Families to Diminish in Importance
Families would be limited in size. We already alluded to not being allowed more than two children. Divorce would be made easier and more prevalent. Most people who marry will marry more than once. More people will not marry. Unmarried people would stay in hotels and even live together. That would be very common – nobody would even ask questions about it. It would be widely accepted as no different from married people being together. More women will work outside the home. More men will be transferred to other cities, and in their jobs, more men would travel. Therefore, it would be harder for families to stay together. This would tend to make the marriage relationship less stable and, therefore, tend to make people less willing to have babies. And, the extended families would be smaller, and more remote. Travel would be easier, less expensive, for a while, so that people who did have to travel would feel they could get back to their families… not that they were abruptly being made remote from their families. But one of the net effects of easier divorce laws combined with the promotion of travel, and transferring families from one city to another, was to create instability in the families. If both husband and wife are working and one partner gets transferred the other one may not be easily transferred. So one either keeps his or her job and stays behind while the other leaves, or else gives up the job and risks not finding employment in the new location. Rather a diabolical approach to this whole thing!
Euthanasia and the “Demise Pill”
Everybody has a right to live only so long. The old are no longer useful. They become a burden. You should be ready to accept death. Most people are. An arbitrary age limit could be established. After all, you have a right to only so many steak dinners, so many orgasms, and so many good pleasures in life. And after you have had enough of them and you’re no longer productive, working, and contributing, then you should be ready to step aside for the next generation. Some things that would help people realize that they had lived long enough; he mentioned several of these… I don’t remember them all… here are a few: Use of very pale printing ink on forms that people… are necessary… to fill out, so that older people wouldn’t be able to read the pale ink as easily and would need to go to younger people for help. Automobile traffic patterns – there would be more high-speed traffic lanes. . traffic patterns that would … that older people with their slower reflexes would have trouble dealing with and thus, lose some of their independence.
Limiting access to affordable Medical Care makes Eliminating the Elderly Easier
A big item – [that] was elaborated at some length – was the cost of medical care would be burdensomely high. Medical care would be connected very closely with one’s work, but also would be made very, very high in cost so that it would simply be unavailable to people beyond a certain time. And unless they had a remarkably rich, supporting family, they would just have to do without care. And the idea was that if everybody says:
“Enough! What a burden it is on the young to try to maintain the old people … then the young would become agreeable to helping Mom and Dad along the way, provided this was done humanely and with dignity. And then the real example was – there could be like a nice, farewell party, a real celebration. Mom and Dad had done a good job. And then after the party’s over they take the “demise pill.”
Planning the Control over Medicine
The next topic is Medicine. There would be profound changes in the practice of medicine. Overall, medicine would be much more tightly controlled. The observation was made:
“Congress is not going to go along with national health insurance. That [in 1969, he said] is now, abundantly evident. But it’s not necessary. We have other ways to control health care.”
These would come about more gradually, but all health care delivery would come under tight control. Medical care would be closely connected to work. If you don’t work or can’t work, you won’t have access to medical care. The days of hospitals giving away free care would gradually wind down, to where it was virtually non-existent. Costs would be forced up so that people won’t be able to afford to go without insurance. People pay… you pay for it, you’re entitled to it. It was only subsequently that I began to realize the extent to which you would not be paying for it. Your medical care would be paid for by others. And therefore you would gratefully accept, on bended knee, what was offered to you as a privilege. Your role being responsible for your own care would be diminished. As an aside here – this is not something that was developed at this time … I didn’t understand it at the time -as an aside, the way this works, everybody’s made dependent on insurance. And if you don’t have insurance then you pay directly; the cost of your care is enormous. The insurance company, however, paying for your care, does not pay that same amount. If you are charged, say, $600 on your part, they pay $300 or $400. And that differential in billing has the desired effect: It enables the insurance company to pay for that which you could never pay for. They get a discount that’s unavailable to you. When you see your bill you’re grateful that the insurance company could do that. And in this way you are dependent, and virtually required to have insurance.
The whole billing is Fraudulent
Anyhow, continuing on now… access to hospitals would be tightly controlled. Identification would be needed to get into the building. The security in and around hospitals would be established and gradually increased so that nobody without identification could get in or move around inside the building. Theft of hospital equipment, things like typewriters and microscopes and so forth would be “allowed” and exaggerated; reports of it would be exaggerated so that this would be the excuse needed to establish the need for strict security, until people got used to it. And anybody moving about in a hospital would be required to wear an identification badge with photograph and … telling why he was there … employee or lab technician or visitor or whatever. This is to be brought in gradually – getting everybody used to the idea of identifying themselves- until it was just accepted. This need for ID to move about would start in small ways: hospitals, some businesses, but gradually expand to include everybody in all places! It was observed that hospitals can be used to confine people … for the treatment of criminals. This did not mean, necessarily, medical treatment. At that … at that time, I did not know the word “Psycho-Prison” as in the Soviet Union, but without trying to recall all the details, basically, he was describing the use of hospitals both for treating the sick and for confinement of criminals for reasons other than the medical well-being of the criminal. The definition of criminal was not given.
Elimination of Private Doctors
The image of the doctor would change. No longer would he be seen as an individual professional in service to individual patients. But the doctor would be gradually recognized as a highly skilled technician … and his job would change. The job is to include things like executions by lethal injection. The image of the doctor being a powerful, independent person would have to be changed. And he went on to say:
“Doctors are making entirely too much money. They should advertise like any other product.”
Lawyers would be advertising too. Keep in mind; this was an audience of doctors being addressed by a doctor. And it was interesting that he would make some rather insulting statements to his audience without fear of antagonizing us. The solo practitioner would become a thing of the past. A few die-hards might try to hold out, but most doctors would be employed by an institution of one kind or another. Group practice would be encouraged, corporations would be encouraged, and then once the corporate image of medical care … as this gradually became more and more acceptable, doctors would more and more become employees rather than independent contractors. And along with that, of course, unstated but necessary, is the employee serves his employer, not his patient. So that’s … we’ve already seen quite a lot of that in the last 20 years. And apparently more on the horizon. The term HMO was not used at that time, but as you look at HMOs you see this is the way that medical care is being taken over since the National Health Insurance approach did not get through the Congress. A few die-hard doctors may try to make a go of it; remaining in solo practice, remaining independent, which, parenthetically, is me. But they would suffer a great loss of income. They’d be able to scrape by, maybe, but never really live comfortably as would those who were willing to become employees of the system. Ultimately, there would be no room at all for the solo practitioner, after the system is entrenched.
New Difficult to Diagnose and Untreatable Diseases
Next heading to talk about is Health & Disease. He said there would be new diseases to appear which had not ever been seen before. Would be very difficult to diagnose and be untreatable – at least for a long time. No elaboration was made on this, but I remember, not long after hearing this presentation, when I had a puzzling diagnosis to make, I would be wondering, “Is this … was what he was talking about? Is this a case of what he was talking about?” Some years later, as AIDS ultimately developed, I think AIDS was at least one example of what he was talking about. I now think that AIDS probably was a manufactured disease.
Suppressing Cancer Cures as a Means of Population Control
He said:
“We can cure almost every cancer right now. Information is on file in the Rockefeller Institute, if it’s ever decided that it should be released. But consider – if people stop dying of cancer, how rapidly we would become overpopulated. You may as well die of cancer as something else.”
Efforts at cancer treatment would be geared more toward comfort than toward cure. There was some statement ultimately the cancer cures which were being hidden in the Rockefeller Institute would come to light because independent researchers might bring them out, despite these efforts to suppress them. But at least for the time being, letting people die of cancer was a good thing to do because it would slow down the problem of overpopulation.
Inducing Heart Attacks as a Form of Assassination
Another very interesting thing was heart attacks. He said:
“There is now a way to simulate a real heart attack. It can be used as a means of assassinates.”
Only a very skilled pathologist, who knew exactly what to look for at an autopsy, could distinguish this from the real thing. I thought that was a very surprising and shocking thing to hear from this particular man at that particular time. This, and the business of the cancer cure, really still stand out sharply in my memory, because they were so shocking and, at that time, seemed to me out of character.
Nutrition & Exercise
He then went on to talk about nutrition and exercise, sort of in the same framework. People would not have to … people would have to eat right and exercise right to live as long as before. Most won’t. This, in the connection of nutrition, there was no specific statement that I can recall as to particular nutrients that would be either inadequate or in excess. In retrospect, I tend to think he meant high salt diets and high fat diets would predispose toward high blood pressure and premature arteriosclerotic heart disease. And that if people who were too dumb or too lazy to exercise as they should then their dietary… their circulating fats go up and predispose to disease.
And he said something about diet information -about proper diet- would be widely available, but most people -particularly stupid people, who had no right to continue living anyway- they would ignore the advice and just go on and eat what was convenient and tasted good. There were some other unpleasant things said about food. I just can’t recall what they were. But I do remember of … having reflections about wanting to plant a garden in the backyard to get around whatever these contaminated foods would be. I regret I don’t remember the details … the rest of this … about nutrition and hazardous nutrition.
With regard to Exercise. He went on to say that more people would be exercising more, especially running, because everybody can run. You don’t need any special equipment or place. You can run wherever you are. As he put it, “people will be running all over the place.” And in this vein, he pointed out how supply produces demand. And this was in reference to athletic clothing and equipment. As this would be made more widely available and glamorized, particularly as regards running shoes, this would stimulate people to develop an interest in running and- as part of a whole sort of public propaganda campaign- people would be encouraged then to buy the attractive sports equipment and to get into exercise.
Again… well in connection with nutrition he also mentioned that public eating places would rapidly increase. That … this had a connection with the family too. As more and more people eat out, eating at home would become less important. People would be less dependent on their kitchens at home. And then this also connected to convenience foods being made widely available -things like you could pop into the microwave. Whole meals would be available pre-fixed. And of course, we’ve now seen this … and some pretty good ones. But this whole different approach to eating out and to previously prepared meals being eaten in the home was predicted at that time to be brought about -convenience foods. The convenience foods would be part of the hazards. Anybody who was lazy enough to want the convenience foods rather than fixing his own also had better be energetic enough to exercise. Because if he was too lazy to exercise and too lazy to fix his own food, then he didn’t deserve to live very long.
This was all presented as sort of a moral judgment about people and what they should do with their energies. People who are smart, who would learn about nutrition, and who are disciplined enough to eat right and exercise right are better people -and the kind you want to live longer.
Education as a Tool for Accelerating the onset of Puberty and Evolution
Somewhere along in here there was also something about accelerating the onset of puberty. And this was said in connection with health, and later in connection with education, and connecting to accelerating the process of evolutionary change. There was a statement that:
” … we think that we can push evolution faster and in the direction we want it to go.”
I remember this only as a general statement. I don’t recall if any details were given beyond that.
Blending all Religions …. The Old Religions will have to Go
Another area of discussion was Religion. This is an avowed atheist speaking. And he said:
“Religion is not necessarily bad. A lot of people seem to need religion, with it’s mysteries and rituals – so they will have religion.”
But the major religions of today have to be changed because they are not compatible with the changes to come. The old religions will have to go. Especially Christianity. Once the Roman Catholic Church is brought down, the rest of Christianity will follow easily. Then a new religion can be accepted for use all over the world. It will incorporate something from all of the old ones to make it more easy for people to accept it, and feel at home in it. Most people won’t be too concerned with religion. They will realize that they don’t need it.
Changing the Bible through Revisions of Key Words
In order to do this, the Bible will be changed. It will be rewritten to fit the new religion. Gradually, key words will be replaced with new words having various shades of meaning. Then, the meaning attached to the new word can be close to the old word. And as time goes on, other shades of meaning of that word can be emphasized, and then gradually that word replaced with another word. I don’t know if I’m making that clear. But the idea is that everything in Scripture need not be rewritten, just key words replaced by other words. And the variability in meaning attached to any word can be used as a tool to change the entire meaning of Scripture, and therefore make it acceptable to this new religion. Most people won’t know the difference; and this was another one of the times where he said:
“… the few who do notice the difference won’t be enough to matter.”
The Churches will Help
Then followed one of the most surprising statements of the whole presentation: He said:
” … some of you probably think the churches won’t stand for this [and he went on to say] The churches will help us!”
There was no elaboration on this; it was unclear just what he had in mind when he said, “the churches will help us!” In retrospect, I think some of us now can understand what he might have meant at that time. I recall then only of thinking, “no they won’t!” and remembering our Lord’s words where he said to Peter, “Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church, and gates of Hell will not prevail against it.” So … yes, some people in the churches might help. And in the subsequent 20 years we’ve seen how some people in churches have helped. But we also know that our Lord’s Words will stand, and the gates of Hell will not prevail.
Restructuring Education as a Tool of Indoctrination
Another area of discussion was Education. And one of the things in connection with education that I remember connecting with what he said about religion was – in addition to changing the Bible – he said that the classics in Literature would be changed. I seem to recall Mark Twain’s writings was given as one example. But he said, the casual reader reading a revised version of a classic would never even suspect that there was any change. And, somebody would have to go through word by word to even recognize that any change was made in these classics; the changes would be so subtle. But the changes would be such as to promote the acceptability of the new system.
More Time in Schools, but they “Wouldn’t Learn Anything.”
As regards education, he indicated that kids would spend more time in schools, but in many schools they wouldn’t learn anything. They’ll learn some things, but not as much as formerly. Better schools in better areas with better people -their kids will learn more. In the better schools, learning would be accelerated. And this is another time where he said:
“We think we can push evolution.”
By pushing kids to learn more, he seemed to be suggesting that their brains would evolve, that their offspring would evolve -sort of pushing evolution- where kids would learn and be more intelligent at a younger age. As if this pushing would alter their physiology. Overall, schooling would be prolonged. This meant prolonged through the school year. I’m not sure what he said about a long school day, I do remember he said that school was planned to go all summer, that the summer school vacation would become a thing of the past. Not only for schools, but for other reasons. People would begin to think of vacation times year round, not just in the summer. For most people, it would take longer to complete their education. To get what originally had been in a bachelor’s program would now require advanced degrees and more schooling. So that a lot of school time would be just wasted time. Good schools would become more competitive. I inferred when he said that that he was including all schools -elementary up through college- but I don’t recall whether he said that. Students would have to decide at a younger age what they would want to study and get onto their track early, if they would qualify. It would be harder to change to another field of study once you get started. Studies would be concentrated in much greater depth, but narrowed. You wouldn’t have access to material in other fields, outside your own area of study, without approval. This seem to be more … where he talked about limited access to other fields … I seem to recall that as being more at the college level, high school and college level, perhaps. People would be very specialized in their own area of expertise. But they won’t be able to get a broad education and won’t be able to understand what is going on overall. (compartmentalization)
Controlling who has Access to Information
He was already talking about computers in education, and at that time he said anybody who wanted computer access, or access to books that were not directly related to their field of study would have to have a very good reason for so doing. Otherwise, access would be denied.
Schools as the Hub of the Community
Another angle was that the schools would become more important in people’s overall life. Kids in addition to their academics, would have to get into school activities unless they wanted to feel completely out of it. But spontaneous activities among kids -the thing that came to my mind when I heard this was sandlot football and sandlot baseball teams that we worked up as kids growing up. I said the kids wanting any activities outside of school would be almost forced to get them through the school. There would be few opportunities outside.
Now the pressures of the accelerated academic program, the accelerated demands, where kids would feel they had to be part of something – one or another athletic club or some school activity -these pressures he recognized would cause some students to burn out. He said:
” … the smartest ones will learn how to cope with pressures and to survive. There will be some help available to students in handling stress, but the unfit won’t be able to make it. They will then move on to other things.”
In this connection, and later on in the connection with drug abuse and alcohol abuse, he indicated that psychiatric services to help would be increased dramatically. In all the pushing for achievement, it was recognized that many people would need help, and the people worth keeping around would be able to accept and benefit from that help, and still be super-achievers. Those who could not would fall by the wayside and therefore were sort of dispensable -“expendable” -I guess is the word I want. Education would be lifelong. Adults would be going to school. There’ll always be new information that adults must have to keep up. When you can’t keep up anymore, you’re too old. This was another way of letting older people know that the time had come for them to move on and take the demise pill. If you get too tired to keep up with your education, or you got too old to learn new information, then this was a signal – you begin to prepare to get ready to step aside.
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