Of all of the ideas in your head, how many are yours, and how many were put there by someone else? Ironic that you find yourself reading these words, no? The idea that I want you to embrace is simply that you are a victim of mental manipulation.

How did this happen?

To a large extent, modern American culture is designed to instill its citizens with a state of vulnerability to exactly this type of message. Public schooling insures that we are all conditioned to receive instruction from a nominal authority figure. This is further reinforced by television, religion, and any number of social constructs that encourage passivity and conformity. By assuming this mantle of authority, advertizers take advantage of the programming that is already in place.

Who's version of reality are you living in?

There is no objective reality. Even that which you observe first- hand is colored by your own experiences, prejudice, and beliefs. Information which is learned second- or third-hand is even more distorted. Think of the telephone game. In this game, a message is passed by whispering it in the ear of the person next to you in a line. When the message has traversed the entire line, it is compared to the original message, often with humorous results.

This lack of objective reality is being exploited by those who wish you to see the world through their eyes, with your life filled with the products that they will convince you that you cannot possibly live without.

In order to regain control of your own mindspace, you must arm yourself with the only force that matters in this conflict: Knowledge. Gather information from as many sources as you possibly can. Absorb it, and apply it. Only by learning exactly how the entities vying for control over you operate can you hope to render their efforts ineffectual. Exposing oneself to a wide variety of sources from various disciplines related to the problem is the best approach. It promotes balance and understanding rather than partisan alignment.

Vargr, 2004