The bludgeon of personal responsibility

               For two and a half years I was forced by the state that I live in to participate in mandatory alcohol counseling once a week.  At the end of this expensive and monotonous journey I was required to answer the question of what I had learned through forced therapy.  I answered truthfully, as follows:

• ·         All the circumstances in your life are your responsibility. 
• ·         All systems of authority and authority figures are legitimate.
• ·         It is your responsibility to endure any mistakes made by authority figures or systems of authority.  The reasoning being that if your choices had not brought you in contact with the system you wouldn’t be as subject to its mistakes.  Therefore, the mistakes of the system are your fault.    
• ·         You have no recourse against authority so you must except it.  Not accepting it is a choice you make and therefore the punishments you must endure for not accepting the systems rules are your responsibility.
• ·         All systems of authority are in place to benefit all of society and that is what they do.  Not accepting this as a fact is just another way of dodging personal responsibility.
• ·         Punishments imposed by authority/system must be viewed as for your and society’s benefit.
• ·         Punishments can only be avoided if you are wealthy, famous or both.  If you point this out you are avoiding personal responsibility.
• ·         If you are identified as avoiding personal responsibility you will be punished further. 
• ·         You are only being personally responsible if you acknowledge that all the circumstance in your life are your responsibility.
• ·         This continuously circular logic was put in place to help you take personal responsibility.

My answer was not well received and if I had not served the maximum amount of time in forced therapy I would have been required to continue with said therapy.  The maximum amount of time in forced therapy is set by a dollar amount.  The law states that the for-profit therapy centers that provide this “service” in place of the government agencies can only make you pay up to a certain dollar amount.  It is completely coincidental, I was informed, that my reaching this dollar amount coincided with my completion of treatment. 

This idea of so-called personal responsibility has long been the mantra of the oppressive.  It is as oxymoronic as any mantra found in Orwell’s 1984.  The underlying philosophical assumption is this, your failure to submit to authority is completely responsible for all your failures or shortcomings, if you submit completely to authority by taking personal responsibility you will succeed in all your endeavors, if you fail just remember, your failure to submit to authority is completely responsible for all your failures and shortcomings. 

This is a brilliant tactic employed by those in power to remain in power because it absolves them of any responsibility whatsoever.  It has been employed most successfully by organized religion.  It should come as no surprise that this perverted system is at the foundation of state mandated treatment programs since all of them are just Alcoholics Anonymous lite.

Alcoholics Anonymous is a Christian religious organization that just took the Christian logo, i.e., the cross, off the cover of the organization.  While still adhering to most fundamental dogma of religious institutions.  We can play a little game to show this is easily applied in the context of religious dogma.

·         All the circumstances in your life are your responsibility. 

o   You were born with free will so everything you do is your choice.  Extenuating circumstance, such as you not choosing to be born, be damned.

·         All systems of authority and authority figures are legitimate.

o   God is all powerful and all-knowing and infallible.  Just like any Republican candidate.

o   Anyone who is in a position of authority was chosen by God and God knows best.

·         It is your responsibility to endure any mistakes made by authority figures or systems of authority.  The reasoning being that if your choices had not brought you in contact with the system you wouldn’t be as subject to its mistakes.  Therefore, the mistakes of the system are your fault.   

o   The flaws in creation are only flaws because you are not doing what God wants. 

·         You have no recourse against authority so you must except it.  Not accepting it is a choice you make and therefore the punishments you must endure for not accepting the systems rules are your responsibility.

o   God is God and you’re not so quit your bitching and die painfully as is his great plan which you just are too stupid or wrongheaded to understand.

·         All systems of authority are in place to benefit all of society and that is what they do.  Not accepting this as a fact is just another way of dodging personal responsibility.

o   God is doing all of this for your own good.  God would be completely fine if you never existed but he took it upon himself to allow you to exist.  So, no matter how ridiculous that existence is shut the fuck up and endure it, because it is for the best in some to-be-determined long run.

·         Punishments imposed by authority/system must be viewed as for your and society’s benefit.

o   God has everyone’s best interest at heart, even terrorist, because he loves us all so much.  So, if your life sucks it’s because God wants you to learn some shit and change your ways.

·         Punishments can only be avoided if you are wealthy, famous or both.  If you point this out you are avoiding personal responsibility.

o   God has his favorites.  They know who they are and you’re not it.

·         If you are identified as avoiding personal responsibility you will be punished further.

o   If you continue to not accept that all things that happen are God’s good will then you will be forced by God to endure more bad shit.  The choice is of course up to you except that God is in complete control.

·         You are only being personally responsible if you acknowledge that all the circumstance in your life are your responsibility.

o   Once you accept that you are the cause of all things bad and God must punish you for this, because really, what else does he have to do, then you will be able to better endure your lashes. By the grace of God, of course.  This continuously circular logic was put in place to help you take personal responsibility.  Thank God, it’s required!

This idea of using the concept of personal responsibility as a state sanctioned self-flagellation device to keep the public in line is not limited to mandated so-called treatment programs.  It is most notably used in the political arena whenever a politician or political group is advocating for removing access to goods/services from the public and turning them over to the corporate for-profit sector. 

The personal responsibility mantra of these politicians is condensed for repeated commercial consumption and it sounds like this: “If you can’t afford said goods or services that’s your fault.  Americans (insert flag waving background here) have a responsibility to turn a profit at all costs and if you can’t live with that then just go fucking die already.”  The true root of this mentality isn’t even about monetary profit/the economy.  It’s about power.  Restricting access to health care, education, information, food, water, and living facilities are all effective ways for those who have the power to remain in power while restricting access to power from everyone else.  If they can get you to spend your whole life in constant terror of losing what little you think you have then you will never organize so that everyone can have more.    

It’s funny to me how they continue to pull this trick off.  They use anecdotes about this individual or that individual who at one time, supposedly, ripped off a system in which all people had access to necessary goods and services.  They then say that no one can have access if they don’t pay or everyone rips off the system and it collapses.  I say if the system is that easy to collapse then it is a flawed system and should be replaced.  The other side of the same coin.  They parade around a lifestyle of the rich and powerful and tell you that if you are careful not to upset the system you could one day be one of those people.  That is complete bullshit, yet they again use a narrative that all of those who have money and power now, at one time didn’t, so that means you have a chance of getting it too.  Just don’t rock the boat.  Take personal responsibility for not having money and power and someday you just might.  That is complete bullshit.

This truth this they shouldn’t have such concentrated access to that much wealth or power.  No one should.  It should be in the hands of the people, with many checks and balances in place to assure that it does not fall into the hands of the few.  The truth is that systems that concentrate wealth and power also collapse.  They always have, always will.  The problem being that when that system collapses it comes at the cost of the lives and welfare of millions. 

The few Haves know that if even a third of the Have-Nots would organize together their power would wane until it was inconsequential.  To smash such efforts of organization the Haves use the bludgeon of personal responsibility.  Personal responsibility is a fucking myth.  We didn’t get here of our own devices and we don’t exist or flourish on our own.  The closest example modern society has to the effects of real personal responsibility is solitary confinement.  Anyone who has seen solitary confinement, as I have, or experienced it, know that it not only destroys the physical body but also the soul and mind of anyone subjected to it. 

Humans were not made to exist or thrive on their own.  No matter what fairy tales you believe, even Adam was going crazy in the paradise of the Garden of Eden until he was given some human company. 

Do we make mistakes? Yes, of course we do, but we don’t make them as isolated individuals devoid of context or extenuating circumstances.  We make them together and as a result the solutions do not come from us just accepting personal responsibility.  The solutions are rooted in the group effort that occurs when we realize that we do not exist and cannot exist or act alone.  When come together all the problems of life will not go away but we will find that they are not compounded the way they currently are with this personal responsibility bludgeon. 

So, my “therapist” asked if I was not forced by the state to take “personal responsibility” for my so-called alcohol addition/problem, which in America is defined by Prohibition era standards of abstinence only, how would I have gotten “help?”  I responded that there are several other ways to deal with this, and many other issues, that are empathy building as opposed to isolation intensifying.  Examples include models such as Victim Offender Reconciliation Programs in which, instead of being forced once a week to watch bad propaganda videos from the 1980’s with a bunch of strangers who I never see again while drinking reheated bad coffee, I would actually sit down with the members of my community who I interact with and discuss with them the effects my drinking has on their and my life from their prospective.  I could also share my thoughts and feelings with them.  This is much more effective because I see and interact with these people daily and will continue to do so. 

This type of program increases empathy and tends to move away from extremely harsh and Kafkaesque punishments and penalties.  It also increases the accountability for all parties who are effected.

The “therapist” wanted to know if this is so effective why isn’t it being implemented?  That was the easiest question to answer.  Because this sort of a program is not conducive to turning a profit.  It requires all the participants to be volunteers and the mediator is paid for by the state. 

The bludgeon of personal responsibility, however, is extremely easy to leverage for a profit.  The individual is forced by the state to accept the state’s definition of rehabilitation and then must do so on the state’s terms.  Which are paying fines, paying for “treatment”, paying for classes, paying for the “opportunity” to do community service, paying for sobriety monitoring, paying for assessments, etc.  These services have been lobbied for at the local and national level by companies that then step in to provide the “service” in place of the state.  These corporations are then invested in keeping individuals in the system for their profit, which they hide under the guise of “safety of the community.”

               Let me ask you this, does anyone really believe that any community becomes safer as more and more of its individuals feel more internally focused, isolated, stressed, and trapped?  The answer is no.  But it does turn a profit!  So all you have-Lesses keep swinging that bludgeon of personal responsibility into your own skull and do as you’re told, because that’s your responsibility!      

Jesus takes a stance on Slut-shaming

I have said it from the pulpit and I shall say it again, I, like Jesus Christ, have never had a disparaging word to say about a slut.  Many people seem to have taken issue with this statement so It’s time we look to our biblical text to see the holy truth of this statement. 

                Our first example comes from John 8:1-11. “And the givers of the law and the Pharisees brought before Jesus a woman caught in the act of being a slut.  They said to Jesus, this woman is a slut and the law says that she must be stoned.  When Jesus realized they weren’t talking about taking bong rips, Jesus said unto them, ‘He here who does not like to get a piece of ass should chuck the first rock.’” The sacred and infallible weather report of that day states clearly that the air was rock free.  Then Jesus said to the woman, “Who here has condemned you? No one, she replied.  I didn’t think so, said Jesus.  You have any plans for later? You’re welcome to come over to my place for some Netflix and water.”  Then Jesus and I lived happily ever after, or at least that’s how I remember it.  

Dependable President Trump

There has been several news stories lately about the amount of extra money that has gone into the travel budget for President Trump.  In the spirit of the ole cloak and dagger, black ops mentality, that permeates the Trump presidency.  They have refused to disclose what all this extra money is being sent on.  However, here at the Wrong Hole Blog we have insider sources extremely close to the President himself, i.e., nursing staff who have leaked to us the exact nature of these extra expenses.

                As we all know President Trump is the oldest elected president in the history or the U.S., and even though he claims a fortune of billions, he cannot escape the slow and embarrassing march to the grave.  This includes his loss of bowel control.  Now this happens to lots of people as a natural part of the aging process and is nothing to be ashamed of, but in classic Trump brand style the President has really went over the top when it comes to taking care of this need. And this is where the added expense comes in.

                President Trump must have his Depends Adult diapers made to order for the Midas addicted Real Estate mogul.  All of his diapers come in the color gold but that is just the beginning.  He has the elastic waist band embossed with the Presidential Seal and then each separate pair is hand crafted with the wording of his choice. 

                Some of Trump’s favorite decals for the back panel of his diapers include the first amendment to the constitution: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”  These are usually his early morning diapers, the ones he wears while tweeting at 3am.  They are not his only custom style.  He also has different pairs that include the 3rd through the 10th amendments.  Our sources also say that on April 15th he exclusively wore the diapers with the 16th amendment on them.   We have also been told that he ordered his staff to have his next order of Depends include the Declaration of Independence, and many parts of the Constitution.

                The front panel of all his custom Depends are the same.  Just pictures of naked, under-age Russian prostitutes.  With a prostrate his size (It’s Yuge), he needs to use anything that helps him be able to go. 

                Now if we could just find a way that was as effective at containing the shit coming out of his mouth, the entire world would be a much safer place.  

TRUMP'S REVERSES REAGAN'S LEGACY

American Military Coup of 2017

“Right now we have an armada heading toward North Korea,” President Trump.  This statement by the current Commander In Chief was proven to be the opposite of true.  The armada in question was sailing away from North Korea.  This is actually a big deal.  All of the regular sources of American/World continuous advertising tried to make the case that this was just a gaffe.  There was even some discussion about this being a communication mix-up, or a statement that was true, just not when he said it.

                What was never once mentioned, as is corporate media policy, was the truth.  This was blatant proof of the successful military coup that has taken place in this country.  Let us consider the facts; the POTUS is the Commander-In-Chief of all American military operations.  This means that if he makes a statement about what the military is doing it better damn well be happening.  The military, American or otherwise, demands a rigid structure of chain of command that is to be followed unquestionably and to the letter of its orders.  For a member of the military to do otherwise is misconduct and if that soldier were to do the exact opposite of his order it would be an offense for which he would find him/herself, minus Toto, but very much in Leavenworth, Kansas.  Probably occupying Michael Vick’s old cell.  Yet this did not happen.

                When it was brought to the public’s attention that there was no armada sailing toward North Korea, and that the ships in question were actually sailing in the opposite direction only the President was said to be in the wrong.  The President’s public relations staff scrambled to provide an explanation of how the President was making an accurate statement.  Most of their explanations ran along the Magellan line of thinking, i.e. the ships were going to North Korea but they were circumnavigating the earth to get there.  Or, even less believable, they were sailing to North Korea by the usual maritime route of sailing around Australia first.  All woke folk know this is complete bullshit.

                The implications of a direct order from the Commander-In-Chief being defied in such an obvious manner have served to turn Trump from the President of the United States in the Parrot of the United States Military.  Hence, vis-a-vi, ergo, a successful military coup has taken place.  This direct and publicly acknowledged violation of a direct order is not the only proof that the military controls this once sovereign nation.  The fact that Trump’s often stated, and seemingly only attainable goal, is to increase military spending should have been seen as another white flag of surrender by civilian power. 

                This creep of insidious military control in our society has been going on for quite some time.  The undemocratic election of Parrot Trump is the culmination point of what has been a several decades long process.  The military’s momentum gaining power play was to convince the American people to declare a War On Drugs.  This came during height of the most recent age of American civilian protest against unwarranted and excessive military power.  Those profiting off of military operations realized that they could no longer openly engage against sovereign nation states with the compliance or complacence of the American public.  As a result they changed strategies.  They began classifying their military targets as consumable natural products, i.e. some drugs.  This lead to the creation of the paramilitary branch of government operating openly on American soil, the DEA. 

                Once the American public began to read about and see on TV, these military operations on American soil, and they accepted them unquestionably, in fact, encouraging them.  The military began to take its next step to militarize the law enforcement branches on the federal, state, and local level.  Any protest against this was silenced by the notion that this militarization of public services was necessary to win the war against inanimate, consumable objects, aka some drugs.

                The military did not have to change the time tested propaganda in order to gain support for this war.  They drew the battle lines as always and said ‘you are either with us or you are with the drugs!’  The well-oiled propaganda machine that has been up and running since the Second Great American Power Grab, continued to run as smoothly as ever.  In order to increase the fear needed to gain compliance from the general public, sensationalized horror stories became the common fodder of the news feeds.  Fear mongering, ambiguous claims about the stated enemy of this war were required reading in the public education systems.  As always, youth groups were organized to lead the fight for the hearts and minds of the people.  All the while being used as human child shields against any critique of the war effort.  This program was so successful that every public and private institution threw its full support into the war effort in hopes of getting a ticket aboard the money train.    

                Efforts to show the patriotism of the aforementioned institutions included, but was not limited to, the creation of drug free school and work zones.  This was a blatant lie, drugs were readily available in these places, but never free.  Mandatory drug testing for students, athletes and wage slaves became common and accepted practice.  The legal system, taking its cues from their military master’s, took full advantage of this war, and the profits came rolling in.  Profits, not only monetary, but also in the form of a lever of control to return semi-free citizens to their former position of absolute slaves.  Social and economic mobility became more and more restricted, while the marketing companies, as obedient entrepreneurs, sold simultaneously, the lure of glamourous disobedience and the false sense of security of blind obedience to all unwitting participants caught in this fabricated struggle. 

                The real military genius of this war wasn’t the age-old techniques applied to wage it, but rather the way in which it was declared.  By declaring a war whose battle lines are drawn by arbitrary economic restrictions of long used consumable goods, those waging it could keep the fighting going for the foreseeable future.  This is due to the fact that the enemy in this case cannot surrender.  Not unconditionally or otherwise.  An inanimate object, that is a naturally occurring plant in many cases, perpetuates the war simply by its very existence. 

                IT has taken well over 50 years, but the American citizens have begun to recognize the arbitrary nature of the battle lines in this conflict and have begun to challenge the long-established demarcation lines of the war zone.  In the future the war on drugs will come to an end.  Not because those waging it will be able to claim victory.  They never intended for there to be a victory.  The goal was endless and exponentially profitable warfare. 

                The military industrial complex saw that this war could possibly have an endpoint so they made sure to start another one.  This one will be much harder to ever end because it is a war on a feeling.  The feeling of terror.  The battle lines of this conflict are not only arbitrary they are also fluid.  Today’s terrorist will be tomorrow’s ally.  Anyone can and will be denounced as a terrorist on any grounds.  And anyone who stops being terrified will be called unpatriotic and moved automatically into the classification of a terrorist.  The same, you are with us no matter what we say or do, or you are an enemy combatant, black and white thinking, is being employed to wage this war. 

                This, no end in sight, ever expanding war, was giving a golden egg laying bird in the form of Parrot Trump.  He is Commander-In-Chief in name only.  He repeats was is told to him and he pushes for expanding the war on every front as he has been instructed.  This is what a military coup, stated or not, looks like.  Everyone born in the U.S, since 1970 has been born into a war-torn country.  Now that the military is firmly and unquestionably in control, this status will be expanded to include everyone on this planet. 

                The only way to stop the fighting is to stop the feeling.  If, we the people, want this conflict to end we must actively not engage in it.  This starts by looking in the mirror and not fearing what you see.  This comes from embracing the mortality of all things, including feelings, ideas, and power structures.  Only together, with concentrated and determined, mass disengagement from the front lines of this conflict we can force a surrender by those who profit from this conflict.  If we together change the definition of what is profitable, those to whom profit is sacred, will follow us instead of the other way around.  

Immortal Advertising

She asked me what I thought the future would be like and I answered her honestly.

We will live in a society where there will be no more advertising. 

No more advertising?

That’s right.  Once advertising reaches it complete saturation point society, as a whole, will revolt against it and it will be outlawed, completely.  

How will we know when advertising has reached its complete saturation point? 

When you go to pay your respects to your deceased loved ones and there is a scrolling screen on the headstone that reads as follows:

Bill-May 6^th, 1957 to April 30^th, 2017.  Bill was a veteran of The War on Drugs, The War on Poverty, The War on Christmas, and the Terrorist Wars.  He was a brave soldier who died with an honorable credit score of 775.  Bill passed on his soul-crushing debt burden to his wife Jessica and their three, double mortgaged, debt consolidated children.  Did you like Bill?  Then you may also like Ashley, Susan, Charles, or Nathan.  This headstone is eco-friendly and you should be too.  Please recycle, Bill’s friends.  This message was brought to you by McWallyHAlXon Corp.  Visit our website at www.gooapplezon.com or like our FaceBook page www.facebook.com/Profitissacred Thank you for grieving with McWallyHalXon, proud sponsor of the White House.  Bill ask that you remember him in the most patriotic way possible, by taking a moment to repeat aloud and reflect on our national motto, “You can never outspend someone else’s money, that’s the governments job!”  This message has been approved by Divide & Conquer Defense Contractors Inc.  Please take time to rate this grieving app. Then a choice of the appropriate emoticons will appear on the touch screen for you to choose from (eggplant, fuzzy peach, upside down disappointed cat face, and bigger blacker middle finger)