The Illusion of Choice: Democracy as the Greatest Show on Earth

 

The Illusion of Choice: Democracy as the Greatest Show on Earth

By Claudio Grass

ClaudioGrass.ch

September 18, 2024

 

 

 

As individual citizens, as voters and taxpayers we have been so deeply, so consistently, so relentlessly indoctrinated, so blindly radicalized, and so thoroughly and easily subjugated and ideologically manipulated that, by now, it has become terribly challenging for any of us to even entertain any viewpoint or any opinion that is opposed to our own.

It is next to impossible for a single individual to find the strength of character or the moral fortitude to raise doubts, questions or objections against the prevalent dogmatic proclamations (arguments built upon the idea that any statement can be true and valid as long as a figure of authority declares it so – even if common sense or public opinion opposes it). It is nearly inconceivable for an ordinary person to defy convention and conformity and to embrace basic human instincts instead, by giving in to primal urges like curiosity, inquisitiveness, creativity and innovation.  It has become unthinkable, unacceptable and even unforgivable to harbor, to foster and to pursue any original thought, especially if said thought is perceived as dissenting, deviating or dismissive towards the myriads of forced narratives and “universal truths” have been imposed upon the body politic since time immemorial.  The Anti-Globalist Man... Corsi, Jerome R. Best Price: $26.58 Buy New $24.26 (as of 01:47 UTC - Details)

For example, no-one is allowed to question the need (or, more accurately, the lack thereof) for a State machine or for a government or for any other kind of centralized authority. It is generally taken for

granted and it is seen as a “given” that some kind of central, “top down” administration has to exist, in order for any civilized society to emerge and to function. In most western nations, it is also seen as self-evident that the most efficient and effective way to choose this all-important and all-powerful leadership is to go through the democratic process and to ascertain the majority’s wishes, to be guided by the “will of the people” and to strive towards the “greater good” – or differently put, to prioritise the interests of the many over the interests of the few, to maximize the welfare, the protection and the prosperity of the “average” voter over the needs and even over the natural rights of any divergent individual – society as a whole is seen as infinitely more important than the actual human beings who constitute it.

This kind of brutally utilitarian, entirely soulless and deplorably materialistic view of mankind is truly alarming. Looking at people as mere parts of a whole, dehumanizing them by treating them as interchangeable cogs in a machine, and denying them their basic human dignity by dismissing their individuality, the unique experiences, the choices and the sacrifices that shaped them is a dangerously reductive and recklessly myopic way of looking at the world and especially trying to understand our role or our purpose in it. This unfeeling and distorted perspective, that values human achievements, feats of ingenuity or creativity, and general human progress only if they serve and further the interests of the collective inevitably reduces every individual to an inconsequential, inhuman, readily replaceable automaton, dominated and controlled by genetically pre-programmed commands and primal instincts and hardwired to value social acceptance, group membership and conformity over anything else.

This point of view is eerily and worryingly similar to the way we view an ant colony or a bee hive. We marvel at the coordination, the synchronization, the communication, the assimilation and the harmonization that these remarkable creatures demonstrate. We are impressed and fascinated by their collective behaviors, patterns and skills, and we are captivated by their capacity to act in perfect unison and to function as a single “super-organism” with a unified purpose and consolidated will. Our admiration of successful colonies and productive hives, our respect for these complex and spectacular systems, and our delight at the precision, persistence and resilience that permeates their life’s work makes it near-impossible for most people to inflict any harm upon such a collective, provided it poses no physical threat of course.

Having seen and fully appreciated the marvelous intricacies, the impenetrable cohesion and the meticulous organization of an ant colony or the seemingly spontaneous order, the efficiency and the productivity of a bee hive, the vast majority of sane, sensible people would instinctively be inclined to protect and preserve natural formations of this sort, as they stand as a testament to the power of the collective. No-one in their right mind would purposefully and unprovokedly destroy a buzzing bee hive or a dynamic ant colony. However, the same cannot be said for the individual members of systems like these. A single ant or a solitary bee enjoy no such reverence; to the contrary, they are treated as pests, they stir only feelings of annoyance or disgust and they are thus summarily and almost automatically exterminated.

This analogy holds up very well as an illustration of how the powers that be look at the individual citizen. They too seek to protect and preserve the collective, they too appreciate the “public” as a whole – after all, there can be no government if there’s no body to govern. That’s why the faceless, soulless, abstract “masses”, the “citizenry”, the “body politic”, or whatever else one chooses to call this human super-organism, is vitally important to those who seek power and control. However, no respect, or even no compassion, is extended to the individual citizen.

Much like we consider the life, the suffering and the death of the aforementioned defenseless insects to be totally insignificant and entirely irrelevant to our own lives, so do the rulers look upon the ruled. And just like most of us would not think twice before crushing an ant with our shoe, so do the powers that be feel about crushing bothersome individuals.

The only real difference is that most human collectives are controlled by the illusion of choice, the idea of self determination and the promise of personal agency. The notion that everyone’s voice is heard in the ballot box and the fantasy of “Vox Populi, Vox Dei”, despite being completely devoid of any meaning, have managed to sustain Western democracies for centuries. The public’s blind faith that “the system works”, that each vote counts as much as the next and that everyone has the same power to influence an election outcome might sound outrageously naive to the rational, clear-eyed observer, but it is this sheer wishful thinking that underpins and supports almost every western nation.

What is even more astounding is that even when the deception becomes apparent, this illusion of choice remains. In the West, we have for decades been subjected to the illusion of choice between two ideologically opposed political parties. However, everything makes a lot more sense once one realizes that the right wing and the left wing are attached to the same bird.

Every election cycle, including the one we’re in the middle of (with 2024 being the biggest election year in history based on the number of different national elections around the globe), we see this false dichotomy and yet the vast majority of the population still fall for it. Voting for the whomever presents themselves as a “conservative” means you’re either a fascist or a true patriot. Conversely, voting for left leaning parties makes you either moral and compassionate or a raging Marxist. This is an obviously childish view of the world, but it is where are presently standing in the political public dialogue. It is an intentionally bombastic, obnoxious and loud way of presenting the two choices to the average citizen and it is meant to distract them from the fact that there have actually no choice at all.

No matter who wins, the State machine keep humming along unperturbed. Sure, you might see some inconsequential and largely symbolic popular policies passed into law, like a tax cut here or an extra welfare benefit there, but the things that really matter, the decisions, the funding, the structural management of the country is totally unaffected. Wars, division, government powers and control, suppression of free speech, they all keep growing, along with the size of the State machine itself. Democracy u2013 The Go... Hans-Hermann Hoppe Best Price: $24.77 Buy New $37.61 (as of 09:25 UTC - Details)

We saw this in recent European elections. The media at time claimed this year’s vote to be historic and all-defining in Belgium, France and in the UK. They turned out to be nothing of the sort. The people voted for the right in the first two examples and for the left in the latter case. Absolutely nothing changed in all cases, both wars are still ongoing, ECB-created inflation is still raging, individual freedoms are still being disregarded. The example of France, is particularly illuminating, as the popular vote was essentially ignored when previously warring parties entered into a coalition to block them from taking charge.

What voters fail to consider time and time again, is that the choice they are given is the same as the one Henry Ford gave to his customers when it came to selecting a color for their new car: “they can have whatever color they want, as long as it is black”.

It is entirely irrational to expect a different result when we keep doing the same thing over and over. Participating in this circus, turning against our neighbors and allowing ideological obsession to blind us to common sense and human empathy is not the way forward. The only sustainable path for reasonable, freedom loving people is to seek like-minded individuals and just “opt out” of this irreparably corrupt and unsalvageable system. The moment we all understand that the true enemy is not to our left nor to our right, but has been crushing us with his boot from above the entire time, is the moment we can start to regain control over our own lives.

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