The goal of social living should be to function efficiently without laws. The roll of government should be to place society in a position where all laws can be safely eliminated. Laws should only be passed when morality fails. Today in America, we are ruled by despots. We have despots in Washington, despots on Wall Street, and despots on Madison Avenue to name a few of the major players. These are the despots who control what we think and what we want. What have these despots conditioned us to think and to want? First and most essential they have conditioned us to think that we are free. And they have conditioned us to want that which serves the economic interests of the despots. Many years ago a Russian Nobel Prize winning physiologist and physician named Ivan Pavlov trained a dog to salivate whenever the dog heard the sound of a bell. He accomplished this by making a surgical incision beneath the parotid salivary gland of his dog, so that he could tuck the gland inside out. With this done, whatever saliva was secreted by it could be seen, collected, and measured. He then deprived his dog of food and placed him in a harness. He inserted one end of a tube into the dog's mouth. At the other end of the tube was a bulbous devise filled with meat powder. Whenever he squeezed the bulb, meat powder would be quickly squirted into the hungry dog's mouth. With this done, he began his procedure. Pavlov would begin by ringing a bell. Immediately after ringing the bell he would squirt a small amount of meat powder into the hungry dog's mouth. The dog would salivate in response to the meat powder. Then he repeated the procedure again and again--ringing the bell and having it immediately followed by the meat powder. Finally, after several repetitions, he could ring the bell, omit the meat powder, and the dog would salivate to the sound of the bell alone. This model of learning became known as classical conditioning. Psychologists discovered that many of our emotions are learned through this model. If there is a neutral person, place, or thing, and this person, place, or thing becomes repeatedly associated with something good, we develop a good emotional feeling toward that person, place, or thing. We do not decide to like that person, place, or thing; it happens automatically because of the repeated associations. Psychologists refer to these responses as conditioned reflexes to denote their involuntary nature. In commercial advertisements we are presented with scenes which are designed to arouse some kind of emotional feeling. Frequently used are the emotions associated with sex, humor, success, the thought of self-improvement, or fun-filled social occasions. Then, through repetition, these are linked to the commercial product. The result is a conditioned reflex of a positive emotional feeling to the image of the product. You do not decide to like the product; it happens automatically because of the repeated associations. On Madison Avenue this technique is called Imaging. Many advertisers use Imaging. McDonald's uses this approach to sell its fast food. They direct their campaign primarily toward children, probably because children make most of the fast food buying decisions. Positive emotional images, such as a hamburger clown, Hamburglar, Mayor McCheese, Happy Meals, toys, and "food, folks and fun" are repetitiously presented on television and directly linked with McDonald's. Today McDonald's is the number one fast food chain in the world. Are they number one because they have the best tasting fast food in the world? Probably not. But for children it is an emotional decision, not a choice based on taste. Because imaging occurs on the unconscious level, most people are not aware of what advertisements accomplish. Many think that advertising is just a pleasant way to remind consumers that a product exists and deserves consideration. And some think it is but a small annoyance tolerated for free television programming. But the advertising industry and the companies who use their services know what imaging accomplishes. Advertisers do not pay billions of dollars for something that doesn't work. Because we want to watch these free programs, we place ourselves into a harness so that our attitudes can be conditioned involuntarily. But some say, "I don't pay attention to TV ads." My students used to tell me that. They'd tell me that during commercials they go to the bathroom, or raid the refrigerator. Then I would say, "Two all beef patties," and they would all would chime in, "Special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun!" Then I would say, "Big Mac, Filet of Fish," and they would finish with, "Quarter Pounder, French Fries; Icy Coke, Thick Shakes, Sundaes and Apple Pies." I would say, "I don"t want to grow up,"and they said, "I'm a Toys 4 Us kid." I'd say, "Who's that kid," and they finished, "with the Oreo Cookie." Wanta play? So easy even a... You'rere in good hands with ...? I'm coocoo for...? Tony the Tiger says...? The best part of waking up is...? Double your pleasure, double your fun...? In the valley of the, Ho, Ho, Ho...? Ring around the...? Good to the last...? Nothing says lovin' like something from the oven and _________ says it best. Let go of my...? ________ is the quicker picker-upper. What is the real thing? Who says "Just do it?" Be all that you can be in the...? Don't leave home with out it. What is it? I'm not going to pay a lot for this...? What is the Uncola? You're in good hands with...? Like a good neighbor...? What's in your wallet? Look at all that we have learned from TV ads to which we do not pay attention. We know the words, and the image/emotional associations have been learned equally as well. Why does our free nation allow and encourage massive mind control? It is good for the economy and, because it is an unconscious process, it seldom becomes the subject of logical examination. However, when you put human need on steroids, this produces unhealthy effects which warrant examination. Several years ago a student of mine was murdered. The killer took from his dead body $2, his Starter jacket, and his Nike shoes. I have known many students whose lives were dominated by the desire for goods for which the value was established by imaging. One of my students dropped out of school because he refused to go to school without a pair of Air Jordans. Similar stories abound. Lives dominated by such cravings are perverted by these irrational values. ******************** In Hamlet, Shakespeare wrote, "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. Almost everything that we think we know about ourselves, we think we know because of social comparison. Social comparison is the process of comparing ourselves to other people. Throughout our lives we evaluate ourselves through social comparison. By comparing ourselves to others we discover if we are better, worse, or the same as other people. We do this with such things as: our looks, our strength, golf scores, grades in school, monetary worth, running speed, dancing ability, S.A.T. scores, and our popularity. However, because we are aware of our every flaw, and because we get only a censored view of other people, there is a natural tendency to under-value ourselves. Today we are in association with a larger number of people than even before. Our TV, movies, sports, and music present us with a very large number of beautiful and talented people with whom to compare ourselves. You might be handsome, but are you as handsome as George Clooney or Denzel Washington? As pretty as Halle Berry or Angelina Jolie? As good an athlete as Michael Jordan or Lance Armstrong? Is your life as exciting as that of a Jason Bourne, James Bond or a Darth Vader? The social comparisons of today result in greater feelings of inferiority than ever before. To defend ourselves from feelings of inferiority, we frequently use the defense mechanism of identification. In identification we affiliate psychologically with someone or something, such as a team, a successful person, a group, or organization. These become extensions of us. Whatever happens to the team, the person, the group, or organization, also happens to us. If the team wins, we feel joy and say, "We won!" If the person, group, or organization succeeds, we vicariously succeed as well. A lot of people identify with celebrities. We call these celebrities stars, and idols. We wait in line and pay big bucks to see them. We buy their products the moment they hit the market. We aspire to touch them, and to obtain their autographs. We read about their exploits, and imitate their speech and manner of dress. A group of publications and productions, known as tabloids, prey upon these identifications. Information about these people, both real and made up, sells. Because it sells, these publications and productions have become big business. We want our stars and idols to succeed, because when they do, we succeed as well�the richer and more famous, the better. We are pawns in a game run by despots--despots who remain rich and powerful because we do not know that we are pawns in their game. So commercial TV conditions us to be needy and greedy, and our entertainment conditions us to feel inferior. We suffer in silence because we do not know the source of our discontent. And as long as we do not know the source we remain prisoners locked into our pitiful lives in servitude to the despots of America. And if we should revolt, take to the streets, burn buildings and sacred symbols, we are but anarchists who are threatening our right to pursue that which we have been conditioned to want. We would not be viewed as freedom fighters, but as criminals to be placed under lock and key. Before anyone assumes that I am describing a situation where the working class suffers as they dance to the piper of the rich, and that the despots rollick in the joys or their riches, this is not the case. All suffer psychologically from this system. All Americans could benefit from transparency, insight and change.