"Group Think" for the Machine

"I'm sure there's a good reason we are all standing here looking at the gate, but I can't for the life of me figure out what it might be!"

That's what I thought when I saw this picture from a few years ago -- that's what's going through at least one of those cow's heads -- or, it would if they could reason.  It brought to mind "group think."

We all know about "group think."  It happens when a bunch get together and someone makes a suggestion.  The next thing you know, everyone is "piling on" to the idea and it gains a life of its own.  Politicians exploit that tendency.  They, or some political operative, plant suggestions and "suddenly" everyone agrees!  Some examples are "meatless Monday," "taco Tuesday," "Epstein killed himself" -- which, by-the-way, I doubt very seriously (did you catch how I inverted that last one?).

It is easier to follow a suggestion than it is to think independently.  We are lazy.  We are trained to "group think" -- it's called public education.  We are indoctrinated from our earliest years to think and behave as part of a group.  We stand at the gate and wait for the government to "give" us benefits which came out of what they extracted from us already in the form of taxes.  In spite of the rhetoric -- especially from one political party which is quickly morphing into socialism -- the wealthy will never pay "their fair share" of taxes.  It is the poor and middle class which carry the tax burden and it is the wealthy who gain the largest benefit -- especially the subset of the wealthy who claim to be the salvation of the poor and downtrodden. 

The whole impeachment debacle almost exposed what is really a "cash cow" for politicians -- foreign aid.  Much of it is funneled through NGO's (non-government organizations) that are supposedly established for charitable purposes.  More of it is sent directly to foreign governments that are filled with corrupt politicians (yes, even more corrupt than our own) who find creative ways to funnel it into their personal bank accounts -- such as state-owned businesses.  Both methods frequently have plenty of siphons stuck in that lead right back to family members, "non-profit" foundations or, corporations owned or, controlled by the very politicians that authorized the aid in the first place. 

Most folks that lead normal lives which include a job and a paycheck don't realize how much money is actually flowing around this planet.  The amounts are astounding.  There is so much money lying around Europe right now that the banks charge customers to hold their deposits.  Yes, that is correct.  It's not just an issue of low interest rates on savings over there, it's a case of the banks charging customers to keep their money.  Oh, yeah, it's in the hands of that top 1% than controls the bulk of the wealth.  The politicians around the globe are quite familiar with that crowd and work closely with them to make sure they get a piece of that wealth for "protecting" it from unfriendly laws while fleecing the citizen taxpayers of their countries in the process.

Yep, I'm making lots of accusations here and not really offering any proof.  If I had the proof and could lay it out I'd probably end up like Epstein.  I'm not too excited about that prospect.  My point is simply this, don't follow the sheep (or, cows) through the gate.  It might just be the loading ramp to the truck on its way to the harvest.  The politicians own and operate the plant in a very efficient manner.  They are the only ones who will profit from the transaction -- oh, and their very wealthy buddies. 

There is a difference between the two political parties in spite of the fact that both have similar goals in mind; the elephants give you a chance to earn your way into the club, but the donkeys just want you to wear chains and pull the plow.  I'd rather have a chance -- no matter how small.