BOXES

Why do we live in boxes? Our houses have rooms, which are boxes. Our boxes are in neighborhoods with other boxes. Our neighborhoods are in counties, which are in boxes. And the counties are in states—more boxes. States are boxed in countries. We visit doctors whose offices are in boxes, and who operate in boxes. We shop in big store boxes and buy products in boxes. We ride in boxes to attend schools in boxes. The school boxes are like the boxes we live in—they have four walls, a floor, and a ceiling. At home our kitchen has an "ice" box, and our oven is a hot box; our cabinets are boxes. Our bedrooms have boxes to keep our clothes in. We watch other people on a box called a TV while they do things in their own boxes. Some people in our TV boxes are watching TV shows about other people watching something on their TV boxes. I wonder if we can live without our boxes, and when we die, they put us in a box, which is then put into another box, which is then encased with soil on all sides—another box. How did we decide to live in square/cube boxes when our planet is round? I think that in many places in the world, humans are not fixated on boxes, but instead they build other shapes to live in—homes built of natural materials that don't require wood stolen from the forests.

Namaste!

Violence Incorporated

We all know this world is full of violence, and it appears to be getting worse. But many are searching in the wrong places for a solution. An oft-repeated catch phrase is: It's the guns!

Is it the guns, or is it something else? I say it's something else, and that something else is called subliminal persuasion: Subliminal means an advertisement, book, or program contains embedded messages that go straight to the subconscious mind. It's a fact that's been studied and tested by experts in the field of mental health. Know this: The human mind absorbs thoughts and images, which go directly to the subconscious, and the more of these we see, the more we're apt to react as though they were our own thoughts and ideas. Constant repetition does it. But most people don't realize this is happening.

Guns don't pick themselves up and shoot people. There have always been guns; but there haven't always been violent video games, VR with subliminal images embedded, movies, some music, TV programs, and bloody images on book covers, magazines, newspapers, and the Internet. Our country has become a culture of violence everywhere we turn . . . and some people thrive on this type of brainwashing. I'm not saying everyone is affected by these thoughts and images, but for some with mental disorders (including undiagnosed illness), or someone on mind-altering drugs, they can be a time bomb waiting to go off, and the player becomes an actor on the stage. And when that time comes, their chosen weapon is often a gun. But the gun alone doesn't do the deed.

Guns in the hands of unstable or angry people are dangerous, absolutely. I dislike guns, though they have their place in society—hunters, police officers, soldiers use them. But makers of violent media that's fed into people’s minds day in, day out rake in billions from the sales of their supposedly innocent games and other violent products.

Subliminal persuasion is a fact—advertisers know this and use it to sell their products. Virtual Reality games are especially bad, as they allow the player to enter the scene and become an active part of the story. A player doesn't know he's actually creating something with his mind by participating. "It's only a game!" he says.

Namaste!