Conditioned For The Lie
I stood there, staring blankly at the toilet paper display, my head trying to grasp the choices being presented. On one side, there were 20 double rolls which according to the package was the same as 60 regular rolls. I’m not sure what a regular roll is exactly but in between adjectives like “strong” and “ultra” and “soft” were numbers in linear feet and sheets per..and so on.
On the right, there was the big pack with 30 rolls which was the equivalent of 76 rolls of toilet paper. I was now looking at one and then the other. The price difference was about 4 dollars but I wasn’t exactly sure which package, from the same company was giving me the best value. And then I had the aha moment when I noticed that the smaller package had 221 squares per roll versus the big pack with 151 squares per roll.
I pulled out my calculator. Quick math showed me that the small pack was going to cost me 0.00035 cents a sheet and the big pack? 0.00034 cents a sheet. Was it the $4.00 difference? My head started to hurt and I quickly grabbed the smaller pack with the bigger rolls and continued to shop.
It just took 3 paragraphs and about 1.14 minutes of your time to read about my toilet paper exploits. Stay with me.
My real aha moment was the drive home when I noticed some billboards with a variety of messages, specifically one for a car. It stated zero down, no interest and only $174.00 per month. I didn’t read any further and mused that it was a decent price for a brand new car, with brand new smells…
But wait a minute!! I’ve bought plenty of cars and they’ve never been the advertised price!! I mean ever! I’m guessing the small print probably went something like this: basic trim (this is code for “we’ve included the seats, engine and wheels — everything else is extra) shipping extra (even though the product is sitting right there, in the lot, you’re paying to get it there) taxes extra, government recycling charge extra. Then it’s the little things like a block heater, floor mats and plastic coating for your paint job that isn’t resilient enough to handle a gnat hitting it’s surface at 60 mph.
Your monthly payment is now $315.00. But wait, there’s glass protection — add on $20. And let’s not forget the awesome undercoating that will eliminate road noise because the auto manufacturer in it’s 100 years has never thought it a good idea to make it part of the design…
And that zero down, zero interest. I’m going to completely blow your mind and tell you that it’s actually factored into the price of the automobile so that you’re still paying for the financing.
Want to get some new furniture? Just try going into one of those big chains with cash to pay up front…No, you’ll take their zero down, no payments for 90 days and then pay at your leisure after. That is, once you add on the protection insurance, delivery and installation fee and extended warranty.
That $400.00 couch has now cost you $1100.00 and the quality is so suspect that it’s value is probably $200.00 But you’ve just walked out of the showroom feeling like you‘re on top of the world.
WE HAVE BEEN CONDITIONED.
I never thought about it in these terms until today. Maybe subconsciously I knew it was all bullshit but I fell in line. I bought, I owed. I belonged.
This got me thinking about politics and the current landscape (you know I had to eventually get here) and how politicians can say anything. Literally anything. There are some great videos online of politicians saying exactly nothing in interviews. You can hear them speaking. They speak with conviction but when you break their words down, there is absolutely no content. If you want to see this in real time, tune into a government channel while they’re in session. It’s like bizarro land with questions being asked and statements being made that do nothing to address the questions being asked.
But it sounds so damn important and formal, that it feels like progress. It’s the same with debates. Trump and Hillary taking up 2 hours of prime time to talk over, around and about - adding nothing to the conversation except the spectacle of two adults acting in a very childish way. This is normal. This is status quo. This is life.
Most people will state there’s simply too much information, too many sides to a story, too many distractions and this is why it’s hard to know what to think, who to support and who to side with.
The talking points are all clear. If you support Hillary, it’s because she isn’t a pervy old man who gropes women and, she’s a woman. If you support Trump, it’s because he doesn’t lie about everything (which is probably a lie) and he isn’t Hillary. Many are hard pressed beyond that to tell you why they support either. The interesting thing here is that I’m betting 90% of you would distance yourself from a friend that acted the way either of these two do. Yet, you’ll choose one of them to run a country that has a button…
Meanwhile, there are little pockets of truth, in the two other candidates whom have little to lose and are pretty much open books. But nobody’s paying attention to them. Our conditioning draws us to the lie because the lie makes more sense. There’s comfort there. Sure, we all wish it was a better world but it’s how the system works. The key is to keep your nose clean, go to work and pay your bills. You aren’t going to change the world — today. So make sure you follow the rules laid out and save your gentle indignation for those times that will have the most impact. So you can congratulate yourself when (insert politician here) wins the election.
Truth is stranger than fiction. Never has it been more apparent than in the US presidential race.
