Denial Makes Us Suckers  (July 2016)

We may all be suckers to the establishment because we believe that our future will be secure and prosperous.  Can we deny that the political elite are failing in their responsibility to create a thriving, sustainable future for everyone?  By never asking ourselves, am I right and am I sufficiently informed, people fall prey to denial and its by-products, ignorance and arrogance.  Their minds remain tightly closed and they fall victim to the propaganda they want to hear.

Denial is a fundament and natural part of human behaviour.  It suppresses the doubt or fear that would otherwise undermine the beliefs, customs and therefore the cooperation and loyalty that benefits members of a tribe.  Denial ensures social integrity and that solidarity ensures survival and prosperity in a tribal community. 

The stability of a collective is exemplified in military structure.  Anyone familiar with chain of command knows how important it is for subordinates to follow their chieftains without question and therefore how detrimental doubt can be to the orderly flow and precision of a mission.  Following orders confidently requires the suppression of any fears or doubts concerning their legitimacy or virtue.  Only those devout enough, those sufficiently practiced in denying common sense, empathy, scientific truth or the opinions of others can become the self-sacrificing henchmen of belligerent dictators, imperialists or terrorist regimes. 

Denial, the Other Side of Blind Faith.

The democratic population may not be soldiers fighting for their lives and our governments not exactly commanders that must be followed blindly.  Nevertheless, in between elections, the structure is similar.  The people of the electorate are the soldiers fighting for prosperity while political administrations, their police and armies direct proceedings through regulation of tax, commerce and social laws.  To function properly that structure requires faith and trust in the commanding government in order to avoid revolution.  To suppress the doubt or fear that governments are not actually working for the people but for themselves or that the future hasn’t been ruined by bad policy, denial of these possibilities is required in order to sustain the beliefs that keep people feeling happy and safe.

Denial Fuelled Belief Equals Terrorism.

The denial of scientific truth and common sense, in order to hold on to a belief, epitomises arrogance, the worst kind of ignorance.   It is that arrogance which self-justifies interference in global affairs both political and economic in the Middle East, Russia, China and Europe.  It is the driver behind extremism and necessitates suppression of empathy that would otherwise prevent the kind of heinous acts of cruelty perpetrated by dictators and terrorists.  Put simply denial is responsible for bigotry, war, terror, extremism, fascism and deep-state imperialism.  Nothing good has ever come from it.

Recognising denial as the inability to consider an opposing argument is the first step towards developing an open mind.  That recognition requires humility and modesty, the modesty to accept fallibility and the humility to accept that denial is an unfortunate part of human psychology. 

Entertaining the possibility that the happy truths that our friends and family believe in might somehow be misconceived or  based on assumptions for which counter-arguments have been denied, is extremely difficult to do and requires great intellectual courage and self-esteem.  Not everyone is willing to question their own religion.  Frequently those that do are ostracised or incarcerated by their peers as Galileo demonstrated after his heretic claim that the Earth is not the centre of the universe.  Therefore, in order to nurture new thinking and better ideas it is important to find the humility to listen and support those people who question the status quo.  

Supporting Freedom of Speech

That also means supporting freedom of speech without filtering for moral sensitivities which are themselves subject to beliefs and therefore denial.  Historically in times of crisis, control or filtering of free-speech becomes stricter and more rigid to the point where it is limited only to pro-establishment views.  Such oppression clearly contradicts democratic process.  George Orwell understood this when he wrote the book “Nineteen Eighty-Four”.  Now that the phrase “hate speech” has been coined, it may only be a matter of time before any rhetoric considered negative, no matter how factual, will be labelled “hate speech” and subsequently censored.

Societal Evolution.

Until the human race learns the importance of humility in the face of denial, it will never evolve or ascend.  Society will continue to cycle in and out of despair, forever a slave to convenient religions, impractical customs, extremists and elitists; particularly those skilled at using propaganda and lies to prey on the prevailing ignorance. 

To practice humility is to learn to think in a different way.  It is a process of self-auditing which would ideally be taught in schools along with mindfulness and the science of human behaviour.  By accepting how denial works, that it obstructs an open mind and limits practical solutions, people can become better thinkers, learn to recognise corruption, dogma and break the cycle of revolution and war that has plagued human culture for aeons. 

Denial In Practice.

 Claim :  GMO foods are safe and sensible.

 Denial Factor :  The FDA wouldn’t approve something that isn’t good for society.  The FDA is populated by educated people who sufficiently understand the science of GMO.  The FDA is populated by people who make careful and informed decisions that are infallible.

 Humility Factor :  Do I know enough about genetics, biology and agriculture to have an opinion?  Do I have enough evidence, reports, information to make a determination or am I just going with the flow or a gut feeling?

 Percy Says :  Some GMOs may be ok but a GMO designed specifically to be resistant to pesticides or herbicides toxic to humans may promote more contamination in the produce.  GMO ingredients should be labelled with a number (similar to an E number) indicating the type of GMO so people can research it and decide if they want to support it. 

It’s not clear what GMOs will do to biodiversity.  Pollen from GMOs has already been known to corrupt certified organic crops.  Even before GMOs, corporate farmers have been working to produce unsustainable or unhealthy vegetable and grain hybrids for decades.  For example: High gluten wheat grain varieties which have recently been associated with an increase in the incidence of Crohn’s disease.  Hybridisation has essentially supplanted much of the traditional, potentially healthier, grain varieties eaten by our ancestors, to the point where some varieties are almost extinct.

The FDA is not independently audited and is frequented by people loyal to GMO manufacturers and food corporations.  It seems uncommon for the FDA to make unbiased informed decisions based only on valid independent research.  They tend to approve products based on research proffered by the very companies making those products.  Ultimately to honour democracy, people should be informed and allowed to decide for themselves what they want in their food.  Hiding the truth through unclear labelling is simply wrong.

 Claim :  The economy is ready for “lift-off”.  Prosperity is just around the   corner.

 Denial Factor :  The FED’s army of highly educated economics PhDs are incredibly smart and therefore infallible.  Yellen and the commercial media say the economy is healthy so it must be; they can’t lie or mislead, it’s against the law.  G20 leaders report that the global economy is stable.  Famous people, the experts and politicians we see on TV, are always right and wise.  I refuse to fear investment risk so I side with the other ‘bulls’.  The world is so much more sophisticated than it was before the Great Depression of 1929, therefore this time is different.

 Humility Factor :  Do I know enough about economics to have an opinion.  Have I studied the various economics statistics and charts well enough to make a determination or am I just blindly following snake-oil salesmen, doomsayers, so called experts or the opinion of my friends and family?

 Percy Says :  Job opportunities in new electronic technology are non-existent.  Job quality, pay and conditions are poor.  Part time sweatshop quality jobs are available however.  Service costs, like insurance, utilities and rents are rising, while the return on savings is going negative.  These are the truths visible for all to see but rarely revealed without some kind of positive spin in the news.  The underlying charts of industrial output, growth, cost of living, wage growth, personal debt and government debt demonstrate a future of global economic failure when viewed in years and decades as opposed to days or months.  Debt fuelled mal-investment in shale oil mining, unprofitable IPOs and start-ups has led to increased corporate bankruptcies.  Such a trend logically defies growth and prosperity. 

 Claim :  Open borders are good for everyone.  All refugees should be welcomed always.

 Denial Factor :  All humans are equal.  Cultures and religions can just learn to get along.  The carrying capacity of the world is equal in all countries.  I am better than everyone else, a true humanitarian and anti-racist, because I believe in something as noble and selfless as open borders, which is the only way to help those less fortunate.

 Humility Factor :  Do I really understand human behaviour enough to know whether disparate cultures and religions can be integrated without pain.  Is there an example where open border policy has worked between two countries with entirely different levels of economic opportunity?  Is anti-racism just another form of extremism or bigotry?

 Percy Says :  There is no evidence supporting the idea that emptying a poor country into a wealthy one creates prosperity for anyone.  Open borders are a wonderful idea but to make it work two countries have to be economically equal and socially compatible.  History reveals that disparate religions rarely get along.  Thus the mixing of unlike cultures often leads to tensions, sometimes violent, which take a long time to calm. 

Clearly if there are limited opportunities and too many people, adding more people to compete for those opportunities will only lead to disintegration.  Adding more people to an economy doesn’t guarantee growth if the economy is inherently unhealthy due to peak debt. 

It is a lack of prosperity from a lack of opportunity that leads to fracture within a country.  Interference, war and regime change destroy prosperity and inspire uprisings which inevitably displaces people creating refugees.  Fix the cause not the symptom.

Bigotry is akin to extremism and like racism, anti-racism if practiced without tolerance or violently is just as wrong.

 Claim :  The actions of ISIS are justified because of the injustices perpetrated by imperialists.

 Denial Factor :  An eye for an eye is right all the time because it is written in the Bible or Quran.  It is justified to blame individuals for the errors of their government; thus civilians are acceptable targets.  Killing people is justified if they can be labelled infidels by my religious leader.  Infidels are not people they are two legged monsters.  I refuse to empathise with infidels.

 Humility Factor:   Can killing a complete stranger, someone’s son or daughter ever be justified by the loss of a loved one.  Am I suppressing empathy in order to enjoy cruelty?  Is a cycle of killing constructive or destructive?  Will terrorism solve my problems and make the world more prosperous for my children?

 Percy Says :  Extremism has no place anywhere.  It is the ultimate application of arrogance.  However we should recognise where it comes from.  Oppression, interference and subsequently the lack of prosperity causes dissent, which manifests as sedition and eventually violence.  Wrapping religion around revolution never ends well.  Using religion to label the opposition as impure, inhuman or infidels turns them into monsters.  Classifying someone as a monster makes it easy to shut down (deny) empathy and therefore paves the way for hate and murder. 

Extremism isn’t limited to terrorist organisations.  It is practiced everywhere in the institutions that influence government and in the establishment that drives imperialism.  It is simply an extreme and contagious form of denial that results in the abject arrogance necessary to maintain beliefs that manifest corruption and refuse audit or reflection. 

 Claim :  Recep Erdoğan, president of Turkey, staged his own coup.

 Denial Factor : Erdoğan is a dictator because the 6’o’clock news says so.  The west doesn’t like Erdoğan so he must be an idiot.  Erdoğan is a Muslim therefore he is aligned with terrorism.

 Humility Factor :  Have I ever been to Turkey; do I understand Turkish politics?  Having never met the man can I truly know what Erdoğan is like or what he believes?  Given all the Middle East uprisings in the last decade or so, is it possible regime change is often fomented by Western interference?  Am I being pro Erdoğan because I want to believe in conspiracy theories?

 Percy Says :  I know very little about Turkey but I have seen a lot of regime change over the past decade and none of it has worked out particularly well for anyone.  I have to consider the possibility that the coup in Turkey, the gateway to the Middle East, was encouraged or supported by Western interests.  What better way to get Turkey to cooperate with Europe than to put a patsy government in place. 

It’s also possible the Russian jet, downed on the Syrian border in November of 2015, was shot at by a Turkish fighter loyal to NATO in defiance of Erdoğan.  I hate conspiracy theories because they usually can’t be proven but clearly there are two sides to every story and we. the blindfolded electorate, rarely see both. 

At the end of the day Erdoğan is a politician enjoying palatial comforts and a prosperous income; all the fruits of modern political office, the very same excesses enjoyed by politicians world-wide.  Given the global mess our governments have created over the last several decades it seems unlikely that Erdoğan is a beacon of hope for perfect leadership.

 Claim :  Putin is an evil dictator:

 Denial Factor :  Obama implies Putin is an evil dictator so it must be true.  Putin is personally responsible for shooting down a civilian passenger jet because the media makes that connection.  Only the USA and NATO know what is best for Ukraine.  War and regime change are the only way forward.  Regime change works, the world is becoming a safer place.

 Humility Factor :  How much do I know about Russia?  Is there irrefutable evidence showing that Putin or Russia is a threat to the world?  Do I understand the history of Ukraine and Crimea?  Is the media telling me the truth or is it misinterpreting facts?  Was the MH17 really shot down by a Russian and if so does that implicate all Russians including Putin?

 Percy Says :  The MH17 debacle is clearly surrounded by propaganda.  After two years no-one knows for sure how or who shot down the passenger plane over Ukraine.  Clearly guilt was assumed before innocence on the back of no real evidence.  As such it completely corrupts the idea of due process.  Ultimately the tragedy of MH17 is politically irrelevant.  Focus needs to be shifted to the air-traffic control authorities that failed to close the travel corridors over what was ultimately a civil war zone.

If there was a coup in Canada we would expect, even demand action and interference from the USA.  Somehow Russia’s efforts to support expatriates and economic interests in its immediate neighbours, Ukraine and Crimea, were interpreted as invasion.  The sketchy evidence, in support of that interpretation, has so far been lame and unverifiable. 

In reality Russia has been peacefully trading with the world for the past 15 years.  In 2009 it was instrumental in the formation of the BRICS which recently went on to rival the world-bank by forming its own independent monetary organisation.  Russia additionally defies the US centric world-order by trading openly with Iran and Syria.  Russia is also the world’s second largest oil producer.  As such it competes with USA aligned Saudi-Arabia and USA oil company interests. 

From the above, it is not inconceivable that Russia and China are perceived by government establishments as a threat to teetering global economic stability and status-quo.  It is plausible to imagine the US and its NATO allies would want to mitigate that threat.  However, it is the politicians behind the IMF, central-bank and government policy in support of unsustainable financial engineering and fiscal irresponsibility that should be hoisted by their own petard for creating the current economic mess.  Aggression against Russian is therefore reckless and unjustified.

There is no evidence supporting the idea that Russia is or was ever planning to be a military threat to any EU country?  Trying to strangle it with economic sanctions appears to be a knee jerk reaction perpetrated by NATO loving politicians still living in the shadow of the cold-war.  Politicians so afflicted by denial about their own failings that they act like six year olds happy to kill their own economies just to win an argument.

 Claim :  Vegetarianism is the superior diet.

 Denial Factor :  I am a better human being because I love animals and refuse to eat them.  Swatting a fly or eating fish (Pescetarianism) is not the same thing as killing cattle or sheep.  Animals suffer even if farmed correctly.  My family is vegan so I must be one too.  Anthropologists are wrong about evolution; man has been eating grains for thousands of years therefore we don’t need to eat meat.

 Humility Factor :  Have I studied human evolution, particularly focusing on diet.  Do I understand physiology enough to know if animal fats are dietary necessities or not?  Have I read the decades of literature and research concerning diet?  Am I a vegan out of loyalty or logic?  Do animals really suffer if they are grown just for food?  Do animals have souls?  Do I humanise animals, expecting emotions they don’t really feel? 

 Percy Says :  Humans are omnivores.  As such they can eat almost anything but fundamentally humans evolved as meat eaters.  Excessive consumption of starch and sugars has been shown to lead to disease.  Recent evidence would suggest that saturated animal fats are actually essential to health.  Vegetables are often a poor source of the protein and saturated fats the human body needs.  Before humans became agrarian, reliant on grains for food, they were nomads eating meat, insects and fish, taking advantage of seasonal fruit and vegetables only when available.  As a general rule humans can live well enough wholly on vegetables and grains but they appear to prosper on a diet high in fat and protein but low in processed sugar, fruit sugar and starches. 

The grain industry would like us to keep eating grains, sugar, beans and so on.  The meat industry would like us to remember we evolved from Palaeolithic, hunter-gatherers.  The food industry loves to tell us how essentially healthy fruit and vegetables are when in reality essential amino acids, vitamins and minerals are generally more prevalent in meats and animal organs.  However GMOs, over-farming, pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics and feeder-lot practices may eventually destroy nutrient levels and food quality to the point where food studies may one day return conflicting results.

Hunger appears to be easier for the body to regulate on a high protein, high fat, low sugar and low starch diet.  A diet high in sugar and low in fat may signal starvation, increasing hunger.  Increased or insatiable hunger invariably leads to excessive body fat.

Some people sense hunger differently than others, some people can handle more starch or sugars in their diet than others without getting fat.  Any diet reliant on whole, unprocessed, unjuiced and unconcentrated foods is generally better for regulating body fat.

Dental health is predominantly affected adversely by sugars (processed or from fruit).  Teeth depend on dietary fats to maintain enamel health.

 Claim :  God Exists.

 Denial Factor :  My religious leaders and family say God exists so He/She must.  The world is so miraculously complicated it must have been created by magic at the hand of a God (or Gods).  Earthquakes are acts of God because the ground cannot move on its own.  The sun spins around the Earth because I can see it moving when I’m standing still.  The bible was written by God.  Faith is noble and leads to prosperity and happiness.  God wants us to have faith, that’s why he/she won’t reveal him/herself.

 Humility Factor :  Religion once defined Earthquakes, floods, plagues, famines and solar eclipses as acts of God.  Science has subsequently established a more Earthly, natural cause.  Does that confirm the existence of God or does it weaken the argument?  Do I believe because it makes me feel good?  Do I believe because my family and fellow parishioners believe? 

 Percy Says : Blind faith is the ultimate cop-out.  Believing in belief, the simplest definition of faith, is illogical.  If God exists it should be provable.  If something is so complicated that it is hard to understand, using God as the explanation is intellectually reprehensible.  Given all that we know about science, the age of the universe, the evolution of the planets and life on Earth, God appears to have become an irrelevance.  Many of the questions for which God was originally invented to explain, appear to have been answered by science.  That means the original premises upon which religions evolved have been proven wrong.

It is compelling to believe in life after death as the human species struggles to find an explanation for sentience but to imagine a paradisiacal heaven run by a magician, frequented by angels where life as we know it continues in perfect harmony is so disconnected with any sustainable laws of physics and human behaviour that such a nirvana seems farcical.  It does however make for a great story… like Satan’s Plot.  Christian-God-centric beliefs adjusted for science are divergences from the original intent.  Changing the bible or reinterpreting to fit in with new scientific understanding is simply an exercise in rewriting history.  There can be only one history and only one truth.  If the historical literature being relied upon is wrong or no longer fits with reality then it is unreliable and deserves to be wholly abandoned.

Further Reading

Human culture and belief systems; self-awareness and mindfulness.