This is going to be much too wordy, probably, for many of you.
No worries. Just click yourselves out of here. My reactions, upon seeing certain Entrepreneur photos, have both fascinated and really troubled me
as I've reflected on the reasons for -- and the implications of --those reactions,
and I'm wondering if anybody else here has experienced anything similar.
What I'm talking about is how I, a supposedly relatively bright, thoughtful and highly"educated" individual,
for all I know about propaganda, mind manipulation, the incredible power of the media to affect and to influence, about
government chicanery and dirty tricks and its no-holds-barred campaigns to sway the populace
in whichever ways it seeks to sway us, and
the absolute and total unreasonableness and unfairness of profiling/typing individuals
based on looks... and/or on cultural background...
in spite of all I know about things like that,
incredibly, I still occasionally experience a "pause", a hesitation, a wondering,
when I see pictures of certain individuals, who have a "certain look,"
particularly when I see they're from certain countries.
Not super often, but every once in awhile,
I've noticed how, even merely looking at certain Entrepreneur photos,
I've had to intentionally, mindfully fight off
the seemingly reflexive, totally unwanted thoughts that first come to my mind.
And I've thought to myself
how insidious it all is--
how easily we all can be manipulated,
especially when you toss a little fear into the equation.
It's made me think about the origins of prejudice, about
the phenomenal effectiveness and destructiveness of name-calling, of branding and depersonalizing and
making less than human individuals
merely by crowding them under umbrella terms like "terrorists"
*, "illegal aliens," the "N-word," "the defendant," etc.
It's completely subjective and way way beyond irrational.
But I find it really really scary to realize how maybe none of us is impervious
to the influence of the onslaught of persuasion and propaganda by government and media and television, and
by movie, music, and video game programming.
With how much fear and intolerance and an "us against them" mentality
there seems to be prevailing in the world, these days,
it just seemed worth calling some attention
to the potential there may be in all of us to getting "sucked in" by it all,
and suggesting that maybe all of us need to be vigilant, mindful and careful
that we don't get manipulated, in spite of ourselves.
* Some of you may have already heard the
(for me, really thought-provoking) saying
that
One Country's Terrorists Are Another Country's Freedom Fighters.
