Perceptions Of The Self – Obama’s Rhetoric Projected At The Supreme Court. Why Only Law Must Govern Our Economy & Our Nation

I got the idea for this post after talking to someone I know that is a close friend of one of the candidates at Americans Elect.   I think it’s important to appreciate the human condition and why faith in any particular candidate or political party or human-based authority is based on a distorted perception of self and, therefore, a faulty belief system.  And, why laws determined through selflessness, reason, transparency, debate and truth are the only faith we can ever have to govern our society and our economy.  And, the only people capable of restoring law to our society and our economy are those connected to their humanity.  True leaders. 

Let’s start by focusing on the upcoming Supreme Court decision on the healthcare bill and our President’s  attempts to publicly manipulate the court and public opinion to save his healthcare bill.  And I want to do so from a standpoint of the human condition.  Then use this to gain perspective on why laws and not men and women should rule this country.   Not just any laws but only laws determined through selflessness, reason, transparency, debate and truth.   In other words, not Obama’s healthcare law.   Not laws written for motive of personal benefit as is solely the case today with for-profit political parties.  And, why people who are staunch supporters of political parties (for-profit corporations) invariably embrace control over truth.   Who then essentially create their own distorted perception of reality that results in lost determinism via misplaced faith and beliefs.   In other words, they unwittingly create their own self-fulfilling reality.

Let me start with the human condition; a regular topic on here.  I am quite certain President Obama has a perception of self that is very different than those who voted for him based on a platform of change.  Is his perception unhealthy?  Well, that’s irrelevant and who is capable of making that judgment?  Seriously?  You aren’t.  Either am I.   Only he is. But, people who view themselves differently than others view them are almost invariably addicted to control.   Their distorted perception of self is the factor we can recognize as a confirmation of this dynamic.   The self refuses to see its true identity – control.   To some varying degree we all have a distorted perception of self and are all addicted the control but that’s a separate discussion.  The point is this dynamic plays a major role in creating perception of self and therefore distorted decision making.  We saw that during the election when his team coined the term no-drama Obama.   In other words, he doesn’t like to put himself in uncontrolled situations not of his making.   Instead, his handlers were to control the flow of information, thus creating an illusion of a candidate determined by advertising, marketing and money.  We also see this in how he runs the White House press room, how he has set a record for prosecuting the leak of White House secrets, his use of teleprompters over impromptu discussions and how situations are managed so that he never has to answer tough or impromptu questions in an environment he doesn’t control.  Now, this isn’t anything out of the ordinary.  Politics is purely a game of control that attracts controlling personalities.  Political handlers for every candidate are charged with manipulating public opinion through various attempts of control.   That’s the problem.

Remember, or for new readers, as discussed often on here, the human mind has only two intents in everything it does.  The intent to control and the intent to uncover truth aka discovery.   Control is driven by our reptilian brain.  We learn to control out of fear.  Control’s manifestations are far and wide.  Deceit, manipulation, force, secretiveness, being closed off, divisiveness, aggression (rewarded, especially by men in our economy and our society) , lies, etc.   Oftentimes, these intents are subconscious.  They are self-delusions that we tell ourselves.  We all lie to no one more than we lie to ourselves.  No greater lie exists than the self.  That it even exists is only through through the lies of perception.   

On the other hand, the search for truth is driven by our higher power or our own divinity.  It is the basis for humanity’s discovery of knowledge.   It is driven by our higher order intelligence.  By our human brain.  The discovery of truth is why women are now allowed to vote and African Americans are no longer slaves.  Why we have a constitution guaranteeing equal, inalienable rights.  It is why we sent a man to the moon and why you are reading this on a computer that connects us.    Truth is the fundamental driver behind  human love, empathy and acceptance.  It is the force that binds all of humanity and all life.  We see its manifestations in Michelangelo and Isaac Newton and Lao Tzu.  We see it in wabi-sabi.   We see it in the every day acts of kindness.  Even if we don’t consciously see it, it comes from within each of us every day.   

The duality of truth and control resides in every human mind.  It is fundamental to the functioning of our being.  It is the human condition. 

Never shall control and truth cross paths.  One cannot seek control and uncover truth.  Control is based on the fear-based dynamics that exist within our minds.  If I could term it in explainable jargon, control is negative energy and truth is positive energy.  Control takes negative energy to exert itself.   Being driven primarily by fear, it takes negative energy by pushing our minds out of the moment.   Any time we are out of the moment, it is driven by fear and control.  Worrying about yesterday’s mistakes or having anxiety about tomorrow’s unknowns.   Even if you wish to plan tomorrow’s activities, it is a manifestation of fear and control’s negative energy.   If someone would point a gun at you, your mind is taken out of the moment by fear.  You are worried about what is going to happen in the future.  It is impossible to remove this dynamic from the human condition.    Alternatively, truth creates positive energy.  It is living in the moment.   It is the basis of the human bond.  It defines our connectedness to the cycle of life.  It fuels our inventiveness and creative abilities.  It recognizes the worthiness of all people.  It fuels the creation of love and acceptance of both the self and others.   It is the life force of God within all living things if you feel more comfortable using this terminology.  

Control, driven by the self, separates us from our own humanity and disconnects us from the cycle of life.   How many times have you seen this President or any current politician empathize with the tens of millions of Americans who are suffering needlessly?  There is no beating of the bully pulpit to right the wrongs of a society and economy gone mad.  A society and economy based on control and fear rather than truth.   Now, maybe they internalize it but we see some gap in a connection to their humanity in actions as politicians.    That’s not really a surprise since I have only lived under one President who seemingly was in any substantial way connected to his authenticity and humanity.   He was a horrible President because he wasn’t armed with the ability to deal with the hatred, divisiveness and control of politics.  It’s almost impossible for anyone connected to their humanity to rise to that level of politics given the control exerted by the political parties and money.  I’m not saying Obama or other politicians are bad people.   But they are just people.  That’s all they are.   Just like you and me.  And, as people, they are no different than anyone else in their struggle with the human condition.  Most politicians most certainly have the perception of self that they are doing a great job.  But reality paints a much different story for tens and tens of millions of Americans. 

I suspect, from their behavior, most politicians are quite taken with their status as a savior; of wielding great power to do good.  They actually believe this regardless of their self-driven motives of control.  And, that they somehow disassociate themselves with the mess in Washington.   It’s not my fault.  It’s all of those other assholes.  This is most likely a trait of narcissism that develops as a shield in childhood.  Our perception of self is distorted by our experiences.  I’m not labeling anyone as a narcissist.  I am talking about personality traits not personality disorders.    

Presidents and Congresspersons are interesting characters.  Anyone who wishes to sacrifice their own humanity in order to wield the world’s most powerful political positions most certainly have some level of distorted reality and almost without exception, a distorted perception of self.  People with a distorted perception of self can either lack of perception of self or have a grandiose perception of self.   Even autism, as an example, is a lack of perception of self.  PTSD is a distortion of the perception of self.  All mental illness is simply some distorted perception of  self.   Not for this blog, but I suspect, therefore, that all mental illness is curable and that we simply haven’t uncovered how.  Yet.  Frankly, we are all mentally-ill because we all have distorted perceptions of self.   Don’t laugh.  I’m not kidding.

Regardless, those with the most distorted perceptions of self are very controlling.   This can be manifested in many ways including people who feel as though they have no control to people who believe they are in complete control by doing God’s work as Goldman’s CEO remarked.   It’s not that people choose to be this way.  A distorted perception of self is foundationally a result somehow having the perception of self being  broken.   The key word is perception.  The reality is no one is broken.   We are all already who we were supposed to become.  We are all already worthy.  It is only perception that keeps us from recognizing this fact.   (By the way, it is our perception of our own unworthiness that then manifests itself in our beliefs that others aren’t worthy.  Those who espouse divisive politics of fear and hate or wish to prey on other people as is the basis for our Darwinian economic system, at their core have not accepted their worthiness.  We cannot truly love another person until we love ourselves.)  This entire dynamic is driven by  perception.  That perception creates our distorted view of reality.   The self then creates a wall around the truths that created that perception of our brokenness.   Most often, that wall doesn’t even allow us to see the extent of our perception of brokenness or our own distorted self or distorted views of the world around us.    In doing so, the self is essentially acting as our protector.   But this wall perpetuates the distorted and dysfunctional image we have of ourselves and of reality. 

Unless something breaks this distorted perception, it continues throughout our whole life.   Experience often ameliorates the condition over time.  As we habituate ourselves, we gain wisdom.  And, with wisdom comes greater understanding of the human condition.  But, if we are willing to embark on an inner journey of discovery and the search for truth,  a different world can be revealed.  We have the ability to unlock the truth of why we are the way we are - what lies within us -  regardless of how fearful and painful it may be.  We are able to essentially destroy that distorted perception of self and remake who we are.   We are able to die and be born again to a new reality of who we really are.  To become who we were meant to become.   Which, ironically, is who we already were.  To heal ourselves of the self’s distorted perceptions of self and our distorted perception of self-judgment and unworthiness.  To embrace our higher self, the knowingness of I am love and the search for truth that comes with it.    My experience is that while there may be moments of epiphany, this is not a shebang moment but a never-ending journey that takes a life time. 

Unless that path is taken, we can never consider giving up control over anything that instills fear and its manifestation, control, into our minds and, therefore, into our lives and into the lives of those we touch.   Instead, we will simply perpetuate the continual application of negative energy and control whenever we are faced by fear.   We will always be what others made us to be.   What others placed within our minds.   Or who we are born as.  So, we’ll go to school to be Harvard lawyers not because we want to be a lawyer but because somehow that assists in overcoming the fear of being accepted.  Because at a young age others told us that we were smart.  And we received positive reinforcement and acceptance for being smart.  So, we seek a life path that will manifest this.    What does the self fear the most?  Not being accepted.  Not being loved.  Yet, we are already love.  It is the only truth we know to be incontrovertible - the paradox of the human condition.  Why do we really do the things we do?  :)  Most people never know why they are who they are and who they were meant to become.

So, onto the other day’s remarks by the President regarding the Supreme Court.  That the President is stating that a Supreme Court decision against health care would be unprecedented is preposterous.  This view of reality exists only in his own mind.  Comments by constitutional scholars are popping up all over the internet stating how wrong and misguided this statement is.  But, what is really driving his statement is fear and then its manifestations of attempted control.  What is that fear?  No one knows.  He may not even be consciously aware of his behavior.  It could be fear of failure of his Presidency.  Fear of the stain on his Presidency.  It could even be some subconscious manifestation of fear from an early childhood experience that was triggered within his mind with the thought of this bill being overturned.  We all deal with this.  But, that doesn’t make it right.  It doesn’t make it wrong either.  It just is.  It’s who we are.  

But this is the point to this post.  The President’s fear and his mind’s perception of reality are being projected onto the rest of us.   We are eating politician’s negative energy created within their minds.  This is just a simple example.  But it is such a clear example.  This is what politics is about.  Control.  And control is a manifestation of the mind based on fear.  It’s the same control that is used by both parties in an attempt to subvert reason and the rule of law determining our country’s fate.  Your fate.  My fate.  It’s the same energy that is in constant play between both political parties as they jockey for control without any concern for truth.  It’s the same negative energy of control exerted by Hitler and Stalin onto the world around them.  The only difference in any of these examples is the level of distorted perception or negative energy exhibited in their minds.  All of these behaviors are based on control.  It’s destructive.  It’s part of the human condition.  To be self-destructive is one thing.  To be in a position to expose and even impose that destructive behavior and negative energy onto others is the key issue.  

That is why no human being should ever have dominion or authority over another human being.  That is why the rule of law determined through selflessness, reason, transparency, debate and truth must prevail and politicians must never be given power over truth or law or Constitution or our economy or other people as is the predominant case in our country today.    It is also why free markets are a myth.  Regulation, the reasoned rule of law applied to economics, must be a part of any economy just as the rule of law is tantamount to a civilized society.  The human condition makes the concept of a free market a myth that exists only within the minds of those who believe their self’s distorted perceptions of reality.  The human condition is why we need an economic constitution guaranteeing our inalienable rights of economic determinism, economic opportunity and a living wage just as we have a constitution determining those same rights granted within society.      

True leaders are capable of rising above the human condition’s need to control to selflessly embrace a greater truth as a public servant or a business leader or any position requiring leadership.  How many politicians or CEOs today are defined by that reality?  Maybe two or three politicians I can think of.   Do you think Scott Walker is driven by a greater truth of selflessness?   Rick Santorum?   Ron Paul?  These men are disconnected from their humanity and have a very distorted perception of self. 

Obama is not a leader.   He is a politician.   Just like all of the other Washington politicians.  That is, unless any of them are  forced to become leaders under some crisis that will shatter their distorted perception of self and reality.   That is quite conceivable.  For those who keep waiting for politicians to awaken and become who they believe politicians are supposed to be is highly unlikely and highly misplaced belief.   We coined this the leaderless society years ago.  It’s just a matter of fact that those who seek power and control are never leaders.  True leaders are granted their positions by the virtue of their selflessness and their humanity.  Leaders are connected to their authenticity and their higher power.  Leaders recognize their fallibility and are able to rise above the manifestations of the self to embrace truth, empathy and selflessness.  As part of the discovery of truth and reason, a leader would be willing to consider that the healthcare bill Democrats ramrodded through the Congress was, in fact, unconstitutional or tyrannical or simply immoral and unjust and, therefore, not a source of truth.   Republican leadership, who are just fine with our broken healthcare system and lack of access to care, have an even more disturbing perception of self and reality. 

We have also coined this era as the rise of the bureaucrat.  Bureaucrats are driven by control and not truth.  They are everywhere.  We need leaders in this country.   How do we get leaders?  It starts with us.  We must embrace the power to change our small part of reality rather than outsourcing our responsibilities and distorted perceptions of politicians fixing our lives.  Leaders empower people to be capable of reaping the rewards of their own divinity and protect those incapable of being able to protect themselves; those thrown under the bus, those with disabilities, those who have had catastrophe hit their lives.  Your world will only change if you become that leader.  Only you can change your world.  And, as we have noted before, in order to do that, we first need to change our minds.  It starts from within.

While we all suffer from the human condition, those who seek dominion and authority over their fellow man invariably have a perception of self that is well too distorted by the overwhelming addiction of control.  Now, we may infrequently elect leaders into public service but they aren’t politicians.  There almost certainly will never be any such candidate from within either for-profit political party to fit the bill of leader.   There is no truth in the game of politics.  Only control.   There is even less truth found in political parties driven exclusively by allegiance to party control and party money.   The Nazi Party too required that same allegiance.  What’s the difference?  There really isn’t any.  

Leaderless leaders, as is so rampant in our country today, is at its core is an abandonment of human values of compassion, worthiness, connectedness and acceptance of all people for benefit of the self.   True leadership is driven by being connected to our higher power or our humanity.  An ability to see beyond the self to connect and share compassion with other sentient beings.  Leadership has little to do with ideas or perceived intelligence and everything to do with being human.  We never needed a Harvard-educated President.  We needed someone who was connected to their higher power.  When we are connected to who we are as sentient beings, truth, morality, the rule of law and justice will always reveal itself.   In other words, it’s less about the candidate’s solutions or ideology and more about the candidate’s desire to listen to citizens and to embrace the discovery process of truth.   Our nation already has all of the answers needed to fix this crisis.   They exist in the cumulative knowledge of our nation.  The solutions simply have not been discovered by politicians.  Because politicians don’t have an intent to discover those solutions.  Politics is a game of control.   Control always subverts discovery and truth.  

The age of enlightenment continues.

Just a little preview of my upcoming posts on the likely eventual collapse of political parties.  :)