There's a 20%-50% chance we're inside the matrix and reality is just a simulation.
"Many scientists, philosophers, and business leaders believe that there is a 20-50% probability that humans are already living in a computer-simulated virtual world. In April 2016, researchers gathered at the American Museum of Natural History to debate this notion. The argument is that we are already approaching photorealistic 3D simulations that millions of people can simultaneously participate in. It is conceivable that with advancements in artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and computing power, members of future civilizations could have decided to run a simulation of their ancestors."
BAML also notably highlights Nick Bostrom's three probable scenarios for the human race, which are 1. extinction before reaching a "posthuman" stage, 2. entering posthuman existence but not simulating evolutionary history, and 3. we are in the matrix already. FULL ARTICLE by Business Insider
Feb 10, 2010, The Shell Game
"This is a little public service announcement on the perils of playing games like the three shell game or any of its cousins for money."
It's no mistake that Bank of America uses the headline "There's a 20%- 50% chance we're inside the matrix and reality is just a simulation" in their shell game. Don't buy into the shell game because "The pea is in hand (that hides) behind my back."
Feb 13, 2013, Who Controls the World
Notice Bank of America is one of the RED nodes identified in the Ownership Networks on the (MaTRIX) diagram below.
These "ownership networks" can reveal who the key players are, how they are organized, and exactly how interconnected these powers are. Each of the 1318 companies had ties to two or more other companies, and on average they were connected to 20. What's more, although they represented 20 per cent of global operating revenues, the 1318 appeared to collectively own through their shares the majority of the world's large blue chip and manufacturing firms - the "real" economy - representing a further 60 per cent of global revenues. When the team further untangled the web of ownership, it found much of it tracked back to a "super-entity" of 147 even more tightly knit companies - all of their ownership was held by other members of the super-entity - that controlled 40 per cent of the total wealth in the network. According to his data, James Glattfelder found that the top 730 shareholders control a whopping 80% of the entire revenue of transnational corporations. And — surprise, surprise! — they are mostly financial institutions in the United States and the United Kingdom. That is a huge amount of concentrated control in a small number of hands... Here are the top ten transnational companies that hold the most control over the global economy: 1) Barclays plc 2) Capital Group Companies Inc. 3) FMR Corporation 4) AXA 5) State Street Corporation 6) JPMorgan Chase & Co. 7) Legal & General Group plc 8) Vanguard Group Inc. 9) UBS AG 10) Merrill Lynch & Co Inc. - Karen Hudes
A small number of hands control the MaTRIX. And I'd bet the top 730 shareholders that control a whopping 80 percent of the entire revenue of transnational corporations are playing a shell game with the above article Bank of America: There's a 20%- 50% chance we're inside the matrix and reality is just a simulation.
Silly Rabbit Trix are for Kids
Down the rabbit hole we go... Silly rabbit, the Ma TRIX, are for kids.
So profound and meaningful is the joy and the enthusiasm that is born in one's mind and heart by human love and helpfulness that it has the power to motivate for a lifetime...
You don't have to be a doctor to say or do that which puts a light in a human eye and joy on a human face. Simply practice Jesus' commandment that we love one another. Go out and do something for somebody. These are the things that make happy people. Here is the one never-failing source of the joy and enthusiasm we are talking about.
- Norman Vincent Peale
Most of the people I know who have what I want - that is to say, purpose, heart, balance, gratitude, joy - are people with a deep sense of spirituality... They follow a brighter light than the glimmer of their own candle; they are part of something beautiful. I saw something once... that said, "A human life is like a single letter of the alphabet. It can be meaningless. Or it can be part of great meaning."
- Anne Lamott
Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air.
- John Quincy Adams
Divine qualities - "You are wise... not with a known wisdom. You understand... not with public understanding. You have no known place... just making known your power and strength to human beings, showing them how the world is conducted by justice and compassion, according to human action. But actually, you have no known justice or compassion, nor any quality at all."
It's in every one of us
to be wise
Find your heart
open up both your eyes,
We can all know everything
without ever knowing why,
It's in every one of us
by and by .
It's in every one of us
to be wise,
Find your heart
open up both your eyes,
We can all know everything
without ever knowing why,
It's in every one of us
by and by .
It's in every one of us
I just remembered
it's like I been sleeping for years,
I'm not awake as I can be
but my seeing is better,
I can see .
Through the tears,
I've realized that,
I bought this ticket
and watching only half of the show,
There are scenery and lights
and a cast of thousands,
Who all know
what I know,
And it's good
that it's so .
It's in every one of us
to be wise
Find your heart
open up both your eyes,
We can all know everything
without ever knowing why,
It's in every one of us
by and by,
It's in every one of us
by and by.
It's time to stop watching only half of the show... and open up both your eyes... and realize there's
an abundant flow... and it's only waiting for you to grow. Love each other, be kind, make peace not war, and be wise.
Americans are taught from a young age that our government is one of limited powers. Congress cannot simply pass any law that it wishes: The Constitution prescribes limits on its lawmaking powers. Or does it? In Bond v. United States, the Supreme Court of the United States will consider whether exercise of the Treaty Power can increase Congress’s legislative powers. In other words, may Congress, through treaties, reach ends that are otherwise outside its constitutional authority? If the Court answers that question in the affirmative, the authority of the federal government could be limitless.
BOND v. UNITED STATES
CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR
THE THIRD CIRCUIT
No. 09–1227. Argued February 22, 2011—Decided June 16, 2011
When petitioner Bond discovered that her close friend was pregnant by
Bond’s husband, she began harassing the woman. The woman suffered
a minor burn after Bond put caustic substances on objects the
woman was likely to touch. Bond was indicted for violating 18
U. S. C. §229, which forbids knowing possession or use, for nonpeaceful
purposes, of a chemical that “can cause death, temporary incapacitation
or permanent harm to humans,” §§229(a); 229F(1); (7); (8),
and which is part of a federal Act implementing a chemical weapons
treaty ratified by the United States. The District Court denied
Bond’s motion to dismiss the §229 charges on the ground that the
statute exceeded Congress’ constitutional authority to enact. She entered
a conditional guilty plea, reserving the right to appeal the ruling
on the statute’s validity. She did just that, renewing her Tenth
Amendment claim. The Third Circuit, however, accepted the Government’s
position that she lacked standing. The Government has
since changed its view on Bond’s standing.
Held: Bond has standing to challenge the federal statute on grounds
that the measure interferes with the powers reserved to States.
Pp. 3–14.
(a) The Third Circuit relied on a single sentence in Tennessee Elec.
Power Co. v. TVA, 306 U. S. 118. Pp. 3–8.
(1) The Court has disapproved of Tennessee Electric as authoritative
for purposes of Article III’s case-or-controversy requirement. See
Association of Data Processing Service Organizations, Inc. v. Camp,
397 U. S. 150, 152–154. Here, Article III’s standing requirement had
no bearing on Bond’s capacity to assert defenses in the District Court.
And Article III’s prerequisites are met with regard to her standing to
appeal. Pp. 3–5
Scalia, joined by Thomas, also concludes that the treaty power does not give Congress the authority to enact implementing statutes that go beyond the scope of Congress’ other enumerated powers under Article I. In a separate concurring opinion, Justice Thomas, joined by Scalia and Alito, argues that Section 229 is unconstitutional because the the treaty power only extends to treaties addressing “matters of international intercourse,” but does not cover “matters of purely domestic regulation” such as Bond’s conduct.
In recent days, conservatives have been sounding the alarm over Bond v. United States, a case that my colleagueElizabeth Wydra has described as “a constitutional dispute wrapped in a sad soap opera” – with an extramarital affair, a child born out of wedlock, and a spurned spouse seeking revenge.
After placing toxic chemicals on various surfaces on or around the home of her husband’s mistress, Carol Anne Bond was prosecuted and convicted under a federal law passed to implement an international chemical weapons treaty. Ms. Bond’s case is scheduled for argument before the Supreme Court tomorrow, with her side being pressed by conservative super-lawyer Paul Clement.
Colorful facts aside, in the conservatives’ rendering of Bond, the very fabric of the Republic is at stake. George Will has called it the Term’s “most momentous case,” arguing that the Roberts Court must step in to check a “government run amok.” The Heritage Foundation warns that the case challenges a key lesson that “Americans are taught from a young age” – that “our government is a government of limited powers.”
The TEDx Talk with Johann Gevers demonstrates types of social structures and presents a theory about the four pillars of a decentralized society. The pillars are as follows: decentralized communication, decentralized law, decentralized production, and decentralized finance.
His message makes sense concerning uncensored communication, going back to our organic laws, decentralized production with new technologies, and using peer to peer (local currency backed by real assets) financial transactions.
Johann points out in his talk that people-based trust systems don't scale beyond Dunbar's number. He also states, technology-based trust systems scale virtually without limit. Thus, we should use cryptocurrency for uncensored actions.
I disagree with the notion people-based trust systems can't go beyond an individual scale and the idea that we should use cryptocurrency for uncensored works. If you read my blog posts, then you understand it's the hidden actions that give the Network of Global Corporate Control (pyramid shape) a position of command and control over the other 90 percent (pentagon shape) of humanity. Do an Internet search for state capture or the "deep state" to discover more on this subject.
A picture is worth a thousand words... and if you follow my blog, you know, I'm all about that image. And, I'm going to demonstrate my theory through images in the video below "ARevolution from the Inside."
I believe we are in the process of transforming our world by going higher in consciousness. We are in the course of building a new world using the two images (pentagon & pyramid) or the two concepts Johann discussed. The foundation of centralized command and control structure forms a framework to build upon. The various systems already established can be used by humanity in a way that benefits us all.
For example, many well-educated economists agree that using real assets (like gold and silver) to secure our financial system is a sound practice. This is why I share the good news about the Global Debt Facility and what the Overseer Mandate Trustee offers humanity. Here's a DCTV teleprompt from February 2, 2016, NGCC Local Currency
What's made the current chaos in our financial system? The confusion comes from having a top-down, command and control, or pyramid scheme set in the base level of functioning or ego (only) consciousness. At a higher level, we could use the tools of technology in a peer-to-peer manner. Thus, humanity would be connecting with real justice, truth, and mercy on a large-scale.
"There can't be any large-scale revolution until there's a
personal revolution, on an individual level. It’s got to happen on the
inside first." -Jim Morrison.
Until we reach a critical mass operating at a higher level of consciousness no amount of new technology, new systems, or grand theories will change the world we live in. Have you noticed the recent worldwide flare of (fiery) emotion demanding justice, truth, and mercy? As you will see in "ARevolution from the Inside" this portend portrays a change in consciousness. The poignant question: What will it take to reach the tipping point?
ARevolution from the Inside
Are YOU the 100th monkey that climbs the humanity tree?
The Hundredth Monkey Effect
YOU can't reach the fruit without going out on a limb!
Year of the Fire Monkey by papercut frame art
CAVEAT:
The World Monarch, Edmund JM Dunne, Head of The Royal Illuminati stated:
May 2016, “People like ‘us’ are Nobility and we think along the lines of Patrimony, Emancipation, Atonement and Benevolence. People like ‘them’ cannot even spell these words let alone understand them.” and
July 25, 2016, he stated, “A total collapse of the Rule of Domestic and International Law.”
To Mr. Dunne and any of your consorts: you are operating from lower consciousness and do not understand the meaning of the definitions below. The Rule of Law will be established with the raising of consciousness to a higher level.
Patrimony: property inherited from one's father or male ancestor, the estate or property belonging by ancient endowment or right to a church or other institution.
Emancipation: the fact or process of being set free from legal, social, or political restrictions; liberation, the freeing of someone from slavery.
Atonement: reparation for a wrong or injury, the reconciliation of God and humankind through Jesus Christ.
Benevolence: desire to do good to others, goodwill, charitableness, an act of kindness
(Caveat - notice, especially in a probate, that certain actions may not be taken without informing the person who gave the notice. Probate -establishing the validity of a will.) Betsy Ann Banfield-Malone
The Tower (XVI) is the 16th trump or Major Arcana card in most Italian-suited Tarot decks.
This card follows immediately afterThe Devilin all Tarots that contain it and is associated with sudden, disruptive, and potentially destructive change. Some old, painted decks, such as the Visconti-Sforza tarot, do not contain it, and some Tarot variants used for game playing omit it.
Early printed decks that preserve all their cards do feature The Tower. In these decks, the card bears some different names and designs. In the Minchiate deck, the image usually was shown is of two nude or scantily clad people fleeing the open door of what appears to be a burning building.
In this manuscript picture of theHarrowing of Hell, Jesus forces open the fiery tower gate of Hell to free the virtuous dead from Limbo. The enactment of this scene in liturgical drama may be one source of the image of the Tower.
The destruction of the tower of Babel is depicted in this Bulgarian manuscript.
A variety of explanations for the images on the card has been attempted. For example, it may be a reference to the biblical story of the Tower of Babel, where God destroys a tower built by mankind to reach Heaven. Alternatively, the Harrowing of Hell was a frequent subject in late medieval liturgical drama, and Hell could be depicted as a great gate knocked asunder by Jesus Christ. Source - Wikipedia
Monday, July 25, 2016
"Lagarde, 60, on Friday lost a bid to challenge a December decision to be tried for alleged negligence during her time as French finance minister that paved the way for a massive government payout to tycoon Bernard Tapie. The specialized panel that will hear Lagarde’s case has previously found ministers guilty without having them actually serve time in prison.
The panel’s record and Lagarde’s strong support from IMF member nations amid the long-running case mean there’s little chance that it will amount to more than a distraction from her role leading the world’s lender of last resort. No date has been set yet for the trial, which is expected to last about a week.
“I don’t think anybody really feels that this is a matter that undermines her effectiveness,” and if Lagarde received a suspended jail sentence, “she would just carry on,” said Edwin Truman, a former U.S. Treasury official who’s now a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington...
...Lagarde’s terms of appointment from 2011 say she must avoid “even the appearance of impropriety.” The executive board can dismiss her at any time." (In truth, the Board of Governors has already rejected her) Full article: Lagarde saw likely avoid jail time
The most powerful central banker and a towering figure in the world, Christine Lagarde, is now a symbol of corruption at the highest levels of the international monetary system. In other words, the (blue) tip of the monetary centralized command and control center. This is a portend... and she is the symbol of an entire monetary system about to be hit by lightning. The shape of things to come...
The four pillars of decentralized society by Johann Gevers
The fundamental concept formed by Johann Gevers paints a picture of the past, present, and future. However, I disagree on several points presented about the four pillars in his TEDx Talks video on the subject. I shall discuss those points in detail in a future post. For now, the above picture will suffice to make my point.
Last week's post covered how the revolution (transformation) moves from the individual to the large- scale. The pictures above show how the types of structures, decentralized peer-to-peer and centralized command & control are building a new body of existence at a higher level of consciousness.
"HISTORY: THE AMERICAN IS A PEACE-LOVING SOUL, and even worse than war he hates regimentation. But, though we of the 279th Engineer Combat Battalion are likely to forget much of that olive-green unpleasantness in peaceful years to come, we'll always remember with a note of nostalgia and fondness, individual incidents that tied us together, certain dynamic characters that were among us..." Wikipedia talk: Articles for creation/279th Combat Engineer Battalion
Journey of 279th Combat Engineer Battalion
Our Past in Review by Sgt. J.N. Flesher
Sentimental Journey
Gonna take a sentimental journey
Gonna set my heart at ease
Gonna make a sentimental journey
To renew old memories
I got my bag, I got my reservation
Spent each dime I could afford
Like a child in wild anticipation
Long to hear that "All aboard."
Seven, that's the time we leave, at seven
I'll be waiting up for heaven
Counting every mile of railroad track
That moves me back
The 333 Engineer Special Service Regiment presents the dedication program of the General Alexander M. Patch Highway Bridge and the General George C. Marshall Railroad Bridge: Mainz, Germany, 18 January 1946.
History of the 333rd: On March 1942, there was issued in Washington, D.C., a memorandum over the signature of Colonel Arlington, Chief of the Operations and Training Branch, Troops Division, Corps of Engineers, addressed to the Commanding Officers of engineer units to be formed for the militarization of overseas construction. This memorandum stated in effect that several engineer units were being built for the purpose of constructing and improving overseas installations such as docks and port facilities, railroads, roads, and a variety of barracks, utilities, ordnance shops, engine assembly plants, etc. Among the units to be formed were five Engineer Special Service Regiments, the 333rd was one of these. According to the memorandum, Special Service Regiments were new units designed to meet special conditions in the theaters in which they were to operate, with specialists qualified to operate the equipment to be taken over from former contractors.
The bulk of officers and men comprising the Regiment, perhaps 75% of whom were original members, were scheduled for return to the United States for discharge in October or November. It was therefore decided to reconstitute the regiment with lower point personnel selected from the remnants of the various combat battalions with which the regiment had been associated with the construction of redeployment camps. A mass transfer of staff was made during the three days, September 19, 20 and 21, when 1100 officers and men of the regiment were transferred into the 277th, 279th (my father's Battalion) and 1343rd Combat Battalions, each of which furnished replacements man for man. The 277th Battalion, the company for the company, generally manned the new first battalion of the 333rd Engineer SS Regiment. The 279th Combat Engineer Battalion manned the second battalion and the 1343rd manned Headquarters and Service Company. Some additional specialists were obtained from the engineer training center at Epernay, and the reorganization was complete by the 25th of September.
Co. C 279th Combat Engineer Battalion
The new personnel of the Regiment was excellent, coming from combat engineer battalions with good war records, and maintaining the morale and spirit of their former units. A leaven of experienced construction men was present. The only adverse factor was a general desire on the part of all concerned to go home, as the bulk of the new officers and men were scheduled for redeployment within four months.
On September 26th the Regiment received the mission of returning to Germany to take over from the 343th Engineer General Service Regiment the construction of the crucial military bridge across the Rhine-River at Mainz. The original structure there, the famous Pousflehy bridge, constructed during the assault crossing by Group B Adsec of which the 333 was then a part, was reportedly in danger of impending floods and ice. This bridge, located immediately below the wreckage of the original structure, was also an obstacle to navigation and had a bad west approach. The early replacement and removal of this bridge, therefore, was vital to maintaining military communication between the main body of the American Army in Germany and their ports of embarkation and bases in France and Belgium, as the harbour of Bremerhaven was not yet in full operation.
The original deadline of November 1st set for completion of this bridge in July when the project was conceived, was impossible to meet. The 343rd Engineer General Service Regiment, a veteran bridge-building organization, was decimated by redeployment, losing practically all of its Engineer personnel and officers, and replacements were generally unskilled. The advance party of the 333rd made contact with the 343rd on September 26, and billets were selected in and around Mainz at the closest location to the job possible. The newly reconstructed Regiment, complete in three trucks convoys, left Mourmelon on the morning of September 29th and arrived at Mainz on September 30th, stopping overnight at Metz. Company "A" of the first Battalion was billeted in bombed-out headquarters at Mainz. Companies "B" and "C" and regimental motor pool and heavy equipment shop were located at a bombed-out ordnance depot at Mainz-Kastel, these units being reasonable close to work. Battalion Headquarters, First Battalion, was located at Mainz within walking distance of the job. The First Battalion was commanded at this time by Major, later Lt Colonel, A.J. Bonar. The Second Battalion, commanded by Major, later Lt Colonel, E.H. Smith jr., had its companies located at a greater distance, originally in Gross-Gerau and Buettelborn, later in Bischofsheim and Gustavsburg. Regimental Headquarters was located in the technical high school in Gross-Gerau, a distance of 18 kilometers from the job.
The work was taken over from the 343rd immediately, and steps were taken to acquire additional equipment from depots in France, Belgium, and Germany and from engineer organizations being inactivated. Much of this equipment was transported on trailers or floats for seven or eight hundred miles. By October 15th enough material had been collected to push the job, and it was not until early November before all of this had been assembled in working units. Second Lt, later First Lt, Hadfield with the assistance of M/Sgt William Witsman, did a stupendous job in rounding up supply and maintaining some 300 pieces of special engineer equipment, including at one time 15 floating 2-yard cranes.
The First Battalion was assigned the construction of the Mainz side of the bridge, the Second Battalion, the Gustavsburg side. Company "B" acted as supply company for the First Battalion; Company "D" for the Second. Driving wood piles and concrete operations were started immediately on the Gustavsburg side where a long land approach facilitated early progress. The Second Battalion's mission also included the erection of the 54-meter R-type navigation truss - a ticklish engineering job because navigation through the narrow opening below, in the Roosevelt bridge, could not be interrupted. The First Battalion was assigned the construction of the Mainz side and had the bulk of the river work. Its initial progress, therefore, was somewhat behind that of the Second Battalion, due to the necessity of assembling much floating equipment. Work was put on a seven day week, three shift basis on critical operations such as welding, pile driving, concreting, etc. It was soon apparent that the bridge could not be completed until late November or early December, due principally to the rate of receipt of tubular steel piling which was being rolled by mills in the British Zone. Operations were favored by generally mild weather during the fall which permitted practically uninterrupted work.
Following the holiday's plans were made for the ceremony that was to be held on January 19 for the dedication of the bridges. These ceremonies, which were most impressive, received world wide publicity, including radio, newsreel and paper accounts. The ceremony started with the dedication of the highway bridge which was named in honor of General Patch, former commander of the 7th Army. General Keyes cut the tape, assisted by Major Addison, M/Sgt Reiter, and M/Sgt E.P. Jones. Following the dedication of the highway bridge, a ceremony was held in Mainz at which M. Rene Schmitt, Mayor of Cherbourg, presented Lt Colonel Smith with the Regimental Colors on which the Cherbourg coat of arms had been embroidered. Following this, General McNarney drove the golden spike on the railway bridge which was named for General Marshall. General McNarney then drove the first train officially across the bridge to Gustavsburg where the party dismounted and had dinner at the Regimental Officers' Club. Many distinguished American and French officers attended as guests, and the ceremony was a memorable one.
November 11, 2015, in 3rd Dog Script blog postMine Eyes Have Seen the Glory,I stated: "For the troops, supervisors (like my father), and the commander of this unified effort to build bridges was a dangerous affair... and a successful one!"
Finding 333 Engineer Regiment Special Service's story... and the story by Wikipedia Talk on 279th Combat Engineers confirmed my belief that the American is a peace-loving soul. My father demonstrated this sentiment by sending my mother the card below during a critical and dangerous time on his mission to build bridges and many years later when he allowed me to draw on his memories.
My secret map is an a-whole-nother story.
Love conquers all things; let us surrender to Love
Image courtesy of pixtawan at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Chessis a two-player strategy board game played on a chessboard, a checkered game board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. Chess is played by millions of people worldwide, both amateurs and professionals. Each player begins the game with 16 pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, and eight pawns. Each of the six piece typesmovesdifferently. The most powerful piece is the queen and the least powerful piece is the pawn. The objective is to 'checkmate' the opponent's king by placing it under an inescapable threat of capture. To this end, a player's pieces are used to attack and capture the opponent's pieces, while supporting their own. In addition to checkmate, the game can be won by voluntary resignation by the opponent, which typically occurs when too much materialis lost, or if checkmate appears unavoidable. Genre(s) - mind sport, abstract strategy game
This is the preferred game (strategy) of the elite. Have you noticed the black and white checkered floor designs for the power players? Well, it's another approach that seems to use the extremes as their means to an end. However, this pragmatic view allows for the use of individuals as a tool to benefit the few. You're familiar with the far left-wing and far right-wing... and that sort of thing. Using both sides gives flight to their ideas. Of course, the plain black vs. white extreme has been overdone, and everybody gets that one. That happens when you use the same strategy over and over too close together in time. The checkered floor forms the foundation of the game played. Pawns are usually the first to fall in this game between the elite and the other 90% of ordinary people. A pawn's passion will be used against them when the time is right for a strategic move. Often, they sacrifice the lamb (a genuinely good person fighting for the people and unwittingly used as a pawn) or some form of innocence when attempting to sway public opinion. Case in point the Jo Cox story...
However, just days after the dramatic scene with Jo Cox the people of England voted strongly for Brexit as did Wales. In this instance, the people call checkmate… because the people used their conscience instead of being a pawn in this chess game.
Let’s examine the film On the Waterfront where Marlon Brando’s character is faced with examining his conscience and finding no other way but exposing criminal actions. This is an important aspect of discovering if a person is a pawn for the elite or a real whistleblower. We should discern the left and right positions with reason to arrive at the truth of the matter at hand.
"You're nothing, your guts are all in your wallet and in your trigger finger..."
Marlon Brando delivers the crux of his character and of the film in his own unique style with these lines, and when the passion heats up...
"Shut up about that conscience... That's all I've heard about."
Both the common man and the man of status or wealth are enticed by the "Roman Philosophy." And both must examine himself to make a reasonable decision on how to act.
On the Waterfront is just as powerful and influential today as it was in 1954 because it speaks to our current political and criminal situation. From large corporate organizations to government agencies, the common man is sick of the corruption.
Marlon Brando examines his conscience and concludes he must expose the criminal actions.
A whistleblower (whistle-blower or whistleblower) is a person who exposes misconduct, alleged dishonest or illegal activity occurring in an organization. The alleged misconduct may be classified in many ways; for example, a violation of the law, rule, regulation and/or a direct threat to the public interest, such as fraud, health and safety violations, and corruption. Whistleblowers may make their allegations internally (for example, to other people within the accused organization) or externally (to regulators, law enforcement agencies, to the media or to groups concerned with the issues).
The Continental Congress enacted the first whistleblower protection law in the United States on July 30, 1778, by a unanimous vote. The Continental Congress was moved to act after an incident in 1777 when Richard Marven and Samuel Shaw blew the whistle and suffered severe retaliation by Esek Hopkins, the commander-in-chief of the Continental Navy. Congress declared that the United States would defend the two whistleblowers against a libel suit filed against them by Hopkins. The Continental Congress also declared it the duty of "all persons in the service of the United States, as well as all other the inhabitants thereof" to inform the Continental Congress or proper authorities of "misconduct, frauds or misdemeanors committed by any officers in the service of these states, which may come to their knowledge." - Wikipedia
Conscience is an aptitude, faculty, intuition or judgment that assists in distinguishing right from wrong. Moral judgment may derive from values or norms (principles and rules). In psychological terms, conscience is often described as leading to feelings of remorse when a human commits actions that go against his/her moral values and to feelings of rectitude or integrity when actions conform to such norms. The extent to which conscience informs moral judgment before an action and whether such moral judgments are or should be based on reason has occasioned debate through much of the history of Western philosophy.- Wikipedia
This Western philosophy is eloquently expressed in On the Waterfront. We will discover the deeper aspects of this powerful film when we review the relevant points found in Cicero's Teaching on Natural Law by Thomas G. West. (St. John's Review, Summer 1981. Vol. 32)
We are in the midst of a crisis - not always evident in the comfortable lives we lead, but a crisis nonetheless. A sign of the crisis is the ongoing political collapse of the West; the liberal democracies of America and Europe are barely willing to defend themselves against the insolence of petty tyrants and the armed imperialism of the Soviet Union. Why this somnolent slide into voluntary weakness? Because we are not convinced that we have anything to fight for. We are ready to believe the worst of ourselves, and the best of our adversaries, because we no longer fully believe that we deserve to survive. That is because we no longer know what the West is, and why its preservation matters for nurturing and sustaining the noblest and best of human activities. In particular, we in America no longer know why the United States is the best hope for the modern world.
"Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman philosopher, politician, lawyer, orator, political theorist, consul and constitutionalist. His works rank among the most influential in European culture, and today still constitute one of the most important bodies of primary material for the writing and revision of Roman history." -Wikipedia
Why is this important?
Cicero, or rather Roman philosophy generally, represents for Heidegger an important stage in the gradual forgetting of the Greek discovery of nature, a forgetting process which has marked the whole history of the West. According to Heidegger, the very translation of Greek philosophy into Latin effaced that insight. Roman philosophy conceived natura, the nature of things, as present-at-hand and readily available to easy philosophic contemplation and the formulation of ethical doctrines. It thereby failed to renew the vibrant amplitude of the Greek physis, which embraces the emergence and coming-to-be of things no less than their distinct standing-forth in full presence before the mind's eye. The Roman narrowing of nature therefore prepared the way for the modern view of beings as mere disposable resources, easily accessible to human projects and manipulation.
...By tremendous efforts Greek philosophy had achieved its insight into the distinction between and yet necessary belonging-together of nature and convention, being and appearance, truth and opinion, an insight anticipated in the dark lyrics of the pre-Socratic thinkers and given its consummate expression in the works of Plato and Aristotle. But now, in the moribund Roman republic, this grasp upon the tense unity of nature and convention was forgotten by politicians unformed by philosophy and philosophers disdainful of politics.
...Cicero strove to reyoke the sundered pair.
Poetry and law (law taken in a wide sense, like the Greek nomos, to include custom and tradition) appear immortalize the transient or even to bring non-being into being by touching our minds and memories through words. If philosophy, which strives uncompromisingly to unveil the true nature of things, is the antithesis of poetry, it would likewise seem to be the enemy of the traditions and beliefs on which law depends and which in some measure law is. The beginning of Cicero's laws unobtrusively questions whether law contains any truth whatever. Law, like poetry, may be nothing more than a fiction that furnishes pleasure by establishing trust in eternally binding precepts and practices. Cicero forestalls this positivist inference by drawing a distinction between two senses of the word law: the popular sense, according to which law is "that which sanctions in writing whatever it wishes, either by commanding or prohibiting," and the more learned sense, derived from nature itself, according to which law is
"The mind and reason of the prudent man."
...Law is natural in the same way that reason is natural, as a gift of nature bestowed on every human being. But only in the prudent man, whose reason is developed as far as it can be, does reason become "correct," and so only his commands and prohibitions are truly "law." ...Even if complete knowledge of good is unavailable, as Cicero's skeptism implies, we may infer that an approximation to wisdom is accessible through the assiduous exercise of understanding. Cicero's final peroration to Book I paints a picture of perfect wisdom that can be a standard, even if unattained, of human striving. Self-knowledge is the key. For once we learn that we are equipped by nature for acquiring wisdom, and we sense that the mind, as sort of image of the gods, is worthy of care and cultivation.
In conclusion, passion is the beginning of discernment.
