Are You Willing to Unlearn What You Know?

January 2024

As each new year begins, we traditionally take the opportunity to start afresh by setting new goals for the coming year. This year I’m challenging you to try something new. Start afresh by looking at the world—and the journey that got us here—through new eyes. Consider the possibility that much of what you’ve been taught over the years may not have been the truth. Could it be possible that we’ve been lied to about our history? What if we’ve been mind controlled to believe in an alternative reality?

I first heard the term mind control about four years ago when I stumbled upon a 1996 video of a speech by Cathy O’Brien, a federal whistleblower who claimed to be a CIA mind control slave. I won’t go into the sordid details of her alleged enslavement here, but I found the shocking details of her horrific treatment as a mind control victim impossible to believe. I certainly didn’t like what I heard, and since I had never even heard her name in the 25+ years since she originally delivered that speech, I assumed her story was simply “fake news.”

Yet, her testimony was so impassioned and sincere, I found it difficult to dismiss out of hand. She certainly seemed every bit as credible as her ex-CIA operative “rescuer” Mark Phillips, who together with Cathy, candidly addressed questions from the audience about the CIA’s practices of mind manipulation—part of the CIA’s MK-Ultra Project Monarch. Yet, my immediate self-defensive reaction was to prove to myself that their story was little more than clickbait to sell a book. I rationalized that any story so sensational and salacious would have been all over the news and publicized far and wide if it were true.

A few months later I came across a podcast by Hollywood screenwriter and journalist Mel K in which she interviewed “one of her favorite people,” Cathy O’Brien. Respecting Mel K’s dedication to uncovering the truth about current and historical events, I listened intently as Cathy discussed her book—co-authored with Mark Phillips in 1995—Trance Formation of America. Mel’s penetrating questions and Cathy’s no-holds-barred responses piqued my interest.

I ended up buying the book—the byline of which was “The True Life Story of a CIA Mind Control Slave.” I found it even more shocking than her 1996 speech. While reading, I kept reminding myself of comedian George Carlin’s warning, “Don’t just teach your children to read… Teach them to question what they read. Teach them to question everything.”

Two things finally caused me to believe O’Brien’s lurid autobiography.

First, was the fact that she provided the names and titles of a great many politicians, governmental officials, military officers, and other world leaders with whom she’d been intimately involved as a CIA mind control slave—many of whom were still living. To my knowledge, not a single alleged assailant had ever sued her for defamation. Certainly no one could make such outrageous accusations without being sued if such claims were false.  

Second, was that she testified at a Senate hearing in 1995 about the information presented in her book, under penalty of criminal prosecution if not truthful. The testimony, while in the record, is not available to the public for “Reasons of National Security.”

With this realization, I began my conflicted process of unlearning history. I first had to let go of the naïve notion that everyone is kind, honest, just, charitable, morally upright, and well-intentioned—as I was raised to be. I next had to accept that no matter how famous and lauded a power player may be, it doesn’t mean they are as virtuous as they are portrayed. Finally, I had to forgive myself for being so gullible, simply trusting in the mainstream media all those years.

Ever since, I’ve been far more proactive in perusing alternative news sources and perspectives that challenge my assumptions. I’ve become more skeptical of virtually anything asserted by mainstream media, social media, and our government. Rather than pooh-pooh topics labelled as “conspiracy theories,” I take deeper dives to assess and evaluate such subjects. Then I pray for divine guidance, remain centered, and trust in my own intuition.  

Over time, I’ve come to change my mind about many things I used to take as gospel. At first, the process was like stepping off a cliff. But I eventually gained more confidence to run and fly off that cliff, and trust in my own analytical skills and instincts.

It almost seems 2023 became the Year of the Whistleblower. In industry after industry, knowledgeable and courageous insiders came forward—at their own peril—to report known lies, scams, abuses, corruption, and other public dangers. The revelations of the brave souls who countered public narratives were astonishing—from who has really been behind the funding of wars, terrorist attacks, and politicians, to the secret practices of billionaire philanthropists, social media firms, the judicial system, three-letter agencies, the military industrial complex, major corporations, higher ed, climate scientists, Hollywood, secret societies, and beyond. 

You may wonder why whistleblowers are willing to literally risk everything—from their jobs and families, to even their lives—to expose lies and corruption. The driving force is the high value they place on truth. To them, telling the truth far outweighs the benefit of being popular, or the financial incentives of bribery, or other promises made to them for keeping quiet.

For the innocent public, such revelations jar the senses. It can be difficult, if not impossible, to accept bombshell disclosures about respected pillars of society. The painful realities undermine one’s sense of self as well as our trust in the society in which we live.  Yet the foundation that can keep you grounded, steady, and directed through the chaos is that of standing firm in your own truth and adhering to your innate moral values.

I admire the motto of one of our local charter schools, Cornerstone Classical Academy in Jacksonville, FL, which advocates:

Learn the Truth. Do the Good. Love the Beautiful.

When you stand firm in doing these three things—learning the truth, doing the good, and loving the beautiful—day in and day out, and when you seek divine guidance in making choices that align with your innermost values, you’ll find it far easier to let go of old notions and proceed with confidence, despite the chaos.  

As this new year unfolds, may you find unlearning to be a blessing, and may 2024 deliver the peace and courage you need to question the world—like a child who always asks “Why?”.

The more you question, the more you will learn.