When we're afraid we lose power, which makes us susceptible to potential manipulation and control.
Before going further into what I mean by this, let me first point out, that we only have two emotions: fear and love. Under these two categories resides all our feelings.
FEAR includes such feelings as displaced anger, frustration, hate, revenge, lack, sarcasm, superiority, worry, anxiety, agitation, jealousy, dread, apprehension, doubt, pessimism, envy, judgment, deceitfulness, criticalness, avoidance, hopelessness, unworthiness, etc.
LOVE includes feelings of compassion, kindness, desire, giving, inspiration, passion, peace, calm, support, appreciation, gratitude, joy, affection, adoration, respect, caring, warmth, delight, empathy, loyalty, enthusiasm, abundance...well I think you get the idea.
Now getting back to the point I was making - when we deeply examine our society, we see that varying degrees of influential strategies have been in play for eons. For instance, diversion tactics so we don't notice what's really going on, persuasive selling spiels, blatant propaganda, mindless distractions, emotional triggering, the shaping of our beliefs through indoctrination, conditioning our response, instigating bias, pointing us here, enticing us there; seducing, conning, pressuring, coercing, restricting. All of this can be reduced to one simple little phrase: “we're being brainwashed.”
It's important to understand the one thing that any type of abuser or bully who wishes to to gain the upper-hand already knows: THEY CAN ONLY SUCCEED WHEN YOU'RE IN FEAR MODE! Being afraid stresses and devitalizes us, which in turn, exposes us to potential manipulation that often results in irrational obedience.
So how do we avoid having our strings pulled like mere puppets? Well, the most important step would be, to drop our preconditioned response of believing every single thing we're told. The next, by strengthening our own principles. It's hard to brainwash someone that has examined their personal beliefs until they can stand solid in their respective truth. This type of person takes cautionary measures and rarely swallows data without chewing on it first.
By no longer letting the barrage of information at our fingertips dictate our emotions, we snip those puppet strings and take back our power. It is then, that we grasp the full meaning, necessity and responsibility of individual sovereignty.