An Act of Pure Evil

Guest Post by Cognitive Dissonance

When I selected the name of my avatar here on Zero Hedge and began posting comments, then articles when I became a contributing editor, there was deliberate and conscious intent on my part to disturb the cognitive dissonance of the herd. Rarely do we personally grow unless sufficiently prodded with a poker. 

My intent with this article is NOT to stick a finger in the wound and cause more pain. Not in the least. But “We the People” have an extremely complex, some might say insane, relationship with murder/death/kill. To put it bluntly, we have been deeply conditioned to believe certain ‘types’ of killing are just and righteous, therefore ‘legal’. More importantly, we believe that just about the only righteous killing can, and must, be conducted by the state and its duly appointed apparatchiks.

To be even more blunt….that’s screwed up. This article illuminates both the state’s, and our, hypocrisy.

WARNING!! Trigger alert. Do NOT read this if you wish to remain comfortable with your belief systems.

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This is being written the day after the mass shooting in Las Vegas and it in no way diminishes the horror and suffering experienced by all involved. I cannot imagine what it was like to be watching an outdoor concert and suddenly find myself under fire with nowhere to run and no place to hide.

It was truly horrific, senseless and so very sad. Or as President Trump declared in his morning after address to the nation, this was “an act of pure evil”.

There is no doubt over the ensuing days, weeks and months millions of words will be spoken and written about this singular act of violence perpetrated upon an unaware and unprepared crowd of dessert revelers. From arm chair psychologists such as this author to so called ‘experts’, we will be bombarded with one part insight to every hundred parts nonsense.

No doubt the nonsense will prevail.

I suspect some readers will not take kindly to me going off script so soon after what is being billed as a national tragedy. In my defense, the difference between me and your average sociopath politician is I am attempting to empower the reader by expanding our minds while they are trying to dis-empower the reader via carefully crafted propaganda and cognitive manipulation.

They want you to refasten your blinders while I wish to tear them off.

I absolutely guarantee you nearly every single political leader and wannabe is thinking only one thought at this precise moment. How can I use this situation to my political advantage? You cannot participate in modern day politics and not think in this manner, regardless of how good and honest you might claim to be.

When you swim in the swamp, you employ the same techniques and thought processes as all the other swamp dwellers. At best it is an occupational hazard, at worst an all consuming disease. Unfortunately very few escape with their morals and dignity intact and none succeed in draining, or even changing the flow of the fetid swamp waters.

But this isn’t the purpose of this screed at all. Either we fully recognize, and are repulsed by, the nature of the swamp and those who dwell within while taking concrete and purposeful steps to distance ourselves as much as possible from all that the swamp encompasses. Or we have learned to mostly ignore it, live with it, benefit from it or directly participate in it.

I tell myself I’m somewhere in-between, but that just might be my ego talking.

There are no innocents, only collaterally damaged individuals. But there are plenty who declare ourselves innocent, claiming the Sergeant Schultz defense of “I see nothing, I know nothing and I wasn’t even (t)here”.

I do not dispute the fact that planning and preparing for, and then carrying out, an act of mass murder and mayhem is indefensible and inexcusable. I assume the reader feels the same way I do, that the person who perpetuated this bloodshed with forethought and malice was mentally deranged and possibly even ‘evil’, regardless of the details of motive and method.

Where we might depart the same path is in how we characterize mentally deranged as defined by a nearly equally mentally deranged society. What, exactly, is the difference between a ‘crazy’ individual shooting from the 32nd floor of a hotel into a large crowd of people with conscious intent to kill and a nation’s military lobbing cruise missiles or dropping bombs onto an opposing nation’s population centers, occupied hospitals or upon other so called ‘innocents’ with the same conscious intent to kill?

Now I am absolutely positive the reader’s mind is racing through the thousand and one excuses, reasons and rationalizations we have been programmed with, and conditioned to believe and repeat, in order to justify homicide, murder really, to ourselves and to our peers in the name of ‘war’.

I get it. I understand. I am the product of the same conditioning and propaganda everyone else has been exposed to. But the question remains entirely reasonable and relevant. How is homicide by the state any different than homicide by an individual, whether on a mass or individual basis?

Once we begin to delve into this thorny issue, the next question is why do “We the People” support one homicidal entity while vigorously condemning the other?

Ever notice how violence conducted in an ‘offensive’ manner is decried as wrong and ‘illegal’, evil even, while violence employed purely in defense of yourself and those around you is accepted as reasonable and justified? After all, civilized people know there are rules to follow when conducting war. You can’t have people just killing and maiming each other willy-nilly with no rules, now can you?

This is precisely why all nations frame war, before, during and after, as unavoidable and defensive in nature. And it’s also the reason why nations routinely engage in false flag operations in order to create plausible deniability and justification for homicide in order to gain, consolidate or hold on to power, wealth and control.

I can drop 1,000 pound bombs on your head or direct a cruise missile through your kitchen window, but I can’t use poison gas, exploding bullets or other such ‘illegal’ methods of particularly gruesome homicide. As if being blown into bits and pieces by a bomb or missile isn’t particularly gruesome or horrifying.

The fact remains we can rationalize away anything we wish to justify, first as individuals and then as a herd, by simply framing the discussion in ways that fit already programmed terms and conditions that justify our actions. Helpfully (thankfully, for we as ‘moral’ individuals might balk at doing so) the programming is already determined, then promoted and placed via state sponsored education and later via the deeply influenced, if not outright controlled, state propaganda arm called mainstream media.

All that remains is for us to not only accept it, but endlessly repeat it back to others, the ultimate positive feedback loop of group-think that reinforces both our conditioning and the continuing acceptance of our conditioning. The base message is usually not that sophisticated, enabling infinite modification by each individual so that state sponsored homicide is not only acceptable, but in many situations desirable and even necessary.

Once we are able to shoehorn distasteful nonconforming tidbits into our internal narrative, we sleep better at night. Never underestimate the lengths to which we will go to believe precisely what we want to believe.

So there you have it. One ‘madman’ with several automatics and lots of ammo randomly, and rapidly, shooting at human fish in a barrel is bad, very bad. Of this there is no argument from me. But college educated chisel jaw all American hero pilots dropping 1,000 pound bombs on hospitals or strafing wedding parties is acceptable as long as he or she is following ‘legal’ orders and plays by the rules of war a la legal murder/homicide.

And if there is some unfortunate targeting snafu or human error that leads to collateral damage, well…that’s just the price others pay for our gloriously righteous war against the evil madmen enemy.

I can’t wait to not only hear what the state will cook up to justify the next large scale war, but how it will be framed so you and I can swallow it hook, line and sinker, then order up pizza and beer just in time to watch the fireworks live on CNN.

A spoon full of sugary rationalization helps the ugly murder and mayhem go down. After all we do have to live with ourselves, now don’t we?

 

10/02/2017

Cognitive Dissonance

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kokoda - AZEK (Deck Boards) doesn't stand behind its product
kokoda - AZEK (Deck Boards) doesn't stand behind its product

Classifying someone as crazy or mentally deranged simply due to the killing of many others seems to be something that was conjured by TPTB a long time ago; maybe it is a political expression.

It is true that people can go off the rails but that is something that happens in the moment; it is not something that is planned. If you’ve never experienced that condition, don’t fret…you won’t even be aware.

This guy was not crazy or mentally deranged. He was a cold, calculating killer wanting to end his miserable life with notoriety.

Michael J Clare
Michael J Clare

Well worded attempt at addressing The Human Condition. I agree with much of what you say, but disagree with one of your suppositions. I think it is morally wrong to bomb women and children, hospitals etc.. I do not agree with it. the state has no more license to commit murder than I do. I do agree with retaliation for acts of bona fide violence. As pertains to interactions between human beings, strength is security and violence is the universal language. That being said, I do not agree with a nutcase on the 32nd floor of a hotel shooting innocents at a concert, or a POS of any color, shooting church members of any color, any more than I agree with some subhuman blowing himself up in a marketplace or driving a truck into vacationers. The problem with most things like politics, statehood and religion, is that human beings are unfortunately involved.

Subwo
Subwo

It seems every generation tries to answer the human condition and it is a matter of perception based on one’s experiences in the world. I remember watching the movie by Kobayashi.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Human_Condition_%28film_series%29

Ouirphuqd
Ouirphuqd

Let’s go back before technology, we had tribes that protected the individual. The purpose of modern government is to protect the government. There are insane individuals in society, we live with it, we have psychiatric professionals taking care of these problems(not). Everyone should now take a deep breath and prepare for what the powers that be will unleash. The 2nd amendment protects the 1st!

Maggie
Maggie

I think the MIC is pure evil.

BL
BL

Maggie- That is interesting considering your background and still active. I do agree with you about that but in a different way.

Ghost

I spent ten years active duty and then another ten in various government contract positions with some large and small corporations. As a former enlisted “puke” I’ve tried to explain the two-tier system in the military to other people not familiar with military protocol and customs/courtesy and they think it similar to corporate executive/worker bee. Maybe it is, but in corporate structure, an executive can’t charge you with a crime for perceived disrespect, true or not. In the military, officers quite often become overbearing with their self-importance.

They retire, get hired by the big military industrial contractors for their ability to influence the current military leadership for contract awards and proceed to screw the American taxpayer out of ever dollar they can wrangle from that overpriced contract. I watched former Wing Command Level officers sell their souls for dollars. Boeing Bucks indeed.

When complaints about the low quality of “product” went to corporate, we were told to shut up if we wanted to stay on the “gravy train.” Literally… the head asshole said “Gravy Train.”

So, yeah… in spite of my working in AWACS for almost all of my adult career and saving my gravy train dollars to move out here to the middle of nowhere, I know they are pure evil. I’ve cut almost all connections to former military friends who are still on that Gravy Train. They are emotionally and physically ill from stress and self-loathing for cheating a military they once were proud to serve.

I asked Nick if he still felt “pride” in what we’d done and he’s able to say that since he served honorably and thought what we were doing in the middle east, drug war, cold war, etc. was for greater good, he feels proud of his service in uniform, though the after-retirement trip on the Gravy Train took a toll. Nick is better at compartmentalizing than I.

Khmer white
Khmer white

Wow. Maggie, you sure hit the nail on the head with your observations. I spent 21 years in the U.S. Air Force as an enlisted puke and could not have expressed myself better than you have.

rhs jr
rhs jr

The OT Noah Story says: The wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually, Gen 6:5. Later Jeremiah lamented that: The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it, Jer 17:9 There are serious Demonic Cults and I think the Illuminati, Islam and Communism have part with (are bed fellows) with Pure Evil. I have no doubt that there are probably some good people of all races and religions but it is impossible for a True Christian who have received Jesus Christ and rejects every bad thought to be a cold blooded Mass Murder.

Rise Up

There was at least a 2nd shooter on the 4th floor. This youtube clearly shows flashes and even the police reported a 4th floor shooter during the mayhem.

We are being lied to about what happened, as always.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Fp3xgmQgiA

Rise Up

This caller to the Michael Savage show was a neighbor to “the shooter”. He believes it was a setup and he was not the real perp.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imeWqmK6VwQ

Rise Up

Wow, youtube I put up from Michael Savage has been taken down (copyright violation or YouTube/Google censorship?).

You can listen to the entire show at this link (I believe it’s the 10/2 .mp3 file):

http://conservativestream.com/recorded-shows/savage.php

Maggie
Maggie

If this guy disappears…we will know.

Kappa
Kappa

I think this was Port Arthur, American style. You’ll know in six months.

rhs jr
rhs jr

What?

Kappa
Kappa

The Port Arthur massacre in 1996 in Tasmania was the impetus for nearly instantaneous and complete gun control in Australia. A close look at the facts surrounding the event has lead some to believe that the alleged perpetrator was incapable of pulling that off by himself due to his inexperience and the precision that was evident. Not that a sovereign government would ever stage an event for some nefarious reason….

Not Sure

Going back in history, there were agreed upon rules established by nations that became the rules of engagement, as mentioned in the article. Unfortunately, wars were fought where the “civil” rules were broken (maybe starting with the North Vietnamese) and the fight increased to the level of lawlessness; i.e. Hit them with what they hit you with. Somewhere along the line rules governing war were never re negotiated. When the mil/ind complex got wind of this, it became a sick competition of who could kill the most for the least cost. Sad, but no way to go back now with the use of nuclear weapons probably being the weapon of choice in the next war.

Righteous vs. evil killing? As a mans conscience becomes deadened with each atrocity it commits, so the war planners have experienced the same killing of the conscience with the reasoning that a few unrighteous deaths for the good of the war effort can suddenly become justified. This was just the next logical step in the further deadening of the collective conscience that ushered in the use of false flags, again for the good of the nation. Where are we today? Nowhere to go but further down the abyss.

EL Coyote - ACME (Mail order Products) doesn't stand behind its product
EL Coyote - ACME (Mail order Products) doesn't stand behind its product

It’s curious that the suicide in the hotel room does not have a 13 tattoo like the guy above.

On a side note, doesn’t this guy look like El Stucko?

kokoda - AZEK (Deck Boards) doesn't stand behind its product
kokoda - AZEK (Deck Boards) doesn't stand behind its product

Hey, I resemble that

EL Coyote - ACME (Mail order Products) doesn't stand behind its product
EL Coyote - ACME (Mail order Products) doesn't stand behind its product

ACME been screwing poor coyotes long before AZEK, I thought I’d put it out there.

kokoda - AZEK (Deck Boards) doesn't stand behind its product
kokoda - AZEK (Deck Boards) doesn't stand behind its product

I thought it was the Wiley Coyote cartoon for ACME products.

Dennis Roe
Dennis Roe

Madness begets madness. We’re all little Charlie Mansons, glue eyed to a TV set.

EL Coyote - ACME (Mail order Products) doesn't stand behind its product
EL Coyote - ACME (Mail order Products) doesn't stand behind its product

Fuck you, Charlie.

QuantumSeizing
QuantumSeizing

Always enjoy reading your thoughts CD. You are probably not surprised that people who seek out sources such as TBP, ZH and others think similarly to you. Several sad aspects: Many people are happy with the direction of the country and want more. Many people are oblivious to the direction of the country as propaganda, indoctrination and education are proving even more effective than hoped. Those that believe they see where this is going/ends know they are powerless to stop, slow down or even bend the trajectory. It’s over. Some brains like to keep thinking about this stuff—mine does in spite of the fact that I know it is a waste of time and life. Keep writing. It’s enjoyable.

nkit
nkit

But, but…humans are smart..
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comment image

IndenturedServant

When I first arrived on the shores of TBP I was very pro military having been born and raised on military bases around the world. I never saw or considered that the military men and women are just pawns in a giant, corrupt and sick system that keeps our country in a near perpetual state of war for no good reason.

I’m still pro individual human serving in the military but I sure wish I could talk to each one of them before they sign on the dotted line and inform them about the evil they are about to dance with.

I agree with everything this guy says. We’re conditioned to accept it but no one ever steps back and asks why. Those that do are indeed powerless to stop or even influence it.

Our military should be immediately recalled from all corners of the globe to defend our sovereign territory. I can understand a few expeditions to participate in training or to keep key choke points like the Suez and Panama Canals open and operating smoothly or perhaps fighting modern pirates etc. Instead, our military is the enforcement arm of the global mafia that seeks to control all of us.

I’ve always found it curious that certain weapons like gas, poisons and biological weapons are illegal in war. If your goal is to kill the enemy this should be done as expediently as possible to protect your troops and resources while bringing hostilities to an end asap. It’s also curious that hollow point and fragmenting ammo is illegal in war but our own govt buys billions of rounds of the stuff for use by domestic law enforcement against its own people. That and following the money trail of the MIC should tell you all you need to know about the wholesomeness and “patriotism” of our military. The brainwashing our children receive between birth and age 22 needs to stop immediately.

BB

God bless you Wonder Boy ,yours sincerely ,BB.

unit472
unit472

Adults recognize that sometimes innocent civilians have to be sacrificed for the ’cause’. Allied airplanes carpet bombed French towns to disrupt the ability of German armies to reinforce the Normandy beaches.

On 9/11 USAF fighters were going to take down a civil airliner approaching Washington, D.C. until the passengers sacrificed themselves and crashed the jet.

American POWs were killed when we bombed Hiroshima. We knew they were there but if an atomic bomb was to be dropped there was no way to spare them.

Military operations can never be precise. Had the Mandalay madman had hostages and or booby trapped his room police have would have had no choice but to sacrifice them in order to stop the firing at the crowd below. You don’t always have good options.

Middle-aged Mad Gnome
Middle-aged Mad Gnome

In the name of encouraging thoughtful discourse, the writer creates a moral equivalance between the mass murderer and ordinary people who, in the final analysis, must trust their elected leaders. It does bother me that someone else didn’t point out this absurdity. Being thoughtful doesn’t excuse sowing intellectual and even moral confusion.

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