As people ‘wake up’ the first stage is often depression, and many people get stuck there. Successful people on the other hand are able to face the realities of our cruel and selfish world, without letting it drag them down. Here’s three tips for finding a healthy balance.
When does a cynic become a conspiracy theorist?
Take me. Am I a conspiracy theorist? I believe that politicians would sell their own mothers for campaign donations, and lie through their pretty white teeth to us on tv about it. I believe the main-stream media is full of nothing but mind-candy and advertorials promoting the agendas of their corporate masters.
And I believe that the economic system is rigged against the poorer folks (the 99% of us), and big money always trumps noble notions of fairness, democracy or human rights.
But does that make me a conspiracy theorist?
Where does healthy scepticism end and wrap-your-head-in-alfoil crazy begin?
It probably doesn’t matter where the line is (I’m sure I sound like a conspiracy theorist to a lot of people), but I do think we have to watch how we engage with our sceptical natures.
For those of us looking to take control of our own lives and build our own ladders to wealth and financial freedom, we need to question the narratives we’ve been given, but there are a few traps to watch out for.
There was some interesting research I saw the other day in the field of ‘conspiracy theory psychology’ – yes, that exists. They found that people with lower senses of self-worth and self-esteem, especially in terms of their agency in the world – were more likely to believe in conspiracy theories.
But they didn’t say which way the causation ran. Do conspiracy theories make you depressed, or does being depressed make you more likely to believe in them?
My theory is it’s the former.
As I’ve written about a few times, one of the big challenges in writing your own financial destiny, is keeping the right mind-set. You’ve got to stay positive, keep believing in the abundance of the world and that anyone can make it, and have a little faith in others and your own abilities.
These are treasures that can be hard to hold on to.
Conspiracy theories, or even a strong sceptic muscle, can make it even harder.
There are a couple of ideas bundled up in conspiracy theories that we need to be careful not to let worm their way into our core-beliefs. Even a healthy sceptic needs to be on guard against these ideas. We’ve just got find a healthy way to manage our scepticism.
Anyway, let’s unbundle them:
- We live in a malevolent world
A lot of conspiracy theories seem to be based on the idea that there is a malevolent clique / world government / alien race that is trying to poison / stupefy / enslave the rest of the human race. Their agenda seems to be pure evil.
I think it’s probably naïve to believe that there aren’t organisations out there trying to manipulate the world to their advantage – though I think they’re probably driven more by greed and selfishness than by any mindless love of evil.
BUT – we can’t let that blind us to the good there is in the world. We arrange ourselves into communities and families and charities and NGOs. Many people give up many hours a week for nothing – other than to make the world a better place for others. We’ve come a long, long way from warring tribal times – all because humans are fundamentally good and just and loving.
There is evil in the world for sure. But it is not an evil world.
- We are excluded from what’s actually going on
Conspiracy theories also place us outside of what’s actually going on. There are vast networks of organised agents of evil, or puppet-master overlords pulling all the strings, and we’re totally in the dark
I think this probably overstates how competent an organisation of greedy and selfish people can be. All history of kings and queens (and Game of Thrones) shows us that you can’t sit on a throne of swords for long. In ancient Macedonia, around Alexander the Great’s time, no king in their recorded history had ever died of natural causes.
So it seems improbable to me that any group, driven by greed and ambition, could rise above the collective weight of individual greed and ambition.
The thing we have to watch for though is that a sense of exclusion and alienation doesn’t drive us into depression and disempowerment.
- We are powerless
In the face of an organisation powerful enough to fake the moon landing or cover up the government’s role in the AIDS epidemic, what power can any individual have? It’s overwhelming.
I think it’s this power imbalance – ewoks vs the death star – that causes the correlation between conspiracy theory belief and a sense of personal disempowerment and therefore depression.
What to do about it?
As our awareness expands, and we realise that a lot of the narratives we’ve been told are simply fairytales, and our scepticism grows. We recognise the deceptive duplicity and evil there truly is in the world.
But we have to stay strong and not let it drag us down. Then evil really wins.
We need to constantly challenge the core beliefs wrapped up in conspiracy theories.
We need to keep faith in the abundance of the world and the fundamental goodness in people. We need to stay engaged in the world, and recognise that we do have the ability to shape our own lives. And we need to remember our own power, and that we are the authors of our own experience.
If we can’t do this, then scepticism becomes a slippery slope to depression, and you can forget about the challenges involved in building financial freedom.
Like all things in life, it’s about balance.
Graeme Clark says
Again… pearls of wisdom!
Mark Hodge says
Fantastic words of wisdom and so apt.
I truly believe in what you say as I have made the wrong turn onto that road of belief now and again. It is recognising that you are on the wrong road that gets you back on the right road and people like you help us to do that
Anna says
Thanks Jon, I think you are very brave in thinking out of the box and so generous with your time encouraging others like me !!! I suffered depression for many years and felt guilty for giving live to my children !!! Since 1 year ago, I stopped reading news and i realized
how “good” there is in the world in everything And since them I’m so grateful of being alive, having children and overcame my depression!
Jo says
Wow Anna, I hear you. I have for the past two nights, cried myself to sleep, fearing for the security of my daughter when we both pass away. We have only the house we live in and are in terror of moving and adding to the financial burden we already have now. We haven not paid anything off our mortgage in 15 years now and since turning 40, it has weighed on my mind but am so unsure what to do to rectify this. This latest budget from the Abbott government, cemented my belief that there is evil in this world. Yes, there are a lot of people out there struggling now and strings do need to be tightened, but working in a low socio economic area as well as living within it, shows me just how much harder folk are going to have it and I knew already that there were folk suffering. We need to bring back morals!!….parents need to be ashamed again if their children have children out of wedlock and before age. I know this seems draconian, but they are just not equipped to deal with all the pressures it brings without a very strong family background ( which many don’t have, hence having children early ). We cannot continue to pay for the mistakes of a few, democracy is about the majority and now because their behaviour hasn’t been put in check, they are now the majority which our Government just doesn’t seem to get. I too, choose not to read the papers or watch the news. It has lightened how I feel immensely but harms my childs studies at school as they are expected to know what is going on in the world around them. I fear that in 30 years time, no pensions will exist to help those help themselves. After all, just because one hasn’t got super, doesn’t mean that they didn’t work and pay taxes to the government throughout their life. They may have been the workers with no qualifications due to finances or other stresses and who took less paying jobs just because they didn’t get a degree or go to university or tafe to study. They still paid taxes though and that is the worry. Why does our government punish the less financial first and those with more last. I love my life, my partner and child and I want humanity to continue to thrive but not at the detriment of the planet which sustains us. When will equality actually occurr?? Balance is indeed one of the hardest things I have ever tried to do and more often than not, I fail. If only balance was all that was required. I feel like I and those around me are walking on a tightrope….one slip and its trouble.
Mostly off topic above, for that I am sorry but for some reason it all just came out and as it takes me ages to type, I will just send this and Thank you for the opportunity to vent my feeling too.
Marie Tz. says
Very well put Jon. The more we inspire people to thrive the more of a positive difference we can make to fellow humans in these challenging times for humanity. Let’s all unite to restore the sacred balance in our amazing universe.
Love and light to us all.
Glenn Jackson says
Politicians are setting bad examples for our future generations, deny,deny, deny, until you are caught out & then still deny until you are blue in the face. Or say they will do the right thing & retire on a generous parliamentary pension, even though you have you have been dishonest or carried out corrupt activities driven mainly by greed. Are they not supposed to be setting an example for future generations on fairness & ethics?
Absolutely sickening stuff. If they do the crime then serve the time, take away any benefits that come with having previously served in that position including their Parliamentary Pension. Then you might get some more honesty & ethics in Politics.
Examples need to be made of the current crop of politicians who have been caught with their pants down
Megan says
It’s interesting to note wealthy people + companies seem to contribute far less than they should to the economy. One reason is due to their ability to afford the best accountants and lawyers and others include hidden contributions to appropriate parties (to ensure future beneficial policies) etc. and undisclosed (unless found out) political party involvements, attachments and threads to companies, families or situations. Many decisions are made which lead to the utter destruction of our planet but hey there’s money to be made……who cares! Isn’t money the “be all and end all” after all!
If parliamentary pensions were abolished think how much debt could be repaid with the huge savings that would make. All the benefits and generous wages, with regular increases, certainly encourages greed, not the honest and ethical. These “carrots” are given regardless of performances – a situation to be found, not only in governmental areas. We have lost the plot.
Meanwhile the “little people” are penalized and disadvantaged more and more (damped down) in many areas, often denied choice and forced into situations enforceable by law – something that doesn’t spell “democracy”! Surveys that ask questions that point to answers that are wanted, the real issues conveniently forgotten and options not stated, and, be assured, they’ll be no personal comments area given – the list goes on…..
Sam says
Megan if you think cancelling parliamentary pensions would cure the state of the nation you clearly have not done your maths. There are 150 in the house of reps. Even if they all got $100,000 pa the total would be chicken feed in the budget.
Remember those wages and benefits were put there so ordinary people like you and me could run for parliament. Before that only rich people were in the parliament – hardly representative of the population. I understand that yours is a popular view but when you think about it, it really isn’t the answer.
Ray says
Well written
Do you have a view on China and where they represent one in seven people in the world
Given that 25 years on after the man verse tank video we face the realization that there is a whole generation in China that have had that part of China’s history suppressed.
On the other hand we have India ( one in seven people in the world is Indian as well) were still to this day police will not come to the aid of two teenage girls based on there social standard.
So far i have two out seven people in the world who have serious social issues as yet unresolved .
Regards
Ray
peter says
These are my rules. If you think someone wouldnt do that. Youre wrong. If you think someone hasnt done that youre also wrong. If you think no one ever thought about that wrong again. Because no matter what your mind can come up with as gory and as evil and sickening it might seem to you be rest assured someone out there has done it is doing it or will do it. That is the human way. To top that off if you think people with money or power are any different then youre mistaken once again. No need to be depressed about it. Just be aware and dont be surprised. Just trust ur instincts in everything you do.
Andrew M says
Yes such good advice – it’s so important to keep things in perspective, and stay positive. I think the more we can share around good news stories and the positive things humanity is doing the better off we will be.
Also I like to think that all this doom and gloom stuff just makes it even more important than ever to educate ourselves and develop our own wealth so that we have some power to change the things that are wrong with the world. So many people would like to make a difference but feel powerless due to a lack of resources, the primary being lack of money.
So we should aim to become wealthy but always remain generous. What is unattractive is not the amounts of money that rich people have but the greed and selfishness to keep all of it for themselves.
Don says
Interesting article Jon. I recently read in a certain magazine that world powers are planning to change all currencies in the world to the same world wide currency overnight. It stated one morning soon you will wake up & find everything has changed in the economic world, there will be one currency, all debt will be wiped, the USD will not be the measured currency & we all start again. Guess anything can happen but I seriously doubt this will, for two reasons.
The first is if implemented the economic repercussions could send the world into a crash spiral, for example the huge FOREX trade would disappear overnight throwing people out of work. Secondly I very much doubt that with the weakness of mankind could every country in the world & their top ministries be united enough to pull this off. Remember every Prime Minister recently in Australia has not lasted much past 6 months before being rolled or thoughts along those lines are being born.
So you are probably right Jon, we really don’t know where we are going, but it probably is not as bad as some are saying.
Freeman on the Land, not a dead man under the sea! says
They will more than likely be regional currencies such as the euro. There has been a treasonous agreement by the US, Canada, and Mexico to suspend borders between countries such as in Europe. They have also allegedly printed the Amero to go pending the coming collapse…
Australia already prints a lot of currency for Asian countries including NZ. Their has been talks about NZ adopting the Australian dollar as their currency. I’m sure that would be a big coup considering that 92% of banks in NZ are foreign owned and controlled and them 90% are the big 4 Australian banks. NZ has already learnt what an expensive proposition having foreign national control your money supply is with the big 4 taking out of NZ more than the national deficit every year.
No doubt in the end it will be one currency, one gov’t, one mindset etc etc etc… this should impress the the multitude of UN supporters who think this would be wonderful
Sic…. I can’t wait myself, just think, Children will no longer be your ultimate responsibility as they will belong to the state, no more poverty or ownership, or class division, just slavery for everyone, no more privacy, who needs that its so 1900’s (last century)
No more violence and crazies with guns, just remember to bow your head in subservience to the govt officer on the corner with the machine gun.
Sounds like Utopia to me…. NOT!
Burnsie says
Great post. Thanks!
An interesting side note – John Key, NZ’s PM donates his entire PM wage to charity. He did very well for himself in the business world before he entered politics (despite growing up in State Housing). I reckon the guy’s a legend and is genuinely in politics to see his country change for the better. If a few Aussie politicians followed suit it would be great to see (perhaps there already are some doing this??).
Freeman on the Land, not a dead man under the sea! says
YES, John Key has done amazing things to New Zealand….
I can just hear the Champagne corks popping now!
But hold on a minute; let’s peel back that shallow veneer to see what has really happened. Who’s really benefitting from the changes, and at what cost.
John came back to New Zealand from the US with a vision and a plan, and has so far executed it to deadly affect.
Not so original either, its textbook UN free market propaganda, most of us are now becoming accustomed to the fact that it is not sustainable. Just like John Keys
His master plan made a few key people in New Zealand very wealthy indeed, including himself
He brought financial deregulation to NZ and open market propaganda. Now approximately 98% of banks in NZ are foreign owned. Of them 92% is Australian owned and controlled being the “Big 4”.
All you needed to open a Bank in NZ was 30 million, which if I read correctly was the amount he arrived back in NZ with… Which is, just a coincidence of course?
They also print the money for NZ and make their passports. So all of NZ is now Australia’s business as far as information is concerned, as well as foreign control of its banking sector…
But is it living up to its promise. It didn’t take too long for New Zealanders to realise the amount of profit that was being syphoned out of NZ’s economy into Australian coffers. Apparently, at a hideous amount and pace… Robbers would be proud of!
It also didn’t take long for the banks to end up in the NZ courts facing charges… for misleading practices,
Damn that sounds familiar… “Which Bank?”.
Next we have the revision of the GCSB Act, NZ’s premier intelligence agency and the Dotcom scandal which.
New Zealanders including the Law, Society found the changes to the act removed Kiwis privacy, in fact so incensed was the NZ Law society that it has taken its cause to the International Courts for what is occurring.
Everyone is now safe that cameras are on just about every corner, and the Government is spying, I mean watching everyone.
Yes New Zealanders have so much to look forward to in their new hero. Rising property prices and have forced a whole new generation of Kiwi’s to accept that they will more than likely be renters for their rest of their lives.
Foreign corporations are buying the food bowl right out of NZ. Just like Australia the Asians are having a motza of a time taking advantage; I mean investing in NZ’s, I mean their futures.
The government budget is not only in the black it’s in surplus…. I guess selling off the National assets is a great way of not only balancing the books but keeping your credit rating with the big banks in ship shape. Well at least until there’s nothing left to sell off.
But who cares as long as those with property can cash in their fiat chips (debt money) for the sweeter things in life.
Kiwis can now relax as their future is assured, their PM can donate his wage to charity ( known as a deductible), it doesn’t matter that the security bill to protect him has increased by 2 million dollars yearly because he is so loved. “He’s a legend”.
Kiwis can now sleep safe in their beds knowing that drones are being flown over head or at the very least being controlled via NZ flight centres (Same as in Oz)… Of course that will never make them a target 😉
For those who may need to understand free market economics (Neo Classical Economics) in the New world order check out “The Four Horsemen “ documentary on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fbvquHSPJU
I end by quoting the following: “When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living in society, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it, and a moral code that glorifies it” … Frederic Bastiat
Johno says
Arnold Schwarzenegger also donated all his wages to charity when he was governor of California. The wages were peanuts to him after making millions from movies and real estate.
greg says
Huh? OK, I get it. You have a lot of time on your hands and like to think ‘existentially’. Perhaps you would like your audience to think a little more ‘outside the box’ as well. But seriously, I consider myself fairly normal with moderate aspirations, which, with hard work and discipline, will pay off. Yet I have never really sat down and pondered the morals of this world and the people in it. There is one thing I am certain of . There is good and there is bad in this world. The bad are selfish, and the good are either exceptional, tolerant or typically, just plain lazy. Personally, I am too busy to sit down and and think of all the conspiracy theories and have no real interest in the people who purport them.
Freeman on the Land, not a dead man under the sea! says
Well at least your with the majority… that may not protect you when the shit hits the fan, but I’m sure you will manage to try and make everyone else responsible when like the rest; you couldn’t be bothered…
Baaah sheeple Baaah!
Scott says
Your mind is as a computer program looking for truth
Lies bog it down making truth harder to see!
Conspiracy theories are just that !
The question is always why the deception
Curiosity is a part of man
The bigger the conspiracy the bigger the deception
No one likes being deceived
Our natural instincts are on alert
The question is is again why
Freeman on the Land, not a dead man under the sea! says
YES, John Key has done amazing things to New Zealand….
I can just hear the Champagne corks popping now!
But hold on a minute; let’s peel back that shallow veneer to see what has really happened. Who’s really benefitting from the changes, and at what cost.
John came back to New Zealand from the US with a vision and a plan, and has so far executed it to deadly affect.
Not so original either, its textbook UN free market propaganda, most of us are now becoming accustomed to the fact that it is not sustainable. Just like John Keys
His master plan made a few key people in New Zealand very wealthy indeed, including himself
He brought financial deregulation to NZ and open market propaganda. Now approximately 98% of banks in NZ are foreign owned. Of them 92% is Australian owned and controlled being the “Big 4”.
All you needed to open a Bank in NZ was 30 million, which if I read correctly was the amount he arrived back in NZ with… Which is, just a coincidence of course?
They also print the money for NZ and make their passports. So all of NZ is now Australia’s business as far as information is concerned, as well as foreign control of its banking sector…
But is it living up to its promise. It didn’t take too long for New Zealanders to realise the amount of profit that was being syphoned out of NZ’s economy into Australian coffers. Apparently, at a hideous amount and pace… Robbers would be proud of!
It also didn’t take long for the banks to end up in the NZ courts facing charges… for misleading practices,
Damn that sounds familiar… “Which Bank?”.
Next we have the revision of the GCSB Act, NZ’s premier intelligence agency and the Dotcom scandal which.
New Zealanders including the Law, Society found the changes to the act removed Kiwis privacy, in fact so incensed was the NZ Law society that it has taken its cause to the International Courts for what is occurring.
Everyone is now safe that cameras are on just about every corner, and the Government is spying, I mean watching everyone.
Yes New Zealanders have so much to look forward to in their new hero. Rising property prices and have forced a whole new generation of Kiwi’s to accept that they will more than likely be renters for their rest of their lives.
Foreign corporations are buying the food bowl right out of NZ. Just like Australia the Asians are having a motza of a time taking advantage; I mean investing in NZ’s, I mean their futures.
The government budget is not only in the black it’s in surplus…. I guess selling off the National assets is a great way of not only balancing the books but keeping your credit rating with the big banks in ship shape. Well at least until there’s nothing left to sell off.
But who cares as long as those with property can cash in their fiat chips (debt money) for the sweeter things in life.
Kiwis can now relax as their future is assured, their PM can donate his wage to charity ( known as a deductible), it doesn’t matter that the security bill to protect him has increased by 2 million dollars yearly because he is so loved. “He’s a legend”.
Kiwis can now sleep safe in their beds knowing that drones are being flown over head or at the very least being controlled via NZ flight centres (Same as in Oz)… Of course that will never make them a target 😉
For those who may need to understand free market economics (Neo Classical Economics) in the New world order check out “The Four Horsemen “ documentary on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fbvquHSPJU
I end by quoting the following: “When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living in society, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it, and a moral code that glorifies it” … Frederic Bastiat