Once When We Were FreeBy Jon Rappoport Were careful, because accidents happen. We dont say whats on our minds a lot of the time, because other people might pass that on, and who knows? We might get into trouble. But once upon a time, when we were young, we were free. We didnt take any shots, and when we got sick we recovered. We were stronger than kids are now. We didnt ask for much protection and we werent given much, and we survived. There was no talk about the needs of the group. When we went to school, we werent told about ways we could help others. That was something we learned at home. We werent taught about The Planet. Instead, we learned to mind our own business, and it wasnt considered a crime. When we played games, adults werent hovering or coaching every move we made. We found places to play on our own, and we figured it all out. There were winners and losers. There were no plastic trophies. We played one game, then another. We lost, we won. We competed. Losing wasnt a tragedy. There were no childhood conditions like ADHD or Bipolar, and we certainly didnt take any brain drugs. The idea of a kid going to a psychiatrist would have been absurd. People were who they were. They had lives. They had personalities. They had eccentricities, and we lived with that. There was far less whispering and gossip. There were fewer cliques. Kids didnt display their possessions like signs of their identity. A kid who did was ignored, even shunned. Kids never acted like little adults. They didnt dress like adults. They didnt want to be fake adults. Our parents didnt consult us about what we wanted. We werent part of the decision-making process. They didnt need us for that. We werent extra-special. We werent delicate. No one asked us about our feelings. If they had, we would have been confused. Feelings? Whats that? We were alive. We knew it. We didnt need anything else. We could spot liars a mile away. We could spot phonies from across town. We knew who the really crazy adults were, and we stayed away from them. We didnt need gadgets and machines to be happy. We only needed a place to play. If you wanted a spot to be alone, you found one, and you read a book. There was no compulsion to share. School wasnt some kind of social laboratory or baby-sitting service. We were there to learn, and if we worked hard, we did. Teachers knew how to teach. The textbooks were adequate. Whether the books were new or old didnt matter. Kids werent taught how to be little victims. Sex was a private issue. You were taught about that at home or not at all. You certainly didnt learn about it in school. That would have been ridiculous. Some of us remember being young, and now, we still have that North Star. We still dont take our shots and medicines. We still dont take every word a doctor says as coming from God. We still know losing isnt a crime or an occasion for tragic theater. We still know how to be alone. We still think gossip and cliques are for morons. We still feel free. We still want to live, and we do. We still resent intrusion on our freedom, and we speak up and draw the line. We still like winning and competing. We still like achieving on our own. We can spot self-styled messiahs at a hundred yards. As kids, we lived in our imaginations, and we havent forgotten how. Its part of who and what we are. We arent bored every twelve seconds. We can find things to do. We dont need reassurances every day. We dont need people hovering over us. We dont need to whine and complain to get attention. We dont need endless amounts of support. We dont need politicians who lie to us constantly, who pretend were stupid. We dont need ideology shoved down our throats. Our ideology is freedom. We know what it is and what it feels like, and we know no one gives it to us. Its ours to begin with. We can throw it away, but then thats on us. If two candidates are running for office, and we dont like either one, we dont vote. We dont need to think about that very hard. Its obvious. Two idiots, two criminals? Forget it. Walk away. We dont fawn, we dont get in other peoples way. We dont think children are the future. Every generation is a new generation. It always has been. We dont need to inject some special doctrine to pump up children. We remember what being a child is. Thats enough. When we were kids, there was no exaggerated sense of loyalty. We were independent. Now, we see what can be accomplished in the name of obligation, group-cohesion, and loyalty: crimes; imperial wars; destruction of natural rights. It didnt take a village to raise a kid when we were young, and it doesnt take one now. Thats all propaganda. It panders to people who are afraid to be what they are, who are afraid to stand up for themselves. We dont feel its our duty to cure every ill in the world. But it goes a lot further than that. We can see what that kind of indoctrination creates. It creates the perception of endless numbers of helpless victims. And once thats firmly entrenched, then magically, the endless parade of victims appears, ready-made. When some needs have been met, thats never enough, so other needs are born. The lowest form of hustlers sell those needs from here to the sky and beyond. They make no distinction between people who really can use help and those who are just on the make. We didnt grow up that way. We dont fall for the con now. When we were kids, the number of friends we had didnt matter. We didnt keep score. Nobody kept track of the count. That would have been recognized in a second as a form of insanity. As kids, we didnt admire people simply because other people admired them. That was an unknown standard. We were alive. That was enough. We were free. That was enough. It still is. When we were young, we had incredible dreams. We imagined the dreams and imagined accomplishing them. Some of us still do. Some of us still work in that direction. We havent given up the ghost just because the world is mad. The world needs to learn what we know. We dont need to learn what the world has been brainwashed into believing. (To read about Jons mega-collection, Exit From The Matrix, click here.) The author of three explosive collections, THE MATRIX REVEALED, EXIT FROM THE MATRIX, and POWER OUTSIDE THE MATRIX, Jon was a candidate for a US Congressional seat in the 29th District of California. He maintains a consulting practice for private clients, the purpose of which is the expansion of personal creative power. Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, he has worked as an investigative reporter for 30 years, writing articles on politics, medicine, and health for CBS Healthwatch, LA Weekly, Spin Magazine, Stern, and other newspapers and magazines in the US and Europe. Jon has delivered lectures and seminars on global politics, health, logic, and creative power to audiences around the world. You can sign up for his free NoMoreFakeNews emails here or his free OutsideTheRealityMachine emails here. Once we were free to express ourself and enjoy freedom of speech. Once we were free to have honest and open debate with our peers. But now many sites like selfnews Post stand against free speech and censor and delete comments from its readers. They will censor comments they do not agree with or find politicaly incorrect. selfnews Post actively works against freedom and stands for opression. Philo (20 BCE 50 CE), known also as Philo of Alexandria .. But the virtuous man has absolutely no obstacle at all since he rises up against, and resists, and overthrows, and tramples on fear, and cowardice, and pain, and all things of that kind, as if they were rivals defeated by him in the public games. For he has learned to disregard all the commands which those most unlawful masters of the soul seek to impose upon him. But the virtuous man does do everything wisely; therefore he alone is free. And indeed the man whom it is not possible either to compel to do anything, or to prevent from doing anything, cannot possibly be a slave; and one cannot compel or prevent the virtuous man. It works for me. Its only after youve lost everything that youre free to do anything. As Ronald Reagan once said: Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didnt pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our childrens children what it was once like in the United States where men were free. Negative BS! always Negative. To much Bad energy. It is a positive mind and energy that will see your life blossom and others around you. My Christmas gift is the Gift Of Advice. Dont listen to others, dont listen to Doctors , Dont listen to the Gov. Focus on the Positive and make your whole life go that way. Merry Christmas! I liked your version of the ten commandments but did you thought of the article as negative .I must say that i thought it was very well written and also very true and i do agree with you that it is better to focus on the positive things but little by little, those things have metamorphosed into a world, with a serious lack in morals and our leaders stampeding on our rights. There is this elephant in the room breaking our china and should we act as if he was not there.. would that not be an act of Denial, the worst of the gods to worship. I miss the old days. So, Mr. Rappaport, you didnt live in the same world where priests were molesting children, where men beat their wives, where people drank an incredible amount of alcohol and often drove afterwards, where sexism and racism were openly practiced because thats just the way things were, and where beating children with sticks, belts, and paddles was acceptable? As opposed to the current world of women who turn themselves into bad copies of men in pursuit of an equality thats created the largest divorce rate in the world, while failing to create equality because, for feminists, equality isnt the goal. The amount of drunk drivers, male and female, go up each year due to population growth. As to sexism and rascism in the 40s, 50s and 60s in America; perhaps I missed the location of Shambala in grade school; please list the places in the world that had NO racism and sexism during that time period, or at ANY time period during their existence. Please name the past civilizations, theres 10,000 years of them, that had no racism and sexism. Im looking for spots that exist in the real world, instead of some social justice warriors hallucinations. Im surprised people, such as yourself, would bother commenting on sites that have no safe spaces to retreat too. You would think you would be too busy denigrating historical figures you neither knew personally, nor lived among during the times their lives occurred. Pretty easy to do from the segregated ivory tower (I mean PC white plastic simulated ivory tower){sorry, thats any color but white plastic simulated ivory non-phallic structure}. God knows I would not want to offend you by mistake., literally. Think about it, once the red clouds fade from your vision. Four thumbs up for a divide and conquer speech. I guess we have a long way to go, when the truthers still take zero responsibility for the world and conveniently blame it on ivory tower PCers. I really cant stand people who long for the good ol days, weve been under the empire for thousands of years. I guess you had it good huh?? And her little speech wasnt? Someone judging a past they neither experienced nor survived? I cant stand hypocrites who somehow think current modern society is so much more enlightened than the past. That they, and only they, know how to sweep away the detrius of the past and lead us to Shambala singing kumbaya. Heres a clue for you Sparky; You know all the black lives matter crap? Banning the Confederate flag because its racist and glorifies slavery? You know; hot button oppression. Not one of them, from Sharpton on down, mentions that an underage girl can be bought for less than $20 on the Gold Coast of Africa. None of them mention the current slave trade at all; does that mean people like YOU benefit from it? Because you dont want to think about blacks SELLING blacks, just like they did before, because that doesnt fit your byline. Does the logic you apply to my previous post apply to yourself? Doesnt end there; can be applied to numerous examples including AGW and vaccine safety. Heres the last clue; in case it hasnt occurred to you yet, unless you actually lived it, the only thing you really know about history is someones opinion of what happened, usually written by someone else who wasnt there. Now, is it your belief that historians (or newsmen) are beyond the frailties that beset the rest of humanity? Or do you need to retreat to your safe space? A good spanking goes a long way and a lot of younger folks sure could use one these days. A world without consequence is a world without credibility. Im always up for a good spanking! There is no way I will ever take a vaccination I dont have a Dr. and I do speak up guess that makes me free (still free). do unto others as you would have them do unto you this should be the worlds motto. Yeah, the good old days seem to be gone foreverbut it is Christmas, so lets enjoy On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me On the second day of Christmas my true love sent to me On the third day of Christmas my true love sent to me On the fourth day of Christmas my true love sent to me On the fifth day of Christmas my true love sent to me On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me On the eight day of Christmas my true love gave to me On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me Brilliant article Jon, one of your best. But I would take exception with: We were there to learn, and if we worked hard, we did. Teachers knew how to teach. That as may be, but what they were teaching was mostly distorted, lying, manipulative rubbish as it still is. 