I was recently speaking with a friend of mine about the state of our country. I began to enter into my trademark 'Dubya bashing routine' when he said to me simply: Hey, love it or leave it.

Now, i was raised in what i thought was a normal fashion, and up until the time that I was able to think for myself, I thought that the government was great, and that they looked out for everyone. Obviously i had the wool pulled over my eyes.

And now that I think about it, I wonder what went wrong. How did all of this start? Why has the government chosen to hide so many things from us? the answer has to be that something changed the way that the people in power looked at us. Could it be that what we know as our government is merely a puppet for some 'Shadow Government'?

Here's my take. After so many years of being lied to by people whom they thought were trustworthy, the American people have now gone comatose to what is really going on in the world. I read an article on this web site back at the beginning of the war on Iraq that said the US had used Cluster bomblets to wage war. Those are some of the worst things to subject a human being to, and yet, if a quasi-retarded man whom won the election in 2000 waves an American flag around, It's okay. Why is that? I am convinced that if in 5 hours, President Bush dropped a Nuclear bomb on the state of Hawaii, he could explain it away by holding a flag and saying "The Economy is Strong". IT'S TIME TO WAKE UP PEOPLE!!

--Thoughts?

I am beginning to believe more in the possibility of a shadow government that exists to further it's own agenda, whatever that may be. Some proof for me is how well a job "conspiracy theorists" have been labeled as loons by the mainstream media and belief. Anything out of the norm is usually laughed at as mere conjecture...

Loki

You have described several problematic trends and I don't think you are at all inaccurate.

* systematic desensitization
* heavy news censorship
* blind patriotism (even labeling the worst stripping of your freedoms in US history the 'Patriot Act')
* bombardment of fear & loathing propaganda

Peer pressure to shut up and conform is one result of this that you feel.

Most of the people at ATS are awake but feel powerless to do anything. Many would claim awareness of what you say, and finish with "there's nothing we can do, it's useless, it will always be the same".

After waking up, what do you suggest people ought to do?

While the thought of organized revolution has crossed my mind, at this point it's probably impossible. However, if the American people should decide to wake up, they would be shocked and appalled at how they had been decieved for so many years. I think that that alone would get the ball rolling toward reform. To answer your question, I think that should a large enought percentage of the country realize what is going on and 'Wake Up' the next step would be to oust the powers that be, as unlikeley as that actually is. The downside to that is that, as i said before is extremely unlikely, as the American people would most likely revolt without organization, like a riot.
That being said, I think that the government could eventually destroy itself. I think everyone should invest some cash in a PC game called Deus EX. Pretty Wild Stuff.