This explains a lot. It was on one
of my hypnosis forums.
Quoting Aleister Crowley, no less. What a brilliant mind before it was destroyed.
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“This may interest someone if there is anyone here shaking his head over the antics
of hucksters like Rhonda Byrne and Joe Vitale. Vitale, you may remember from the movie The Secret, says all you have to do
to get rich is lie on a beach and wish upon a star. I found this in THE CONFESSIONS OF ALEISTER CROWLEY, describing essentially
the same nonsense as it was taught in the early twentieth century. Crowley said America was plagued with "countless cults
for drawing in dollars by wishing one had them, persuading oneself that somehow or other they will arrive." (Confessions,
p. 843) Some things never change.”
"One cannot deal with Americans on the principles which
seem inevitable in Europe. One often sees a placard in offices, "Come in without knocking. Go out the same way."
They would rather not hear unpleasant truths. What! Shoot a sleeping sentinel? Nope; rush the chloroform in case he wakes!
They have learnt the psychological fact that confidence is a real asset. A man works best when he feels he is sure to succeed.
A fear of failure palsies every faculty. The vogue of Christian Science, and countless cults for drawing in dollars by wishing
one had them, persuading oneself that somehow or other they will arrive, scorning every success, forgetting every failure,
shutting one's eyes to unpleasant facts, and interpreting every bit of good luck as a triumph beyond the power of trumpets
to tell - a token of the intense interest taken by the Almighty in His favourite child - this course of conduct, though its
more reasonable practitioners are ready to admit that it is rant and rubbish, is pursued as part of a calculated policy. They
are ready to fool themselves in order to take advantage of the stimulating effect of optimism.
The other side of the medal is this: when any man points to any fact that shakes this
opium serenity, checks this cocaine self-assurance, that man takes a chance of a free ride out of town on a rail. The spirit
of criticism is detested and dreaded. It is easy to understand why this is. The States have been won from the wilderness by
a system which demanded courage and clear sight from the pioneers; but once the trail was blazed, the rest of the work was
done on a basis of credit which a European banker would consider utterly reckless gambling. Everyone, from the farmer and
merchant to the manufacturer and financier, entered into a tacit agreement to bet that any given enterprise would succeed.
As the natural resources were there, while luck decreed that the commonwealth should not have to face any overwhelming obstacle,
the gamblers have won. It is obvious that any man in an outpost besieged by nature (such as is every new settlement outside
New England, the Atlantic coast and the old settlements in the south) was really a traitor if he said however truthfully,
anything which might daunt the spirit of his comrades. Those men won out through sheer ignorance of the chances against them,
stolid stupidity which blinded them to their desperate plight and bestial insensibility to the actual hardships which they
had to endure. It was criminal to insist on the existence of evils for which there was no remedy.
This spirit has persisted, though its utility is past. It has become a fixed feature
of the religion of the country. It was the deadliest delusion that I had to meet."
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(This is
the similar basis of my past statement, "Optimism beyond reality becomes denial." as a comment
on this aspect, of that which I term the American mythic ethos). He also notes as I have, that much of this is based on occupying
a land of vast untapped riches, and mistaking that for social and personal superiority. He, being closer to the time, was
more aware of the horrendous conditions of occupying and "developing" this huge territory. (And not confused by
the rose colored spectacles of Hollywood myth that I was steeped in.) And seeing the roots of the over-dependency on unified
patriotic thought at times of conflict with external foes. 9/11 as an Indian attack on the settlement! So I am in good (bad)
company once more!
Best
from the Brain of Brian. c. Los Angeles 02/ 2016
