Are You Really "Red Pilled?"

A lot of people, especially conservatives, are using the red pill/blue pill plot device of the 1999 movie The Matrix as a metaphor for political awakening in today's world. In this movie, Keanu Reeves' character, Neo, is confronted by a mysterious man named Morpheus, played by Lawrence Fishburne. 

Morpheus offers to show Neo the "truth" that we are all living our lives in a computer-based simulation called The Matrix.  He says that , "It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth."  He further explains that the truth is, "That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else, you were born into bondage. Born into a prison that you cannot smell or taste or touch. A prison for your mind."

Morpheus then offers Neo two pills...a red pill and a blue pill.  "You take the blue pill, the story ends; you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe."  But if, "You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes."

Of course, Neo takes the red pill, or we wouldn't have had much of a movie.  His eyes are opened to the truth.  He can finally see what the world really is.

The metaphor is typically used to talk about how people on the Left have had their eyes opened to the fact that they have been lied to all these years about the Democratic Party's true motivations.  That the Democrats have been using race relations not to make lives better for minorities, but have actually fomented racial tension to accrue power for themselves.  That they really don't care about "the working man."  That, in general, everything that comes out of their mouth, and much of what comes out of the propaganda mainstream media, are lies.  And these people have believed it all these years.  It's like they took the red pill one day and woke up from a dream to see the truth.

As it goes, it is a pretty good metaphor.  We certainly are being lied to all the time.  In recent years, it has become blatant, though the masses still can't see it.  But even in the past it was true.  As Winston Churchill tells us, "History is written by the victors."   He went on to say that, "History will be kind to me for I intend to write it."  Then he did.  It is much like the concept from Orwell's novel 1984...history is what the state, or accepted dogma of whatever flavor, tells you it is.  And, for most of us, we are fed that approved truth in state-controlled schools that preach...er, ah...teach the party line.  It is no wonder most people cannot see the "real truth."  But you can't blame the schools, they are just purpose-built programs that perform the function for which they were created.

The problem with the metaphor, as currently used, is that it does not go far enough.  Those who consider themselves "red pilled," many times are only seeing part of the truth.  They #WalkAway from the Democrats, but walk toward the Republicans.  What they fail to see is that the Republicans are also just a part of the Matrix.  You see, even the supposed good program in the story, the program called the Oracle, was part of the Matrix.  While the Oracle was better than the program Smith, "she" never meant to help Neo destroy the Matrix, but just to reboot it...so that it would continue.

Don't get me wrong, I believe the Republican party is better than the Democratic party...but only marginally.  Both still exist to perpetuate the Matrix...their power structure.  I believe that in reality, while there are some "true believers" within the parties, for the most part, they only exist to provide a contrast.  This contrast is "the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth."  It makes you think you have choice...that you have power.  The parties also keep us divided.  They give us things to hate about the others.  As long as we hate "them" and believe "our guys" are on our side, we pose no threat to the order of things.

So let's look at this a little closer.  The Republicans purport to be for small government.  But in fact, every year, for more than the past 100 years, the Matrix has grown, spending has gone up, more control has been exerted...regardless of which party has "control."  Oh yes, there have been insignificant tax cuts that seemed positive...for a time.  But in fact, they were just mortgaging your future by increasing spending with borrowed money, or by devaluing your money by printing more currency.  

When the Republicans have had power...when they could have taken steps toward real change...what did they do?  Nothing.  They continued to perpetuate the Matrix. Oh, they made noise about how they were going to do something...yep, we're getting ready to, they assured us.  But then just excuses about how they, in the end, couldn't really do what they promised...you know, because of those other guys...or because of the children...or because of our allies...or etc..

Let me show you some more truth about the parties.  What have we been taught about our system of government?  Well one thing is that the so-called "Two-Party System" is sacrosanct...handed down by the founders from Mount Rushmore, or something.  Why, it is the very bedrock of our democracy!  But why?  A reading of the history of the founding of our country shows no such system was codified in either our founding documents or the ratifying debates.  In fact, when parties began to form, many saw it as a dangerous thing for the republic...and I agree.  But since then, they have ingrained this system in our culture...in our psyches.  We are warned not to vote for any of those crazy third-party weirdos.  Why you'll just be wasting your vote!  Those other guys, the ones you REALLY dislike will win if you don't vote for "our guys."  They have rigged the system so that only the Republicans and Democrats can really succeed by the way the voting system is set up.  There are guaranteed slots for the two "respectable" parties, after-all.  But why?  Why does it have to be two?  Why do we have to give these parties so much power over us?  Matrix.

I haven't even touched on the Military-Industrial Complex that President Eisenhower warned us about...or the massive surveillance state...or the constant move toward global hegemony...the increasing social experimentation.  And so much more.

What if I told you that you can never really be red-pilled unless you see the whole the truth.  Unless you see that the system, the entire Matrix, is set up to perpetuate itself.  And, an "R" after someone's name does not change this fact.  But you have to be willing to see it...to take the real red pill.  Only then can actual change be considered

"Remember, all I'm offering is the truth. Nothing more." ~ Morpheus

D or R...Government Keeps Growing

Jack Hunter nailed it again.  This is what I'm talking about...and why I'm not very hopeful that the next Republican president will really offer much in the way of solutions.

The chart on the left illustrates what Mr. Hunter is saying in the video below...namely that government grows no matter who is president.  It also doesn't matter who runs Congress.  It always grows.

This is why we must look to the States to reign in the out-of-control Federal government by nullifying any Federal law that is beyond the Constitutional power of the central government.  We must also ween the States from the Federal teat...refusing to take Federal money as a bribe to knuckle under to Federal usurpation of State power.

Don't get me wrong....we must defeat Obama!  He is on the verge of the single largest peace-time power grab in the history of the country.  He must be booted out.  But, the Republican party has become the "just not quite as big government as the other guys" party.  They are still big government...still power mongers.

Repeal the Seventeenth Amendment!

Enforce the Tenth Amendment!

Related Posts:

Budget Cuts Across the Board!

Budget Cuts - No Sacred Cows:
Why Feed the Pig?
Like the 10th Amendment? Repeal the 17th!

Play Nice

"Treat people kindly but ideas harshly."

In a recent article by Sandy Ikeda on The Freeman web site, he addresses Friedrich Hayek’s approach in opposing socialism in the book Road to Serfdom.  Ikeda points out that by dedicating his book "To the Socialists of All Parties," Hayek was not mocking or assuming his intellectual opponents "were stupid or evil," but that they were "ignorant and mistaken" and there were "things that they didn't know."  In other words, Hayek assumed that his opponents were well-meaning, but misinformed.  He saw it as his job to teach them to think properly.

Ikeda brings this approach into focus for the current political environment:

"In a world of heated ideological differences and partisan political conflict, it’s tempting to paint our opponents as stupid and evil, as calculating opportunists. Again, often they are, and from their point of view often so are we. We need to get past that. We need to keep learning."

"Learning, though, means exposing yourself to ideas that you find strange, perhaps even repugnant at first. Even if we end up rejecting them, we will, having been able to correctly state the opposite case, have a better idea why we reject them. Learning through personal interactions requires dialogue, and genuine dialogue between grownups who disagree cannot begin with name-calling and smirking cynicism. No. Genuine dialogue means treating our ideological opponents as people of goodwill with the hope that they will treat us the same way. Only then can we learn and grow."

"As a young libertarian scholar recently summed it up, 'Treat people kindly but ideas harshly.' Exactly!"

I agree with this approach. I don't believe, however, that it requires compromise of your principles. I also believe that if it applies to your opponents, it should apply that much more to your friends.  The current Republican primary is a case in point.

In a primary, each candidate for nomination works very hard to depict themselves as the the best choice to represent the views of the voters in their party in the general election.  While each candidate is sure that they are the best choice, only one candidate will be nominated...no matter how many run for office.  Knowing this going into the process, I think all of a party's candidates should fight hard for nomination but also plan for what happens if they don't win.  Not being nominated, does not necessarily mean that a candidate has "lost."  They can still win support for their ideas and make a positive impact on the direction of the party and the country.  But, too often, this is not that happens.

"Learning, though, means exposing yourself to ideas that you find strange, perhaps even repugnant at first."

I don't think any of the current crop of Republican candidates are perfect and without fault.  I do, however, believe that any of them would be immeasurably better than Obama.  And, like him or dislike him, Newt Gingrich had the right idea when he said that he would not attack his fellow Republicans because the real opponent was Barack Obama.

What I am seeing now, as the primary season grows shorter, is the knives coming out between  Republicans while the Democrats sit back and laugh.  The Republican Party encompasses a range of people from the  establishment to the libertarian...personified in this election cycle in Mitt Romney and Ron Paul, with everyone else somewhere in between.  And somewhere in between is where I stand, though I'm much closer to the libertarian end of the scale than the establishment end.  The supporters of establishment end call Ron Paul fringe and crazy when it comes to foreign policy.  The libertarians say that Mitt Romney is bought and paid for shill of the big banks.  Libertarians say they can't support the Establishment candidates...Establishment begs the libertarians not to go third party.  None of it is helpful...it only serves to tear down...not build up.

Neither side should compromise their convictions, but, they should plan for what happens next.  If Ron Paul wins, how do the other candidates have an influence to temper what they see as isolationist foreign policy?  How do they keep their supporters from sitting out the election and handing Obama a second term?

If Mitt Romney wins, how do the libertarians make sure that their ideas of limited government and non-interventionism continue to be heard.  How do they keep their supporters from going to a third party and, once again, handing Obama the win?

First, all of the name calling and muck-raking has to stop among Republican supporters.  Then, they need to deal honestly and openly with their ideas and issues.  Many in the party believe that Paul has great ideas when it comes to the fiscal operations of government.  It is widely agreed that Romney brings real-world business experience and understanding to the table.  Gingrich has a good grasp of government's historical role.  Perry and Huntsman have good executive experience  as governors of States that are doing comparability well.  Santorum and Bachman have track records of tirelessly working for conservative principles in Congress.  While no candidate is perfect for every voter in the party, they all have their strong points.

We must then find our common ground and stand united.  There will plenty of time to continue the discussion after Obama is defeated...

Each candidate should strongly promote their views and say why they may disagree with the views of their fellow candidates.  But, lets all look to the good of the country and plan for what happens next...once one candidate is chosen.  We must then find our common ground and stand united.  There will plenty of time to continue the discussion after Obama is defeated...if we have not made enemies out of each other in the process.

For the good of our republic...for the future of our children...let's play nice with each other and defeat the failed ideas and policies of the Left.