THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VIII, Issue # 141, July 28, 2006
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
GLOBALLY ACCEPTED TRUTHS IN THE LAND OF EDEN
By Tom DeWeese
THOUGHT CONTROL & THE SHAPING OF AMERICA'S FUTURE: BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION & POLITICAL
INDOCTRINATION TECHNIQUES EMPLOYED BY THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS & THE MEDIA TO CREATE A NEW KIND OF THINKING
COORDINATED TO FIT THE IDEOLOGICAL WORLDVIEW OF THE POLITICAL LEFT --- THOUGHT CONTROL TECHNIQUES USED
TO CONDITION AMERICANS TO ACCEPT & SUPPORT RADICAL TRANSFORMATION OF AMERICAN SOCIETY ALONG LINES
FAVORED BY LEFTWING LIBERALS, SOCIALISTS, & POLITICAL ENVIRONMENTALISTS -- THE CONSPIRACY TO ALTER
AMERICAN POLITICAL CULTURE & PHILOSOPHY IN ORDER TO DEVELOP COLLECTIVISTIC ATTITUDES, VALUES & BELIEFS,
THEREBY PAVING THE WAY FOR REPLACEMENT OF AMERICA'S MARKET ECONOMY & PRIVATE ENTERPRISE SYSTEM WITH
AN ECONOMY CENTRALLY CONTROLLED & DIRECTED BY THE GOVERNMENT -- SHAPING THE MINDS OF AMERICA'S
CHILDREN & YOUTH TO PREPARE THEM FOR LIFE UNDER THE RULE OF "SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT" & POLITICAL
ENVIRONMENTALISM & IN A SOCIETY WITHOUT INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM, LIBERTY UNDER LAW, FREE ENTERPRISE, &
ECONOMIC PROSPERITY
FULL STORY:
I’ve written many times of the assault on individual thought through behavior modification techniques, such as the use of
“Critical Thinking” as a tool to lash out at one’s values system and the treatment or guided discussion of “situation ethics”
problems to challenge attitudes, values, and beliefs.
These tools are fully employed in today’s government school classrooms as a means to create a new kind of thinking that is
coordinated to fit a specific worldview. “Thought control” is a much easier way to describe it.
It’s vital to understand this process and to be aware of its tactics so one doesn’t fall victim to its use. The pressure to rethink
ones values is seemingly everywhere, from textbooks and classrooms to television commercials to on-the-job training courses.
We are constantly asked how we can be so certain about anything. We are told there are no absolutes. We are told to just live
for the moment. History is eliminated from civics courses. Math is questioned as to whether it is exact. Science is ignored for
political gain.
How did we lose our common sense? When did the ability to think rational thought become replaced with a whine? Where do
these ideas come from?
Much to my annoyance, one of the perpetrators of this anti-reason idiocy thrust his own pompous irrationality on me through
a series of astonishing e-mail letters that I tried hard to ignore. His name is Donald Sagar and he is President of his own think
tank, the Eden Institute. He is also a representative to the United Nations for the Association for World Education. One has to
view his website at www.edenorg.com to fully appreciate his delusion.
Mr. Sagar wrote to me one quiet Sunday afternoon to disagree with my articles dealing with global warming, which he most
certainly had found while playing with his Google keys on his computer.
His first line told me everything I needed to know about Mr. Sagar’s value system. The e-mail began, “Science aside…”
Obviously Mr. Sagar didn’t want to be bothered by mere science when he had loftier goals in mind. But he went on, “It is
inherently illogical and otherwise irresponsible to suggest that human activity does not possess the potential to alter the
Earth’s climate.” Yeah, I’ve gotten this kind of stuff before in response to my articles. What he’s saying is, no matter what
science tells us, I “FEEL” that man is damaging the Earth, and, therefore, I insist that it be true.
He then went into an orgy of really big words like "quantitative" and "qualitative" to prove his point. The guy really needs a
course in people communications. He pushed the point that there are “6.6 billion people on earth destroying some 25 million
acres of forest annually.” Of course, with the population growing, more and more destruction was the only result we could
ever expect, according to Mr. Sagar. (These dire statements, by the way, have been proven time and again to be untrue.)
Incredibly, he then argued that “energy usage worldwide is increasing at an alarming rate of speed as Third World countries
continue to modernize.” My first thought was he could help cut down on some of that energy use if only he would shut off
his computer and leave me alone. But one must not miss the completely astonishing rationale of his statement. He apparently
believes that people who live in Third World countries are simply animals who should always live in mud huts, walk 5 miles a
day for their filthy water, and cook over the quaint campfire in the center of the village.
Such arrogance. Such irrational stupidity. I was tempted to fire off a fast finger burner to inform this idiot that modernization,
and the higher standard of living that comes with it, is the only way individuals can actually take time to think about
protecting the environment. But I really didn’t want to encourage him into thinking I wanted to have a dialog.
He then ended his correspondence with his real purpose for writing, saying, “What I would ask of you is to stop
disseminating misinformation, so that those of us who are trying to make a real difference in the world have one less obstacle
to overcome.”
I thought better of making a case. I really didn’t feel like wasting my time on such a fop. Instead, against my better judgment,
I sent him a brief reply designed to make my feeling known and to make it plain I didn’t want a dialog. I said:
“Science aside??? I think that says it all about your argument,
no matter how many big words you use. Don’t bother me with
your pretentious intellectual claptrap. It bores me.”
However, experience has taught me that this wouldn’t be the end of it. Sure enough, the next day, there he was again. He was
on a mission to save my soul. He wrote back, saying, “This response just goes to show what a self-consumed digit you really
are, Tom.” Then he started using that word “quantitative” again. That was followed by an incredible attack on science:
“Science has absolutely no idea of what preceded the current
universe … and no way to hazard a guess about what the
future holds for mankind – unless, of course, the creations of
science are used to definitively destroy that future.”
Are you getting this? According to Mr. Sagar, science knows nothing and is only a destructive force. We used to call these
guys Luddites. But he is bordering on Neanderthal. Yet he kept challenging me to see how “intellectually adept” I am.
What an incredible waste of human life, and my time, this guy was becoming. So, again, I sighed, and fired off the message that
would surely end this silly exercise. (Yes, I know. If I had simply deleted the message, I wouldn’t risk getting another reply, but
this was too outrageous to let go.) So I wrote:
“I thought I made it clear. I have no interest in what you have
to say. I consider you people to be Nazis and thugs. And
nothing you have to say means a rat’s a__ to me. I have to
deal with the victims of your lies. Can I be any clearer? Do
not write me again.”
Comes the answer:
“Tom, You’ve become so obsessed with your own thinking
that you’re incapable of hearing anybody else’s ideas any
more. I don’t know where this God complex came from, but it
is definitely counterproductive to the message you are trying
to get out.”
Now, two messages back, he was saying he wanted me to stop getting my message out. Now he is giving me pointers on how to
do it better, as long as I use his logic and message, of course.
He then went on to say:
“As far as your association of me to the ‘Nazis’ is concerned,
perhaps you subconsciously see a parallel to yourself here.
Why else would you bring up such a thing?”
He then said I was like “listening to a skin head with hair.”
So who is Donald Sagar and why does he care what I have to say? Why do you and I care what he has to say? He has created
the Eden Project, which “provides a realistic way to create a dynamic global model for identifying, collecting, analyzing, and
distributing cultural information relative to the resolution of critical issues.” Wow. Now what does that mean? Well, by reading
on, one finds that Mr. Sagar assures us he has developed the ability to define “certainty.” Apparently, this is something no
human has ever been able to do before. He now claims that, having done this incredible feat, he can prove the existence of God.
He goes on to say the Eden Project can now define our problems on earth and fix them. Here is what the problem is, according
to Mr. Sagar:
“Because of the relentless increase in the quantity and
complexity of knowledge in the world, we are experiencing
a clash between cultures that prevents all but the most
capable of surviving with any meaningful identity in tact.”
Did you catch that? The reason we have wars, poverty, and misery is because there is too much knowledge.
But, according to his website, he hasn’t just dreamed up his incredible feat. No, no, no. In the opening paragraph, which
describes what the Eden Project is, he says, “This project will provide decision makers with a ‘pre-qualified’ “option” for
stemming mankind’s current slide into chaos.” Now reading further, one finds that this “pre-qualified” option means that he
simply asked a bunch of ivory tower types to critique his work. They agreed and, poof, we have a new way of thinking. Facts
don’t matter. He already said science knews nothing. Difference of opinion isn’t to be considered. Facts, science, and
differences of opinion could only mess up our new well-ordered thought process.
Simply put, Mr. Sagar begins with what he considers to be certain “globally acceptable” truths, such as (1) global warming
is actually occurring and is caused by human activity, (2) human beings are destructive to the environment, (2) men are
unthinking brutes who must be controlled from their own actions. It doesn’t matter if any of this gibberish is true. Once this
premise is established, then Mr. Sagar’s theories are easy to put into place.
Now he is free to establish a “group think” pattern that disallows contrary thought. His pattern attacks anyone who thinks
“outside the box.” Propaganda becomes universal truth. All he needs now is for those in power and their ability to apply
force to make it so. Now you know why I compared him to Nazis.
In fact, he is in desperate need to get the rest of us to stop thinking and using our own experiences, along with academic and
scientific absolutes, to draw our own conclusions. Once that is established, it is easy to reject morality, and then only a short
step to accepting the idea that people of Third World nations should live out their days in total poverty – for the common
good. It is then a very short journey to accepting euthanasia as a means to rid us of the elderly who are no longer useful to
the village, state, or other collectivity. And, then, on to accepting the final solution of forced abortion for population control.
This is the reason why your children are being deliberately “Dumbed Down” in government schools. The premise of
“globally-acceptable truth” is the very root of today’s public school curriculum. This is the foundation on which our new
society is to be based, according to Mr. Sagar. And he says I have a God complex!!!
He is dangerous to you and me because he is not alone. His ideas have been endorsed by very influential global mouthpieces.
Who they are is almost as astonishing as what they say about the Eden Project, which they all endorse. You’ll find the letters
posted on the Eden Project website.
First there is the letter from Susan Reed, of the World Education Fellowship, who praises the Eden Project as being in the same
spirit of the original charter of the United Nations. “I feel that the Eden project is a meaningful step in the direction that
mankind must go….”
Then comes the letter from none other than Robert Muller, Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations and one of the
main players in the global agenda to reorder society. He says:
“I am referring to the need to establish a body of objective,
globally acceptable information to serve as a foundation
for global education…. Its (Eden Project) formula for
identifying universally acceptable objective data is truly
unique. It achieves this distinction by establishing a
global standard for inquiry.”
Other supporters include K.B. Mathur, Director General of UNESCO, Dale Ott, of the World Council of Churches, and many
more heads of global and international organizations who seek to impose a new way of thinking on the world for their own
political agenda. Most telling was a quote from Keith Smiley, President of Mohonk Consultations:
“The planet earth and its people have been experiencing
an information explosion. The uncontrolled expansion of
information is dangerous, since it tends to diffuse meaning
and purpose.”
These people are telling us that humans armed with knowledge are dangerous to the new order they are trying to impose on us.
Yet it is their policies which have created chaos and poverty throughout the world, the very issues they now seek to remedy
with their new thought process. They seek to pull the strings to stop anyone from using reason and knowledge to fix it.
Poverty and ignorance are not natural states for human beings. It is fixable. It is simply a result of very bad government which
prevents individuals from being free to use their abilities to achieve their own happiness, prosperity, and personal security.
Governments which deny individual commercial action among free individuals; deny the ability to own and control private
property; and tax the self-earned wealth from the industrious are the root of poverty and misery and, consequently, damaged
environment.
We used to call such policies Communism. Today, we have a much gentler sounding name -- Sustainable Development.
Sustainable Development is now the official policy of the United States government, all 50 states of the American Union, and
nearly every city and small town in the nation. Sustainable Development is, of course, top-down control of every aspect of
our lives, from land use to community development to job availability to transportation to the foods we eat to the system for
educating our children and youth. It is the policy Mr. Sagar’s “new think” was created to help implement.
Sustainable Development is restructuring our lives, and is targeting our children and youth through an educational regime that
seeks to develop collectivist attitudes, values, and beliefs. Sustainable Development documents expressly call for the
elimination of private property and the freedom that private property supports. Sustainable Development supplants
long-standing State laws, and causes irreparable harm to our economy and our society. Yet, to Mr. Sagar, these concepts we
call freedom are nothing more than delusions.
He and his fellow travelers are very dangerous people. They use every sort of deception, half-truth, and non-science to
implement their concept of virtual captivity of the human spirit. In support of such hysteria as global warming, they move to
implement heavy restrictions on economic development through government-enforced policies -- public policies with names
like Smart Growth and The Wildlands Project. All of it is heavily funded through taxpayer dollars and wealthy foundations
promoting the political agenda of Sustainable Development.
The looming battle of ideas should be recognized as a classic -- and perhaps ultimate – battle between Liberty and Tyranny.
The social, economic, and political transformations Sustainable Development requires will mean the suppression of
inalienable rights for all people.
Mr. Sagar and his Eden Project intend to box in the parameters of allowable thought and innovation. His goal is to control the
voice of individuals he and his ilk deem to be renegades who will just muck up the order of things. That is why he found my
writings so disturbing and was so desperate to engage me in debate.
So, here Mr. Sagar, is my response. Yours is a philosophy of death, designed to control and kill the spirit of Man. I view you
to be the enemy of all that I hold valuable, including reason and knowledge. Do not write me again. I have no interest in
light-hearted, spirited, intellectual word play with a killer of reason.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Education & America's Schools
A Practical Guide to Homeschooling
The News Media & Political Bias
Policy Issues Relating to Energy, Environment,
& Natural Resources
Liberals, Statists, Socialists, & Other Leftists
Communism: Longterm Enemy
-------------------------
POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY & POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES:
COMPETING SYSTEMS OF POLITICAL THOUGHT
Conservatism
Traditional Conservatism: Questions & Answers
Conservatism: Attitudes, Types, & Present Status
Constitutional Conservatism: American & British
Liberalism
Classical Liberalism: Intellectual Foundations
Classical Liberalism: Conservative Liberalism
Manchester Liberalism & Social Darwinism
Modern Social "Liberalism": Statist "Liberalism"
Radical & Totalitarian Ideologies
Radicalism, Utopianism, & Totalitarianism
-------------------------
CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY & OTHER POLITICAL REGIMES
Modern Constitutional Democracy:
Fundamental Character & Essential Ingredients
Constitutionalism: The First Essential Ingredient
of Modern Constitutional Democracy
Dictatorship: The Opposite of Constitutionalism
Representative Democracy: The Second Essential Ingredient
of Modern Constitutional Democracy
Direct Democracy & Representative Democracy
Political Culture & Modern Constitutional Democracy
Modern Constitutional Democracy:
Summary & Conclusion
Tom DeWeese is the Publisher and Editor of The DeWeese Report and President of the American Policy Center, a
grassroots activist think tank headquartered in Warrenton, Virginia. The Center maintains an Internet website at
www.americanpolicy.org.
Copyright 2006 Tom DeWeese
Published with Permission of Tom DeWeese
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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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