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Schindler's Way
There is more than one way to actively fight tyranny. The obvious way is to stage a massive demonstration, where the protestors are subjected to being maced, beaten, shot and hauled off to jail by government police. If the demonstrators go against a well established tyrannical government, it may take years of well organized protests, and the heartache and pain associated with them, to achieve the desired objective.
Another, more subtle approach, was made famous by Steven Spielberg's academy award winning movie "Schindler's List." The movie details how a German industrialist, Oskar Schindler, was able to save over a thousand Jews from being sent to death camps during World War II.
Before World War II, Krakow, Poland's Jewish population numbered over 50,000. After Germany invaded Poland, Jews were herded into crowded ghettos, and faced all forms of abuse from the German occupation force. Jewish property and businesses were appropriated by the SS and sold to Nazi party members.
Schindler came to Poland in 1939 believing he could make a lot of money as a war profiteer. He quickly became friends with the local Gestapo leaders. He would supply them with money, women, and liquor. His connections helped him acquire a factory using Jewish labor. This factory produced enamel goods and munitions to supply the German front.
At first he seemed like a typical German industrialist, only concerned about profit and not really worried about the means used to get it. But Schindler's actions proved to be very different. As more and more Jews began to be sent to death camps, Schindler began hiring more of them for his factory. He hired unskilled workers and falsely reported they had essential factory skills. He paid off the Nazis so they would allow certain people to work at his factory. He got some rich Jews to invest money in his factory in order to work there and be spared the holocaust. Schindler later used this money for everyone's benefit.
In March of 1943, the Germans closed the Krakow ghetto. Jews were moved a Plaszow concentration camp just outside the city. Schindler's Jews still continued to work at his factory. He even convinced the Germans to build a special sub-camp for his workers. By the summer of 1944, Plaszow was ordered closed and the Jews moved to Auschwitz to be liquidated. Schindler, through pleading and bribery of High German officials convinced the Germans to relocate his factory to a new site in Czechoslovakia. This is when he made the famous "Schindler's list" of everyone that would be allowed to move to his new factory. He took a thousand Jews from Plaszow to Czechoslovakia. Other workers were added to his list of employees now and then for variety of reasons. During this time, Schindler spent all his money to protect his Jews and to pretend that his factory was essential to the German war effort. By May, 1945 the Russians liberated his factory. Schindler and his wife, fled to Argentina and took up farming. In 1958 he returned to Germany where he died in poverty in 1974.
Schindler is honored for the creative way that he manipulated the Germans for years and saved over a thousand lives in the process. Have you ever thought of how many people Schindler would have saved if he "stood up" directly against German oppression? My guess would be that he would have been shot instantly or would have wound up in a gas chamber at Auschwitz. His actions prove that it is not always prudent to "stand up" and "speak out" when fighting an overwhelmingly powerful enemy.
In these times, where corporate aliens have gained tremendous power over our lives, it makes more sense to use creative techniques, as Oskar Schindler did, to combat their oppression. Here are some examples of how Schindler's techniques may be used in today's world.
Corporate aliens are controlling most of today's work environments. As a result, employees are being tracked, listened to, or watched. Everyone is constantly told to be more productive, even though, productivity profits only upper management. Productivity and quality meetings are commonplace. All corporate jobs have common harassment factors. To stand up for your rights in these environments will only get you fired. Instead, using Schindler's techniques can be very helpful in maintaining your mental well being. Pretend it's a joy to come to work every day. Build a strong friendship with your supervisor. Wine, dine and make him or her happy. Keep your resume up to date and use it to get a higher paying position when the opportunity presents itself. Make maximum use of your sick days and personal days. Find subtle ways of shifting the blame for any work related problems back to management. Don't think of working as the equivalent to being in a concentration camp. Do anything within reason to secretly make your life less frustrating. Be creative.
Consider American companies like Google, Yahoo, and MSN in China. Could they really be trying to secretly help the government opposition? Are they really using Schindler's tactics? If they are, for these tactics to be effective, they can't publicize them. Does turning in a few dissidents mean they've become China's pawn or are they really protecting thousands by turning in a few? Do we know enough to judge? Even if the companies themselves wholeheartedly collaborate with the government, could not employees of these companies use their company resources to secretly support the enemy? When we protest the actions of these companies, remember that if they did not establish their presence in China, using any subtle techniques to support the cause of freedom would not be possible.
Recently there has been a lot of talk about the US income tax being unconstitutional. Some people have gone to great lengths to interpret the constitution and prove that the income tax is against the law. Be that as it may, the government runs the country, and its interpretation of the constitution, in spite of what it really says, is that income tax is legal and failure to comply can result in fines and imprisonment. Some of the people that have stood up for their constitutional rights are currently serving time in federal prison. Why not use the Schindler approach? The government makes it easy to legally reduce taxes, with tax loopholes designed to help corporate America. Learn to use these tax loopholes effectively. There might even be instances where you can obtain an "under the table" income so that the IRS doesn't know about it. If you look at how governments use tax money, you know that the amount of taxes they get from the common man is totally unfair. But, standing up to them will only result in more problems. Being creative can get much better results. Why go to prison?
As time goes on many "democratic" governments are demanding more and more individual rights. History has shown that when governments go too far, revolution results. Using corporate alien techniques, populations are being conditioned to worry more about the "World Series" or "Super Bowl" than their individual rights. Under these circumstances a revolution may never come, no matter how abusive the government gets. And if a revolution does come, the new government would usually be more oppressive than the one just overthrown. For an individual living in these times, the only way to obtain any kind of justice is to use Schindler's techniques to secretly achieve his or her goals in the midst of government interference.
About the Author: George Lunt is someone who feels the world is getting too corporate. His writings relate the individual's struggle with big government and big corporations. His website is http://www.corporate-aliens.com.
This article is © George Lunt. All usage of this article must include a citation to the author and a link to corporate-aliens.com.
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