I began to understand the problem better when I accepted a position as a part-time High School Teacher.  I discovered what the students were being taught: Not much.  Of course, most of them have learned to read and write, but they don’t know anything about History.  Fortunately, they still have access to a library.  And if they like, they can check out this book about Karl Marx.  According to the story, he was a genius and a hero.   When I read this book, everything clicked.   I finally understood the problem with American Girls, and why America smells like fear. 

In order to explain the situation, I decided to create a crash course
in History.   It will only be a few pages long, so  I can’t include everything.  

History

Millions of years ago, the Earth was formed.  After that, people began to make countries like  England and France.  Most people belonged to the Catholic Church.  The head of the Church was a man called “The Pope”, and everybody had to follow his instructions.   England and France got mad at the Pope, so both countries decided to have a revolution.

England went first.  The British people created a constitution called the “Magna Carta”.  It declared personal liberty for all people.  They sent a copy to the Pope and told him that they weren’t going to be Catholic anymore; they were going to be a new religion called Church of England.  After the people of England got rid of the Pope, they decided to get rid of the King too.  




France went second.  The French people also wanted to stop taking orders from the Pope, so they put a man in charge named Saint Just.  He seemed good at first, but then he went crazy.   He built a machine called the guillotine, and started to chop-off people’s heads.  He also changed the clocks to the metric system, but it didn’t work.  The French revolution didn’t go very well.

America also went second.  The American Revolution and the French Revolution happened at the same time.  America was angry because the English government wouldn’t listen.  So America created its own constitution and declared independence.  Many Americans felt that Democracy in England had failed, and that the American Constitution was really the new constitution for both countries.  








Russia went third.  People in Russia were pleased with the other revolutions, so they decided to have one too.  To begin, they killed the Royal Family.  Then they had a big fight to see who would be in charge.  There were two groups: The Mensheviks, who wanted Democracy; and the Bolsheviks, who wanted Power.  The head Bolshevik was a man named Vladimir Lenin.  Lenin believed that lying, cheating, and stealing was OK, as long as you could win.  People voted for Lenin because he promised free land, and no taxes.  But, of course it wasn’t true.  And he did something even worse:  He taught hundreds of young people how to lie, cheat, and steal.









Lenin admired a man named Karl Marx.  Marx wrote a book called “The Communist Manifesto”.  The book said that poor people should hate rich people; and that if you take everything away from rich people, the world will become a better place.  Lenin liked these ideas because Russia had so many poor people.  He called the idea “Communism” and taught everybody to hate rich people.  After that, Lenin taught Russians to hate other kinds of people too.   Lenin and Marx both grew a beard, so people would think that they were smart.

China went Fourth.  The Chinese revolution was similar to the Russian Revolution. 
Two sides were fighting.  On one side was a man named Liu Shao Chi; He wanted the country to change slowly. 
On the other side was a man named Mao Tse Tung.  He wanted to destroy China and make a new country using his own ideas.  He called it the Cultural Revolution.

Mao Tse Tung won because he was supported by the Army.  The Army in China (like all armies) loved Communism, so they decided to copy Lenin.  They started by giving the Army a name that sounded important.  They called it “The Red Guard”.  Then they trained all the soldiers to behave badly. They taught them to destroy anything from a different country, to burn Temples and Churches, and to hurt people.

The Communists ruined everything.  But when the country was finally destroyed, Mao Tse Tung didn’t know what to do.   People in China were poor for a long time after that.  The Chinese Revolution was a disaster.

The Three Amigos. 

In all these revolutions, there were three men who had something in common: Saint Just, Lenin, and Mao Tse Tung.  All three wanted to destroy history, so they could have the freedom to do anything.  They called this “Starting with a Blank Page.”   Saint Just did it by chopping-off heads.  Lenin did it by Lying.  But Mao Tse Tung did it best, because the Communists in China had been studying “The Blank Page” idea for a long time before the revolution. 

So for a moment, let’s consider the Mao Tse Tung and the Chinese Revolution in more detail.

The Communists in China began by training hundreds of Psychologists.  Then they asked them to analyze the relationship between Christianity and Communism, because they were afraid of Christian Countries, especially America.  The Psychologists told them that Christianity and Communism could never get along, because in a Christian country each person makes his own decisions.  In a Communist country, only the government can make decisions.  Mao Tse Tung was really worried, because he didn’t want Chinese people to make any decisions.  He also knew that honest people like Christianity more than Communism.  So he asked the Psychologists how he could get the Chinese people to become Communists instead of Christians.  They worked for months on the idea, and they came back with a plan.  They told him to make the Christian religion illegal, and not to allow anybody to talk about it.  So Mao Tse Tung made it a crime to be a Christian, or to have a Bible.  


  
They presented Marxism to Mao Tse Tung, and he liked it.  But then the Communists had a new problem.  How can we get people to start believing in Marxism?  Empty promises wouldn’t be enough.  So to answer that question, the Psychologists began to study Human Motivation.  They found out that the best motivator is hatred. 
(In Russia, Lenin got everyone to hate rich people.)   

The second best motivator, they found, is the desire to be a member of a group.  People who are members of a group feel safe, and never feel guilty about what they do; so they wouldn’t feel bad about destroying China.  

But Mao Tse Tung still had a problem.  If he really wanted to destroy China, it wouldn’t be enough to make the Christian religion illegal.    He needed something better.  He asked the psychologists to find something that would replace Christianity.  He needed a Communist Religion.  This turned out to be a big challenge for the Psychologists. 

They did some research and found out that Russia had already started a new religion based on “The Communist Manifesto” by Karl Marx.  The Russians called it “Marxism” This new religion promised everything:  Equal Rights, No Rich People, No Poor People, Free School, and Full Employment. Of course, it was a lie.  But that didn’t matter, because Mao Tse Tung wasn’t trying to help China; he was trying to destroy China.  For that, it was perfect.

  








Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?  The Shadow knows!

The Psychologists explained the plan to Mao Tse Tung.  “Here’s our idea” they said.  “From now on, all the Chinese people are going to wear an Army uniform, to show that they members of a group.   

And they will hate anybody who doesn’t believe in YOU!”  

“Pretty Good.” said Mao Tse Tung, but it still wasn’t enough. “What are people really afraid of?” he asked the Psychologists.  “That’s easy” they said. “People are afraid of death.”  Then Mao Tse Tung said “How do you know?”


One of the Psychologists stepped away from the group and said “Oh!  Glorious Infallible leader!   Maker of Day and Night!   Champion of the People!    Hero of the Revolution!  Please allow me to explain.”   Then he began to speak.   “All people feel that they are part of a process that extends beyond their own life.  That’s why parents have children; kids are a form of immortality.  People want to avoid death by becoming immortal.”  “That’s interesting” said Mao Tse Tung.  “Is there any way we can use it?”  “Sure!” said the Psychologist.  “We’ll convince people that Communists are immortal.”  “How”?  Asked Mao Tse Tung.  “That’s easy” said the Psychologist. “We’ll condition people to believe that individual identity is the same as group identity.”  Mao Tse Tung looked puzzled. 






































So the Psychologist said “Let me explain it another way.  It’s all about interpersonal relations.  There are two kinds of groups: In-Groups and Out-Groups.  A Football Team is an example of an In-Group.  All the members of the team work together and share some values; when the team wins, the individuals win.   And, if you are cheering for that team, you win too.  All the participants and spectators feel part of the group victory.   

Even the player sitting on the sidelines is happy. 


























A Football game only lasts an hour or two, so it’s classified as an In-Group in Space.  

Now, imagine that a Mother and Father are attending the College graduation of their son.  The whole family feels proud.  A family with multiple generations is an In-Group in Space over Time.”  “That’s interesting” said Mao Tse Tung “But I still don’t see how In-Groups and Out-Groups are going to help us.”  The Psychologist said “I can explain that too.” “We’ve already established that a family is an In-Group in space over time




“That’s interesting” said Mao Tse Tung “But I still don’t see how In-Groups and Out-Groups are going to help us.”  The Psychologist said “I can explain that too.” “We’ve already established that a family is an In-Group in space over time.  Now I want to add another detail; Communism is also an In-Group in space over time.  And you know, of course, that Communism is the idea that society must be destroyed in order to build Utopia.

Communists believe that when you die, you will become immortal through the work of younger Communists who continue the struggle after you; through them you will reach Utopia.  But this will only work if your personal values and the values of the group are exactly the same.  You have to give up your personal identity, so that the identity of all Communists can merge to become a stream of In-Group consciousness over time.  Each individual gains Revolutionary Immortality through the group.”  

“Well, that’s fine” said Mao Tse Tung.  “But what about the children?” 
“No problem” said the Psychologist.  “We’ll transform Parental love into a
desire for Revolutionary Immortality.  All the children will become Communists.”  
Mao Tse Tung understood, and smiled.









Coming to America   About the time that China was having a Communist Revolution, a lot of bad things were happening in Russia.  Lenin was trying to gain power, but most people thought that he was crazy.  He gave speeches to Russian farmers about Communism.  But they had guns, so he was afraid of them.  Finally, he gave up and told the Russian Army to kill the farmers.   But that didn’t work either, because the Army didn’t know how to grow food, so a lot of people starved to death. 

It was a mess, and all the smart people decided to leave Russia.  One person who left was a woman named Ayn Rand. 

She moved the United States and became a writer.  She knew that Mao Tse Tung and Lenin would attack America someday, so she explained how they would do it. 

One of her first books was called “Objectivist Epistemology”; it was about learning to think.  In this book she asks a question: What is consciousness?  She then explains that consciousness is made up of four building blocks. 














To be conscious, a person must:

1.    Be able to exist.                          By being perceived. 
2.    Be able to perceive.                   For example, by looking and listening.
3.    Be able to conceive.                  For example, by thinking.
4.    Be able to argue.                        For example, by making assertions.

Note:   Nothing can exist unless it is perceived. 
For more information, read “Atlas Shrugged.”    








Mrs. Rand explained that consciousness is made up of two activities:  deciding how things are different, and how they are same.   When a baby sees a spoon and a fork, it doesn’t know that they’re different.   As it gets older, it learns to differentiate spoons from forks.  It understands that they are not the same. 



Eventually, it starts to group spoons into one category, and forks into another.  That is the foundation of human reason:  Our ability to make categories.  Mrs. Rand then explained the next stage of reason: 




Learning to count. 1, 2, 3…. 

This is important because people want to know if one category contains more items than another.  The baby would probably prefer three chocolates to one peppermint.  Learning to count, however, is not so simple. 

The baby, now a boy, must to learn to count in two different ways.  First, he must learn to count things that he can see; like ten peppermints.  Then he must learn to count things that he can’t see; like ten puppies.  When he learns to count things that he can’t see, he also gains another skill:  The ability to categorize things that he can’t see. 
If you offer him a choice of ten puppies or ten balloons, he will create two abstract categories: 

1. The category that he likes more
2. The category that he likes less. 

Once the boy learns how to make abstract categories, he soon discovers that he can put an item into more than one category.   He can put the Peppermints into the category of “things that I like”, and into another category of “things that are round”.   There is no limit to the number of categories into which an item can be placed.   Now, the boy is older and wants to start talking.   He begins to search for a way to categorize everything.  He hears the dog bark, and the Cat meow.   So he makes a decision:  Anything that barks is a “Dog”.   Anything that meows is a “Cat”.    No problem. 



So far, the boy has learned to say three words:  Dog, Cat, and Candy.  He wants to eat, so he looks at his Mom and says “Candy!”    For him, the word “Candy” is a concept.  It’s a category because it refers to all things that are sweet (Peppermint and Chocolate), it’s a noun because it refers to an item (Peppermint or Chocolate), and it’s a concept because the word “Candy” now includes an item (“I’m hungry”) that was not in the original category.  Then the boy realizes that any word can be a concept.  If he likes dogs, then “Dog” can mean “I’m Happy!”  

There are many kinds of items that can be included in a concept; a noun, a verb, a request, an emotion, etc.  

As the boy gets older, he learns to mix items to create concepts; and to connect concepts to express thoughts.  That’s language.                             
                                                         

We have now seen that a concept is a word that contains a number of items.  


Concepts fall into two categories:

1. Items within a category:    Such as [“House” or “Barn”] to [“Building”] 
2. A category that that contains items:   Such as [“Success”] to [“Power” or “Love”]. 





Most importantly, concepts must be mutually understood.  If the boy says
“Dog!” to his mother, he expects her to understand all of the possible
meanings.  But he can’t control which item that she will choose to perceive.

Now, let’s look at Mrs. Rand’s building blocks one more time:






To be conscious, a person must:

1.    Be able to exist.                      By being perceived. 
2.    Be able to perceive.               For example, by looking and listening.
3.    Be able to conceive.               For example, by thinking.
4.    Be able to argue.                    For example, by making assertions.


In order for the boy to say “Dog!” Four things must happen:

1. The boy must exist, by being perceived either by himself or
      someone else.  
2.  The dog must exist by having been perceived. 
3. The boy must form the concept [“dog”] so that: 
4. The boy can make an assertion. 

An assertion is the physical manifestation of language; it’s the transition from thought to communication.  It can be the written word, the spoken word, an image, or an action.  On the same day, the boy is watching a cowboy movie and he shoot’s an imaginary pistol into the air.  He’s making an assertion. When he gets older and shoots a real gun, that will also be an assertion.  And when a girl kicks a soccer ball, that’s an assertion too.

But now the boy has a problem.  He’s seen the chocolate, the peppermint, the dog, and his parents.  He has perceived them, so he knows that they exist.  But he can’t perceive himself, so he isn’t really sure that he exists.  He has to find a way to prove his own existence.  Then he realizes:  If someone who exists perceives him, then he exists!  But to prove that he exists,  he must be perceived by someone with whom he has a significant relationship.  So he starts asserting in front of his parents; He jumps in the
air, he throws a ball, he shouts “Mom, look at me!” 


Anything that will get his parents to perceive him, and in so doing,
confirm his existence.    Finally, after asserting all day, the boy says “Dog!”
to his mother.  Regardless of his intent, she uses her own discretion to perceive an item within that concept.   

In this case, the boy is looking at a real dog through the window; the mother, however, has chosen to perceive
that he is happy.  

The World of Suzie Wong and Mary Tyler Moore




It is this freedom that each person has to choose a perception within a concept that Mao Tse Tung and Lenin decided to use as the starting point for their attack.

Big Trouble in Little China   One day, Mao Tse Tung was sitting in his office, and he didn’t look too happy.  He pressed a button on his desk, and his new Psychologist, Double Chin, came into the room.  Mao Tse Tung looked at Double Chin and said “How is our plan going?”




Double Chin bowed deeply and said “Great Father of the Human Race! 
Master of Eternity!   Ruler of the Heavens!  Burning Flame of Happiness! 
It’s going terrible”. 

“What’s wrong?” said Mao Tse Tung. “Well” said Double Chin, “We destroyed China just like you said; but now the economy has collapsed!”  Mao Tse Tung thought about that, and said “How’s it going in Russia?” Double Chin looked back and said “Even worse, everyone is starving to death”.  

Mao Tse Tung cheered up and said, “Well, at least we’re doing better than them!”        At that moment, he had an idea.  He pressed a button on his desk and said “Get Russia on the Phone!”





Two weeks later, a team of Psychologists from Russia, and another team of Psychologists from China had a meeting in Moscow.  Boris, the leader of the Russians, and Double Chin, the leader of the Chinese, both walked to the front of the room. 

Boris started off by addressing the group. “I hope all of you are comfortable at the People’s Revolutionary Hotel!”   Everyone thought his joke was very funny.  They laughed for a long time.  Ha! Ha! Ha!  What a great guy!    Boris then continued. “I have some important news; we’ve decided that the whole world should become Communist.” 

He looked at the audience and said “Don’t you agree?”  There was wild applause; everyone totally agreed. 








At that point, Double Chin took over.  “Comrades” he said, “The reason that we’re here today is to discuss the relationship between Communism and Language.  As you know, Communism is the idea that a person can merge his or her identity into the group consciousness.  He went up to the board and drew a chart.  Then he said “All concepts exist as infinite time, going in both directions”.  “If I say “Communism”, he continued  “I mean all Communism in the past, the present, and the future.  Every concept follows this same formula.  It doesn’t matter if I say “car”, “love” or “dog.” 




For example, the word “Ice Cream” has three possible time-conditions:  
                                                                                                                                      
Ice Cream:         was on sale yesterday.                             (Past)
Ice Cream:         is delicious.                                              (Present)
Ice Cream:         will be served in the cafeteria.                 (Future)


When you hear the word “Ice Cream” you have to keep your mind open for all three options until you hear the rest of the sentence.  That’s infinite time.   A perception, however, only exists at a point in time.  You can’t perceive something yesterday or tomorrow.  You can only perceive it right now.  

For example:






I saw:                    Madonna yesterday.              (Past)

I see:                     Madonna now.                       (Present)

I will see:               Madonna tomorrow.               (Future)










Only one sentence “I see Madonna now” is perception. 
The statement “I saw Madonna yesterday” is a memory. 

It’s a perception of a perception. 

The statement “I will see Madonna tomorrow” is a declaration, she
has not yet been perceived.  To illustrate further, consider this question:  What happens if a speaker says to a listener “I saw Madonna yesterday”, and then shows the listener a picture of her?  Wouldn’t that be proof of yesterday’s perception?  No, because the speaker is asking the listener to perceive a perception, not to perceive Madonna.  

The listener can’t perceive Madonna yesterday; he can only perceive her, or her picture, right now as an indirect perception.

Comrades: If we don’t want people to perceive something, we must
not allow them to see it, hear it, or remember it."




Here’s another question:  What happens if the same two people are
talking on the phone, and one says to the other “I see Vladimir Lenin.”  But actually, the speaker is lying.  Is that a perception for the listener? 




Yes, because it’s happening now; but it’s an indirect perception so it will be different from a direct perception.  It doesn’t matter if the speaker is lying.  Perceiving is not thinking.  The difference between a concept and a perception is that a perception demands proof.  You can only perceive something that exists at this moment. 

A concept does not demand proof because it contains a number of units in the past and future which cannot be directly perceived, and therefore may or may not exist. 


If a girl says “Ice Cream is delicious”, you can’t disagree; because you don’t know to which ice cream she‘s referring.  If she says “This ice-cream is delicious” and both of you are able to perceive it, you can then agree or disagree.

If something cannot be perceived; it cannot exist.