Presidents

“We have a large public that is very ignorant about public affairs and very susceptible to simplistic slogans by candidates who appear out of nowhere, have no track record, but mouth appealing slogans” 
~Zbigniew Brzeziński

We ought to rethink the way we perceive our presidents.
They are not what we think they are, they can’t be.
We need someone who is comfortable in the arena of being able to make the best decisions possible in horrific situations. All the while understanding and weighing out the negative implications of those decisions.
Their job demands daily, hourly, and sometimes minute to minute decisions to be made with varying degrees of extraordinary complexity and negative consequences.
They don’t live with the luxury of right answers.
Every answer has a significant down side.
That’s the job.
We need to grow up.
It’s time to own what a president does.
It’s time to own and understand what we demand.
Do you think it’s just a coincidence that presidents leaves the office grey?
Can you handle the truth?
Humanity depends on it.

We are dependent upon access to affordable and plentiful resources. All these resources have a multitude of consequences behind them. To further the complexity, we are outgrowing our resources and our global population levels are unprecedented. Cultural tensions and clashes are bringing about problems never before dealt with.
So what’s to be done?
What’s a president faced with?

Is it justifiable to kill ten to save ten-thousand?
Is it worth it if you radicalize ten-thousand more?
Are some resources worth human lives?
What’s of more value, cultural heritage or the safety of millions?
Do the intrinsic problems of drones outweigh the benefits?
Is there a place for covert warfare?
How do you handle covert warfare? Is secrecy paramount?
What if there is an intelligence breach?
Do you employ damage control?
Should you just tell the truth?
How much truth?
What are the consequences of exposing covert actions?
Are there times which warrant the public being lied to or misled?
How do you handle the demands of cultural clashes that unleash xenophobia and racism?
How do you find peace for a polarized public?
How do you handle the political arena in an election year when 90% of what the job demands, is by necessity, veiled in secrecy?

The old rules don’t work any longer.
Wars are no longer fought the way they once were.
The demands on our resources have never been higher.
Humanity stands at a precipice.
Our leaders can’t save us.
Only we can save ourselves.

The geopolitical sphere is akin to a chessboard. Each piece and move is strategically used to manipulate and gain control of the board. The players are masters who are dozens of moves ahead of each other and incidentally are all playing by their own rules.
Confused?
Everyone is.

“History is much more the product of chaos than of conspiracy”
~Zbigniew Brzeziński

We’re not told how the game is played because the game is a game of manipulation. Winning moves are made by manipulating the mind. The strings of indoctrinated ideologies are easily pulled. Subtle, and often unrecognized propaganda surrounds us and manipulates us from all sides including our own. In the information age, wars are waged covertly. Information is a weapon. A weapon to manipulate all the pieces on the board. These strategies are played out by monied interests that have little national interests.

“Nation state as a fundamental unit of man’s organized life has ceased to be the principal force: International banks and multinational corporations are acting and planning in terms that are far in advance of the political concepts of the nation states.”
~Zbigniew Brzeziński

The media pushes the middle east and the Islamic State, trumpeting the fear of these insurgencies. It’s not to say they are not of value and significance. What’s worth understanding is that what we are dealing with in the middle east is a byproduct of purposeful actions taken many years ago. With that knowledge, it is vital to understand the geopolitical maneuvering that is occurring in Eurasia. These are the sights of the wars of the future. Understanding why this area of the world is important is vital for an informed public to make informed decisions.

“For America, the chief geopolitical prize is Eurasia… Now a non-eurasian power is preeminent in Eurasia and America’s global primacy is directly dependent on how long and how effectively its preponderance on the Eurasian continent is sustained.”
~Zbigniew Brzeziński

With information weaponized, the power of propaganda needs to be recognized. The heard mentality is strong. Our desire to fit in and be loved far supersedes our rationality and altruism. The utter inundation of media consumes us to the point there is little time to think outside of the prescribed parameters.

“Shortly, the public will no longer be able to reason or think for themselves. They’ll only be able to parrot the information they’ve been given on the previous night’s news.”
~Zbigniew Brzeziński

Understand this, change occurs in only one place,
Your mind.
You’re either freely dictating your own thoughts or you’re ruminating over the thoughts of others.
We are all told what to fear and what to hope for. We submit control by choosing to allow the media to think for us. We allow them to be our primary source of information.

“The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read.”
~ Mark Twain

So what does this mean?
We don’t understand global conflict.
We don’t know where, why, or how we wage war.
We don’t understand the grievances of our enemy.
We don’t understand how our covert missions are waged.
We don’t know who the “Gang of Eight” is.
We don’t understand how we use private military contractors.
We don’t know about the multitudes of CIA interventions around the world.
We don’t understand our alliances with Saddam Husain, Bin-laden, and those of their ilk.
We don’t understand the geopolitical significance of Eurasia.
We don’t understand the concept of economic espionage.
We don’t understand the global currency market.
We don’t understand how the dollar benefits from the blackmarket.
We don’t understand the drug trade, specifically heroin.
We don’t understand fractional reserves.
We don’t understand how our own currency is created.
We don’t understand the privatization of all the world’s fresh water.
We don’t understand the sources of our resources.

Instead we spend our time processing prescribed problems.
Contemplating the varied solutions which have been previously provided.
Ruminating over the cornucopia of these prescribed possibilities.
Because of this, we miss the bigger pictures.
We are awash in blind ignorance.

When was the last time you really changed your mind?
Where did that thought originate from?
Those moments we actually change our mind are pivotal and rare.
It’s hard to have an original thought.
It hard to authentically change your own mind.
It’s likely that your mind was changed.
This isn’t to say this is intrinsically bad, it’s more of an appeal to recognizing the source of our thoughts and ideas.
We’re told how to think.
We’re told what to say.
We’re told how to discredit the opposition and bolster our position.
Prepackaged ideologies that are so neat and tidy.
It’s all quite simple really. With free thinking being such a rare commodity and fear being such a clear motivator, the corporatocracy has a relatively easy job.

The fight is for your mind.
Only you can transcend beyond the propaganda.
Only you can choose to see outside of what you are told to see.
So how do we find each other?
How do we come together?
How do we handle the deluge of polarities pushed upon us?

Read books.
Ask questions.
Read more books.
Ask more questions.
Read what offends you.
Read what frightens you.
Be brave with the books you choose.
If you always ask the same question,
you’ll always get the same answer.
Read banned books.
Think critically.
Think hard.
Think.

Healthy, well informed, balanced criticism is the ozone of public life.
~ Mahatma Gandhi