The Power of Belief
How Our Collective Belief upholds Society's Narratives
Introduction
In September 2023, I wrote a short article1 exploring the power of narratives and how they shape our realities. Today, we’re expanding on that idea, focusing on the critical role belief plays in maintaining these narratives.
For narratives to shape realities, they require one essential ingredient: our belief.
Carl Sagan, the famous astrophysicist, once said, “I don’t want to believe; I want to know.”
I’ve once mentioned that the word “believe” can be broken down: be- (being), lie (a falsehood), and -ve (the past tense of have). Essentially, the state of “having being lied too.”
While this is a creative interpretation, it raises a thought-provoking question: How often do we accept a narrative without truly knowing its validity? How often we do believe in what we’re told?
In my earlier article, The Rise of the Fake Intellectual, I emphasized the importance of questioning the stories we’re told. Here, I want to highlight a critical insight: if we don’t question the narratives we’re being told, we risk being deceived.
As intellectuals, our goal should be to distinguish facts from fiction. True intellectualism requires understanding what is real rather than blindly accepting what we’re told.
This sentiment serves as a guide for this discussion as we explore the power of belief. We’ll examine key industries—medicine, science, financial institutions, and religion—to uncover how belief in their narratives keeps these systems functioning and our society moving albeit in the wrong direction.
So please sit back, relax, and let’s dive into this unorthodox discussion.
Part One: Medicine – The Narrative of Health
Medicine is a topic close to my heart. As a former pharmacist with a background in pharmacy, I spent years immersed in the healthcare field.
I come from a medical family—my parents, uncles, and aunts all worked in healthcare.
Naturally, I followed in their footsteps, but it wasn’t until I spent a few years in the profession and took a step back that I began to question the larger system I was part of.
This moment of reflection marked the beginning of my awakening to the realities of the world. What I began to realize was that the entire medical landscape is held together by belief. Belief in pharmaceutical-sponsored clinical trials, linguistic wordplay, and exceptional public relationship marketing.
Medicine as a System of Belief
When you examine the history of modern medicine, you begin to see how deeply entrenched narratives shape how we think about health and disease.
From the drugs we use to treat illnesses to how we treat diseases like cancer, so much of what we accept as truth is based on repeated narratives.
Take the origins of the American healthcare system, for example. In my article on Donating to a Good Cause, I touch on how figures like John D. Rockefeller played a pivotal role in shaping the system. These individuals have literally shaped this industry to benefit their investments.
Modern hospitals were modeled after Ford’s factory system—not to promote health but to treat patients in the most systematic, profit-driven way possible.
However, the narrative we’re told is quite different: that the healthcare system exists to care for us and promote healthy living. Here is where the trials, PR, and wordplay come in. [PS: I will dive deeper into this in future articles.]
But here’s the question we need to ask: Are people really living healthier lives, or just longer ones? With prescription drugs as a leading cause of death in this country, do we really need them — not just to survive but — to thrive?
The distinction is critical as it exposes the cracks in the narratives we’ve been told.
Questioning the Narratives
My journey into questioning medicine’s mainstream beliefs intensified when I encountered the work of Dr. Tom Cowan. His research on the heart and cancer challenged some of the most fundamental assumptions I had been taught.
For instance:
Water has four phases, not three. This revelation alone upends much of what we think we know about the body and its functions.
Cancer is not the incurable monster we’ve been led to believe. Dr. Cowan’s work shows that many of the petrochemical-based drugs used in treatment are, in fact, poisons. Cancer can be treated effectively without resorting to toxic radiation or chemotherapy.
The heart is not a pump. This was the most profound insight I encountered. Dr. Cowan and others argue that the heart functions more as a vortex than a simple pump. This shifts the entire paradigm of how we understand the circulatory system.
One of the fields in medicine I will be diving more into is psychiatry. Psychiatric medicine relies heavily on the belief in its diagnostic tools.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), as explored in
series, is built on subjective interpretations rather than absolute truths.Big Pharma and The Big Lie – Mental Illness and Chemical Imbalances
The Drugs Don’t Work, They Make it Worse – Big Pharma and the Big Lie
Psychiatry and Big Pharma Exposed – A Corruption Beyond Measure
The diagnosis and conditions described are literally the result of what a group of people in a room came up with because “they felt like it.”
These are just a few examples of how medicine is built on narratives. Yet most of the population accepts these mainstream stories without question, believing that the system will take care of them.
The Cost of Blind Belief
Many people are not living their best lives because they follow these incorrect narratives. Whether it’s cancer treatment, heart health, or mental health, the mainstream medical model perpetuates ideas that prioritize profit over true healing.
Medicine, in our modern world, is built on belief. It is sustained by the trust we place in its narratives. If we want to live truly healthier lives, we need to start questioning these narratives.
This critique of medicine naturally extends to science, which often works hand in hand with healthcare. In the next section, we’ll explore how science is deeply rooted in belief systems that shape our understanding of the world.
Let’s continue the journey.
Part Two: Science – The Manufactured Mystique
Science, like medicine, is an industry deeply intertwined with belief systems. Over the years, I’ve written extensively about the narratives that dominate science, exposing the many lies and assumptions perpetuated within the scientific community. [See my article Lies Not Discussed In The Truth Community].
From topics like why the virus theory matters2 to the theory of the ether3 and even the spirituality of the Flat Earth model4, these ideas challenge the mainstream understanding of science.
They remind us that much of what we take as scientific fact is not as ironclad as we’ve been led to believe.
Questioning the Foundations of Modern Science
One of the most glaring examples of questionable narratives in science is the glorification of figures.
From Newton to Einstein to Darwin, the list goes on and on. These individuals enjoy a religious aura to them, but if we look closely, we can see there is more than meets the eye.
Let’s start with Elon Musk.
While Musk is portrayed as a visionary leading humanity into a new space age with SpaceX, the reality is far murkier.
For all its flashy rocket launches and lofty promises, SpaceX functions as a front for military programs funded by taxpayer dollars. Examples include:
Starlink Military Applications:
Secure Communications: In September 2023, the U.S. Space Force awarded SpaceX a $70 million contract for Starlink services, including unique terms and conditions tailored for military use.
Missile-Tracking Satellites:
Space Development Agency (SDA) Collaboration: SpaceX was contracted to build missile-warning satellites equipped with infrared sensors to detect and track ballistic and hypersonic missiles.
Spy Satellite Network Development:
NRO Collaboration: In 2021, SpaceX entered a $1.8 billion classified contract with the NRO to build a network of hundreds of spy satellites capable of real-time global monitoring.
And guess what? We can’t even go back to the moon!
The narrative sold to the public is one of exploration and innovation, but the deeper story is about control and resource allocation.
This disconnect between what we’re told and what’s actually happening reflects the broader issue with science as an institution.
The narratives are carefully crafted to maintain public belief, but they crumble under closer scrutiny.
Linking Science and Financial Manipulation
The narratives of science don’t exist in isolation—they intersect with other societal systems, particularly financial institutions. This connection became glaringly apparent during the global COVID-19 pandemic.
The world was locked down based on a specific narrative: that a virus posed an existential threat requiring extreme measures.
But this narrative didn’t stop at medicine and science; it extended to economics.
The lockdowns disrupted global supply chains, created artificial scarcities, and set the stage for inflationary pressures that we’re still grappling with today.
As we move to examine financial institutions more closely, we’ll see how these narratives further shape our understanding of wealth, resources, and control.
Part Three: Finance – The Greatest Robbery
When we peel back the layers of financial narratives, it’s not a pretty sight: inflation, taxes, and debt may be the greatest tools of robbery ever devised.
By blindly accepting these narratives, we allow wealth to be siphoned from the population and concentrated into the hands of corporations and private interests.
Inflation: The Silent Thief
Inflation is often presented as a natural economic phenomenon, a consequence of market forces. But when you scrutinize the narrative, it becomes clear that inflation is more than just rising prices—it’s a mechanism that systematically devalues our money.
This is not accidental — even though that’s the narrative told to us. Our finances are being drained under the guise of “economic necessity.”
If we take a step back to see how we got here, we realize we have the narrative of health, combined with the narrative of science, that allowed for the narrative of inflation to take hold.
The Federal Reserve: A Private Entity
The Federal Reserve touted as the backbone of our financial stability, is another narrative worth dissecting.
Despite its name, it’s not a government institution but a private bank5 that profits off the interest generated by the loans it provides to our government.
Whether it’s the bailouts during the 2008 financial crisis, the ongoing support for Ukraine, or the COVID-19 economic relief programs, the Federal Reserve profits at every step.
This narrative is sustained by the belief that the Federal Reserve operates for the public good. However, the reality is that it functions as a wealth generator for banks while the average citizen shoulders the burden.
At this point, I want to bring to your attention an earlier article I wrote when Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell specifically called out that inflation was directly tied to the belief in inflation. From his speech6 on August 26th, 2022, we read:
“If the public expects that inflation will remain low and stable over time, then, absent major shocks, it likely will. Unfortunately, the same is true of expectations of high and volatile inflation...The more inflation rose, the more people came to expect it to remain high, and they built that belief into wage and pricing decisions.”
Come on, folks! They’re literally telling this to our faces at this point.
This quote highlights the profound influence of collective belief systems—not just in economics but in all areas where perception shapes behavior. In the same way, other narratives we accept as reality may also be self-fulfilling.
Taxes: A Misleading Promise
Taxes, another cornerstone of the financial system, are sold to us as necessary for funding public services. Yet, when we examine the evidence, it’s difficult to see how taxes directly benefit the public.
Consider this: billions of taxpayer dollars are funneled into foreign aid and military spending, while critical domestic issues like infrastructure, healthcare, and education remain underfunded.
Even more absurd, we’re now expected to report earnings over $600 from platforms like Cash App, while the government itself cannot account for $824 billion in missing funds7 from its budget.
These contradictions lay bare the falsehood of the tax narrative. It’s less about public good and more about resource extraction.
The American Dream: A Debt Fulfilling Prophecy
The American Dream is sold to us from birth as a simple formula for success:
Go to school.
Get a car.
Buy a house.
Contribute to your 401(k).
Retire at 65.
But this narrative, when examined closely, unravels into a system designed to keep us trapped in cycles of debt and consumption.
Education:
Once viewed as a gateway to opportunity, college has become nothing more than a debt-inducing machine. Students graduate with record-high debt, often in fields with limited job prospects. The real winners here? Colleges and lenders, who rake in billions annually from student loans.
The Car:
Buying a new car is one of the worst financial decisions one can make, with its value dropping the moment it leaves the lot. Yet, we are bombarded with advertisements encouraging us to buy the latest model, perpetuating a cycle of wasteful spending.
The House:
If student loans are lucrative for lenders, mortgages are the ultimate cash cow for banks. We’re told that buying a house is the ultimate investment, yet this “investment” requires us to take on massive debt. Since the pandemic, interest rates have skyrocketed, further benefiting the banks while leaving homeowners with even heavier burdens.
The 401(k) and Retirement:
The promise of retirement savings is another part of the dream that doesn’t hold up. We contribute to accounts managed by financial institutions, often with limited control. And for many, the dream of retiring at 65 turns into a harsh reality: running out of funds within a few years and having to reenter the workforce. While some escape this fate, the majority do not.
The harsh truth is that the American Dream has become a nightmare for most. It’s a system designed to extract resources under the guise of success, leaving many disillusioned and trapped.
Yet, this narrative is perpetuated over and over again.
Our financial systems, like medicine and science, are built on narratives that thrive on belief. Inflation, the Federal Reserve, taxes, and the American Dream are all upheld by the stories we’ve been told.
Only by understanding the structures behind the stories can we start to dismantle the systems that exploit us.
Let’s look to end this exploration in the next section as we quickly touch on religion.
Part Four: Religion – The Strongest Belief System
Religion, perhaps more than any other domain, epitomizes the power of belief.
On one end of the spectrum, we have atheists who hold a strong belief in the absence of anything spiritual. As I discussed in How to Train the Mind: Part 2, this mindset dismisses the existence of a spiritual realm entirely.
On the other end, we have those who embrace religion, seeing immense value in its teachings and structure. However, many do so with blind faith, often unaware that religions—like Christianity—have been manipulated and tampered with throughout history for political and societal gain.
I touched on this in The Black Man’s Guide to Reality and Rome: The Empire That Never Went Away, where I explored how these systems have been used to control populations rather than liberate them.
I’ve written extensively on religion and continue to do so, but not to belabor the point; we must examine even this domain to ensure that no false narratives have slipped through the cracks.
A Call for Intellectual Integrity
As I close this exploration, the takeaway is clear: We must stop blindly believing in the narratives we’re told. Our belief in these narratives keep the system functioning and headed in the wrong direction — the direction of our enslavement and demise.
To be true intellectuals, we must study, question, and discern what is real and factual. If we fail to do so, we risk being misled and our lives shaped by fabricated realities rather than genuine truths.
Carl Sagan’s words resonate here: “I don’t want to believe; I want to know.”
It’s time to dispel the false narratives that have built the world we inhabit and focus instead on discovering the certainties—the truths that ground our reality.
If this article resonated with you, I encourage you to support my work. Consider becoming a paid subscriber to access premium content, including archived articles on narratives and deeper explorations of the topics we’ve covered.
For a comprehensive dive into how these narratives have shaped the past two centuries, check out my book, An Unorthodox Truth. It reveals the forces that have sculpted our modern world and offers insights into reclaiming our understanding of reality.
Lastly, if you’d like to support further, feel free to leave a tip using the link provided. Every bit of support is deeply appreciated.
Thank you for your time and attention. Let’s be great.
Ashe.
Franklin O’Kanu — The Alchemik Pharmacist
Your writings are generally thought provoking. Many times I'm left wondering, but, nevertheless I am never bored reading your missives. Thanks.
This one will take extra time and attention to eat and digest without getting mental heart burn. That's what makes you stand out from the crowd.
My father taught Me never to believe ANYTHING. He told Me to place probabilities of truth, asking the question, "Does that explain what I see?," and adjust the probabilities as new data come along that better explain what I see. Also, never give 100% or 0% - there's always the possibility there are data I don't have.
This has kept Me from attaching to anything as being true (or false).