Control: "If I can stop you from thinking..."

Yesterday, I was at the restaurant talking to “old money” before we went to watch Kobe’s return at the Staples. (Yes, I’m bragging a little bit about the game lol, but bad result though). I say “old money” because he has been in the game for years as a businessman and entrepreneur and has been a newfound mentor to me. At the table, alongside another friend of mine, we were talking government, big business and unions and I learned a long time ago that when you start talking politics and money, the best thing that you can do is listen. So, that is what I did.

I learned some very valuable information, heard some interesting stories and gained some intriguing insight. But the nugget that I took from the whole dinner was when I heard “if I can stop you from thinking, then I control you.”

That was all that I needed to hear. That is why Mindset: Awareness and Action was so important for me to write.

Control is to render someone powerless, and the powerful tool that we possess is not weapons or money, or fame. It is our power to think. To control our ability to think is like having a vice grip on our lives.

I notice that the innovations and inventions of many corporations are to simplify things to make our lives easier, but when we take a step back and analyze what is really going on can we conclude that these are, solely, altruistic acts to better our lives? There becomes a fine line because in actuality, making something more simplistic and easier is a control mechanism that in actuality controls our lives.

When we are not tested, we become dependent. If we don’t learn how to cook, we become dependent on fast food establishments and restaurants. When we do not learn how to change a tire, we become dependent on the auto mechanic. If we don’t learn how to navigate, we become dependent on GPS. So in the end what is the price we pay for convenience? It’s control. If they stop us from thinking, they control us. It is as if we are allowing ourselves to wear a training collar to tell us how to react, where to go and what to do.

I was informed about a man by the name of Edward Bernays, dubbed the “father of public relations”, by another mentor of mine, and began to understand the true power of manipulation. Touch a specific part of a person’s “need” and they can easily become your subject. That is what we have become as a society; a subject to the manipulation and persuasion of those that hold the key.

Think about this, “if I can stop you from thinking, then I control you.” When you think, when you have an opinion or when have something to say it causes conflict. It causes change. Our communities don’t change because the people within are not thinking. We are being controlled and in essence we are losing our freedom.

 

God Bless