The Ends and the Means
How can we figure out who to trust? How do we know who is telling the truth and who is lying? How do we know who is helping the efforts for truth and justice and who is instead harming such efforts?
Well, one important test is to look at the PROCESS people are using. In other words, forget for a minute what someone is saying. Instead, focus on how they are doing things.
Indeed, President George W. Bush has said many beautiful things about democracy and security, values and principals, freedom and liberty. But what has he actually done? Hasn't he actually acted by using a process which is authoritarian, destructive of innocent lives, freedoms, liberties, American values and human dignity?
As another example, in the 9/11 truth movement, the following are some red flags that someone is not acting in the best interests of truth and justice:
- Spending more time attacking members WITHIN the truth movement than attempting to bring the perpetrators of the horrific 9/11 attacks to justice
- Working in "gangs" to attack 9/11 truthers with false claims, making it seem like many people believe the false accusations being made about those working for 9/11 truth
- Placing their need for attention, power or fame above being a member of a team working for truth and justice
- Threatening the use of force, whether physical, legal or otherwise, against everyone who disagrees with his or her viewpoint
- Focusing more energy disrupting discussion and action than moving the ball forward
- Mischaracterizing silence in the face of a false accusation as an admission, when silence might be due to the crazy nature of the accusation or experience that the accuser will simply make up new, false accusations when confronted with the truth concerning the original accusation
Talk is cheap. As alot of people have said, you'll learn alot more about people by watching what they're actually doing and the "fruits" they are producing than their words.
And as Emerson said, "Who you are speaks so loudly that I can't hear what you're saying".
Talk is cheap, and there are many clever tongues. Moreover, we all have blind spots, and if we use a corrupt process to achieve noble goals, we are no better than President Bush.
We all have to get better at judging people by their actions and their fruits, their process and who they are. Because even while we are fighting for heroic and noble goals, we will become as bad as those we are fighting if we adopt an "ends justify the means" mentality. Because when the ends justify the means, the new boss will be just like the old boss.
Don't believe me? Then I've got one follow-up question for you: Didn't those who carried out the 9/11 attacks believe that the ends justify the means?
Well, one important test is to look at the PROCESS people are using. In other words, forget for a minute what someone is saying. Instead, focus on how they are doing things.
Indeed, President George W. Bush has said many beautiful things about democracy and security, values and principals, freedom and liberty. But what has he actually done? Hasn't he actually acted by using a process which is authoritarian, destructive of innocent lives, freedoms, liberties, American values and human dignity?
As another example, in the 9/11 truth movement, the following are some red flags that someone is not acting in the best interests of truth and justice:
- Spending more time attacking members WITHIN the truth movement than attempting to bring the perpetrators of the horrific 9/11 attacks to justice
- Working in "gangs" to attack 9/11 truthers with false claims, making it seem like many people believe the false accusations being made about those working for 9/11 truth
- Placing their need for attention, power or fame above being a member of a team working for truth and justice
- Threatening the use of force, whether physical, legal or otherwise, against everyone who disagrees with his or her viewpoint
- Focusing more energy disrupting discussion and action than moving the ball forward
- Mischaracterizing silence in the face of a false accusation as an admission, when silence might be due to the crazy nature of the accusation or experience that the accuser will simply make up new, false accusations when confronted with the truth concerning the original accusation
Talk is cheap. As alot of people have said, you'll learn alot more about people by watching what they're actually doing and the "fruits" they are producing than their words.
And as Emerson said, "Who you are speaks so loudly that I can't hear what you're saying".
Talk is cheap, and there are many clever tongues. Moreover, we all have blind spots, and if we use a corrupt process to achieve noble goals, we are no better than President Bush.
We all have to get better at judging people by their actions and their fruits, their process and who they are. Because even while we are fighting for heroic and noble goals, we will become as bad as those we are fighting if we adopt an "ends justify the means" mentality. Because when the ends justify the means, the new boss will be just like the old boss.
Don't believe me? Then I've got one follow-up question for you: Didn't those who carried out the 9/11 attacks believe that the ends justify the means?
6 Comments:
by their deeds, shall ye know them...
Every 911 topic linked from WRH that allows unmoderated comments includes a rant promoting "America Deceived."
Since this book apparently promotes 2nd law of thermodynamics violating "free energy," has not been dropped, and has not been made available free online for the benfit of mankind, I long ago came to the conclusion that the person posting these screeds does not have a benevolent agenda.
Thank you. That is what I keep telling people. I have contacted many people trying to get them to work together with others and usually get an "eh..." type of response. We need to work together and put truth and the fundamental individual right of freedom above all else.
Examines the media's role in the 911 attacks and their collusion with the military in leading us to war. Has lots of taboo subjects like fake TV news clips.
The media aren't lazy, they're in on it!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-696990552796252094&hl=en
Right on, George. Sander Hicks said something similar in our interview:
"I like the way Ruppert is always quoting a certain section of the New Testament: "by their fruits you shall know them." If anyone calls me a "limited hangout" or a "left gatekeeper" it's usually people who haven't read my book. Eat the fruit!"
People would be more willing to adopt the views of 911 Truth activists if they felt they were calling for forgiveness rather than retribution and punishment.
The peace movement should call for granting amnesty from prosecution and guarantee of an ample, lifetime pension to anyone who agrees to testify on their roles in the events of 9/11, extending this offer to any members of the US government, foreign governments and/or terrorist groups involved in the planning or execution of the attacks of that day.
Additionally, individuals should step forward and volunteer to spend time working with those who give testimony on crimes they have committed so that they might be reintegrated into society.
Instead of executing Nazi war criminals we should have devoted all the human resources available to us to rehabilitating them, awakening in them awareness of the nature of their actions so that they could have come to understand that they must make amends. If they had remained alive they would have been a living testament to the transformative powers of forgiveness.
Historians and psychologists especially should come out in favor of preserving invaluable study material in the form of the opportunity to converse with the authors of unfortunate historical deeds.
We must express sympathy and compassion for Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld et al. The life of the average assembly line and office worker is infinitely richer than lives wasted in the vain pursuit of complete power over others. Such people live in constant fear. They cannot love and are not capable of accepting love from others.
The police would look (and likely feel) like fools if they arrested a crowd of people for carrying signs reading: "I Forgive You, George Bush, for 9/11 and the Wars".
We must find a solution to the existing state of affairs that would be acceptable to both the accusers and the accused. It should solve the problem it sets out to solve without creating additional problems. It should present itself as an ethical means to an ethical end.
ONLY SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION...
This idea does not depend on the media for its dissemination. If you can convince six friends of the merit of the idea and get them to tell six of their own friends tomorrow, each of whom tells six of their friends the next day, and so on, then the idea will reach every person in the world in two weeks (do the math), by word of mouth alone.
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