Mental Programming in Youth
Last night’s “Coast to Coast” program (with Ian Punnett) featured something of modest interest. A cockamine theory that today’s kids are learning how to “fall in line” — a necessary and corrective pendullum swing from the baby-boom generation who were taught to be free-wheeling in order to avoid following a “Hitler”-figure.
Today’s teens, he postulated, weren’t as shocked by 9/11 because they experienced Columbine … The foundations of their sense of security within the narrow confines of their school-lives had already been rattled and the security measures that society is now putting in place are analogious to what high schools are already putting in place.
This, mind you, is all good. The biggest teen movie of the summer is a G-rated film. Kids are more respectful to authority, and are better mannered.
This guest lost me right there, and to my mind was sprouting absurdities. Callers , who have jobs that relate to teenagers, chimed on and said as much.
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From the book You Are Being Lied to, an essay by Robert Sterling entitled “Apt Pupils” — written in 2000… Robert Sterling is connected with the website Konformist.com.
‘WAVE’ is an acronym for “Working Against Violence Everywhere”, and is a private program created by corporate dick monolith Pinkerton, best noted for teaming up with big business to harrass labor unions. WAVE provides a toll free number for students to call up and inform on students who exhibit certain “risk” characteristics. The information is handled by WAVE America itself (ie Pinkerton) , who coincidentally, as a security firm hired by many corporations, could benefit from the surveillence they obtain by providing clients extensive history reports on prospective employees.
To sell children on WAVE America, the program offers a WAVE card, which doesn’t seem to have much value in selling safety. Here is how WAVE America itslef has promoted the nifty concept, in a style that seems almost written by The Onion:
The incredible WAVE Card is going to make your life very fun. Here’s what we have planned — coming soon. We are going to get your favorite restaurants, clothing stores, computer places and other fantastic retailers to give you discounts and free stuff. Yes, I’m sure it is hard to contain the absolute excitement you are feeling right now upon learning about the benefits of the WAVE Card.
Though WAVE America founders spent enough money to come up with a WAVE Card as part of their marketing campaign, they supposedly didn’t do enough research to uncover the fact that the name echoes The Wave, a novel based on a real life social experiemnt performed by a Palo Alto high school teacher in 1969. The history teacher wanted to show students how easily they could be seduced into joining a fascist Hitler Youth program. Under the banner “strength through discipline, community, and action” the WAVE was introduced to students and faculty, who eagerly embraced it. Soon, Wave cards were introduced, and students and teachers began informing on those opposed to the program. When Ben Ross, the teacher and mastermind of the program, revealed its obvious parallels to Hitler’s kiddie army, students and faculty alike were stunned by how easily they had been deceived.
Joanne McDaniel, a spokeswoman, would claim dubiously that the similarities were “just a coincidence”. Incredibly, Todd Strasser, one of the book’s co-authors, agreed and added that the book would prevent an evolution of WAVE America into something sinister, as students and teachers are too wise to be fooled into participating in an overtly fascist program. (Apparently Strasser missed the point of his own work.)
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The Wave probably ends with grape-nuts being dumped on the heads of the non-followers…
Appendium, or postscript:
It’s worth noting what the gummint declared are the warning signs for troubled youth, as studies after the Columbine shootings:
I can’t find it on google immediately, but they include such items as “inappropriate humour”, “mood swings” — and other typical hormone-induced items that cover nearly 100 percent of adolescents.
If the WAVE Card transcribes the gummint’s list… well…