#59) The Biggest Brainwashers

With everything that's going on in the world, do you find yourself angry all the time? If so, someone may be manipulating you. Let's discuss and see if this might be the case.

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Hello and welcome back to "Always Be Better" with Mel Windham. This makes the 10th video I've created this year, and I'm having a blast. However, I must announce that I'll be taking an extended break after this video. There's so much more I wish to present, but I've come across an opportunity that I can't ignore, so I've decided to finish off these last videos so I can much more of my time to this other adventure. But don't worry -- I'll be back as soon as I can.

Today's video is meant to be the culmination of the brainwashing series I've started earlier. These four videos explore how our brains work, what our autopilot is, how we can take advantage of it to accomplish impossible tasks, and how it can be used for brainwashing. And today, we are going to reveal the biggest culprits -- the biggest masters of brainwashing, and how none of us are spared. In later videos, we'll learn techniques on how to combat these types of brainwashing.

The four earlier videos aren't required to watch this one, but if you haven't seen them yet, you can go back and watch them after finishing this one, and get much more detail. I would venture to say that these videos are the most important ones of this entire series so far. So, if you don't have time to watch all 59 videos, you should at least watch these four.

Also, before we begin, let's talk about the definition of "brainwashing." When the word first appeared in the World War II era, it referred to a specific scientific process of using torture, drugs, and/or psychological techniques to change attitudes or beliefs. If I had to take a guess, none of you watching today have undergone this type of brainwashing.

However, in the past few decades, the term "brainwashing" has been expanded to include more subtle forms of manipulations, propaganda, and deceptions, which use a lot of the same techniques and principles of full-blown brainwashing, such as the use of repetition and confusion. 

So, while the "strict" kind of brainwashing affects only a few of us at a time, the more subtle brainwashing can reach a much larger audience. But without the torture, drugs, and psychological techniques used in "strict" brainwashing, I believe that most of you watching have maintained your ability of thinking independently, and thus we should all be able to recognize and overcome these more subtle brainwashings, and come out ahead and stronger in the end.

So let's see ... who are the biggest brainwashers? Many will answer that religious entities are the biggest offenders and I get that. However, approximately a sixth of the world is atheist or agnostic. Absent religion, are they be brainwashed? 

There do exist larger entities that together successfully manipulate close to 100% of the world's population. And these biggest brainwashers are ... political parties and/or national leaderships. Hardly any of us can escape their grasp unscathed.

I've learned this the hard way here in the U.S., as I've already described in my own personal Political History video. In a nutshell, I was born into a Democrat family. I switched to Republican in the year 2000. And then I left both parties in 2016 to become Independent. It was only then that I came to realize the truth that both parties were employing subtle brainwashing techniques in large numbers: repetitions, confusion, anger, and empty promises. This is because whenever an entity gains power over a large group of people, they will do anything to maintain that power, even if it's to the detriment of their constituents.

In my case, I first left the Democratic Party when I released that their "Party of Inclusion" rhetoric was fake and hypocritical. Well, they do sincerely have great concerns toward certain groups of people, but nevertheless, give me any Democrat, and I'll have them listing the groups of people they DON'T accept.

Oh, they'll talk about the Paradox of Intolerance, which is nothing much more than a rationalization that lets them say they don't have to accept anyone who disagrees with them. As I'll explain in a later video, there does exist a better solution and answer. But this is just one example of subtle brainwashing.

Now let's quickly do the GOP. As late as November 2015, prominent Republican leaders and most of my conservative friends were still condemning and mocking Trump over racist comments about Mexicans and his idea of a Muslim Ban. One such friend wrote that each party's frontrunners were terrible and she prayed for some miracle where another great leader could be our next president.

But then as early as January 2016, I witnessed these exact same people praising and adoring Trump -- just two months later. It wasn't because Trump had changed his tune, but rather because practically the whole Party allowed him to change them.

And I found this all to be disturbing and quite unnerving. What could have such power to change so many people at a whim? And that's when I realized it's the political parties themselves. At first I thought it was just the Democrats, but then I realized that the GOP had been doing it, too. All those times I had voted straight ticket? It was because my chosen leaders were telling why I needed to be angry with our opponents. And then I came to realize that hey -- ALL parties are doing this.

And how were they accomplishing this? I recognize it now. They're ALL using the same techniques: repetition, deflection, confusion. A lot of anger and hatred toward certain groups -- especially those belonging to other parties.

This all came to light for me in late January 2016, and my first reaction was anger at myself. I thought I had been so smart with all my math, science, and logic knowledge. But then how had I missed all this? Why did I let myself fall for their tricks?

And let me tell you ... that month when I changed my voting registration to "Unaffiliated," I came to realize: I see everything now. I can see their techniques, the lies, the deceptions and the manipulations. And I can see it in their eyes: they know and they know what they're doing, and I know why they're doing it. They want the power, and they'll do whatever it takes to maintain that power.

But we don't have to give them that power. I hereby officially invite you to join me. Break free of all political parties, and then you can see what I can see now. That whole time that you thought it was only the other political party doing all the brainwashing -- well, that's exactly what your opponents think about your party. And well -- you're both right. Congratulations!!

How can you tell if you're being manipulated? Well, just notice: do you feel angry all the time? Then yes -- you're being manipulated. As anger is a tool they all use. It's very effective, and it's also a tell-tale symptom. If you break free, they'll just have less power to make you angry.

Though I do have to warn you: if you do join me and other independents, you're going to have both sides upset with you. Conservatives will call you liberal, and liberals will call you conservative, but you know what we are? We're just people. We just are what we are. Do we really need parties to tell us what we should believe?

Are you familiar with the British sci-fi show, "The Prisoner"? At the beginning of each episode, the protagonist yells: "I am not a number; I am a free man!" And likewise, why do we need to belong to any political party?

It isn't required in our U.S. Constitution. In fact, the word "party" never appears once in that document. Plus, most of our founding fathers warned us of the dangers of political parties. When Washington left office in 1796, he warned us that parties would weaken our government. That the dominance of one party over another would lead to a formal and permanent despotism, and enable cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men to take control of government, and that's exactly what's happening today.

So, again I invite you to join me. You no longer have to be subjected to the anger and the deceptions. You can do what I did in 2016: change your voting status to Independent. In North Carolina, this means I can choose which party primary to vote in each year. Other states don't allow this, so you may have to forego voting in primaries. But I promise you a freedom like you've never felt before.

Nearly all polls show the number of registered independents constantly growing. Gallup polls seem to indicate 39% in 2020, which has raised to more than 43% in 2024. More and more people like me are just getting fed up. So, why not give it a try?

In later videos, I will describe a path -- a possible future. Like I tell my friends, I'm playing the long game. I believe that working together, we can depower both the Democrats and the Republicans, and take back our country. We could have sane leaders again who actually care for ALL of their constituents -- who will do their job for our benefit, rather than the other way around.

We'll get to all of that later. But for now, I just wanted you to be aware, and consider taking that first step to obtaining your own independence, and then we'll figure out what comes next in the near future.

Thank you for watching. If you liked this discussion, make sure to Like and Subscribe. Tell all your friends. Go ahead and watch those four videos that you probably haven't seen yet, and be armed with knowledge. And I'll see you here next time on "Always Be Better."