"You're full of shit."
Indeed. Aren't we all? That's the point. We were born into a Matrix of deception, subjected to non-stop programming and propaganda throughout our lives, and herded into positions of certainty regarding what is and isn't "true". How could we not be "full of shit"?
The quote in the title was delivered to me by the wife of a friend as we debated how President Marcos of the Philippines had become so rich. She believed the reports she had absorbed over time from the mainstream media, namely that Marcos had stolen his riches from the poor people of his country. I suggested a different story, an alternate possibility, that he had become rich via payoffs from other rich people for favors rendered. That's when my ideas were dismissed with the title quote.
I was not offended by her pronouncement. I'm no stranger to such dismissals, as can be witnessed in this forum's archives. Dismissals are to be expected by anyone who questions everything and dismisses nothing. Anyone searching for the real truth is going to face a boatload of dismissals. It is how the Matrix polices itself and maintains its deception.
I am pleased, in fact, that my friend's wife questioned my perspective. She should, and I hope she will research all sides of the story to weigh the evidence both pro and con on the issue. This is unlikely however, as most of us are too busy or too lazy or too sure of ourselves to bother. I am less pleased that she would so definitively dismiss my perspective without even investigating it. By doing so, she fails to question her own "facts" and her own beliefs about what is and isn't true.
She also fails to employ a little common sense. We live in a society of enormous wealth disparity. I have often discussed the existing wealth gap that continues to explode. We all see the stats (which must also be questioned) of how 10% of the population holds 90% of the wealth. In those circumstances, who among us gets rich by taking money from poor people? By definition, poor people have very little money. No, we typically get rich by taking money from rich people. How do you think American politicians become so rich? Isn't it through secret, under-the-table deals with "special interest groups"? How do you think "the money" exercises so much control over everything? "Special interest groups" and "the money" are just euphemisms for rich people. The rich people control us. We buy into that control by doing almost anything for money. When someone gets a lot of money in short order, you can be fairly sure that person is acting in synch with the desires of rich people who are paying him in some manner or another.
So, how did Ferdinand Marcos get rich?
In 1949, campaigning on promises to get veterans' benefits for two million Filipinos, Marcos ran as a Liberal Party candidate for a seat in the Philippine House of Representatives. He won with 70 percent of the vote. In less than a year he was worth a million dollars, mostly because of his American tobacco subsidies (financial assistance to grow tobacco), a huge cigarette smuggling operation, and his practice of pressuring Chinese businesses to cooperate with him. -- source
It sounds like he got rich the same way most U.S. politicians do. But wait, is that the entire story?
But in 1988, Roxas and the Golden Budha Corporation, which now held the ownership rights to the treasure Roxas claims was stolen from him, filed suit against Ferdinand and wife Imelda in a Hawaiian state court seeking damages for the theft and the surrounding human rights abuses committed against Roxas.
In 1992, Imelda Marcos claimed that Yamashita's gold accounted for the bulk of the wealth of her husband, Ferdinand Marcos.
All this led the United States Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal to summarize the allegations leading to Roxas’ final judgment as follows: "The Yamashita Treasure was found by Roxas and stolen from Roxas by Marcos' men." -- source
Don't I often say the truth is stranger than fiction?
Why yes, I do.
