dirt unpleasant.

An 18-month-old female named Imo found she could solve the problem by washing the potatoes in a nearby stream. She taught this trick to her mother. Her playmates also learned this new way and they taught their mothers too.

This cultural innovation was gradually picked up by various monkeys before the eyes of the scientists. Between 1952 and 1958 all the young monkeys learned to wash the sandy sweet potatoes to make them more palatable. Only the adults who imitated their children learned this social improvement. Other adults kept eating the dirty sweet potatoes.

Then something startling took place. In the autumn of 1958, a certain number of Koshima monkeys were washing sweet potatoes -- the exact number is not known. Let us suppose that when the sun rose one morning there were 99 monkeys on Koshima Island who had learned to wash their sweet potatoes. Let's further suppose that later that morning, the hundredth monkey learned to wash potatoes.

THEN IT HAPPENED!

By that evening almost everyone in the tribe was washing sweet potatoes before eating them. The added energy of this hundredth monkey somehow created an ideological breakthrough!
But notice: A most surprising thing observed by these scientists was that the habit of washing sweet potatoes then jumped over the sea...Colonies of monkeys on other islands and the mainland troop of monkeys at Takasakiyama began washing their sweet potatoes.

Thus, when a certain critical number achieves an awareness, this new awareness may be communicated from mind to mind.

Although the exact number may vary, this Hundredth Monkey Phenomenon means that when only a limited number of people know of a new way, it may remain the conscious property of these people.
But there is a point at which if only one more person tunes-in to a new awareness, a field is strengthened so that this awareness is picked up by almost everyone!

From the book "The Hundredth Monkey" by Ken Keyes, Jr.
The book is not copyrighted and the material may be reproduced in whole or in part.