The State of the Union under a failed Constitution
The legal profession's tyranny over the Nation, the self delusion that keeps it in denial of that truth, and the phenomenon of `cognitive dissonance' which causes it. (Part 1)
The legal profession appears incapable of recognizing that it has taken over effective control of government in this country. Or that such control is unconstitutional and constitutes tyranny. On this issue the profession remains impervious to logical argument or conclusive evidence. This `mental block' transcends human reason. It is self delusion that results from cognitive dissonance. The condition is also called denial. This paper should provide the reader with a better understanding of what that is and how it affects the legal profession.
In 1492 Spaniards began `legally' murdering other Spaniards by torturing them to death for not believing in Catholicism. Spain had just reconquered the southern part of the country from the Muslim Moors, after 800 years of Arab rule. Forced conversion to Catholicism of all non-Catholics in a unified Spain was viewed as vital to consolidating the conquest. The victimizers who tortured their victims to conversion or death perceived themselves as good. They asserted that what they did was in the best interests of their victims. They explained that death by torture was a necessary process to ensuring the salvation of their victims' eternal souls. These activities were known as the Inquisition. [1]
During World War II ordinary Germans under Nazi rule, brutalized and murdered large numbers of people because they happened to be Jews. Scapegoating Jews for their own problems was the excuse Germans used to murder and rob them. Many genocidal German victimizers regarded themselves as men of honor serving their country's laws and their conscience. [2] Six million Jewish victims were murdered in the Holocaust.
From 1776 to the Civil War, slavery was legal in all or part of the United States. Slavery provided substantial economic benefits to Slaveowners who perceived themselves as good people. The victimizers believed that in exchange for enslavement they provided their victims with the opportunity to become Christians and their only chance to get to Heaven. Millions of black slaves suffered the worst misery and death. Millions of their descendants regard themselves as continuing to suffer grievously from the legacy of slavery.
Around the middle of this Century the legal profession took over effective control of all government in America. That resulted in the kind of tyranny that the Constitution was specifically written to prevent. Now this `same hands' victimizer group makes the laws, interprets the laws and enforces the laws. It does so not to achieve justice for all, but primarily for its own benefit. Madison, Jefferson, Hamilton and Montesquieu called this tyranny. [3] All non members of the legal profession became its victims. Most of the victimizers deny that they are in control. A few admit it, but falsely assert that it is a good thing.
In all of the above examples what was done by the victimizers to their victims was horribly wrong. One of the most shocking and frightening aspects of these evil oppressions is that the victimizers perceived themselves as righteous. This tells us that the human mind has a substantial propensity to render itself blind to truth and justice. The cause is a phenomenon of self delusion that results from `Cognitive dissonance', known in psychiatry as `denial'.
1. What is cognitive dissonance and how does it give rise to self delusion ? 2. What are the consequences to the victimizer and the victim? 3. Can this kind of self delusion be conclusively identified ? 4. Can it be proven to apply to the legal profession? and 5. Can its effects on the Nation be countered in time to avert disaster?
1. What is cognitive dissonance and how does it give rise to self delusion ?
Cognitive dissonance is a psychological term defined as: Anxiety that results from simultaneously holding contradictory or otherwise incompatible attitudes, beliefs or the like. [4]The theory of cognitive dissonance was proposed by psychologist Leon Festinger in 1957. [5] The theory states, among other things, that a person cannot act in a manner that is good for himself but bad for others, without suffering psychological discomfort (or anxiety in lay terms). The greater the difference between the good for himself and the harm to others, the greater the discomfort and the need to do something about it.
Our concern is with the most severe kind of dissonance which Festinger identified as forced compliance dissonance. It occurs when one is subjected to pressure sufficient to make one do something wrong, but insufficient to overcome the belief that it is wrong. It can be resolved through the process of changing one's beliefs. [6] Thus under sufficient pressure the perceiver changes his `belief' from the truth he knows is evil into a `perceived good'. That is self delusion. Eventually the perceiver can no longer recognize as `true' anything but his false perception. This allows the perceiver to `believe' in false statements he makes to the effect that his evil acts are good. [7]
For example: Slavery is wrong. The inducement of economic benefits to the slaveowner was sufficient to own slaves, but insufficient to overcome the knowledge that slavery was wrong. The slaveowner resolved his problem of `cognitive dissonance' by changing his `beliefs' from the reality that his act was evil, to a self deluding `belief' that his act was good. He did so by `deciding' that slaves who were black were `heathen savages' doomed after death to rot in hell for eternity. Slavery brought blacks the Bible and Christianity. That brought opportunity for Heaven and eternal salvation. Thus slavery was a good thing for blacks.
Thus `forced compliance cognitive dissonance' is a means of relief from severe discomfort. Thus self delusion is born of self interest. It is a self serving, specific mind dysfunction, that permanently distorts the victimizer/perceiver's opinion respecting certain specific acts of his, by reversing his reality perception of good and evil. It does so while allowing all other functions of the mind to operate normally. The Inquisitors in Spain, the German people in World War II, Slaveowners and members of the American legal profession today, were or are, by and large all victimizers under its influence and control.
2. What are the consequences of cognitive dissonance/self delusion to the victimizer and the victim?
The consequences are devastating for both the victimizer and his victim, but in very different ways. The victimizer loses his `soul', his reputation, his integrity and sometimes his peace of mind. [8] The victim is at risk of losing everything else.
The victimizer unknowingly loses his `soul' by trading it for power and material advantage. [9] That power corrupts his profession above all others. He loses the ability to tell right from wrong on the matter at issue. His mind creates a false `anchor belief justification' [10] for the most oppressive acts against innocent victims. This kind of cognitive dissonance creates a wall in the mind impervious to truth and justice. [11] It confounds logical argument. It is as arrogant as it is wrong.
The victim suffers consequences that include the greatest evils known to man. The Holocaust, the Inquisition, and Slavery are at the top of the list. History is full of horrible examples of man's cruelty to man that is `explainable' as the result of `cognitive dissonance'. There are many historical examples of evils arising from this phenomenon.
The American people who are victims of the legal profession have suffered enormous harm, albeit less obvious and less dramatically graphic. [12] The severe adverse effects are felt everywhere but more so in the following areas: 1. Crime; 2. Healthcare; 3. Public education; 4. Divorce and child custody; 5. Access to the Courts; 6. Frivolous law suits; 7. Integrity in government; 8. Representative government; and 9. Human rights. [13]
3. Can this kind of self delusion be conclusively identified ?
Yes it can. Self delusion arising from forced compliance cognitive dissonance is a function of the relationships that exist between the victimizer, the victim and three critical factors: A false belief, power and truth.
When self delusion is present the relationships are as follows: 1. The belief can be proved false because it is either unaccepted internationally and/or it is logically unsound; [14]2. The victimizers share the belief but the victims do not; 3. The victimizers benefit from the belief while the victims suffer from it; 4. The victimizers exercise power over the victims; and 5. The truth hurts the victimizers and tends to help the victims. [15] Applying the test to the Spanish Inquisition, the Holocaust and slavery in the United States, we find that in all cases the false beliefs, the attributable relationships and therefore the phenomenon of self delusion, are present. [16]
4. Can it be proven that the American legal profession suffers from self delusion/denial arising from cognitive dissonance?
Yes it can. To do so we must establish that all the attributes that are present when this situation prevails are also present in the case at issue. We need to answer the following questions: 1. What is the belief and is it false? 2. Who believes it and who does not? 3. Who benefits and who suffers from it? 4. Who exercises power over whom? 5. Whom does the truth immediately [17] help and whom does it hurt?
Here are the answers 1. The belief at issue is that the effective control of government by members of the legal profession either does not exist or is not unconstitutional but a good thing if it does. That belief is false. It is neither accepted by the civilized world nor logically sound. 2. The legal profession believes the false belief but its victims do not. 3. The legal profession reaps enormous financial and other benefits from the control it has acquired that the false belief justifies. The victims suffer grievous harm from the same thing. 4. The legal profession has effectively acquired total power over its victims through its control of government. 5. The truth will harm the profession's image, psyche, prestige, power base and financial standing. It could also result in some individual members going to prison. The truth will deliver the victims from victimization and tyranny.
Thus here too all the attributes are present. As a result it is conclusively established that the members of the profession suffer from self delusion/denial caused by cognitive dissonance on the issue of the aforementioned false belief. The inevitable conclusion is that members of the legal profession are by and large disqualified by this phenomenon from intelligently discussing the issue at all. [18]
5. Can its effects on the Nation be countered in time to avert disaster?
Yes, by educating the victims to the truth of what is happening. [19] Then the victims will stop voting for any member of the legal profession to any office outside the Judiciary Branch of Government. That will break the stranglehold the profession has on the Nation's throat and save the Nation from the present tyranny. Time is short however. The victims must act quickly.
PUBLIUS II
(Ronald Bibace)
4720 NW 2 Ave, Suite D-107, Boca Raton, Fl 33431
[1] The purpose of the Inquisition was primarily to protect Spain from the perceived threat of a very large Muslim population. The Jews were included because like Muslims they were non Catholics. Not as in Germany specifically because they were Jews.
[2] Hitler's Willing Executioners, by David Goldhagen (1996).
[3] Federalist # 47, Jan 30, 1788 by James Madison, echoing the French philosopher Montesquieu's dissertation in The Spirit of Laws. Endorsed by Hamilton in the Federalist Papers & Jefferson.
[4] Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Second Edition, (1993)
[5] Encyclopedia of Psychology, Second Edition, Volume I, edited by R. Corsini, (1994) John Wilson & Sons, Publisher. ISBN 0 - 471-55819 - 2 . This entire section is based on this reference.
[6] Implicit in the change is that the `beliefs' are transformed from truth to falsehood, from reality to fantasy. Were the beliefs false they would have been disposed of , with the dissonance, in a `reality' context. Thus the original beliefs are real and the new ones false.
[7] Thus allowing him to speak a lie that Dr. Johnson called an individual's `Moral truth' or perceived truth not in accordance with reality, as opposed to `physical truth' which is in accordance with reality. The unfortunate use by Dr. Johnson of the words `moral truth' instead of say `perceived truth' confers on the victimizer an implication of `moral standing' that is not deserved. Encyclopedia Britannica, The Great Ideas, A Syntopicon, Vol. II, Chapter 94, Truth p.915 (1952).
[8] Self delusion is not always absolute. Subconscious awareness of harming others does rob some victimizers of their peace of mind.
[9] The victimizer remains unaware of what is happening to him, for awareness of self delusion is a contradiction in terms.
[10] A belief, similar to the concept of blind faith, that is so anchored in the perceiver's mind that all information received is processed on the premise that the belief is true.
[11] Unless and until he experiences a moment of great insight that overcomes the effects of cognitive dissonance. It seems to occur in some members close to retirement age. Those who experience it at a younger age tend to change careers. That may explain why so many lawyers leave their profession. These are the very lawyers who should be encouraged to stay and fight. (See Running from the Law by Deborah L. Arron, [1991] Ten Speed Press, subtitle: Why good lawyers are getting out of the legal profession).
[12] In dollar terms the harm has been reliably estimated at one trillion dollars annually. In terms of human suffering the harm though enormous, defies specific quantification.
[13] See Federalists 86 through 94 by this writer.
[14] Sometimes ideas that are believed true by all are false. The lives of Copernicus, Galileo and Columbus testify to beliefs once taken for gospel by all before being challenged and disproved by these men. However none of the beliefs disproved could stand the scrutiny of objective analytical logical argument.
[15] Some situations, such as the legal tyranny in this land, could produce severe criminal penalties to those now victimizing the Nation.
[16] The test has been applied to many other similar historical events and found valid. The test has also been applied to similar but invalid instances and has worked there too.
[17] In the long run the truth will help the victimizers too by restoring their soul and integrity.
[18] It is frightening to contemplate that we live in a Society in which irrefutable logical argument on this issue is unlikely to prevail. Even in a Court of law and even if Aristotle himself were making it.
[19] More and more of the victimizers in the legal profession are becoming conscious of the truth and breaking ranks with their colleagues, even when they remain in the profession. The growth of the Alternative Bar Association that seeks the abolition of the Florida Bar in that state and the growth of Holistic Lawyering is evidence of that fact. These lawyers should be commended for their courage and given all the public support possible.