Veterans, VA Hospitals, Corporations and the Universal Soldier/Employee Now when a person is inducted into the military (Okay, might I say, ANY
military - anywhere - some being more "tough" than others, others more
corrupt...however you might look at it!), and "serves" for any length of
time, such a person does become but part and parcel of that environment,
that culture, that "corporation" (this does ALSO apply to the corporate and
governmental environs worldwide, as well), one comes to know, respect,
appreciate and obey, the rules, regulations, laws, hierarchy,
chain-of-command, policies, processes and procedures, that make that
organization and society what it is. And this also includes the benefits,
that one becomes accustomed to, such as the 3 (OR 4) square meals-a-day
(HEY! Midnight-Mess-Hall "breakfasts" aren't only for the "swing" shifts!),
health/medical, vacations/leave, insurance, family care and benefits, free
housing, discount purchases of goods/services, and on and on! YES! One IS
"taken care of", in all ways, shapes and forms. The
military/government/corporations ARE one's "nuclear family" (even though
such a thing, such a tradition, does almost no longer exist anywhere in
society). So, one is "taken care of", BUT, for this, one is also expected to
"jump" (through hoops or whatever), when one is told to, or most anything
else, that "comes down" from above/"higher-up" (the chain-of-command), OR
even just from your local immediate headquarters. AND THAT'S THE RUB, right there - "headquarters" (corporate,
governmental, as well as military). Because THAT is where your "head" IS -
classified, indexed, ordered, and submissive TO, the organizational (AND
societal) "headquarters", the place from which all orders, policies, etc.
COME FROM! In other words, you have been PROGRAMMED! Whether you are
soldiers, the military, civilians in governmental or corporate employee
situations, AS WELL AS dischargees, retirees, veterans, etc. - ANYONE, who
has "served", in such a corporate/military/governmental (EVEN ordinary
business) employment position/situation, HAS BECOME ACCUSTOMED TO that
"nuclear family" (more or less) situation, that is so dearly missing from
ordinary civilian society, AND WHICH the unconscious "Soul" of a human being
does so earnestly long for. (HEY! We ALL want Topol's "extended family", of
"Fiddler On The Roof", to love, cherish and care for us - RIGHT? And even
government, in its limited ways, DOES attempt to "salve" our tortured
"Souls".) SO WE GO ALONG, with any and all of "what comes down the pike". After
all, we do not want to "appear" as anything less (OR more!) than what we
think (OR have been "told") we are ("Vern! Do I LOOK like I have "stupid"
written all over my face?"), and besides, with what has been given to us,
and invested IN us, by the military (AND/OR by parents, employers, schools,
society and others), there IS the veneration, respect and honors, that
certainly DO accord TO the veteran, the winner (of the war OR corporate
"battles"), the conquerors (and even the killed-in-combat honorees), and the
successful businessman and/or employee. And that is what we think we are - just another normal, natural human
being, whether veteran or whatever, who has proudly "served" our country (OR
the corporate "empire"). And then we do continue to go through civilian, and
daily, life, thinking and doing and existing, IN THE SAME WAY...AS WE HAVE
BEEN PROGRAMMED! In other words, we
(soldiers/veterans/corporate-governmental-business employees) have been
"programmed" TO ACCEPT AUTHORITY, anyone OTHER than ourselves, and are
really "used to", and most comfortable with, BEING TOLD WHAT TO DO, SAY AND
THINK! In other words, we CANNOT THINK FOR OURSELVES! And such is the situation, and fate, with most of humanity and society.
We live in a constant milieu of "bombardment" (HEY! In order to prevent
"shell-shock"...YES, YOU there, BOOT!...you MUST be "trained", conditioned,
"disciplined", and programmed, TO FOLLOW ORDERS!), from movies/TV, news,
society, bosses, agencies, "representatives" (including the news anchor, the
analysts, and your congressman), and certainly your drill-sergeant and C.O.
- TELLING US WHAT TO DO, giving "orders", even if mostly subliminary, by way
of our programming and societal/psychological "conditioning". After all,
does not most ANY and all "media" present whatever-it-is in such a way as to
appeal to our "biases", our emotions, our "programmed intellect", and
thereby evoke the appropriately conditioned response? (HEY! Do you think
"Titanic" could be a success otherwise? Could anyone "sell", or otherwise
require the use of money in order to have - ANYTHING, if such were not
so?) So what is the alternative? Well, as I have been propounding for a long
time already, in my commentaries, sermons, and other writings (and as I do
so in my book, "KNOWING: The
Quantum Physics of Consciousness, Life & Reality!"), a suitable
alternative COULD BE a worldwide society, a worldwide PARTICIPATORY
DEMOCRACY, of equally and fully responsible citizenry, who do honor and
venerate such human attributes AS Love, Honor, Truth, Trust, Respect,
Acceptance, Responsibility (DIRECTLY, for one's words, actions and deeds!),
AND SO MUCH MORE! One which IS, truly, an "extended nuclear family" OF
HUMANITY, in which people - each and all - do care for, and look after, each
other - instead of ignoring those in need, as is done today. BUT, the difference IS, that such a society can ONLY be "created" BY a
citizenry, a people, who CAN THINK FOR THEMSELVES, and who ARE the FREE and
INDEPENDENT persons of INTEGRITY that we were all born to "be", before our
subjugation to the extant societal "programming". And who is to say HOW, or
in what FORM, such a society might come to "be" (certainly NOT this
commentator!) Because, one of mankind's "birthrights" IS the human right TO
CREATE one's own REALITY - one's own existence, in accord with one's own
"needs", desires and necessities, AS "known" ONLY BY ONESELF, in one's
KNOWING, of Who, What and Why one is that which one "is". Remember - we ALL,
every human being, have the "right" to CREATE ourselves to "be" that which
we were so "created" to be, by Infinite Consciousness (God), of which we are
part and parcel thereof! Because ONLY, in such a society, of such universal
and loving creation, might humanity and our world survive the calamities,
catastrophes, and other trials and tribulations, that Life does impose upon
us, humanity, day in and day out. WE CAN DO SO (create such a society), with
God's help, through ourselves and our KNOWING, and thusly build our
"beautiful tomorrows", AS they might "be". But we MUST rid ourselves of the
unknowing, conditioned, societal programming, that is our constraint and
enslavement today. Humanity, and mankind, MUST "find itself", as to Who,
What and Why, it is that it "is". We MUST be allowed to think for ourselves,
and to "be" that which we might "be". Because only then can each and every
one of us truly say, "I AM THAT I AM!" Aum, Peace, Amen! Father Jerome.
Reply to: fatherjeromeusa@fiwd.org
