The dumbing down of America has been a deliberate and calculated effort of the elite of our world to enslave us. We must turn to the infinite wisdom of our higher power...God, Spirit, Creator...to guide us. This requires dedicating time each day to sit in silence, to ask for guidance and to listen to the messages we receive. We must emancipate ourselves from our digital devices and other addictions, so that we can restore our ability to be discerning and to be critical thinkers. As Marianne points out, we cannot keep doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome. The power of love far exceeds the power of fear. I have witnessed this countless times in my life. It is time to awaken from our spiritual amnesia and our entrainment to group think, and to harness the power of the Universe so that we can transform our world.
Marianne, I sincerely pray it's not too late for us humans. Remember those ol' days of 'consciousness raising'? It's back@ And you are helping to rev the engins of our minds. But this time our new visions of wholeness and seeing the 'other' as 'no other' must stick fast and last. There's no turning back: our Great Creator knows this and will help us as we shift into high gear. Thank you for bravely sharing your insights over these past several weeks! 💖🌞⚘☮
Marianne, I am so with you here! I like your emphasis on intellectual dumbing down and its spontaneous remission when we hit a bottom. I've mentioned another aspect (in that thing I've asked you to take a look at):
"What is demanded of us is to take on the responsibility of developing real power. That is very different from hoping for the best from this or that Democrat or Republican, sending money to groups that lobby for them to do the right thing, putting up protest candidates, or organizing action after action without a strategy. If we stick to the old ways, we are acting like small children who are unhappy with the grownups. We express our displeasure and try to get the big people to give us what we want, while staying in the accustomed role of virtually powerless complainers. In contrast, there will be joy, freedom, aliveness, connection, and love in stepping out of oppressive helplessness and empowering ourselves and the people around us."
This framing is strangely comforting to me—it helps to remember that America is a relatively young country & we’re (maybe) collectively in a stage resembling our 30s…we were used to being a little shallow & carefree in our 20s, but now we have all these huge problems that we brought on ourselves. And most everyone survives their 30s! Anyway, I felt better after reading it—even though it probably wasn’t written with the intention of comforting anyone but instead of waking people up. Even though I’m 56 & I woke up a lot in my 30s, I still have much growing to do. I still indulge in “junk food thoughts.” But I still feel uplifted. Stages of growth are supposed to be hard! Thanks for the comforting words this morning—needed them!😀
I am 76 years old! I’m married with my love for 55 years. We have 2 sons & daughters in law and 2 grandchildren! All are successful and happy!
We recently moved states to leave a beautiful home of 34 years to a tiny house with studio 560 square feet on our youngest son & daughter in law’s property.
It is our homestead and our place to invite family and friends from around the world!
I had piano teachers, mostly excellent and one in Switzerland who was exceptional! I sang in the choir, men’s glee club, quartet and prime performer in high school musicals. Sang as a first tenor in the Seattle Choral Company fo 20 years!
I am a cultural anthropologist, teacher, teacher of teachers, Personnel Counselor and Director of Personnel of 10 schools in 4 communities serving approximately 2600 students and their families!
After 8 years in Saudi Arabia I had a personal search for “what’s next?”!
Volunteering all over the place I had a conversation with a colleague from our training board. She asked if I would like to meet someone she has been working with and might have temporary positions! Yes, but I had never heard of Executive! Career Counseling! The next 20 years I spent time interacting with more than 3000 clients at all levels!
I’m grateful for what all of them taught me!
Over these years I had the opportunity to get in the audience
to listen to Marianne 3 times. I have many of her books. What a blessing!
So very well thought out and written. And as a sometimes-speaker myself, I'll remember the advice from your father and you, and speak to the most intelligent member of the audience! Thank you.
The dumbing down of America has two causes. Number 1: a lot of people in America are actually stupid. Most of us just didn't realize it until the internet and social media started connecting everybody and suddenly you realize that your friend Joe from work turns out to be a racist. Or your boss, who you keep wondering how he got his job, actually turns out to be an ignorant moron.
Number 2: Information overload. Today there is so much information to be consumed and evaluated and kept abreast of that it leads to sensory overload. And even smart people say I can't keep up with it all, so I quit. I just want simpler things to think and worry about. People become numb to it all and paralyzed. Thus the information has to be simplified and dumbed down. Which unfortunately also leads to the dumbing down of the solutions to our problems. And simple solutions to complex problems almost never work.
In my experience things only change when it costs more to do nothing, versus keeping the status quo. That's why we need strong visionary leaders who can see 10 to 20 years ahead and are brave enough and strong enough to take on the critics and nay-sayers and political enemies to move forward with plans for the greater good. Because usually the public doesn't see or understand the problem or consequences until it is too late. That's why we have Social Security, Medicare, Voting Rights, Civil Rights, Equal Rights, "Obama Care" today. Not because the public wanted it, but because strong willed visionary leaders knew it was the right thing to do for the country and humanity. And then they made it happen.
I am an over educated deeply experienced Crone.I am studying narcissm for all the years I was naive and let myself be used by a double dealing man. Our culture manipulates and enslaves. Like Buddhist hungry ghosts we consume and believe that is the answer. Time to wake up friends. There is a great qoute from Jimmy Carter. The best things in life are invisible. Peter Johnson, I hope I have his name correct, calls these moments ephemeral. I agree. As ephemeral as a gardenia blossom in bloom on a sultry night or laughing w a friend.
The dumbing down of America has been a deliberate and calculated effort of the elite of our world to enslave us. We must turn to the infinite wisdom of our higher power...God, Spirit, Creator...to guide us. This requires dedicating time each day to sit in silence, to ask for guidance and to listen to the messages we receive. We must emancipate ourselves from our digital devices and other addictions, so that we can restore our ability to be discerning and to be critical thinkers. As Marianne points out, we cannot keep doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome. The power of love far exceeds the power of fear. I have witnessed this countless times in my life. It is time to awaken from our spiritual amnesia and our entrainment to group think, and to harness the power of the Universe so that we can transform our world.
My thoughts and feelings exactly thank you. Great to hear from you ❤️
Marianne, I sincerely pray it's not too late for us humans. Remember those ol' days of 'consciousness raising'? It's back@ And you are helping to rev the engins of our minds. But this time our new visions of wholeness and seeing the 'other' as 'no other' must stick fast and last. There's no turning back: our Great Creator knows this and will help us as we shift into high gear. Thank you for bravely sharing your insights over these past several weeks! 💖🌞⚘☮
Marianne, I am so with you here! I like your emphasis on intellectual dumbing down and its spontaneous remission when we hit a bottom. I've mentioned another aspect (in that thing I've asked you to take a look at):
"What is demanded of us is to take on the responsibility of developing real power. That is very different from hoping for the best from this or that Democrat or Republican, sending money to groups that lobby for them to do the right thing, putting up protest candidates, or organizing action after action without a strategy. If we stick to the old ways, we are acting like small children who are unhappy with the grownups. We express our displeasure and try to get the big people to give us what we want, while staying in the accustomed role of virtually powerless complainers. In contrast, there will be joy, freedom, aliveness, connection, and love in stepping out of oppressive helplessness and empowering ourselves and the people around us."
Marianne, We are channeling the same wavelength...
https://theuniversalonenessblog.com/2021/06/06/the-urgency-of-now/
This framing is strangely comforting to me—it helps to remember that America is a relatively young country & we’re (maybe) collectively in a stage resembling our 30s…we were used to being a little shallow & carefree in our 20s, but now we have all these huge problems that we brought on ourselves. And most everyone survives their 30s! Anyway, I felt better after reading it—even though it probably wasn’t written with the intention of comforting anyone but instead of waking people up. Even though I’m 56 & I woke up a lot in my 30s, I still have much growing to do. I still indulge in “junk food thoughts.” But I still feel uplifted. Stages of growth are supposed to be hard! Thanks for the comforting words this morning—needed them!😀
I am 76 years old! I’m married with my love for 55 years. We have 2 sons & daughters in law and 2 grandchildren! All are successful and happy!
We recently moved states to leave a beautiful home of 34 years to a tiny house with studio 560 square feet on our youngest son & daughter in law’s property.
It is our homestead and our place to invite family and friends from around the world!
I had piano teachers, mostly excellent and one in Switzerland who was exceptional! I sang in the choir, men’s glee club, quartet and prime performer in high school musicals. Sang as a first tenor in the Seattle Choral Company fo 20 years!
I am a cultural anthropologist, teacher, teacher of teachers, Personnel Counselor and Director of Personnel of 10 schools in 4 communities serving approximately 2600 students and their families!
After 8 years in Saudi Arabia I had a personal search for “what’s next?”!
Volunteering all over the place I had a conversation with a colleague from our training board. She asked if I would like to meet someone she has been working with and might have temporary positions! Yes, but I had never heard of Executive! Career Counseling! The next 20 years I spent time interacting with more than 3000 clients at all levels!
I’m grateful for what all of them taught me!
Over these years I had the opportunity to get in the audience
to listen to Marianne 3 times. I have many of her books. What a blessing!
Thank you all for allowing me to share my story.
You are the beacon of light that all of humanity needs!
So very well thought out and written. And as a sometimes-speaker myself, I'll remember the advice from your father and you, and speak to the most intelligent member of the audience! Thank you.
The dumbing down of America has two causes. Number 1: a lot of people in America are actually stupid. Most of us just didn't realize it until the internet and social media started connecting everybody and suddenly you realize that your friend Joe from work turns out to be a racist. Or your boss, who you keep wondering how he got his job, actually turns out to be an ignorant moron.
Number 2: Information overload. Today there is so much information to be consumed and evaluated and kept abreast of that it leads to sensory overload. And even smart people say I can't keep up with it all, so I quit. I just want simpler things to think and worry about. People become numb to it all and paralyzed. Thus the information has to be simplified and dumbed down. Which unfortunately also leads to the dumbing down of the solutions to our problems. And simple solutions to complex problems almost never work.
In my experience things only change when it costs more to do nothing, versus keeping the status quo. That's why we need strong visionary leaders who can see 10 to 20 years ahead and are brave enough and strong enough to take on the critics and nay-sayers and political enemies to move forward with plans for the greater good. Because usually the public doesn't see or understand the problem or consequences until it is too late. That's why we have Social Security, Medicare, Voting Rights, Civil Rights, Equal Rights, "Obama Care" today. Not because the public wanted it, but because strong willed visionary leaders knew it was the right thing to do for the country and humanity. And then they made it happen.
I am an over educated deeply experienced Crone.I am studying narcissm for all the years I was naive and let myself be used by a double dealing man. Our culture manipulates and enslaves. Like Buddhist hungry ghosts we consume and believe that is the answer. Time to wake up friends. There is a great qoute from Jimmy Carter. The best things in life are invisible. Peter Johnson, I hope I have his name correct, calls these moments ephemeral. I agree. As ephemeral as a gardenia blossom in bloom on a sultry night or laughing w a friend.