Mindless Sheep Syndrome

Mindless Sheep Syndrome

By Frank Waszut

Today an expert on the forefront of human douchebaggery research has released his findings on the discovery of a recently known but unclassified mental disorder afflicting about 99% of Americans today (the exact percentage is unkwon pending actual research and reading "The Scientific Method for Dummies" if it actually exists). The majority of the research was done in the coastal town of Charleston, South Carolina wnich is located in the South Eastern U.S. The town was selected for its control variables of consistently low SAT scores, high concentrations of alcoholics, frat boys, law school students, sorostitutes, corrupt government officials, Bible Belt politics, consistant voting results that have shown a "Bandwagon" mentality amongst its voters, and high dependance of income from tourism, major corporations, and government. These findings are being released after a controlled and ongoing social experiment that was started back in 2011 by Frank Andrew Waszut (yes, the same guy that wrote this be he can somewhat guarantee that these findings come from an objective 3rd person perspective since Gingers have been found to lack souls hence eliminating subjectivity).

He performed this experiment through Facebook, Twitter, and his blog Titled "I Don't Have ADD, I Have the Whole Alphabet." He placed himself in controlled variable environments consisting of bars, dives, mixed martial arts gyms, fitness clubs, Wal-Marts, highway interstates, random female mating domains, upscale and lowscale restuarants, fast food chains, churches, college dormitories (technically the dormitory results from this research was procurred prior to this study but the findings hold substantial merit to it). The goal of this study is help homo sapiens (human beings) alleviate symptoms that are brought about by our current socioeconomic environment, which itself is a result of this affliction which has brought about material driven politicians, lobbyists, religious zealouts, corporate big wigs, lawyers, drug dealers, police municipalities, etc. As humanity has evolved from Mitochondrial Eve, albeit purely theoretical due to difficulties in testing Darwin's Theory of Evolution, it has made such profound discoveries as fire, electricity, innovations in modern medicine, as well as inventions such as the internet, breast implants, and piercings of the clitorus. However, just like anything in life, evolution is not perfect and thus for every great positive step there is an equal but opposite negative step that brings about Mindless Sheep Syndrome, or M.S.S. for short, which will be defined below along with all currently known symptoms, treatments, and prognosis's for individuals and our species as a whole. Mindless Sheep Syndrome defined: M.S.S. is a mental disorder while rooted in genetics is catalyzed by socioeconomic factors that have brought about much suffering through out the known existence of our species.

The root cause of these socioeconomic factors is an inevitable result of subjectivity brought about by consciousness. All known reality is percieved through 5 KNOWN senses (i.e. sight, smell, touch, hearing, and taste) which percieves the make up of our known reality to varying degrees. What this also brings about is a percieved seperation with the Universe around us which leads to the desire of our species to catalog this order of existence into an easily understandable construct. The issue with this desire is that human knowledge of the known universe is limited to say the least. We constantly forget that our time as a species in, or on if you are into brane theory, this universe can be considered negligible to put it modestly. Modern human beings have existed for approximately 195,000 years according to fossil records even though they could have been around for longer than that. While seeming like a long time due to the perspective of our species it is actually a subatomic drop in the bucket when compared to the fact that the know age of the universe is 13.7 Billion Years old and even that is up for debate since that is as far back as we can see visible light. It could be much older than that if it indeed actually have a beginning. To be quite honest the origins of sentience (beginning of life) is the subject of much debate and thus has been the impetus of what has now evolved into M.S.S. The problem is we have no firm understanding of where we came, where we are going, or even what reality really is. We eventually get to a point where we just don't know. Scientists call it a singularity. Religious Zealots call it the point where you have to take a leap of faith. Atheists call it an end. Honestly we just dont know. It could very well be simultaneously all and none of these things.

This leads to the first symptom of M.S.S. The Symptoms Egocentrism Egocentrism, or ego for short, is one of the first precursors and symptoms of Mindless Sheep Syndrome. Now you would think a concept of a mental construct that would dilute one's mind into thinking that the world revolves around them would keep them immune to M.S.S. but its quite the contrary. This is for two reasons: 1. Egos need to be stroked and inflated constantly Egos are much like genitals. When stimulated they command all of their owner's attention and once the stimulation subsides the owner is left with a sense of emptiness. It's in this emptiness that those fueled by ego are most vulnerable. This is the perfect for those whom are the proverbial wolf in sheep's clothing. They seize the opportunity to come in to facilitate arousal for their own gain while in turn giving the newly recruited "sheep" a false sense of self worth and fulfillment. While somewhat comical when the captain of the cheer leading team convinces the virgin who is head of the chess club meet her under the bleachers only to walk into a getting wedgied to the point of extreme discomfort by the captain of the football team, who himself suffers from egocentrism from said stroking by said cheerleader (obviously naivity is a precursor since males are clueless at this age). However on a grander scale this has led to many of humanity's darkest and most tragic hours. The Holocaust, The Armenian Genocides, the ongoing drug wars amongst drug cartels in Mexico, etc.

These amongst many others can be attributed to groups of people having their egos stroked in a while in a vulnerable state such as the German population by Hitler following their own economic depression to which Hitler used the Jewish people as a scapegoat. 2. Ego leads to a false sense of enlightenment There is nothing wrong with saying, "I don't know". It doesn't in itself have any negative connotation and has been spoken by many an erudite human. Every great thinker of our time has come to this impass. Honestly in the grand scheme of things it is the most enlightened statement anyone can make. No one has the all the answers because invariably answers aren't the cure to alleviating our species suffering, not too mention all sentient beings. The questions are the treatment and one day will be the cure. Questions are a projection of our thrist for knowledge. A projection of our potential. A projection of how far we have evolved in our minimal time in this universe and how far we can go. Answers are limits were questions are limitless. They are our best chance of adapting and surviving. This is why ego is in essence a poison to sentience. It is the one of our many enemies of survival and leads to other symptoms of M.S.S. It not only closes the minds of those afflicted to new ideas, particularly those that don't conform to their own.

They already feel they know all the answers even when the answers they feel they have open the door to exponentially more questions. Its tragic when you think about it due to how many brilliant minds are potentially closed due to constricted social paradigms. Imagine what would have happened if Einstein had sympathized with Hitler. The Pledge of Allegiance, no matter how paradoxical it has become in our current society, certainly wouldn't be spoken in high school classrooms and our hand placement would be quite different not to mention the hair color of most of the students. Charleston has been the epitome of this mentality along with the majority of the proverbial Bible Belt that makes up the majority of the Southeastern U.S. It has always been 5 years behind the rest of this country for this very symptom alone. I mean South Carolina was the first state to succeed from the Union after the election of Abraham Lincoln which lead to the start of the Civil War catalyzed by the Confederate Seige on Fort Sumter. Due to South Carolina being unwilling to see the other side of the coin of the whole "states right's" argument which in all honesty was a veil to defend their stance on slavery. As a result the bloodiest war in U.S. History ensued. Brother was pitted against brother and families were torn apart. All from ego.

This is also an example of another symptom of M.S.S. Prejudice Stroking of the ego leaves one vulnerable to another much more serious symptom of M.S.S. in the form of prejudice. Where as those with a free mind would realize that the minor differences amongst human beings throughout the world whether it be visual, social, economic, cultural, or ethnic are merely illusions those suffering from M.S.S. don't. It's a cliche saying, or hopefully one day I can say that it is, that, "We are all one". All the matter that makes up everything in the known Universe including sentience, i.e. US, came from a singular point and rapidly expanded in fractions of a second to create everything in this Universe (as far as we know). In other words all the matter in the universe, all of it, the matter that makes you, me, the stars, galaxies, you're mom's boy toy on the side, the vibrator in her night stand, the car that douche that's been hooking up with your girlfriend drives, and even Morgan Freeman came from this singularity. Not just that, it is in essence all the same matter and energy while still being quantumly entangled which means that we are all interconnected and the space the we percieve sperating us is merely an illusion. If this is a difficult concept for you to grasp then you can cross this symptom off the checklist because you have it.

Now that's not saying you are prejudice in the classical sense that you physically treat sentient beings differently due to the differences that you percieve in those around you. You are prejudice due to ACTUALLY percieving the variables amongst sentient beings as differences even if only subconciously. We all do it to an extent which is why M.S.S. is such a hard condition to treat since it is deeply rooted in our psyches from birth. It's like George Carlin said in Dogma, "Get them while they are young." What he mean't by that is that in it's infant form the sentient mind is high moldable. It's like a sponge soaking up information from the world around us in order to lay the foundation for the construction of our perception of reality. Since the foundation is the strongest part of any construct it is also the hardest to alter or reconstruct. A perfect example of this is when I had a mixed martial arts bout in Biloxi, Mississippi in August of 2009. The day prior to the bout we had to drive down so that I could weigh in for the bout to be official. The thing about Biloxi is that it was ravaged and nearly in ruins while in a state of recovery after Hurricane Katrina struck 4 years prior. It was weird since all of the casinos were still standing and in pristine order (which actually examplifies another symptom we will get to shortly) yet almost all of the homes were gone or being rebuilt.

Some were almost completely wiped away like they never existed. I say almost because their concrete foundations were still there which was the only proof that a house had even existed there in the first place. Now if the house is a person's mind in its maturest form then its parts (roof, windows, doors, chimney, garage, the furniture) is what constitutes all the ideas, dreams, thoughs, nightmares, funny jokes, beliefs, worries, etc, that gear the evolution of that mind while the foundation is what the mind lays, stems, and evovles off of. Even if a person where to have there mind completely wiped cleaned via amnesia they would still subconsciously carry those behaviors since the foundation is such a hard thing to eradicate just like the foundations of those houses in Biloxi even after suffering from the winds and storm surge of a category 3 Hurricane. Our prejudices are so hard to break subconsciously since they are mixed into the concrete that is poured into the foundation for the proverbial frame of the house that is our minds from the earliest inception of our sentience (childhood) before we are consciously aware of the concept of prejudice. That's not to say the foundation can be undone and replaced. Just that it's very difficult without the right equipment. It should be clearly evident now of how this disorder infects our minds. Just like how HIV requires the that your T-Cells contain CD5 receptors to gain entry into your cells in order to incubate and multiply so does M.S.S.

The proverbial doorway for this disorder is the human mind in its infant stages of life. As we get older we build barriers in our minds that fight off and deflect new knowledge that don't fit into the construct that M.S.S. has built. If we go back to the house-mind analogy then M.S.S. would have the effect of the house aging over time with the owner not wanting to make renovations because you like leaky roofs and rotting wood. When observing this from the an objective 3rd person perspective you would realize that such an assumption is ridiculous. However, the issue with M.S.S. is that it tricks you into never even stepping outside the house! As long as you stay inside you are under the assumption that the house is stable until it starts falling down around you with the effects of life in the forms of trauma and suffering. It's only at this point at which you are forced to make repairs. This brings us to our next symptom. Ignorance The proverbial deterioation of our house is as a result of trauma. There are two types of trauma. Minor, i.e. breaking up with a girlfriend, falling behind on your bills, catching the chlamydia, etc. Others are major, i.e. death of a friend or a loved one, serious injury, being a victim of a major felony, seeing and witnessing human atrocities, owing child support etc.

Where are as minor trauma might be a strong rain storm that causes a leaky roof, major trauma would be Hurricane Katrina or some other environmental calamity. Now trauma in itself is not bad thing. It's a force of nature just like the symptoms of M.S.S. in addition to the other more postive aspects of sentience, i.e. compassion, honesty, erudition, and mental fortitude (which is not to be confused with egocentrism). Michael Talbot talks about in his book, The Holographic Universe, how the minds of sentient beings are connected to the material world around them. Furthermore he goes on to explain mind, consciousness, and matter are actually one in the same which are folded out of the "nonlocal" level of reality called the "implicate order" in the level of reality we presently percieve called the "explicate order" where M.S.S. rears its ugly head. His whole point is that our Universe is a hologram that is projected out from the implicate order of reality to the explicate order of it. Once it hits the "film", which (in my humble opinion) is probable the Higgs Field theorized by Peter Higgs to explain how all particles in the Universe gain mass or existence if you will, projects a 3 dimesional image which Talbot states in this case, along with University of London physicist David Bohm and Stanford neurophysiologist Karl Pribram, is our entire Universe .

The pieces of our existence are starting to come together ever so consistently and these finidings instigate another symptom of M.S.S. in the form of ignorance. Ignorance is that force which keeps you inside the house and helps to rationalize the traumas affecting the house. You might see these as minor ailments and not a major cause for concern until they all add up to which you reach the precipice of the house being destroyed or repaired in order to be able to continue to stand in its present form. However every once in awhile a major trauma will come seemingly out of no where for seemingly no reason (like for example the heart attack that killed my father in an instant). Like I said its easy to look at events such as this as negatives but you must not if you want to treat and overcome the effects of M.S.S. The negativity you feel from these major traumas is a result of ignorance due to our misunderstanding of trauma. For example when my father died my mind was devestated to say the least, just like those buildings in Biloxi or like many of the homes in Charleston and the surrounding areas (especially the town of McClellenvile) after Hurricane Hugo struck. However just like the Budhism claims, life and furthermore reality, is learned through trauma. Trauma like questions are a form of treatment for ignorance and quite literally beats the ignorance out of you.

Trauma is what brings about the opportunity evolve the house and major trauma is the opportunity to replace the very foundation that made you ignorant to the effects that of the Universe that one would allow to go unchecked first place. However when reconstructing or renovating your house you must be careful of your intentions or else exhibit another symptom of M.S.S. Greed Remember how I told you how the casino's in Biloxi were still standing alive and well while all the buildings around were devestated and nearly wiped out of existence if it wasn't for their foundations? First we have to realize the driving force of a casino or what any major building with a strong centralized infrastructure whether it be physical, economical, social, educational, or idealogical (religious, philosophical, or political) is. What it's very purpose is and what they symbolize. While seemingly seperate, like i've said before, the seperation is completely a matter of perspective. In reality they all serve the same purpose which is our strive for material gain in the explicate order even though everything that is already needed or we could ever want to acheive true happiness has been given to us from the implicate and is buried deep with in us just waiting to be uncovered. It lays right below the very foundation of our minds, below the foundation of our house. In the soil. In the implicate.

That's not to say that our minds aren't connected to it. M.S.S. just blinds us from sensing the connection. M.S.S. keeps us from seeing beyond ourselves and our sentience. This strive for material gain is the very basis that leads us to suffering with M.S.S. and makes us the proverbial sheep for the herders while being sustinence for the wolves in sheep's clothing. When you strive for material gain you make yourself a slave to the material gain of others whom you give an artificial placement of artificial status while in pursuit your own drive for material gain. It leads to a never ending cycle of servitude and bondage. A never ending cycle of being the sheep. Furthermore it's the biggest disservice you can do to yourself and your fellow sentient beings. You are constricting the evolution of yourself and those around you. What affects one affects all. Which is why our species has always been held back by our strive for material gain in the explicate because it puts us out of touch with the implicate which lays in all of us just waiting to be discovered. Instant gratification is what strokes your ego while rationalizing your prejudices and ignorances. Method Man of The Wu-Tang Clan put it bluntly, "Cash Rules Everything Around Me" or "C.R.E.A.M." for short. Our predominant Religion (Christiani denominational of Puritanical origins) and Government facilitate this through our economy. Take a look at dollar bill. What does it say on the back? "In God We Trust".

Two human constructs, government and religion, which are both designed for serving their purpose of herding the sheep which if you remember from high school history class (that's representative of the educational construct if your are paying attention) have laws which govern (herd) a seperation of church and state. Yet on the back of our own currency were are given evidence once again that this supposed seperation is merely an illusion. The casinos in Biloxi, the church you attend on Sundays, the College that gave you that degree that covet so highly (along with those oh so lovely student loans), are merely just tools too fuel you strive for material wealth and blind you from true wealth in connecting with your fellow sentient beings and the Universe around you. Those connections are our true currency. A connection that cannot be bought with money in any of its forms. Striving solely for money will lead you to a poverty in its truest forms. Material by itself is not a cause for M.S.S. Its our belief that by itself we can obtain freedom and happiness through the acquisition of money. In reality it is merely a tool that does the sentient being's bidding. How we use this tool or concept could very well be what cures our entire species of this pandemic which we will cover later. I will say though that our society must stop measuring wealth on the matierial found in the explicate.

However Greed has an uglier twin which keeps us at the mercy of the herders and the wolves which we must also overcome. Fear "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself"-Frank Delano Roosevelt Say hello to the enforcer of M.S.S. and what has made it a pandemic worldwide. This is a direct result of not knowing the nature of the implicate despite the fact the eventually we will all one day fold back into it. This can also be called " the fear of death". We covet our lives so highly that we must reinforce our hubris that it will somehow never end and that we can find a way to stay in the explicate order of existence while this enforcer could potentially bring about our own demise if we allow it too. This is what keeps us in our house without making repairs even as it falls down around us. We are too scared to step outside due to some sense of impending doom. However, have you ever been awoken from a deep slumber before? What is it that you always try to do? While I don't know what's exactly in your mind I am willing to bet the house that nine times out of time you try to shut your eyes and fall back to sleep. The reason for this is that Implicate is not the nightmare that most of the world has been raised to belief. This symptom like others has been mixed into the concrete foundation of our minds since infancy. Parents do it to their kids because their parents did it to them and so forth. It has been going on since the creation of the spoken word. Fear is what keeps the wheels of M.S.S. going round and round.

It blinds us from our minds and blinds us from ourselves. This is how organized religions advertise and gain their audience. Religion makes their revenue off of human's fear of the implicate order and promises a way to stay in the explicate order. So does Government. They routinely take away your freedoms with the promise of a security blanket that is merely an illusion. The concept of safety itself is an illusion because there is nothing to fear. How can your fear something for which you have no control over? Life and Death are the ebb and flow of reality. A folding and unfolding in an out of the implicate into the explicate. It's a cycle. Life leads to death. Death leads to life. In that sense there is no end and no beginning. There is just the explicate and the implicate with an ever evolving transition between the two. Since their is no end and no beginning there is no reason for fear and no reason for a need for saftey. All government and religion wants to do is make you believe that you can stop the cycle of existence which might actually one day be possible if Frank Tipler's Omega Point Theory comes to fruition. This theory states that our universe and consciousness are geared toward a greater and greater point of complexity. That at some point humans will reach a point of complexity where human beings will become omnipotent and one with the Singularity (which might be God). All those alive at that point will become immortal and all those whom we have lost will be brought back into the explicate order for all eternity at which point the Universe will be at the will of sentient life. It would be ours to control as we see fit.

The Universe will have passed the torch onto us and its fate will be in our hands. ALL of our hands. At that point FDR's words will be at of the utmost significance. At that point the only fears that we will fear will be the one's of our own creation. This point may very well be coming faster than we could anticipated. Treatment As you have probably noticed all of these symptoms are rooted in the negative aspects of human nature. Negativity is what slows our evolution as a species and as sentient beings. I am not religious in anyway, shape, or form. If you were to label me I guess the most appropriate one would be agnostic. I have flirted with with atheism and monotheism. I have found that it more than likely falls somewhere in the middle or could just be a matter of perspective and conciousness. The Buddhist perspective I have become fond of is what best suits my views best but that, just like anything else for sentient beings, is purely subjective. Budhism believes that the question of whether or not God exists is beside the point. What is constant now is that we are all human and connected to something greater than ourselves. As a result I feel I have an obligation to put my views out there through my writing in order to help my fellow sentient beings, human or otherwise. Hopefully this will help to break the bonds M.S.S. that society has infected us with and put it into remission.

Bear in mind there is no known cure. This is a life long disease but it doesn't have to control you unless you allow it to. Here are your treatment options in this order. 1. Be Honest with Yourself This one of the toughest treatment options but also one of the most effective. Once you admit to yourself that you have these symptoms then your path to relief can begin. Unlike most ailments, physical or psychological, this disorder has to be self diagnosed in order for any other treatment options to be effective. I remember when I was a kid watching "Home Improvement" with Tim Allen. Tim (yes that was also his character's name) was talking to his neighbor Wilson because there was something he felt compelled to tell his wife, Jill, about but was scared to do so because of how much the truth could hurt. That's when Wilson laid this pearl of wisdom on Tim, "Truth is like surgery. It hurts but it heals". When you first start being honest with yourself it might hurt. A LOT. Some common realizations might be: -"Oh my god. I'm a complete tool that hides inside of pink polo shirts while chasing the skirts of sorostitutes with severe daddy issues." -"Holy fuck. I am a rascist." -"I do let my dick do all the thinking for me." -"I jump way to quickly to judging people." - "I have been objectiftying the opposite sex." -"Tribal tattoos, fake sun tans, and watching MTV doesn't make me cool. Fuck!" -"Wow, alot of what I learned in college was bullshit." -"I need to think things through more before I take action with my reproductive organs." Hopefully through this self examination you will come to the impetus of this disorder and come to this realization: -"People have been trying to brainwash me my whole life. I need to educate myself."

When you come to that moment you will have what psychologists refer to as a breakthrough or can also be called an epiphany. This is when you realize an undeniable truth that you have been trying to hide from yourself for too long which has been doing you great harm. The good news it's never too late to begin the healing process and start on the path to recovery in order to gain your freedom from this horrible disease that has kept your mind enslaved for far too long. Once you have attained this the following treatments will be able to take hold but only after you complete this first step. 2. Un-educate yourself Once you have realized that society has been throwing your mind in its proverbial brain washing machine and spin cycling it to their hearts content until you fall in line with THEIR views you can undo the effects of how they have corrupted your mind. You will start to realize that many of the things you have learned from birth are complete and utter bullshit. To quote Morpheus (Lawrence Fishburne) from The Matrix, "You have been living in a dream world." Now bear in mind our whole reality may very well be a dream resulting from the consciousness of another sentient being that is outside of our spectrum of perception. The only difference is, just like Neo (Keanu Reeves), is that once you have learned this truth about reality you know have the power to take control of your life and destiny while not being bound the parameters of a society suffering from this pandemic.

The best way to look at this un-education is the same as undoing the leash on your dog after a walk. Ever notice how happy the dog is? Not only this but it opens the creative functions of your brain so that you can start thinking with your own mind and outside of yourself. Creativity might very well be the only thing more important than individual happiness since it could lead to the happiness of all sentient life. 3. Opening and Freeing your mind: "Free ain't easy. Free is real. And real's a motherfucker." The above quote is by Jamie Foxx portraying Drew "Bundini" Brown who was cornerman for Muhammad Ali whom was played by Will Smith in Ali, which was biopic on the World Heavyweight champ and also one of the greatest living examples of those whom have defeated this diseases such as when he refused induction into the U.S. Army. He could have easily caved into fear and gotten shipped over to Vietnam to fight in a war that we honestly had no business getting involved in due to our government's greed. As scared as he was he stood up for his inalienable human rights and eventually came out the victor when the case went to the U.S. Supreme Court. He took alot of flack from those suffering from M.S.S. because he could see what they couldn't. A government that wants to enslave you while at the same time promising you freedom. Freedom on it's terms which really isn't freedom at all.

We face the same battle today as M.S.S. has only gotten stronger with the growth of our country's population. There are more carrier's of this disease than there has ever been. It's quite daunting and for those treating themselves it's frightening. However, that's the trade off of having freedom. Fear, the same symptom that keeps you bound but freedom gives you the chance to overcome that fear instead of staying in your house while it falls around you. Freeing your mind gives you a tool to combat that symptom. 4. Courage "We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear." - Martin Luther King Jr. Once you have freed your mind-house and replaced its foundation by stepping outside your mind you now must protect it at all costs. While this house is beautiful it is going bring out jealousy in those around you whom will try to instill fear and doubt into your mind. They might be overwhelming at times which is why you have to keep the storm sturge of fear back with levees of courage. Fear is everywhere. It will always be. Fear is the enemy. It must be acknowledged, analyzed, and respected but never surrendered to. Remember it wants to enslave and control you. It is Mindless Sheep Syndromes number one hitman. M.S.S. is the King Xerxes to the Persian Army (fear) at the Battle of Thermopylae (Greek for "Hot Gates" which refers to the hot springs at the mountian pass). You must be King Leonidas and hold the pass at all costs even if the price is death. Freedom is worth dying for. It's much sweeter than a life of servitude. You must carry a swagger about you that commands the respect of those infected.

A swagger that will make them think twice about attempting to pass it on to you. A good example to follow come's from Herodotus's (The Father of History) The Histories. When the Spartan warrior Dienekes, whom was considered the bravest of all Spartans, was conversing with a native of Trachis, which is where The Hot Gates is located, he learned an interesting tid bit of information. The native told him that the archers of the Persian army were so numerous that the sheer mass of arrows from their volleys blocked out the sun. Dienekes found this humurous and replied, "Good. Then we will have our battle in the shade". That must be your swagger. The volleys blocking out the light are the incoming flood of fear and impending doom. Your shield is your dike of courage. Your spear and xiphos (short sword) are your weapons to fight for the freedom of your mind. You must make those infected realize that the cost of victory is so high that the battle is not worth it leaving them to run off with their tail in between their legs and bow down in respect. Moments like this will make you realize that this is a war that can be won and it's the only war worth fighting. Leonidas, the 299 other Spartans, and their fellow Thespians, gave their very lives fighting to the last man, with their last weapons being their very hands and teeth to show that this epidemic can be beaten. Don't let their deaths be in vain. If it wasn't for them we wouldn't have democracy. Our world would be rife with tyranny and oppresion. The fight is with you now. 5. Re-Educate yourself "The most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible"-Albert Einstein The biggest tragedy of M.S.S. is the minds that it tricks those suffering with into wasting away in a life of obscurity.

We live a country that operates with the very political idealogy that King Leonidas and his men gave their lives for a shade under 2,500 years ago yet is run by a government that as of late might as well take a trip to the now hollowed grounds of Thermopylae and piss on it. The reason why I say this is due to how our government now allows our democracy to be bought by the likes of the Koch Brothers and the Carlyle Group along with the rest of Corporate America. Xerxes offered Leonidas great wealth and power if only him and his men laid down their weapons with the only price being their freedom. When Xerxes's bribes turned into demands, and in the face of overwhelming odds and certain death, Leonidas merely responded with "Molon Labe" which translated into English means, "Come and get them". Today, we have our soldiers fighting with this same ferocity to uphold Western Democracy. It's sad that that our government is selling the sum of their sacrifices to the highest bidder whom want to take our freedoms to line their pockets. To them freedom is negotiable. To Leonidas, me, our soldiers, and ultimately yourself it must indivisible without compromise. In order to do this you have to seek knowledge on your own beyond the confines of our government structured education system to truly open your mind to all possibilities. Like i said, freedom is scary. A realization that will hit your newly renovated home with the proverbial force of a Hurricane like Katrina only now your dikes will be in place protect your mind from the storm surge of fear to give your mind a fighting chance. More than just that an opportunity. An opportunity to lead by example. Knowledge is not only power. Knowledge is contagious. Like a virus except instead of being parasitic, it is symbiotic in those brave enough to seek it.

It maybe scary as it seeps in at first but in order for M.S.S. to go into remission you have to allow it to do so. Many of the very beliefs you found comfort in maybe shattered to pieces. You might have a sense of doom and gloom. That's fear stroking your egontrism while inciting prejudices to go back to the bliss of ignorance. Don't ignore the fear, just realize it for what it truly is; fear of the unknown. That's why you must seek knowledge, to make the unknown known while discovering new unkowns. Keep in mind, questions are the key to infinity, not the answers. You must always seek to evolve to stay ahead of the curve. Always. It's the loneliest path to walk but quite possibly the only one worth pursuing. Your body is a finite vessel, your mind and consciousness are an infinite resonance. The following are good sources on re-educating yourself: -I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell, Assholes Finish First, and Hilarity Ensues By Tucker Max. If it wasn't for his writing I would probably still be at the whim of corrupt fight promoters and athletic commisioners getting my head beat in for peanuts. -The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking. It's a good introduction to the workings of the Universe. The ending might be a little depressing to those of devout faith but then again it is not truly faith unless you have tested. This one lays down the gauntlet. - The Universe in a Single Atom by the Dalai Llama. After reading Hawkin's book you are probably going to be pretty down. However, just like the ultimate drill sergeant that is reality you have to be broken down before you can be built back up. The only difference being you are building up a free mind instead of being built of for the use of others. This book will make you realize the questions that you were seeking answers to were pointless. This will steer you in a positive direction. A direction of a truly free sentient being. One that is willing to seek knowledge for themself and their individual evolution. -Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield. One of the best books on the concept of courage and having a warrior mentality for all aspects in life. It also goes into further detail about why the Battle of Thermopylae still has effects on our society to this day and age while being just as important now as it was back then. A must read if you want to realize how close Western Democracy came to extinction. - Be Ready When the Sh*t Goes Down: A Survival Guide to The Apocalypse by Forrest Griffin. Remember how I said those with M.S.S. basically run the politics of the world.

Well guess whom will be the first to meet their alleged makers when the world goes to hell. This book will help you to not meet their fate not too mention a hilarious and informative sectiong narrated by Zack Wylde of Black Label Society about how to make a Vehicle of Destruction, i.e. Death Core War Machine. -The Holographic Universe by Michael Talbot. Do you really want to have your perception of reality thrown on its head? What if someone told you that our entire Universe was one gigantic hologram? Read this and be ready to question everything. -The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. The Omega Point Theory states that creativity is the only thing more important than happiness. This book will teach you how to break through your creative blocks that M.S.S. wants to re-enforce. Learn how to step out of your house by reading the be all end all of self help books. -Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman. What's better than a show that asks the very questions of the nature of reality and existence that thuroughly blows your mind? Morgan Freeman narrating it of course. This show asks such questions as "Is the Universe Alive?", "Is There A Creator?", "Does the Universe Have An Edge?", and "What is Nothing?". It is reason enough to have the Science Channel. -Cracked.com. If you want mind blowing truth brough to life in the funniest way imaginable then accept no substitues. Seriously, type the URL in right now. I'm not joking. Open up another tab besides the one you already have of your favorite porn site and go to tnis site. Ok, if you don't do it now then I am going to come find you or send a really big Ginger or Nick Diaz. I know. Scary right? 6. Love your enemy Once you have freed your mind and re-educated yourself is when the true battle begins because everyone around you is going to be jealous which subsequently will lead to them attempting to force you to conform to their views even they don't realize they aren't doing it consciously.

That's the thing about Mindless Sheep Syndrome. You become infected with it before you even realize what the disease is. That's why you always felt fear about breaking rules and laws that were written by other humans because you have been brainwashed from birth to believe that they were written by someone of a moral authority whom actually follows the same rules that he writes for others to follow. Do you really expect a herder to go with the rest of flock when he has no reason too? If your answer is yes then start re-reading from the beginning of this article until you can say no and UNDERSTAND why the answer is no. At the same time you can't hate the herders or the sheep or even the wolves in sheeps clothing. Pity the hell out of them but realize they are suffering with this affliction and they don't know a better way. It's a vicious cycle brought on by this disease that you don't have to be a part of if you choose not too. If you lead by example then you will resonate to those suffering and possibly lead them on a path to recovery. You always have a choice AND a destiny. Most people will tell you that you have one or the other but think of it this way; imagine riding down the interstate. The main road is your life where the car you are in is the very existence of your mind and consciousness (and who's to say that it's not?). If you take the main road all the way to your destination it will seem pretty uneventful without meaning or purpose. However if you take the exits and side roads while on the way to your destination then it will have plenty of purpose and meaning when you arrive at your destiny as far as your perceptions are concerned. However, its you who has to take the exits and turn-offs on the way to your destination no matter where it is.

Honestly the only one that knows its you even if you can't see it yet and that's why the choice of whether you can find or even change your destiny lies with you. Pre-destination is just as concrete as free-will. You have a purpose just as much as you have the choice of whether to abide by it or not. It's your life, not anyone else's and subsequently the choices you make are yours to live with and your's alone. Take hold of it before someone else does. Just don't try to control other people because their views don't comform to yours. Love them, don't hate them. Try to help them, but don't force it. You can't force someone to change their views if they arent ready to. Just be their for you fellow human if they ask for the help. Don't be the douchebag that M.S.S. tried to make you. Prognosis While there is no known cure for Mindless Sheep Syndrome treatment is very affective as long as you stay consistent with it. It will always be latent in your system until a cure is found that can make our society a free-thinking one run on the currency of compassion and honesty without ego, fear, jealousy, hate, and suffering. That way our species as a whole can move towards it's destiny. It's ultimate destiny which I am not certain of but have faith it has to do with Interstellar travel and the ideas thought of by George Lucas coming to fruition. Frank Tipler's Omega Point Theory gives us some ideas and reason for hope. I feel that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and in the light will be a new beginning except this time the Universe will be up to us to control. The realization with this will be that the consequences from then on out will be ours and ours alone. Maybe the ultimate destiny. To take the torch out of God's (or whatever it is) hands to carry it on to the next destination and so forth.

Maybe eventually it will all make sense for those that take their lives back into their own hands or as Wesley Gibson said at the end of Wanted after blowing a hole in Sloan's skull (yes, Morgan Freeman sadly): "This is me taking back control, of my life. What the fuck have you done lately?".....