Public relations, advertising, and our government is now using some of the
methods formerly only used to influence people in other countries on its own
citizens. People are easily manipulated. The folks who do this have studied
psychology and language and are using what they learned as weapons of
control. By the way, I think those Seattle teachers were also making
educational demands as well as financial demands.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Sunday, October 04, 2015 9:18 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Mental illness or terrorism?
Exactly so, Roger. As you have pointed out so many times, words have real
power.
Following my recent medical procedure, an ablation of the heart, a friend
dropped by and commented that I was looking alert in a very relaxed way. I
took it as an attempt to let me know that I was looking much improved.
After he took off, I turned to Cathy and beamed. "I'm a fast healer.
Sturdy Pioneer stock does it." Cathy said, "Alert in a relaxed way?
You have your pants unbuckled and your zipper down, and your hair looks like
a herd of ducks slept there all night."
Suddenly I had lost that feeling of well-being and told Cathy, "Think I'll
hobble to bed and take a nap".
Whether we admit it or not, we subconsciously respond to words. Some words
have broad definitions and can be used to guide our thinking.
Some words have very different meanings for each of us, and must be used
carefully in order to be effective. Often the first verbal impression sets
a tone that is hard to overcome. A local TV reporter put it this way. "Are
Seattle teachers putting their own demands ahead of their students well
being? As teachers turn their backs on their duties, harried parents
scramble to find safe care for their children."
No one said the teachers had no right in demanding a decent wage, but I had
the impression of a bunch of hard faced men and women turning away from
little children who are weeping and begging to be taught.
And how many of us have been one of those harried parents? I put in my time
as a single parent.
Each of us responds to this news item from our own experiences. But most of
us will be feeling empathy for the harried parents and worried over the
safety of the children. The teachers become just a bit more removed from
our sympathies. And yet, many of these teachers are parents. Some are
single parents. They are struggling to provide for their children, too.
But by the words chosen, and the emphasis placed on the harried parents and
the children's safety, these teachers become "things" rather than equal
members of the community.
Frankly, we have been conditioned on how to receive information.
Until we decide that it is our responsibility to think about what is being
fed us, and why, we will go along, being tugged this way and that without
ever understanding that we are being played like puppets on a string.
Carl Jarvis
On 10/4/15, Roger Loran Bailey <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Have you ever noticed that when one of these mass shootings is
perpetrated by a white guy it is always explained as mental illness
and when the perpetrator is anyone else it is terrorism?