The movies have it wrong, you know.

You remember, don't you? Darth Vader keeps urging, "Come to the dark side of the force, Luke."

But evil just about never approaches you in such a direct, easily recognized way. No, it'll sneak into your life sideways, under the pretext of "this is for the greater good" or "you want to help our cause, don't you?"

Back in 1995 the Aum Shinrikyo group in Japan released sarin nerve gas in subway cars in Tokyo. Within minutes people were dead and hundreds were incapacitated.

It didn't take investigators long to close in on the perpetrators, a rapidly growing "new religion" headed by a nearly blind ex-"salaryman" and spiritual guru.

The Aum members who planned and carried out the sarin attack were described by shocked friends and family members as quiet and unassuming; usually highly intelligent. A few were even elite graduates of Tokyo University, Japan's equivalent of Oxford or Harvard.

The stories that emerged during the investigation and trial were horrifying, but they always raised one question: how could such seemingly nice people -- smart people even -- sink to such depths of evil?

We've all read about the infamous Nuremberg trials. Nazi officials, from the highest ranks to the lowliest clerks, all claimed they had simply been following orders. Indeed, it appears they were telling the truth. Seemingly, that was all it took to unleash one of the greatest evils of modern history upon the world.

Simply -- someone told them to do it.

SomeONE... not the devil. Just a faceless bureaucrat issuing a few orders to those ranks and ranks of nice, ordinary people willing to do whatever the orders said do. Their main concern appeared to be day-to-day living -- taking care of their families -- just as you and I do. So they carried out the orders they received.

Now, please remember the spirit of those pre-WW2 times. The great leader of that day had intensively stirred the ardor of his country's people. He had deliberately built up a huge wave of "our country over all."

In other words, "us against them."

Contrary to what you may think, this isn't really hard to do. People like to get excited about "our side." They do it all the time, for sporting events, for game shows, for nearly anything where people can choose up sides.

Look around at the world today. What politician -- anywhere -- places the interests of the world before those of his own local group? It doesn't happen.

I grew up in Illinois, and the senior senator from that state was famous for saying, "All politics is local."

He meant that every person looks out first for his own well-being, then that of his family and locality, and finally, if there's anything left over, he'll consider the good of the rest of the world. In fact, "me first" is the first rule of politics, no matter what your favorite politician may claim in public.

It's the same old tribal thinking we've seen for thousands of years.

Now, is this bad? Well, it won't do too much harm... if you keep it in mind anytime you're evaluating the promises and claims of your leaders. Or when double-checking your own motivations.

It's not evil to find these "us-against-them" or "me-first" attitudes within ourselves. A healthy self-interest will keep us alive and thriving. It'll keep us from being run over and trampled by others.

But how do we make sure WE don't do the trampling? It's important to find a balance. Ideally, we should be looking for a win-win approach in everything we do.

Ultimately, the only way to assure a safe future for ourselves and our children is to look out for all of humanity -- for all of life.

Today, everywhere we turn the drums of war are out and sounding the march to conflict. Some are excited about this; others are appalled. But look back just a few years, and tell me how many voices were raised to caution against a war that was "positioned" as necessary and just, against an enemy of great evil.

Now we see much of the early fervor for that war has faded. And we hear people all around the world taking a wide variety of stances toward the conflict. The new and the glamor have worn off.

Arguments for... arguments against. Who is right? Who is wrong?

Meanwhile, may I make a modest observation?

It seems to me that everybody is simply pulling this way and that on the strings that somebody else has handed them.

To my eyes, there is no war. What I see is a complex corporate takeover bid that has been camouflaged by a high body count. What if we looked at the war as a massive attempted seizure of assets rather than a power struggle between political entities.

Take a closer look at the resumes of those in the halls of power (on both sides) when the war began. Virtually every one of them had a resume bristling with petrochemical employers. With a generous sprinkling of defense contractors thrown in for good measure.

So look again, this time more carefully, at the principals involved.

I am not intrinsically for or against this action, but I AM very much against letting myself be fooled -- letting myself believe the myths that are cooked up, dressed up and served up to me by people who get to wear a white hat if they position their actions as war, and a black hat if they call them asset seizures.

When there's a huge groundswell of enthusiasm for this cause or that crusade, I back away and sniff the air carefully.

Because it's in just that atmosphere that nice, ordinary people start issuing orders that other nice, ordinary people blindly follow. And in exactly this way does evil descend upon us, quietly, but seemingly with full justification.

Just following orders... that defense was unacceptable at Nuremberg.

Should it be here?

But do these things HAVE to happen to us? Do we have to be swept along with the crowd? Not necessarily. But we'll have to keep ourselves awake. We'll need a little more skill in choosing our own motivations, our own beliefs and our own actions.

Fortunately, it IS possible to open our eyes and make our own way in this world. You've read the books and attended the seminars. So you know all the basics of controling your own mind. But many people have gotten a wrong idea about self help, a limited picture of what it's all about.

Self help is not just about money, houses and cars. It goes far deeper than that. It is, in fact, about choices. It's about being able to live your own life your own way, while everybody else gets led into whatever fads and fashions come blowing through.

Being aware and having more options. Thinking for yourself. Not caring what's being touted as "good" this week. But to have an independent mind, you'll have to start practicing now.

There's an old military truism: when the action starts, you won't rise to the occasion; you'll default to your level of training.

That's the real reason training is so, so important. Your future depends on it. And your life.

What's your level of training? The next time the **** hits the fan, will you be choosing your own way through the mess, or will you be part of the stampeding herd?

The time to decide that is now, not then.

Next, watch Charles Burke's series of 3-minute videos titled "Beyond Luck." Each of the 21 videos also includes a simple Do-This exercise to power up your new skills quickly. Click to www.BeyondLuck.com now for your videos, plus 3 special reports. I'll see you there.