You have been propagandized.

A letter for your friends.

You have been propagandized.

You have been lied to. I know. It’s hard to believe, but just stay with me.

I think you’re still reading because you know it’s true.

And maybe, you want to understand how, or more importantly, why?

What happened to us? Humans? What happened to your country, your city, your school, your work, your life?

What happened to your relationships?

Why has the world changed like this? Why does everything feel so out of control, like you’re just waiting for something to end, so you can go back to the past?

You can’t. It happened. You have been part of the biggest experiment in history. Physical, psychological, emotional, spiritual — cognitive warfare.

The news you used to trust has made this possible. That little screen, in your hands, or in front of you. You have been propagandized by conspiracies far greater than you were willing to accept.

But deep down, you know. You know, in your gut, in your intuition, in your mind, and in your soul.

Something has gone horribly wrong. And it’s real. And you are part of it.

If it’s happened before, it can happen again. And it’s happening now.

It happened to you, and it happened to all of us. You didn’t ask for it. But you submitted.

You gave in. You refused to believe what your eyes would not see. You refused the messages from your friends and your family, those conspiracy theorists, who warned you. You went along to get along. You were scared. You were worried. You didn’t think you had a choice. You needed to keep your job, your home. You wanted to be able to travel. You forgot that there was a world where you didn’t need permission to choose. You forgot who you were, and you became what you needed to be to survive.

How’s it going for you now?

Now, you know.

Part of you knows, or all of you knows. The old world is gone. You let it go. You did your part.

Now, it’s time to wake up.

This isn’t a dream. This is your life. It is ticking away, and every moment you make choices. Decide what you want your choices to be. You are in the driver’s seat of your life. You matter. You can make a difference if you choose to. You don’t have to submit anymore. You don’t have to close your eyes and pretend it will go away.

You are strong, you are powerful.

You can choose to do good in the world, or to do evil in the name of good. Or to do evil because you simply won’t think. You can choose to let evil happen because you don’t feel strong enough to call it out when you see it. Or you can choose the heroic path.

It’s not the easy path. But it has been paved before you. Time to switch lanes. Time to join the people who have been warning you, and defending you, and defending the values and principles that every human has in their heart.

All you have to do is muster up some courage. Put on your invisible cape. Make every moment count. Every time you ignore that little Jiminy Cricket, your conscience, your moral compass, you are moving further away from the old world.

The power to change the world starts with you. Everyone of us. It doesn’t have to be major, start small and your courage will build. Your confidence will grow. You will be happy with yourself, every time you make a choice that is in line with your values, no matter what anyone else thinks. Why should you care more about what others think of you than what you think of yourself? You have to live with yourself, and the better you feel about yourself, the better every choice you make will be. You will make mistakes. But you will know where you are going. That is the path of virtue and integrity.

The sum of our individual choices is what makes up the world we live in. You create it. It’s not out of your control. You choose.

Like Led Zeppelin sang,

“there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run, there is still time to change the road you’re on.”

What will you do with the rest of your time?

You decide.

Will you wake up? Or will you go back to sleep?

You can’t choose the time you live in, but you can choose what to do with the time you’ve got.

It’s up to you. What will you choose?

---

Pippin Took:
Maybe Treebeard's right. We don't belong here, Merry. It's too big for us. What can we do in the end? We've got the Shire. Maybe we should go home.

Merry Brandybuck:
The fires of Isengard will spread. And the woods of Tuckborough and Buckland will burn. And all that was once green and good in this world will be gone. There won't be a Shire, Pippin.