Let me begin by pointing out that virtually all attitudes that we think of as being "ours" are derived from sources outside of one's self. While this may or may not be obvious, it sets the stage for what you will later read about making choices and exercising what we mistakenly call "free will." The intention of this book is to help raise people's consciousness regarding the copious deceptive and deceitful practices that occur in society by discussing their root causes, and then presenting some of the negative manifestations of those behaviors. We can not expect to advance society by allowing these antisocial actions to go unacknowledged and not dealt with. Also described are some of the ways in which we voluntarily become victims, whether they are derived from social interaction, religious indoctrination, the press, our government, or the ever present manipulation of consumers by big business. These are all areas in which we can benefit from having reasonable insights. Pogo: "I have met the enemy and it is me." While there are many adverse behaviors discussed herein, the most flagrant of them may come from politicians... virtually all of whom are indebted to the corrupting purse-strings of corporate America for their political livelihood (reelection funding). It is the officers and directors of the major institutions who manipulate this country with their legalized bribes and surreptitious illegal perks. And this corporate achievement is accomplished without a great deal of detection, fanfare, or concern for who may be in office at any given time. Have you noticed how often big business give money to both parties? This tolerated graft is why nothing much changes from one Administration or one Congress to the next. Big business owns both. Business owns government, and it will until we accept that reality and act to prevent it Many of the points that are made in this book may fall into the category of I already knew that. However, there should be more than a few ideas that will elicit an aha As you will discover, I take frequent issue with many counterfeit statements that emanate from our institutions, a feature that has been a function of their business-as-usual plans and the political landscape for uncounted decades. It is these persistent fountains of misinformation and disinformation that we should be aware of and deal with if we are to counteract the negative side of people's pursuit of power. Just don't imagine that you can label me un-American if you should happen to disagree with my contentions. Being a good citizen is not being inclined to accept all that the government may want of us. On balance, it is an entity that is made up of regular people who have their own prejudices and personal agendas, and we should not expect otherwise. Resistance to the evils that are inherent in bad government (the quest for power) is everyone's duty in order to promote a stronger, more just America. While many of the presented ideas represent logic and analysis on my part, others deal with an accretion of knowledge through the practice of skepticism. These are two essential mental processes that are underrated and underutilized by society. People who are not steeped in logic may not grasp the importance and elegance of using this technique in their daily lives. There are also those who may consider skeptics to be little more than malcontents, and choose to ignore their "rantings." Yet others may be so thoroughly indoctrinated in their belief systems that questioning of what they "know" to be true is unthinkable, and is therefore virtually impossible.

One of our least effective traits involves the capacity to deny reality. This allows us to be repetitively duped by circumstances or by the unscrupulous. Prayer fits the phenomenon because so many people believe in it without being able to demonstrate the slightest effectiveness. Has anyone ever done or even considered a statistical analysis of its success or failure rate, or heard of such a study? Of course not. This would be an affront to the faithful. In the event that providence has been favorable they claim their prayers have worked. Or perhaps they say it was a miracle, which would be God changing his mind about his grand plan. When an event remains negative, they say nothing, but none-the-less continue to believe in the fantasy. A miracle is a positive event for which we may not be able to derive a reason, but that does not mean that the event does not have a simple explanation if we were able to understand all of the circumstances