‘Have We Become A Nation of Lemmings?’
by Thomas D. Segel (2/17/09)
Harlingen, Texas, February 16, 2009: When we reflect about the Lemming, if we have occasion to dwell on this animal at all, it brings to mind a dull, unthinking rodent who subjects his well to the first of his kind in line. The Lemming mirrors the actions of his leader and mimes the leader’s movements, sometimes to his own detriment or destruction.
Has America become a nation of Lemmings? There is much evidence pointing in that direction. We have become a people with no clue as to what is transpiring in the world around us.
We have become a nation of whiners. We whine about health care, taxes, gas prices, food prices, our jobs and crime on the street. We whine about our local leaders, our school boards, Congress and the White House. But, while all this whining is taking place, how many of us take the time to educate ourselves on the issues or individuals who directly impact our lives? The answer to that one is…very few people even attempt to seek out the root causes of those things, which create distress in our lives.
The Lemming accepts his reality as being the same as the reality that is taking place all around him. He is not capable of understanding that we have been manipulated from such an early age that most of us are no longer able to see past the system that brainwashed us into such group acceptance.
The Lemmings among us refuse to understand that our government is intent upon keeping all of us completely in the dark. The use of a monopoly educational system, an obedient media and a strong government propaganda machine directed at all but the political elite has made it almost impossible for the Lemmings of America to develop an informed opinion on any significant issue.
A brash statement you say? Well think about these little publicized facts.
In any number of international tests American students are continuously outscored by Asian nations such as South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore and even Hong Kong. With European nations, the Americans find themselves scoring around 15th to 18th among some 24 nations taking these educational tests.
We try to explain away our poor performance by saying we need more money in the system, or smaller class sizes. However, looking at other countries we find that they spend far less money on education and most have even larger classes. The real answer could reside in the fact our educational system is a government monopoly that is designed to keep us all in the same mindset as that of an abused housewife who takes no corrective action because she knows the head of the household understands things far better than she…and has her best interests at heart. The Lemmings among us allow those in government to tell them how things should be and accept what the government has decided is education.
These same Lemmings, in their group-think mentality, believe just about everything they see on television or read in the daily newspaper, despite huge disclosures that the media has given up its adversarial role and accepted a position as spokesman for government pronouncements.
If you argue with this observation, think about what you hear or read in American news reports compared to what is said in Great Britain or Japan. Those countries, with a critical and adversarial media, are much stronger at holding their government’s feet to the fire.
But, if you are the average American Lemming, you don’t know what is taking place in other countries and lack an international vision. Readership of news oriented articles is in steady decline. The American popular culture keeps its focus on the trivial, and only a sprinkling of our citizenry are informed on worldwide events. A full 70% of the American population never leaves the boundaries of the United States.
The propaganda and advertising moguls of our country also realize that the best appeals they can make are to our base desires. Thus, education is never promoted, as a primary objective young people should seek. Excellence is made to sound geeky. Competition is maligned. Satisfying personal wants or desires becomes a lifelong objective.
You think not? Perhaps you haven’t heard we have one of the highest crime rates in the world. Doesn’t that come from trying to satisfy desires? How about obesity? We have become Super Fat America. Is that not giving in to our wants and accepting them as needs?
In a nutshell, Lemmings refuse to think for themselves, like to be spoon-fed everything, refuse to strive for excellence, fail to search out the truth, deny they should be informed about the world they live in and are sure that Nanny Government will supply all their needs. Have we become a nation of Lemmings? You will need to search out the correct answer to that question.
But, as Edward R. Murrow once said, “The obscure we see eventually. The completely obvious, it seems, takes longer.”
Semper Fidelis,
Thomas D. Segel
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