What You Know That Isn’t So, Is What Hurts You

Most of the things that people “know,” are not true, but they have no way of finding that out, because most of what they know, cannot be tested and verified -- because that is not one of the things their education “teaches” them. If people could learn on their own and determine the truth for themselves, what would happen to job security for teachers and all that money for capital improvement projects to build more institutions for that manner of “learning”? It is unfortunate that the value of anything, is determined by how much revenue or funding can be obtained (usually from the federal government) to solve a massive problem that only massive government funding can provide virtually unlimited, unaccountable monies, and so communities become vested in these problems because that’s where the money is -- even if it means undermining much more fundamental human values.

Then the objective of each massive undertaking, is not because it will solve the fundamental problem, but that is what is required to secure that funding. It becomes a lifestyle in itself -- which on the individual basis, would be call “welfare,” and in government activities, pork barrel projects when they are so blatant and obvious. But people living under such values, come to regard the basic production of goods and services as secondary to going through the motions to appear busy doing a job. Thus, results are not as important, and may even be irrelevant, than to seem to be busily at work -- doing something or other, without actually doing anything (of consequence and value). In advanced cases, that busyness is often to prevent anybody else from doing anything productive either.

If the problem is truly solved, what would happen to all those jobs that exist to “eliminate” the problem? So a culture and its institutions must be established to see that such problems are never solved -- but continue in perpetuity and get worse, to create even more high paying jobs to “solve” those problems. Of course the “solution,” must be to get worse, so more (federal) funding can be justified for a situation threatening to grow out of control without desperate measures to resuscitate them to their level of chronic dysfunction of “full employment.”

Real problems are usually temporary; when problems become permanent, then it is the solution that is the problem -- which is a matter of proper understanding and insight -- and not more money and effort into "the solution" that is the problem. Once a society finds out how successful and lucrative a perpetual problem can be, there is obvious and understandable reluctance to solve that problem, because perpetual problems don’t come along every day. In fact, as we move into the future, it is realized that the nature of problems is that they are a lack of the proper understanding -- and not that a whole society needs to be educated to propagate them as their cultural heritage and legacy.

The problems are solved by the few individuals who see and understand this -- whether in or out of government, because such individuals break these chains of ignorance and misunderstanding with that awareness that is no longer the problem. Those few, are the true leaders in every society, and create another way entirely.