Paranoia in America real, imagined, taught or genetic?

United States
December 4, 2010 6:48pm CST
It is easy to change the popular opinion in America as long as you can expose people at young age to the idea you want to implant. I have noticed a new trend in video games that seems to have to do with not trusting the government or military leaders. Is it just a sign of our times or is this a deliberate act to bring down the Untied States by planting the idea that will develop in young minds. Being a paranoid person myself I always try and look at things like a game of chess and wonder where the real offensive is coming from. I have also read that you shouldn't teach your children chess at a young age because it instills paranoia, I learned at age 4-5 ...LOL Every day now on the news you hear words thrown around like new world order or the Illuminati. Is there a deliberate act to try and undermine our government by news organizations? Don't get me wrong I am far from the person who will blindly follow anyone who waves a flag but maybe there are forces at work here that are not in the open and the whole intent is to get the common people to revolt against the government. There are after all a lot of similarities between the US and former soviet union. As a nation we are more than just the daring explorers of other nations who left our homelands and came here we are also the descendants of those who were so afraid of their own homelands they gave up everything and came here. As a people we have to be the most paranoid (genetically speaking) of the entire planet. It kind of makes you wonder how we grew into the nation we are today without falling apart. There is one thing we are definitely more paranoid about than our own government and that is outsiders. I guess that is what has held us together as long as we have.
2 responses
@peavey (16936)
• United States
6 Dec 10
I believe that, unfortunately, at least some of the "paranoia" is rooted in fact. Socialists are hard at work changing the fabric of our nation. It's painful to those of us who are older and have lived through better times; more patriotic and more pride in our nation as well as having more freedom. Those who have not lived through those times don't realize what is happening. You bring up a good point that I hadn't thought of - we are genetically inclined to paranoia - but maybe it's realism rather than paranoia. Being afraid of one's homeland doesn't necessarily mean one is paranoid. It can mean that one is realistic and ready to fight for a better way to live.
@peavey (16936)
• United States
7 Dec 10
True!
@Taskr36 (13963)
• United States
9 Dec 10
I got my line from Dean Stockwell in The Shadow Men when the Men in Black were after a family that was abducted by aliens.
@Taskr36 (13963)
• United States
6 Dec 10
It's not paranoia if they really are out to get you...
@spalladino (17891)
• United States
6 Dec 10
In my opinion, the most recent seed of paranoia towards the government was planted during the last presidential election campaign and has been intentionally nurtured by those who planted it...the team that lost the election. Their claim that all are evil on Capitol Hill and this country can only be saved by "new blood" helped to get many folks elected into Congress...and they will do exactly what politicians have done for decades. So, perhaps this little dose of reality will lesson that general distrust of the government. Fearing outsiders grew by leaps and bounds following the attacks on 9/11 because the U.S. was not attacked by a military force and military personnel weren't the ones injured or killed. The terrorists brought the fear of the unknown assassin to Main Street America and we all know that you cannot easily protect yourself from an enemy you cannot recognize as one. I never heard that about chess, by the way.
• United States
7 Dec 10
Tried to find the article about chess but only could find the one on how many students benefited from learning it. Here is one but no real research backing it that I can tell more just talk about how top chess players go nuts http://dangerousidea.blogspot.com/2007/01/is-chess-dangerous-to-your-mental.html
• United States
7 Dec 10
Who knows maybe they are right. Chess after all is just a series of patterns and maybe when you focus so much to get to that level you can actually see the patterns of synchronicity in life. Life's ultimately irony ... the guy walking down the street slapping himself, screaming profanity and crapping his pants has it all figured out...lol