The Great Illusion: A Story of Self-Revolution

Episode 1 The Confrontation-4

“What do you want me to do? Go protest? That’s a waste of time. Now, that’s some hippie bullshit right there.”

“Yes, it is. It makes me get all excited and want to take my b*a off. Oh wait, I don’t have a b*a on now. I’m a hardcore feminist. It’s unfortunate that we even have to wear a b*a. The main reason that we wear bras is because men can’t handle themselves.”

Both Emerald and Eric started laughing.

Emerald continued, “But, silence is consent and revolutions and positive changes are based upon protesting. Freedom of speech has no point or is useless without protesting. If anything, protesting is the best thing you can do to companies and governments and other groups that are doing something wrong or bad. Without protesting, you just have compliance, domination, complacency, or even apathy, and that is not good when these groups are corrupt and evil and are trying to hurt others and spread hate. It’s hypocritical.”

“There you go again trying to imply that I’m a hypocrite. I would do more activism if I had more time. You could do more, but we have responsibilities and have to work. What, do you want me to quit my job?”

“Absofuckinglutely.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes, that is some of the best protesting that you can do and the ultimate sacrifice to stick it to the government, the rich, and the companies. Your freedom is their loss. Your s*****y is their power and income. It’s an excuse to keep slaving away, especially at an evil and destructive company, and making someone else rich while you suffer and maybe get a few unimportant material things in your life. I do protest, and I make time to be an activist. That’s why Mary and I live so minimally, so we can help the earth, the animals, and the environment.”

“Some would say that you are just lazy and don’t want to work.”

“Some would say that you are a compliant slave who could be free but would rather choose consumerism, fear, and materialism over freedom.”

“Well, that’s just something you and I are going to disagree with. I choose to provide and care for myself and my family while accumulating things that I need and want, which requires me to work a certain amount of time per week. I am also helping the economy and the society while you are not. The rest of the time that I have outside of work is my time to use it how I want to. If I have time and I choose to, I might engage in something that I am passionate about.”

“Sounds like you only do that around election time.”

“I get to decide that Em. It’s my choice.”

“That’s the point. Do you have a choice or are you a slave with the illusion of choice? You could be stuck in the system that some call the matrix and can’t get out because you are afraid of the consequences. It’s quite disturbing to hear someone talking about choosing when they have been manipulated or programmed to make those choices, and they don’t even realize it.”

“You are a part of the system too, even if you are trying to get out of it.”

“You are right,” Emerald said sullenly.

“And, your issues are not my issues. I believe in gay rights, but I’m not going to take extra time that I don’t have to go protest someone, who I mostly believe in but disagree with some of their ideas. I care about your plight, but it’s challenging in this time and in this life. I’ll think more about that and what more I can do, but I’m not a hypocrite. And, if I was, I’m not trying to be. We all have things we can do more of. I don’t see you protesting all the restaurants and animal agriculture farms because of your veganism. You are sitting here projecting your dislikes of the world onto me because I’m here and you are upset with a lot of things that you disagree with.”

“Maybe, but I try to live my life everyday doing what I believe in. I can only do so much. I have to take care of myself first and foremost, and then give back. Still, I do a shitload more than most, especially you.”

“What, is this a competition Em?”

“No. You know what I mean.”

“Sounds like you are challenging me to a match of who can do more good things. Like I told you, I am comfortable with what I am doing. If I have more time to give, I will. You are the one who doesn’t like how much I am doing, and that is not for you to decide. That is my choice.”

“But that’s what I’m saying. You think you are choosing, but you are not.”

“Well, I could say that about you. That you are being brainwashed by the gays, the vegans, the pacifists, the atheists, the progtards, and all those books you read at that brainwashing bookstore that you work at for three to four days a week for 25 hours. You lazy ass.”

“Sounds like someone is jealous.”

“I’m not jealous of someone not doing their part to help out the economy. You are the reason that the economy sucks. The more cogs that are in the wheel, the easier it is for everyone else.”

“That’s f*****g bullshit, and you know it.”

“I disagree. Things are better when people are working and spending.”

“Well, tell that to the poor and middle class, who both work over 40 hours a week and have very little to show for it, and then tell it to the rich, who own most of the wealth, don’t work as much and as hard, and hoard most of the money in the economy. I bet you get two different points of view. It’s another lie you believe with your blurry glasses. The rich love that you have bought into their manipulations and lies. You see the world a certain way that’s been fed to you, and you fell for it.”

“What? Now you are an economist?” Eric asked seriously.

“No, but I know enough to know bullshit when I hear it. I may not have the awareness and skills to run a smooth economy, but I do know that when the society is set up to feed a few people, who also influence the laws in their benefit while letting the businesses run wild and destroy everything in their paths, it is a disaster waiting to happen. Nothing good comes of it. For the most part, the economy looks good or okay because the government continues to borrow more and more money, but the debt keeps piling up, which will eventually lead to another recession and depression. It's fake. All the economic growth is fake. You can’t keep borrowing money without consequences. In addition, people think they are okay, but they are not. They are just blinded by the idea of freedom, the fake success of the rich and corporations, and materialism. We also can’t forget entertainment is a huge blinder for most people. The rich have enough money to change everything for the better, and they don’t. They just keep on doing what they do best. They lie, steal, and cheat. We have to take it back. By force if necessary.”

“I don’t know about that. That’s a discussion for another day. There is a lot of good that comes out of a capitalistic society. At least, we don’t live in a dictatorship like a communist or a socialist society.”

Emerald scoffed and said, “You have to be kidding me. You are not that stupid. Are you? I think that’s the dumbest thing that I have ever heard you say, and you have said a lot of dumb things.”

“What do you mean? There you go again calling me stupid, and that wasn’t even implied.”

“You don’t even know what you are talking about. You are just throwing around terms that you heard by your beloved political party that have been distorted and manipulated as part of a p********a to distract you from how awful and evil capitalism is. Those are traditionalist talking points. You just suck it up and believe it without questioning whether it’s factual or not. A dictatorship is not communism or socialism. Communism and Socialism are the opposite of a dictatorship. Look it up and do some research before you start repeating someone else’s lies. Furthermore, capitalism isn’t even the opposite of communism and socialism. You can have capitalism in all those governments. Actually, a dictatorship is closer to a fascist, traditionalist, right-wing society than either communism or socialism. Have you ever read or done any research on any of those types of government? Tell me, what is communism or socialism?”

Eric paused for a few seconds and thought about the question and then said, “Well, I’m no expert in political science, but I think it’s when the government owns or runs all aspects of the economy, and so the government gets rich and the people are left with nothing, which is why it’s a dictatorship.”

“Wrong,” Emerald said obnoxiously. “It sounds like you have a lot to learn about both of those. I’m sorry you have been misinformed and don’t know more about communism or socialism. They are not dictatorships at all. That’s like saying a republic or a democratic society is a dictatorship because the leader or the rich make the laws and control everything. You know, like the country we are living in now. You can have a dictatorship and corruption in any type of government. However, unlike a republic or a democracy, the second that someone becomes a dictator, that is no longer a communist or socialist society. It’s not a democracy either. The people have to maintain control for it to be communism or socialism. We have all been lied to in this country about those types of government, including what a republic or democracy is, due to the fact that the rich and powerful are afraid they will lose their money and power. It’s a master manipulation by the rich few to keep you in check and working the machine for them.”

“There may be some truth to that, but those governments have a bad track record.”

“That’s the point. They weren’t communist or socialist governments. There’s a lot to be said about the benefits of communism and socialism. If ran right, they are both ideal. Way more than our precious republic. You can also have democracy and elections in any of those governments, which I’m sure your brainwashers didn’t tell you. You can have elections and capitalism in all of them. But, as with any society, no matter the political and economic structure, if you have greed, corruption, inequality, pollution, debt, high military spending, and a lot of the wealth in the hands of a few, you have a failed system. It will eventually fail. If it doesn’t fail financially or economically, it will fail through a revolution by the people. All these different types of governments can work in a positive way, but to say one is superior to another is ignorant, especially if you don’t know what they are and are just repeating what someone is telling you to say without knowing what they are saying.”

Eric laughed and said, “Funny, I was going to say that you are spreading commie p********a and trying to brainwash me into believing that something so horrible and awful as communism and socialism can be successful and good for us. Again, that sounds like some more hippie bullshit. f**k that mess. There hasn’t been a successful country that I would want to live in that has shown us that either one of those governments can be beneficial and helpful.”

“Again, lies based on the fact that you think the countries who are so-called communist or socialist are actually communist or socialist countries. If you did some actual reading and research before you try and talk about something you know nothing about, you would see that you have been misled and even lied to. If something doesn’t make sense, it’s nonsense. And, you have never even left the country. You have no idea what goes on in those countries. You just blindly believe what you are shown and told and avoid the problems in the same country you are trying to defend. Damn the lying and bought-and-paid-for traditionalist media.”