In a tech focused podcast interview from 2013 called ‘Singularity Weblog’…when asked by the host at the end of the program, ‘what was the most important message he wanted to leave the listeners with?’, national treasure, widely respected author, philosopher and social critic Noam Chomsky put it this way…
“I think people ought to take a clear-eyed look at the world around us, where it’s going, where it’s likely to go if we REMAIN PASSIVE and OBEDIENT and CONFORMISTS, and that’s a GRIM FUTURE…and then decide what we can do to AVERT that tragedy.”
If we remain PASSIVE and OBEDIENT and CONFORMISTS…
‘Passive, obedient conformists’ are the MUCH more dangerous pandemic ‘infection’ we are seeing as we look around our world today, now more than ever.
Listen, when many of you read my articles like this one, you KNOW DEEP DOWN that what I’m saying strikes a powerful chord of TRUTH within you. But despite that strong realization, many of you (not all) default to a certain fear…a certain conditioned ‘political correctness’ that holds you back from joining in and letting your voice be heard in support.
You wrongly let your priority be the FEAR of “WHAT COULD HAPPEN TO ME if I am seen on record agreeing with this?”
“WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO ME…What will others in the Facebook ‘CONFORMING FLOCK’ think of me if they see my comments AGREEING with this?”
Many of you clearly see EVERYTHING WRONG that I and others like me are regularly pointing out and shining a spotlight of truth on.
But instead of having the basic courage to stand up and join us, and share your supportive comments in calling for revolutionary change in the interest of ‘We the People’ over ‘We the Mega-Corporations’…instead you remain EVER SILENT in your dangerous priority of social conformity to the system…
Conformity to the ‘addiction’ that you KNOW deep down inside is a monstrous, clear and present threat to the continued ability of the 99% of Americans, and especially to their children and grandchildren, to have access to ‘THE AMERICAN DREAM’…
A clear and present threat to Americans’ continued ability to have the SELF SUFFICIENT control of their OWN means of production, rather than being forced to be completely dependent on this growing, corrupt predatory corporate elite, who have bought off our elected representatives, and are aggressively seeking that monopolizing end result now more than ever.
You know this is true…You see this happening in our country now more than ever…You know what I’m writing is of the utmost importance. Yet you remain silent. What you aren’t realizing is the cost of that silence and that conformity. When you do realize it, it could be too late.
I was excited today to come across these concise examples from Noam Chomsky, and wanted to share them with my readers, because they are at the root of most everything I have been writing about for a long time now, and I have only just recently become familiarized with Noam Chomsky’s body of work.
A little earlier in this same ‘Singularity Weblog’ podcast interview, after explaining to the young interviewer that the belief and assertion of a coming ‘SINGULARITY’ of computers achieving and surpassing ‘human consciousness’ was meaningless…
After accurately describing such a belief as nothing but ‘science fiction’, Mr. Chomsky effectively addressed the REAL ‘NON FICTIONAL’, serious danger to humanity, when too much obsession is placed on an agenda of replacing humans with robots and artificial intelligence.
Appearing a little disappointed in that response, the host then asked Mr. Chomsky what his favorite model was that HE preferred for human ‘progress’ in our society. Mr. Chomsky replied with another display of his trademark wisdom, and with seemingly forgotten common sense by many people, saying:
“Democratic control of EVERY aspect of social life…The production, consumption, distribution, political representation – a long way to go on that – and simply EXPANDING the sphere of HUMAN and ANIMAL RIGHTS.”
‘Democratic control of everything’ and ‘Expanding the sphere of HUMAN and ANIMAL RIGHTS’…
HOW THE HELL have we lost sight of this basic, red white and blue common sense? Instead, we have not just allowed it, but have celebrated and become ADDICTED AND SUBSERVIENT TO the ‘expanding of the sphere’ of the 1% elite Corporations, more and more AT HUMAN RIGHTS EXPENSE??
‘Democratic control of everything’ and ‘Expanding the sphere of HUMAN and ANIMAL RIGHTS’…
It is readily obvious to any American who doesn’t have their head buried either in the sand (or somewhere else), that ‘We the People’ have almost lost ALL democratic control of ANYTHING, let alone EVERYTHING, and all such control is being given instead by our elected representatives (who were ostensibly elected to have our backs) to monopoly corporations owned by the 1%.
HOW THE HELL have we lost sight of that basic, red white and blue common sense, when such corporate monopolization is a direct attack on ALL of our antitrust laws on the books, placed there to protect small business for working class Americans – when that predatory mega-corporate monopolization is so ANTITHETICAL to everything our forefathers intended when they created this nation for ‘We the People’??
These two examples from the mind of Noam Chomsky represent what he has been writing about and championing with his life as a political activist for many decades now. As I mentioned above, it is critically important COMMON SENSE for a democratic free society such as ours, that is being dangerously forgotten!
A large part of the reason it is being ‘forgotten’ is akin to someone becoming very forgetful who is addicted to recreational drugs, except in our society’s case, Big Tech (and specifically the elite 1% behind Big Tech) have succeeded in getting us to become severely addicted to the internet, and all things “A.I.”, to the growing DETRIMENT of the most important aspect of our existence on this planet – that being THE HUMAN ELEMENT…
That being the HUMAN EXPERIENCE WITH EACH OTHER…the critically important element of IN PERSON CONNECTIONS in our communities, with emphasis on supporting all of our respective small business COMMUNITY MARKETPLACES, without primary dependence on ‘social media’ and artificial intelligence…
I didn’t say without ANY use of social media, online commerce and/or artificial intel – I said without PRIMARY DEPENDENCE on it, so that Big Tech cannot monopolize and destroy SMALL BUSINESS, the key to access for all Americans to the economic independence of ‘The American Dream’.
Accordingly we are long overdue for a DE-EMPHASIS on supporting the self-admitted community business ‘killers’, most readily known to be Amazon and Walmart, but of course not limited to those two corporate predators by any means.
Morally and democratically, we have fallen so far from what our forefathers intended for us…
‘The American Dream’ was of course not intended to be HIJACKED by the elite 1% at the expense of the common American. Yet that is EXACTLY what has been happening…
That is EXACTLY the corrupt agenda that has been developing over the last few decades, in tandem with the dutiful, conforming cooperation of our pathetic, corrupt elected representatives!
We have fallen so far from the precious independence and freedom that hundreds of thousands of veterans over the years have given their lives trying to protect on the battlefield…
Most of us likely have grandparents and great grandparents who have passed on. But if they were here today, they’d be shaming MANY of us for our irresponsible weak conformity, and utter lack of democratic moral courage…
They would tell us ‘YOU ARE STRONGER THAN THIS!’
They would NEVER have allowed politicians and the government to make them lose their jobs, jeopardize their small businesses, and make them stay in their homes and scare their children into being afraid to play outside, all over the ‘coronavirus’ that we have been told from the beginning by the C.D.C. and the W.H.O. would be INSIGNIFICANT for the VAST MAJORITY of people who catch it, JUST LIKE THE FLU!
Our ancestors didn’t build this great nation with such an infantile, germaphobic fear of ANY and ALL risk of the world around us! THEY WERE STRONGER THAN THAT, and that is what they would tell us now if they were here…they would tell you that YOU are stronger than this!
They would be shaming us for our sheep-like conformity and subservience in response to such an unAmerican, ANTI-DEMOCRATIC, CORRUPT CORPORATE MONOPOLY THREAT to ‘The American Dream’, and to equal access to free enterprise for the COMMON WORKING CLASS AMERICAN.
It’s time to wake up now, not just to make our grandparents and great grandparents proud, but to take our country back, and ensure those precious democratic ideals are EQUALLY ACCESSIBLE to our CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN!
Connie Bryan
*This article is a followup companion to my two other most recent articles, first on May 12th with “TIME TO COLLECTIVELY TAKE OFF OUR ‘LEASHES’ AND PUT THEM ON THE ELITE 1% WHERE THEY BELONG…” and on May 16th with “THE DISHONESTY & EXAGGERATED HYPE FROM THE LEFT ON COVID-19 DRIVING MORE DEMOCRATS AWAY FROM THE PARTY” which I hope you will check out as well…As always, thanks for reading when you can.
(Connie Bryan is a writer in Sacramento, CA…She is also the producer and host of “The Connie Bryan Show”, a late night style TV program airing in 14 cable markets nationwide including Washington D.C. Check out all of her material on her website and blog at conniebryan.com, or subscribe to her channel at Youtube/ConnieBryan)
Leave A Comment