"You can continually quash the spirit revolution before it starts, just by setting up an information environment in which people don’t recognize the need for revolution."
This is the ultimate "sleight of hand" trick by the empire's propagandists. You get the public looking in one direction ("Ooo, shiny!) and then you do the dastardly deed behind their backs. Catilin is right that our job is to continually make others turn around and look at what the MSM is trying to prevent them looking at, namely the reality of our situation. It's tough, but it's possible. One day soon, we may find that our neighbors are able to turn around all by themselves, and then they'll be ready to join in the revolution that is long overdue. Power to the people!
Certainly a great many people fear to deal with it, or feel (with reason) that dealing with it will be useless and just want to get on with their lives. And of course many feel that expressing their opinions overtly may be dangerous, even physically dangerous. Some will have been to demonstrations and observed later that the demonstrations didn't change anything. If there were a serious Left in America maybe it could be working on its tactics. But apparently there isn't.
It's not about left and right. It's about unity. I've kept my eyes out for calls to demonstrate but it's not bad enough in America yet. They're raising hell in Europe though.
Oliver Anthony's song Rich Men North of Richmond has touched a chord worldwide. He said it was funny when they played his song at the republican debates because they are the ones he sang about.
In the traditional meaning of the word, the Left were the people who were left after the formation of the Right, the Right being, those who were on the side of power, authority, private wealth, the established order, high social status, and the cultivation of the military virtues required to maintain this class system. The Left, then, were those who preferred peace to war, freedom to subordination, equality to rank. You can see these were once useful distinctions for describing political conflict. And that is why their old meanings have been obscured and they have often been replaced by their opposites. But as for Richmond, there are plenty of rich men north, south, east, west, and directly in the middle of Richmond, and imagining otherwise -- regional tribalism -- will make it easy for the rich men to continue to control us.
Correct about the rich, the Oligarchs who own the media and the politicians. They use those tools to keep us divided hence conquered. The feigned opposition of the Uniparty in Congress is Kabuki Theater for infotainment to keep the viewers enthralled.
The word "enthralled" is derived from the Norse word "thrall" which means slave.
John, I went through the same process and it took me about as long. In 2001 I was a Neocon Dupe.
I was subscribed to a site called DNI, Defense and the National Interest. One of the contributers who's site was linked is fabiusmaximus.com. He had a unique take and I initially challenged his views. He engaged with me and challenged me back. Over the 20 years I followed him he patiently guided and mentored me. When he went inactive his son started writing and eventually led me to his site readingjunkie.com. His son is a US Marine vet who served two tours in Afghanistan. He became very disillusioned to the point of having such a severe identity crisis he ended up in a psychiatric ward. I went through a similar experience but didn't require hospitalization. His son has been living in Moscow, learned Russian and acquired his residency permit. He has a lovely girlfriend who is a professional linguist.
You are right about that party. I blew it at gatherings when I was so badly propagandized. You touched me deeply with your comment.
Best regards John. I'm very happy to meet you online.
I have a very similar problem with my remaining family member. He is brilliant but blind to the truth and to go down that rabbit hole is just not possible.
We have the example of the British in recent history. Did they ever rise up while their empire was on the rampage, OR when it started crumbling? Its more probable that American will sleep walk through it all too...
How do we SAFELY reverse the course which these corrupt centralized entities have us on?
We build new systems that make the old ones obsolete- ones 100% controlled and built by the people - then plug them into the system with decentralized leadership.
We feel like we are down a rabbit hole and found a fix for all of the corruption and most of our problems, but can’t scream loud enough for others to hear us. We need to build better Swarming systems, and plug them into our current broken systems using leaders who decentralize their own positions. We implore you to read this and understand the importance https://joshketry.substack.com/p/human-swarm-intelligence-the-most?r=7oa9d&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
There are a lot of people who don't like what's happening and want to do something, but are afraid. Many who opposed the mask and lockdown mandates have lost there jobs--their livelihoods. The horror stories about the January 6th imprisonments over trespassing in the the People's House has made even more people afraid to protest. And now we have the arrest of a former president for believing the 2020 election was stolen.
With the way the U.S. is doing empire, I feel forced to agree with Glenn Greenwald, that the most motivated and determined voters demanding reform are those on the far right, perhaps because they are the angriest.
Greenwald analyzes from a left perspective, and he has been cursed by some self-identifying leftists as a Trump dupe, when he is no such thing.
This phenomenon where political labels preempt honest critical thought and discussion is regrettable and only subject to change if honest thinkers refrain from clever put-downs and argue for what they know to be true. Even if it causes some identity crises.
Now the full force of the imperial state appears committed to put the champion of the angry in jail or in debt or both. One needn’t be a Trump supporter to see that this legal war is as despicable and contrived as Julian Assange’s imprisonment.
The pranksters, the subversives, the tellers of Forbidden Truths that you're not supposed to say out loud are on the alt-right and the dirtbag left.
Meanwhile, liberals are finger-wagging scolds so stiff and humorless that that they make The Church Lady look like Johnny Rotten.
This is not because of any inherent puckishness on the part of the right or any natural censoriousness on the left, but is a product of their respective relationships to power.
Your description sounds poetically perched between judgmental fatalism and formula-derived ideology. Neither does anything to improve communication between a cast of flawed plodders with conflicting plans and ideals, but with a common goal to divorce the seats of power from their current occupants.
Dr Cornel West is the only honest player on the pitch, but many of the evangelical right can’t get past his skin tone, and the angriest voices on the right, anti-communist to the core, just want a new boss, and nothing to do with paradigm change.
So I have empathy for conservatives who despise the fraud, and sympathy for the liberals who are afraid to see the fraud, and who don’t know that the ground beneath them has shifted.
Rule of law vs system overhaul. If the illegitimate present can’t convince enough on the right that there is no value in simply changing the players in a fixed game, then not much good can come from making 45 47. But that appears to be where we are heading.
Reminds me of those who went to war - fought and died for their Country! That's what's wrong with America! It's all about me! The cell phones created this - a deliberate and intentional diversion!
Mona - I must respectfully disagree with regard to the cell phones. This is an epidemic worse than anything that has ever existed throughout entire world. NO ONE can put them down!!!! There is no good whatsoever that has come from them! Nothing!
Consider this - even only for a moment - where would we be today without them? Where would all this time be directed and spent instead? This is precisely why "they" are winning the fight! People haven't a clue what's going on in the world because of them! This is narcissism on steroids!
Also consider for hundreds of years civilization certainly was able to exist without them! Then look at the world TODAY and take note how quickly the massive decline erupted right after they came into existence! The correlation is inarguable! It was deliberate and intentional.
It also solidified that no one is exempt from addiction - the entire world suffers from it as now proven! People look down upon drug, alcohol, gambling and sex addicts and can't see they are no different and even worse! Everywhere you go people are looking down at the and all have one in their hand or pocket! Spending an average of 8 hours/day! More than they work!
And then LOOK at the work force - how many trillions upon trillions of hours are lost because people cannot stop? Everywhere you go they're playing with them! Every dog walker has one in their hand as do the baby carriages! More than half the drivers are using them!!! The police are playing with them non-stop! This is an addiction worse than EVERYTHING ELSE combined! Go into a restaurant and everyone is looking down at them! In churches, funeral, wakes, they can't stop! They come out of surgery and they first thing they want is their phone! How sick is this?
Had cell phones not come to fruition - there would've already have been a civil war - unfortunately it will take this Country to sink even further than it is for people to awaken!
I can't help but think what would actually happen if there was a cyber attack and they stopped working! It would be worse than a war!
When Sandy struck here on the east coast and there was only ONE Starbucks in my town that had electricity people were literally climbing all over each other to plug their phones in. I never witnessed such barbarism in my entire life! I screamed; "LOOK AT YOU PEOPPLE --- YOU ARE WORSE THAN ANIMALS"!
Climbing all over each other - practically frothing at the mouth! It was beyond insanity! And, it had nothing to do with contacting family members - they simply couldn't live and breathe without them! Tree's and limbs covered the ground and it was the elderly outside cleaning up while these (no word to describe it) were climbing over everything just to get inside the store!
They threw huge branches aside just to get in!
For hundreds of years we proved civilization does not stop nor cease to exist because we were without them! THEY CAUSED ALL OF THIS!
I beg to differ. I along with a lot of people would not be here reading this very post for one thing. It has allowed the whole world to communicate with each other. It may look like a monster to you but technology is not going to sit still just because someone does not like it.
And computers don't allow the same? I am subscribed to dozens of newsletters!
I spend my life reading I'm retired and work P/T. I get up in the morning and spend a few hours reading - I walk my dog for 90 minutes, go to work and repeat the same in the evening!
I have a flip phone at work in case I need to be reached while I am on the road. The moment I leave the phone is shut off. I have a land line at home and do not own nor have I watched TV in decades!
May I ask a personal question with a truthful answer (as I am not judging you) how many hours per day would you say you spend on your phone?
At most an hour if that. Like you I have no TV. I use my phone for an internet access and as my only phone. I would need cable or some other access for my computer but instead use my phone. The time on my phone is spent reading like post on Caitlin's substack and a few others. Other than that I do not carry my phone unless it's for an Uber ride to the VA clinic.
Brilliant synopsis and extremely educational! Thank you for taking the time to reply!
I walk all over creation with my dog and have always spent my life observing everything which is why this is all so very profound! I see this at many of the schools I pass - the kids sitting around ALL ON THIER PHONES! I applaud the parents who refuse to give the child one! Their kids are so much healthier - out doing things and learning so much! Hikes trips vacations . . . . all sans phones!
I saw a woman one day with a baby stroller She stopped at every block to walk around to the front of the stroller and check on her child! I immediately complimented her profusely and explained how I'd never witnessed anyone doing that! And yet how I've always thought you are so busy on that phone - your kid could be choking and you would never even know it!
The dog owners are even worse - not one can leave the house without the phone! meanwhile the poor dog is eating everything - one mans dog wrapped itself around a telephone pole several times before he even noticed!
Someone wrote banning them inside schools - I thought to myself - like the teachers would ever allow THAT to happen - they're even worse than the kids!!
It's an addiction that has destroyed the entire world! No one can stop!
Plus, I have read several articles in natural healing organizations' publications that cells phones cause cancer. They advise not keeping the phones next to one's body. And especially advise against the young women that keep the phones in their bras.
Great article as usual. Humans have been clinically domesticated. Simply exposing those under the spell to facts about reality will not work for most people. Persistence with facts, if met by an open mind may work.. but as it is said about leading horses to water.. the person receiving the information must also be willing to do the the work, and that includes overcoming subconscious boundaries put in place by the same conditioning apparatus. Which also means they have to be ok being an outsider.. and many just aren't. While controlling mass society is far from new.. this modern version far exceeds the psychological control of those in the past by a very very large margin. As I said, clinically domesticated.
How do we SAFELY reverse the course which these corrupt centralized entities have us on?
We build new systems that make the old ones obsolete- ones 100% controlled and built by the people - then plug them into the system with decentralized leadership.
We feel like we are down a rabbit hole and found a fix for all of the corruption and most of our problems, but can’t scream loud enough for others to hear us. We need to build better Swarming systems, and plug them into our current broken systems using leaders who decentralize their own positions. We implore you to read this and understand the importance https://joshketry.substack.com/p/human-swarm-intelligence-the-most?r=7oa9d&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
“… Peace is what’s normal. Justice is what’s normal. Health and harmony are what is normal. What we have now under the US empire is wildly abnormal, and it shouldn’t be permitted to misrepresent itself.…”
Here's what I can never figure out. The minute someone points out that the WEF is the most evil form of monopolistic, propagandistic "capitalism," some people in this forum balk, and say you shouldn't even discuss the WEF.
Also, the minute someone like Dr. Jordan Peterson points out that about 1 to 4% of the population are sociopathic, and in a large society, they end up in positions of power, people say, "You shouldn't listen to Peterson."
And the minute someone points out that Trump and RFK are 100% against the U.S. proxy war against Russia because we're killing people pointlessly, and it could lead to armageddon, people say, "You shouldn't listen to them."
And when people point out that Tucker Carlson now appears 100% liberated, and he means every word he says--right or wrong, he's honest, like Tulsi Gabbard--people say, "CIA!!!" Even though he says the CIA killed JFK, Jeffery Epstein compromised our leaders, and he listens to RFK when RFK says Operation Mockingbird never went away.
All of these positions are in harmony with what Caitlin frequently writes.
Oh, well, I guess I don't read Caitlin or the comments for a perfectly congruent intellectual system. I read her because she reveals a lot of the bullshit. And some of the commenters are brilliant. Not everyone has to harmonize 100% of the time for me to learn.
One of the key things that I have noted with today's youth is that while extremely suspicious of ideological discoursed, they are passionate about individual issues involving social justice and ecological campaigns. Therein l believe lies the germ of hope. Brexit, Proxy wars Isreali apartheid, deforestation, the destruction of socialised medicine here in the UK are all things that motivate activism.
The current direct action campaigns of Palestine Action, Just Stop Oil, amongst others in the UK, have led the political classes to enact draconian legislation that effectively shuts down the right to protest. Over 100 Palestine Action actioniare either imprison or on police bail awaiting trial and facing prison sentences for their efforts in closing down arms factories. The repulsive Home Secretary, Cruella Braverman has vowed to destroy Just Stop Oil. after their interruptions of major sporting events over the summer. These heroic actionists deserve all the support we can give. The struggle will continue. There is hope out there amongst the carnage.
Maybe some good framework to "get people to see the horrors of the empire" with fresh eyes is to create a flag. Folks seem to love spreading those around (sadly).
When I saw the barely hidden smirk on Dubya's face as he addressed the nation in the wake of the twin towers destruction it was obvious to me that his handlers (Cheney et al) had engineered this debacle, and he was delighted that they had pulled it off. Hell, it's right there in their manifesto, the Plan for a New American Century (PNAC), along with their means for implementing it: (excerpts)
"This report proceeds from the belief that America should seek to preserve and extend its position of global leadership by maintaining the preeminence of U.S. military forces."
"...the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event, like a new Pearl Harbor."
For awhile Dumbya's plan to invade Iraq was met with dissent, peace marches, and the like. I believe that the oligarchists who authored the PNAC document neutered this opposition by installing Obama into the oval office. It was at that point that the opposition elected to take a nap which lasted 4 years and continues today. They persistently ignore (or maybe accept) the continuation of foreign invasions, domestic surveillance of the citizenry, drone bombings and torture. It is astonishing to me how quickly and completely this collective blindness took hold of the entire populace.
One odd thing I noticed in America is that people seldom (if ever) discuss where the nation is headed.
I used to think I was being the interloper and raising issues that I should not have. But having lived here for decades gives me a better understanding of this sad phenomenon. You can discuss sports ad nauseam, you can discuss trivial issues ad nauseam. But the moment you discuss any serious issue such as US foreign policy you hit a wall of silence. Universal health? silence. Our materialistic life? silence. No social safety net? silence. No true opposition party? silence. Military worship? silence. And so on. After hitting multiple walls of silence you realize you have become silent. You have joined the Silent Majority.......Rejoice!
I often find you articulate things I sense but can't express. On listening to you I often have a response you mentioned: “Holy shit. Was that sitting there this whole time?”. Thank you. That is why I support you on Patreon. Your voice must be heard, then folk can be given to make up their minds, that might not be always in favour of your ideas, but folk need to be able to see the alternative.
"You can continually quash the spirit revolution before it starts, just by setting up an information environment in which people don’t recognize the need for revolution."
This is the ultimate "sleight of hand" trick by the empire's propagandists. You get the public looking in one direction ("Ooo, shiny!) and then you do the dastardly deed behind their backs. Catilin is right that our job is to continually make others turn around and look at what the MSM is trying to prevent them looking at, namely the reality of our situation. It's tough, but it's possible. One day soon, we may find that our neighbors are able to turn around all by themselves, and then they'll be ready to join in the revolution that is long overdue. Power to the people!
So many are blind, possibly wilfully blind because they fear to deal with it.
Certainly a great many people fear to deal with it, or feel (with reason) that dealing with it will be useless and just want to get on with their lives. And of course many feel that expressing their opinions overtly may be dangerous, even physically dangerous. Some will have been to demonstrations and observed later that the demonstrations didn't change anything. If there were a serious Left in America maybe it could be working on its tactics. But apparently there isn't.
It's not about left and right. It's about unity. I've kept my eyes out for calls to demonstrate but it's not bad enough in America yet. They're raising hell in Europe though.
Oliver Anthony's song Rich Men North of Richmond has touched a chord worldwide. He said it was funny when they played his song at the republican debates because they are the ones he sang about.
It's a class war.
In the traditional meaning of the word, the Left were the people who were left after the formation of the Right, the Right being, those who were on the side of power, authority, private wealth, the established order, high social status, and the cultivation of the military virtues required to maintain this class system. The Left, then, were those who preferred peace to war, freedom to subordination, equality to rank. You can see these were once useful distinctions for describing political conflict. And that is why their old meanings have been obscured and they have often been replaced by their opposites. But as for Richmond, there are plenty of rich men north, south, east, west, and directly in the middle of Richmond, and imagining otherwise -- regional tribalism -- will make it easy for the rich men to continue to control us.
Correct about the rich, the Oligarchs who own the media and the politicians. They use those tools to keep us divided hence conquered. The feigned opposition of the Uniparty in Congress is Kabuki Theater for infotainment to keep the viewers enthralled.
The word "enthralled" is derived from the Norse word "thrall" which means slave.
John, I went through the same process and it took me about as long. In 2001 I was a Neocon Dupe.
I was subscribed to a site called DNI, Defense and the National Interest. One of the contributers who's site was linked is fabiusmaximus.com. He had a unique take and I initially challenged his views. He engaged with me and challenged me back. Over the 20 years I followed him he patiently guided and mentored me. When he went inactive his son started writing and eventually led me to his site readingjunkie.com. His son is a US Marine vet who served two tours in Afghanistan. He became very disillusioned to the point of having such a severe identity crisis he ended up in a psychiatric ward. I went through a similar experience but didn't require hospitalization. His son has been living in Moscow, learned Russian and acquired his residency permit. He has a lovely girlfriend who is a professional linguist.
You are right about that party. I blew it at gatherings when I was so badly propagandized. You touched me deeply with your comment.
Best regards John. I'm very happy to meet you online.
I have a very similar problem with my remaining family member. He is brilliant but blind to the truth and to go down that rabbit hole is just not possible.
Yes. She did the same type of comment that refered to some big upcoming event with the same link to some product she is pushing.
A fraud.
The move to BRICS could be the trigger. Serious movement there right at this moment.
We have the example of the British in recent history. Did they ever rise up while their empire was on the rampage, OR when it started crumbling? Its more probable that American will sleep walk through it all too...
How do we SAFELY reverse the course which these corrupt centralized entities have us on?
We build new systems that make the old ones obsolete- ones 100% controlled and built by the people - then plug them into the system with decentralized leadership.
We feel like we are down a rabbit hole and found a fix for all of the corruption and most of our problems, but can’t scream loud enough for others to hear us. We need to build better Swarming systems, and plug them into our current broken systems using leaders who decentralize their own positions. We implore you to read this and understand the importance https://joshketry.substack.com/p/human-swarm-intelligence-the-most?r=7oa9d&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Black and white, yin and yang, the ancient Chinese - and no doubt many others- knew that life is a pendulum.
And if you don't believe it we have lots of BOMBS to prove it!
There are a lot of people who don't like what's happening and want to do something, but are afraid. Many who opposed the mask and lockdown mandates have lost there jobs--their livelihoods. The horror stories about the January 6th imprisonments over trespassing in the the People's House has made even more people afraid to protest. And now we have the arrest of a former president for believing the 2020 election was stolen.
With the way the U.S. is doing empire, I feel forced to agree with Glenn Greenwald, that the most motivated and determined voters demanding reform are those on the far right, perhaps because they are the angriest.
Greenwald analyzes from a left perspective, and he has been cursed by some self-identifying leftists as a Trump dupe, when he is no such thing.
This phenomenon where political labels preempt honest critical thought and discussion is regrettable and only subject to change if honest thinkers refrain from clever put-downs and argue for what they know to be true. Even if it causes some identity crises.
Now the full force of the imperial state appears committed to put the champion of the angry in jail or in debt or both. One needn’t be a Trump supporter to see that this legal war is as despicable and contrived as Julian Assange’s imprisonment.
The pranksters, the subversives, the tellers of Forbidden Truths that you're not supposed to say out loud are on the alt-right and the dirtbag left.
Meanwhile, liberals are finger-wagging scolds so stiff and humorless that that they make The Church Lady look like Johnny Rotten.
This is not because of any inherent puckishness on the part of the right or any natural censoriousness on the left, but is a product of their respective relationships to power.
Your description sounds poetically perched between judgmental fatalism and formula-derived ideology. Neither does anything to improve communication between a cast of flawed plodders with conflicting plans and ideals, but with a common goal to divorce the seats of power from their current occupants.
Dr Cornel West is the only honest player on the pitch, but many of the evangelical right can’t get past his skin tone, and the angriest voices on the right, anti-communist to the core, just want a new boss, and nothing to do with paradigm change.
So I have empathy for conservatives who despise the fraud, and sympathy for the liberals who are afraid to see the fraud, and who don’t know that the ground beneath them has shifted.
Rule of law vs system overhaul. If the illegitimate present can’t convince enough on the right that there is no value in simply changing the players in a fixed game, then not much good can come from making 45 47. But that appears to be where we are heading.
Reminds me of those who went to war - fought and died for their Country! That's what's wrong with America! It's all about me! The cell phones created this - a deliberate and intentional diversion!
The cell phones, movies, games, drugs, guns, etc.... can be used for good or bad. Everyone is responsible for how they use things.
Mona - I must respectfully disagree with regard to the cell phones. This is an epidemic worse than anything that has ever existed throughout entire world. NO ONE can put them down!!!! There is no good whatsoever that has come from them! Nothing!
Consider this - even only for a moment - where would we be today without them? Where would all this time be directed and spent instead? This is precisely why "they" are winning the fight! People haven't a clue what's going on in the world because of them! This is narcissism on steroids!
Also consider for hundreds of years civilization certainly was able to exist without them! Then look at the world TODAY and take note how quickly the massive decline erupted right after they came into existence! The correlation is inarguable! It was deliberate and intentional.
It also solidified that no one is exempt from addiction - the entire world suffers from it as now proven! People look down upon drug, alcohol, gambling and sex addicts and can't see they are no different and even worse! Everywhere you go people are looking down at the and all have one in their hand or pocket! Spending an average of 8 hours/day! More than they work!
And then LOOK at the work force - how many trillions upon trillions of hours are lost because people cannot stop? Everywhere you go they're playing with them! Every dog walker has one in their hand as do the baby carriages! More than half the drivers are using them!!! The police are playing with them non-stop! This is an addiction worse than EVERYTHING ELSE combined! Go into a restaurant and everyone is looking down at them! In churches, funeral, wakes, they can't stop! They come out of surgery and they first thing they want is their phone! How sick is this?
Had cell phones not come to fruition - there would've already have been a civil war - unfortunately it will take this Country to sink even further than it is for people to awaken!
I can't help but think what would actually happen if there was a cyber attack and they stopped working! It would be worse than a war!
When Sandy struck here on the east coast and there was only ONE Starbucks in my town that had electricity people were literally climbing all over each other to plug their phones in. I never witnessed such barbarism in my entire life! I screamed; "LOOK AT YOU PEOPPLE --- YOU ARE WORSE THAN ANIMALS"!
Climbing all over each other - practically frothing at the mouth! It was beyond insanity! And, it had nothing to do with contacting family members - they simply couldn't live and breathe without them! Tree's and limbs covered the ground and it was the elderly outside cleaning up while these (no word to describe it) were climbing over everything just to get inside the store!
They threw huge branches aside just to get in!
For hundreds of years we proved civilization does not stop nor cease to exist because we were without them! THEY CAUSED ALL OF THIS!
I can see you are passionate in your decision, and I appreciate your honest reply.
IMO we should not and cannot blame inanimate objects for people's bad behaviors.
I beg to differ. I along with a lot of people would not be here reading this very post for one thing. It has allowed the whole world to communicate with each other. It may look like a monster to you but technology is not going to sit still just because someone does not like it.
I say this with all due respect:
And computers don't allow the same? I am subscribed to dozens of newsletters!
I spend my life reading I'm retired and work P/T. I get up in the morning and spend a few hours reading - I walk my dog for 90 minutes, go to work and repeat the same in the evening!
I have a flip phone at work in case I need to be reached while I am on the road. The moment I leave the phone is shut off. I have a land line at home and do not own nor have I watched TV in decades!
May I ask a personal question with a truthful answer (as I am not judging you) how many hours per day would you say you spend on your phone?
At most an hour if that. Like you I have no TV. I use my phone for an internet access and as my only phone. I would need cable or some other access for my computer but instead use my phone. The time on my phone is spent reading like post on Caitlin's substack and a few others. Other than that I do not carry my phone unless it's for an Uber ride to the VA clinic.
Brilliant synopsis and extremely educational! Thank you for taking the time to reply!
I walk all over creation with my dog and have always spent my life observing everything which is why this is all so very profound! I see this at many of the schools I pass - the kids sitting around ALL ON THIER PHONES! I applaud the parents who refuse to give the child one! Their kids are so much healthier - out doing things and learning so much! Hikes trips vacations . . . . all sans phones!
I saw a woman one day with a baby stroller She stopped at every block to walk around to the front of the stroller and check on her child! I immediately complimented her profusely and explained how I'd never witnessed anyone doing that! And yet how I've always thought you are so busy on that phone - your kid could be choking and you would never even know it!
The dog owners are even worse - not one can leave the house without the phone! meanwhile the poor dog is eating everything - one mans dog wrapped itself around a telephone pole several times before he even noticed!
Someone wrote banning them inside schools - I thought to myself - like the teachers would ever allow THAT to happen - they're even worse than the kids!!
It's an addiction that has destroyed the entire world! No one can stop!
Plus, I have read several articles in natural healing organizations' publications that cells phones cause cancer. They advise not keeping the phones next to one's body. And especially advise against the young women that keep the phones in their bras.
Great article as usual. Humans have been clinically domesticated. Simply exposing those under the spell to facts about reality will not work for most people. Persistence with facts, if met by an open mind may work.. but as it is said about leading horses to water.. the person receiving the information must also be willing to do the the work, and that includes overcoming subconscious boundaries put in place by the same conditioning apparatus. Which also means they have to be ok being an outsider.. and many just aren't. While controlling mass society is far from new.. this modern version far exceeds the psychological control of those in the past by a very very large margin. As I said, clinically domesticated.
Domesticated humans.
Makes sense.
Peace is not 'normal', alas, but we must strive for it, as humans have always done.
What you are doing is seeking to undermine the legitimacy of the Empire.
n.b in a way that makes sense. Take away legitimacy, and a ruler's authority goes no further than his reach.
How do we SAFELY reverse the course which these corrupt centralized entities have us on?
We build new systems that make the old ones obsolete- ones 100% controlled and built by the people - then plug them into the system with decentralized leadership.
We feel like we are down a rabbit hole and found a fix for all of the corruption and most of our problems, but can’t scream loud enough for others to hear us. We need to build better Swarming systems, and plug them into our current broken systems using leaders who decentralize their own positions. We implore you to read this and understand the importance https://joshketry.substack.com/p/human-swarm-intelligence-the-most?r=7oa9d&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
“… Peace is what’s normal. Justice is what’s normal. Health and harmony are what is normal. What we have now under the US empire is wildly abnormal, and it shouldn’t be permitted to misrepresent itself.…”
Well said!
All true.
Here's what I can never figure out. The minute someone points out that the WEF is the most evil form of monopolistic, propagandistic "capitalism," some people in this forum balk, and say you shouldn't even discuss the WEF.
Also, the minute someone like Dr. Jordan Peterson points out that about 1 to 4% of the population are sociopathic, and in a large society, they end up in positions of power, people say, "You shouldn't listen to Peterson."
And the minute someone points out that Trump and RFK are 100% against the U.S. proxy war against Russia because we're killing people pointlessly, and it could lead to armageddon, people say, "You shouldn't listen to them."
And when people point out that Tucker Carlson now appears 100% liberated, and he means every word he says--right or wrong, he's honest, like Tulsi Gabbard--people say, "CIA!!!" Even though he says the CIA killed JFK, Jeffery Epstein compromised our leaders, and he listens to RFK when RFK says Operation Mockingbird never went away.
All of these positions are in harmony with what Caitlin frequently writes.
Oh, well, I guess I don't read Caitlin or the comments for a perfectly congruent intellectual system. I read her because she reveals a lot of the bullshit. And some of the commenters are brilliant. Not everyone has to harmonize 100% of the time for me to learn.
Have a good day. God bless you.
One of the key things that I have noted with today's youth is that while extremely suspicious of ideological discoursed, they are passionate about individual issues involving social justice and ecological campaigns. Therein l believe lies the germ of hope. Brexit, Proxy wars Isreali apartheid, deforestation, the destruction of socialised medicine here in the UK are all things that motivate activism.
The current direct action campaigns of Palestine Action, Just Stop Oil, amongst others in the UK, have led the political classes to enact draconian legislation that effectively shuts down the right to protest. Over 100 Palestine Action actioniare either imprison or on police bail awaiting trial and facing prison sentences for their efforts in closing down arms factories. The repulsive Home Secretary, Cruella Braverman has vowed to destroy Just Stop Oil. after their interruptions of major sporting events over the summer. These heroic actionists deserve all the support we can give. The struggle will continue. There is hope out there amongst the carnage.
"...passive observers" or I might add, willing participants.
Maybe some good framework to "get people to see the horrors of the empire" with fresh eyes is to create a flag. Folks seem to love spreading those around (sadly).
Theatres of War - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ww1Ik2WlW1s
When I saw the barely hidden smirk on Dubya's face as he addressed the nation in the wake of the twin towers destruction it was obvious to me that his handlers (Cheney et al) had engineered this debacle, and he was delighted that they had pulled it off. Hell, it's right there in their manifesto, the Plan for a New American Century (PNAC), along with their means for implementing it: (excerpts)
"This report proceeds from the belief that America should seek to preserve and extend its position of global leadership by maintaining the preeminence of U.S. military forces."
"...the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event, like a new Pearl Harbor."
For awhile Dumbya's plan to invade Iraq was met with dissent, peace marches, and the like. I believe that the oligarchists who authored the PNAC document neutered this opposition by installing Obama into the oval office. It was at that point that the opposition elected to take a nap which lasted 4 years and continues today. They persistently ignore (or maybe accept) the continuation of foreign invasions, domestic surveillance of the citizenry, drone bombings and torture. It is astonishing to me how quickly and completely this collective blindness took hold of the entire populace.
One odd thing I noticed in America is that people seldom (if ever) discuss where the nation is headed.
I used to think I was being the interloper and raising issues that I should not have. But having lived here for decades gives me a better understanding of this sad phenomenon. You can discuss sports ad nauseam, you can discuss trivial issues ad nauseam. But the moment you discuss any serious issue such as US foreign policy you hit a wall of silence. Universal health? silence. Our materialistic life? silence. No social safety net? silence. No true opposition party? silence. Military worship? silence. And so on. After hitting multiple walls of silence you realize you have become silent. You have joined the Silent Majority.......Rejoice!
I often find you articulate things I sense but can't express. On listening to you I often have a response you mentioned: “Holy shit. Was that sitting there this whole time?”. Thank you. That is why I support you on Patreon. Your voice must be heard, then folk can be given to make up their minds, that might not be always in favour of your ideas, but folk need to be able to see the alternative.
The Empire
In halls of smoke, in screens of light,
The Empire wears a face so bright.
It smiles in films, in news it speaks,
Concealing well the pain it wreaks.
Yet listen close, you'll hear the cries,
Beyond the reach of public eyes,
of justice stolen, peace undone,
In countless lands under the sun.
They say it's normal, say it's fine,
The endless wars, a grand design.
But what of Yemen's children’s plea?
Iraqis’ deaths and poverty?
We’re taught to look, yet not to see
The Empire's hidden tyranny.
Beneath the mask, what horrors dwell,
In hidden vaults, we cannot tell.
Let's turn our gaze to what's been hid,
Unveil the truths the strong forbid
By breaking “norms”, we might reclaim
The normalcy of love's true name.
So point and say, "Look, there it is,"
Each hidden shame, each dark abyss.
For justice, love, and peace should reign—
Let’s pull Empire from its plane.
Dismantle myths and cast them down,
From Hollywood to every town.
Let’s learn the truths we didn’t hear
And see the world with eyes so clear.
For what's been normal can still change,
If our love expands its range.
So let's unmask Empire’s spin,
And build a world worth living in.
If you like my poetry, feel free to follow me on X/Twitter or subscribe for free on Substack for more:
https://thefrontierman.substack.com
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