The Mena weekly star., 1911-02-16
What We Believe.

Anyone VINO mas read history can
see that all down the stairs Of the
past there were men who tried to
teach the downtrodden truths that
would have made them free and great,
but the people were too prejudiced,
ignorant and superstitious to under
stand. Instead of hailing such men
as teachers they crucified them as
enemies OF the human race. The peo-
pie followed the worst men and were
led to the slaughter like sheep. The
fools worked to produce wealth for the
few who worked not. They were
drilled to fight for those who wanted
power. They believed anything their
rulers told them and the pages of his
tory are dark with crimson because OF
their ignorance. The people were not
to blame for they could not appre-
ciate what they could not understand.
And. after all. are we not much like
them? Are we not all the creatures
OF hypnotic SUGGESTION The things
that you believe are the things that
have been told to you in such way
and by such persons as you had conf
dence in. Purely suggestion. The
things that the writer believes are OF
the same source. 1t is hard to make
the savage believe his wooden god is
not all powerful because he has been
taught it is in suggestive way from
childhood. We believe many as abb
surd things because OF the same law.
Men and women who read widely get
so many suggestions that they begin
to compare them and so many conflict
they cannot believe all so they get q
counter suggestion and begin to rea-
son. But the unread person with only
a few hypnotic thoughts has not the
condition or power to throw them of
or discriminate. 1t takes new sug
gestion to upset any one held. Few
men read books and most of those
who do read novels which do not pre-
sent any facts.
There is nothing too absurd for us
to believe if we were taught il from
childhood, and had never heard any
one question it. The ruling minds o
the earth understand this. That i:
why the Gear of Russia does not
want revolutionary literature dis
tributed in his realm. That is why NJ
church desires to have its votarie:
study the works Of any other religion
That is why capitalists do not want
the people to read Socialist literature
There is counter suggestion in then
and ifthey can keep their adherents
ignorant of what others see they can
control them. And the control of the
millions of the earth is the aim, and
profit is the object. The one who has
been raised in one thought has moth
ing with which to compare that
thought. and cannot tell whether it is
relatively right or not. A man with
one idea is very little advanced above
the cattle which we may see have no
ideas at all. A man with thousand
ideas is more powerful, is more de-
veloped, is surer of his position than
the man of one idea. Usually the
one-idea man is surest he is right. He
is supremacy wise in his ignorance.
And yet it is all something like hypno-
tism in its character. How many diff
ferent religions do we understand
How many different systems Of politi-
cal economy?
We believe what we do believe be-
cause we cannot believe anything
else. If you do not believe in Social
ism do not blame you. But have
you made it study Are you wise
or otherwisef
Mena. Ark. Feb. 6. 1911