You can start at the fortune 500 and go down to the fortune 100 and find a common theme of white males in upper management. Is this because white males are smarter at business than any other demographic? No, the answer is you can hold onto power through perception and since white males were the first to sit in the upper management seats when the business world was all white, they've manage their perceptions in a way that keeps them in that role.

A wink and a nod from some foreign country who is managing their perception game correctly can create a loud sucking sound in America. The secretary of state role has now been reduced to the status of Santa Claus. It is perceived that America has formed a coalition against terrorism. These coalition members has really benefited from this perception in the form of a large windfall of American jobs and taxpayer monies. So, as you can see, perceptions are quiet ubiquitous.
Question: If we didn't have perceptions what would we have?
Answer: I like the question. It is unknown what we would have because perceptions and human nature have been coupled since the beginning of time. There has never been a society that was free from perceptions. Lets try to imagine what the landscape would look like in an America that was void of perceptions. I'll make this meaningful be breaking down the scenario into three categories: education, finance and wellness.

  Education k-12
       The battles over headstart would end.
       Class room sizes would shrink.
       Private schools would all but disappear.
       School violence would see a precipitous drop.
 Education - college
       Drop in tuition.
       A focused curriculum. 
 Finance
       redistribution of wealth.
       reduction in the price of goods and services.
       less consumer debt.
       increase in personal savings.
Wellness
       people working less and living longer.
       a period of social and spiritual renaissance.

Obviously the American landscape would look very different if these things were happening. This is not a bad looking list of changes either. why haven't the experts and think tanks figured this out? They have, many years ago and there is a keen awareness of this as you read this. It goes back to power again.

To explain the nuances that surround a culture of power is really beyond the scope of this article. If it were possible to change a single event in American history and arrive at the above list you would have to change the demographics of the Mayflower. In other words, If Columbus had sailed with ships carrying Mexicans, Africans, Asians, Europeans and Arabs you wouldn't recognize America today.

Closing comments about perceptions:
Some groups are more vulnerable to perceptions than others. Therefore, they need to take serious the way they are perceived.

If you manage perceptions at the personal level you can trump all other levels of perception.

Perception is like the wind as it travels to and fro and you never know where it will turn next.

Kids that are void of the rules of perception often become low-hanging fruit it the perception game. They soon are perceived as the scourge of society for this lack of insight.

Where there is power you will find money and the perception game.

Now, I ask again, how well do you know America? Is it the best country in the world? Does it really matter? The bottom line is you are here and you can't go anywhere else even if you wanted to. The best that you can do is enjoy it as long as you can by keeping close tabs on the perception machine.

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