THE GREAT SWINDLE

CONTENTS

• The 'Set-Up'
  • Mixing the Fuel
  • Caveat
• The Physician
  • Physician as Shaman
    • High Costs
    • Monopoly
      • Government Regulation
      • Physicians Set State Policies
      • Medical Schools
  • Fragmentation of Monopoly
    • Allopaths
    • Homeopaths
    • Osteopaths
    • Chiropractors
    • Naturopaths
    • Specialized Healers
      • Surgeons
      • Dentists / Podiatrists
    • Emerging / Marginal Healers
      • Acupuncture
      • Hypnotherapists & Others
    • Mystics & Faith Healers
  • Summary on Healing Arts
  • Displacement by Co-Conspirators (Insurance)
    • Big-Businessman
    • Politician
    • Prescription Drugs / Equipment
• Other Experts

Modern scientific developments are often referred to as 'miracles' of modern science.

Of course, we all realize that the term 'miracle' in this context is not to be taken literally, but only as a description of the truly magnificent nature of these developments when compared with what men were capable of only a hundred, or even fifty years ago. Modern scientific development is truly a remarkable achievement.

So, very few of us look upon the modern scientist as a 'miracle' worker in the literal sense in which the Shaman was (and often still is) viewed.

Yet, the way in which we look to the scientist to do things for us through his knowledge, and the power his knowledge creates, which knowledge and power are all but totally beyond the comprehension of the average layman, leads to some very real practical results which aren't essentially different from the results of men's belief in the powers of the Shaman.

THE 'SET-UP'

In very basic and fundamental aspects of our lives, we now look to the scientist and expert to manipulate nature ('natural') to our benefit in precisely the same way we looked (and still look) to the Shaman to influence the 'supernatural' to our benefit.

We look to the scientist's 'magic' to improve the quality of our lives, prevent and cure disease, cushion and control our physical environment, and, indeed, to save and prolong our very lives, just as surely as we once looked to the Shaman's 'magic' to do exactly the same things.

Of course, the scientist's actual ability to influence the physical forces and processes of nature to our benefit is significantly greater than the Shaman's ever was.

But, the extent to which we ascribe to the scientist, and other experts, powers and abilities that we ourselves don't possess, and the extent to which we submit to his dominance over us and permit him to exact an inordinate amount of Money/Power/Status as a result, isn't very much different.

And, the factors which cause us to do this with the scientist and other experts, are precisely the same as those which caused us to do it with the Shaman.

Those factors are the same two ingredients that have fueled the Great Swindle from the very beginning - IGNORANCE and FEAR.

In the earliest form of the Institutional 'Sting' of the Swindle, the Shaman capitalized on our pure IGNORANCE (lack of KNOWLEDGE), mixed in the element of FEAR that such IGNORANCE can induce (FEAR of the unknown), capitalized even further on the Erroneous "knowing" aspect of IGNORANCE that such a mixture can produce, and made himself rich and powerful.

And, with respect to the Shaman, as he still exists today, the process is still precisely the same.

With respect to the Shaman's modern day cousin, the Expert, and his role in the Institutional 'Sting' of the Swindle, the blend of those two ingredients, and the process by which they are blended, are somewhat different, but the basic ingredients themselves, and the fact that they are  blended into fuel for the Swindle, remain unchanged in any way.

In the Expert's portion of the Institutional 'Sting', the initial aspect of IGNORANCE is still a lack of knowledge on the part of the layman, whose IGNORANCE of the specific FACTS about the natural processes is still quite extensive.

That the Expert actually does possess more knowledge and ability to influence the processes of nature than the layman, which the Shaman usually did not, does not alter the circumstance that the layman, himself, is still IGNORANT of those facts. For the layman, it is still very much the 'unknown'.

And, the FEAR element is still basically the same. It is the layman's FEAR of that unknown (even though to the Expert it isn't so unknown).

Finally, IGNORANCE in the form of Erroneous "knowing" is also still present, in two forms.

Firstly, the layman too often "knows" that he can never be as 'smart' as the Expert is in the Expert's field. This overlooks the FACT that, quite often, the layman's relative lack of knowledge and understanding is not so much due to a lack of ability to understand, as to a CHOICE on the layman's part not to exert the time and effort required in order to attain such knowledge and understanding.

And, while the reasons for such a choice are often simply a lack of time for or interest in the subject matter, far too often a major, and subtle, reason is that the layman simply "knows" that he can't master the subject anyway, so why bother trying. ('Who? Little Ole Me?').

The second form of Erroneous "knowing" in this regard is that both the layman and the Expert too often arrogate to the Expert more "knowledge" and abilities than he actually possesses.

As discussed in our section on Acceptance of Theory as "fact", some experts take their theories, and themselves, more seriously than the FACTS really support.

And on the other hand, laymen too often assume that experts "know" more than the experts themselves claim to know. This is especially true in the healing arts where physicians are often expected to work 'cures' that they KNOW they cannot, but the patient can easily get irate upon being told so. (See similar discussion as to the original Shaman).

So, the role of the Expert, as his role exists in our society today, results in his being a modern day cousin to the Shaman, as that role is played out within the Institutional 'Sting' of the Great Swindle.

The Expert exists in many fields of knowledge.

Indeed, even the very process by which knowledge is transmitted from one person and one generation to another, ie., education, is dominated by experts.

Most, although not all, have the degree of 'Doctor' somewhere in their title.

The medical doctor is the most prominently known of the 'doctors', but the list includes far more than just them.

There are the Ph.D.s (Doctors of Philosophy), which signify in their possessors expertise in many and various fields, thereby creating such experts as physicists, biologists, astronomers, geologists, chemists, psychologists, economists, and many, many more.

Indeed, the power and prestige that has come to be attached to the title of 'doctor' is so great, that even the modern day direct descendant of the Shaman has adopted it to his use, in the form of the Doctor of Divinity degree.

Without a thorough grounding in what was discussed there, what follows can be easily misinterpreted in a very fundamental and negative way. To so misinterpret what we are about to say is to miss the fundamental point of it, and to simply reinforce the Great Swindle in our very attempt to eliminate it.

We shall now take a closer look at the role of the Expert in the Institutional 'Sting' of the Swindle, by way of focusing on the form of that role that is the most pervasive in our society, and which will best serve to typify the role of experts, in general, in all their varied forms, within this level of the 'Sting'.

The closest modern day relative of the original Shaman (next, of course, after the Shaman's direct descendant in the institution of religion), is the Expert who has arisen in the field of knowledge which impacts on our lives at least as intimately as does the knowledge of how to maintain the well being of our souls.

We are speaking now of the field of knowledge regarding the well being of our physical bodies.

The physical healer - The physician.

Indeed, due to the high degree of importance we attach to our physical well being (second only to our very souls, if not equal to or even above), the physical healer is first cousin to the Shaman while all other experts are, in comparison, at best, first cousins once removed.

If the reader has some doubts about the Shaman-like qualities of the physical healer's role in modern society, consider the following similarities between the modern physician and the ancient Shaman:

(1). The physician purports to possess knowledge of, and ability to manipulate, the processes of nature, beyond that of the average layman, which knowledge and ability he can apply for the direct benefit of his clients.

(2). The average layman client BELIEVES in the physician's above average knowledge and abilities.

(3). The physician has created and maintains a monopoly over the provision of his type of services.

(4). The physician exacts, and his clients pay, a high price in Money/Power/Status for the provision of the physician's services.

(5). The physician garbs himself in distinctive clothing (the smock) as did the Shaman (the magical headdress, etc.), and, the physician cloaks his knowledge in a language which is mysterious and unintelligible to most of his clients (Latin), as did the Shaman in his magical and generally unintelligible chants and prayers.

In short, the critical similarities with respect to the Institutional 'Sting' of the Swindle are all in place.

Of course, there is a significant difference between the Shaman and the modern physician. The physician actually does possess a KNOWLEDGE of, and ability to influence, the processes of nature, in ways, and to an extent, that the Shaman did not.

However, this difference, as significant as it is in terms of what the purported healer can actually deliver, does not, in and of itself, have any major impact on the existence and operation of the Swindle.

The basic factors necessary for the operation of the Great Swindle, ie., IGNORANCE and FEAR (and in this case, a social institution resulting from and reinforcing that IGNORANCE and FEAR) are still very much present.

As to the high costs of health care, one need only review the latest statistics on the subject or simply visit a physician and take a look at the bill for his services, in order to verify the validity of the assertion.

As to the monopolization of the healing profession, there are several facts which clearly demonstrate that such is the case, and that such monopolization is in many ways intentional.

The legal right to practice the healing arts is strictly regulated by the various state governments. One who practices the healing arts without the permission of the state (ie., a license), can go to jail.

(The only exception to this rule is the faith healer, and that is only because the social institution of the Shaman is still so powerful that the physician hasn't yet developed enough political clout to totally displace the Shaman in the healing function of the Institutional 'Sting' of the Swindle. If the physician ever does attain sufficient political power, he will put the faith healer out of business as well, and his monopoly over physical healing will be complete).

The purported reasons for state regulation of the healing arts are the same as for state regulation of any activity, occupation or profession, ie., to protect the public by keeping out the charlatans, and assuring that all practitioners meet certain minimal standards of competence.

Whether such public protection is the only  motive behind such state regulation, and whether enforced monopolization is, or is not, another, ulterior, motive behind such regulation, we will leave for others to debate.

We will simply take note of the FACT that such regulation, intentionally or not, usually does  result in monopolization of the activity so regulated, and, in the case of the healing arts, has in FACT done so.

The qualifications one must possess in order to receive a license to practice the healing arts are set by the state. But, the state, in establishing those qualifications, relies heavily, if not totally, on the recommendations of the physicians themselves, because they have a direct interest in establishing those qualifications, and, they are the only ones who seem to have a sufficient understanding of the subject matter to know what those qualifications should be.

As it turns out, a major qualification for licensing as a physician, is satisfactory completion of the prescribed course of study at an accredited school.

And, the contents of that course of study, and what constitutes 'satisfactory' completion of it, as well as the standards by which a school can become accredited in the first place, are all set by the state, and, once again, based primarily upon the recommendations of those who are already physicians.

As a consequence of that basic qualification for receiving a license to practice the healing arts, the number of licensed healers in our society is directly related to the number of students who complete the prescribed course of study.

And, the number of such graduating students depends directly on the number of schools accredited to teach the course, and the number of students these schools can accommodate at any given time.

Interestingly enough, for many years, the number and size of accredited schools remained at such a level that the number of physicians graduated and qualified to become licensed by the state, was always just about right to maintain the profession in a seller's market, and never large enough to generate any real price competition among the physicians.

This remained so, for many years, despite the fact that the accredited schools turned away thousands of qualified applicants every year, and the fact that our society, and the healing profession itself, had the resources to build more and larger schools if they so chose.

They did not so choose, and in large part the physicians still do not so choose, and the high prices of their services, available to them in a monopolistic, seller's market, did, and still do, continue.

Much of the Shaman's Money/Power/Status came as a result of the monopoly he rigidly and jealously maintained over his jurisdiction over the supernatural. In this respect, the situation with the physician, and his monopoly over his segment of the natural, is not so different.

As in the case of the Shamans, those of the allopathic physicians (whom we will define shortly) who attempted to establish and maintain a monopoly over the healing arts for themselves, were trying to cage a lion that, ultimately, cannot be caged.

The ultimate reality is, the Institutional 'Sting' of the Swindle, especially in its physical healing aspects, is so vital and basic in our minds and in our culture, that no one 'in' group of experts can totally dominate the field to the exclusion of all others, no matter how hard they might try.

The power of the 'in' group of allopaths who made every attempt to monopolize and dominate their profession, by way of restricting the number of their accredited schools and students, has been eroded by 'offshore' schools and graduates whose qualifications they couldn't, without serious embarrassment, deny.

We, in the U.S., now have allopathic physicians who have graduated from medical schools other than those which the profession would have preferred to accept.

But, equally important within the overall 'Sting' of institutionalized healing, while the allopaths, as a whole, are the most predominant group, there are yet other groups of healers competing for a share of the monopoly.

Yet, even as they compete among one another, each of them strive to maintain their own monopoly within a monopoly, and none of them are anxious to do anything that would detract from the overall monopoly in which they each have a share and by which they all thrive.

Let's take a look at these differing, and competing groups.

When most people today use the term 'doctor', they are usually referring to a member of the healing arts profession.

And, whether they realize the distinction or not, many people are also referring to a specific type of healer, ie., an M.D.; a Doctor of Medicine.

The fact is that the M.D. is a graduate of a particular type of healing school, called a school of 'medicine', which type of healing is not the only one available.

The M.D. is a graduate of a school which, in theory at least, teaches the 'allopathic' approach to healing.

The allopathic approach to healing, as it began, and in terms of its basic philosophical premise still remains, is to apply or induce a medicine or potion which directly counteracts the causative agent of disease.

Although as allopathy has developed it has expanded to include elements of all other approaches as well, this is still its fundamental premise, and the only conceptual distinction between an allopath and any other type of healer.

This approach makes a lot of sense, and has proven its validity countless times over. And, it is the most widely accepted approach to healing in our society today.

However, the fact that it is so widely accepted and predominant today, is due as much to the allopaths' ability to entrench themselves in the institutional monopoly of the healing arts, as it is to the inherent validity of the allopathic approach.

We will explain what we mean by this as we proceed through this discussion.