I got some news (second hand) from an acquaintance in Kiev. A lot of Ukrainian people want out of this war at any price, but saying so is a good way to end up in one of the SBU's torture chambers.
A lot of hysterical propaganda of fighting to the end, but everyone is sick of it, just as they are sick of the politicians who cower in their bunkers (V.A. Zelenskii, I am looking at you!) while foaming at the mouth for more war.
“It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, more vengeance, more desolation. War is hell.”
"You consider war to be inevitable? Very good. Let everyone who advocates war be enrolled in a special regiment of advance-guards, for the front of every storm, of every attack, to lead them all!"
I was writing in my journal today - I find it mind boggling so many people are so willing to die for what seems so little. Although admittedly, many are trapped in Ukraine or have been coerced into dying for "the great cause". Of what, dying for a piece of land many of them don't even own? Defending their on the cover Vogue hero Zelensky - who seems all to willing to die himself?
There just is so much more we could be doing right now rather than killing each other. There is still plenty of land on the earth for people to live (hell there is even more awaiting us once we explore outside of earth). And our developing technologies do promise a release from any energy shortages we are having right now- if the efforts of the shit brained Elites weren't bent on more violence, more domination
What is any of this accomplishing? Even if the West somehow "wins" it still is an obscenity for all the lives taken away, all the infrastructure destroyed - the economies ruined as we speak. We are run by sociopathic children who think violence is the best way to move the world forward. And what amazes me, is so many are willing to die for these sociopathic children who insist all this death is justified and worth it. Worth it for whom? What's the fucking point of fighting if you end up dead? Do people understand when you're dead - you're fucking DEAD. You're gone: that's it.
William Shirer's "Berlin Diary" and "End of a Berlin Diary" are something to read to draw analogy to the current situation. The former is written as the events take place, and the latter with some documents available for a hindsight.
Very similar to what is going on now. And the testament that nothing changes. And nothing will.
I read Shirer's "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" as a teenager, but don't think I read his Berlin Diary. Will need to add it to my book queue. I've always had a fascination with World War II, even to this day. But not because I actually think war is a good way to resolve our problems in real life. War is interesting to read about - and can be a great dramatic tool in storytelling - but imaginary storytelling shouldn't be mixed up with real life. The more I have read about war, the more I realize it's one thing humans should avoid at all costs.
I assume "at all costs" shouldn't include the cost of full submission/enslavement/annihilation/etc. Unfortunately, that's where things get pushed most if not every single time.
Here's the beginning of the foreword to the "End of a Berlin Diary" to give an idea, written in 1947:
"The notes that made up the book Berlin Diary ended in December 1940, when I left Germany to return to my native land. The Third Reich, which Hitler had boasted would last a thousand years, was at that excruciating moment at the zenith of its brutal power. The Master Race had conquered most of Europe and made slaves of its stunned inhabitants. The extermination of the Jews and other peoples was under way. So were plans to turn on Russia, finish gallant Britain, and then go on, with Japan, to conquer the world by bringing the United States to heel.
When I came home from Berlin at Christmas time in 1940, I found most of my fellow countrymen unaware of what Hitler was really up to and somewhat confused as to how he had accomplished his evil designs. Some Americans didn’t much care. Since it had been my lot to witness Europe’s agony at first hand, I collected some of my notes in a book for the edification of such citizens as cared to read it.
This book of notes is, in a way, a sequel to Berlin Diary. It is the end of my own small contribution to the Berlin story. There was a great deal, of course, that a reporter had not been able to learn in the frenzied Nazi capital beyond the Elbe. The sinister plots, the fateful decisions, that had plunged the world into such awful horror and misery had been made in secret. And what had really gone on in Germany after I left? Had defeat and collapse solved the German problem—at least for the rest of our lifetime?
After the war’s end I went back to Berlin to try to find out. I prowled the obscene ruins of the once proud capital and talked with the remnants of the Herrenvolk. At Nuremberg, amidst the debris of the lovely medieval town, I saw the surviving leaders of the Nazi gangster world, who had wielded such monstrous power so arrogantly when last I beheld them, finally brought to justice. Most important of all, I had access to a good part of the fourteen hundred tons of secret German documents that the Allies had captured intact. You will find the essential portions of many of them in this book. I have been content to let the German authors tell in their own inimitable words the dark and almost unbelievable tale of their savagery and deceit. Had these secret archives of the German government been destroyed, as the Nazis intended them to be, much of the truth about our weird period in history would have been buried forever. Now it is here for those who care to learn it.
I have also tried to include in this book the thread of another story—the story of the beginning of the Peace. Reader, you and I have already forgotten the fleeting moment of glory and man’s magnificent sense of dedication the day peace descended on this wretched earth. I know that erring mortals cannot remain on the heights for long. But these notes, scribbled down at the time, may help to remind you that many on our side achieved those heights after the war’s bloody struggles had brought out their inhuman courage, their bravery, and their wonderful fortitude. At San Francisco, for a flicker of time when the United Nations was being born, I saw the high hopes, the noble purpose, the patient understanding of the men of our world seeking to find a way to permanent peace.
Where and when and how did their hopes start to turn to stone? In these day-to-day notes, perhaps, you will see how the dark cloud, which presently envelops us, grew.
this makes a lot of sense. My contacts in the south-east of Ukraine are even more critical of Zelensky and blame him for betraying them, but they cannot speak out for the same reasons: immediate problems with the SBU and at the very least very uncomfortable conversations, at most disappearance and death.
That the western "leaders" support this immoral criminal regime they raised makes it troubling multiple times over, though I understand their hard logic.
What I cannot understand is the level of brain washing among the western "intelligentsia".
If you follow the American media, there is zero analysis of the policy or the government tactics. Last Sunday ABC News had David Patraeus on and he couldn’t conceal his delight in explaining to the viewing audience that Putin has no fallback position... “ his weapons are outdated, his troops are too thin and morale is low...he’s talking about nukes because he is desperate ...”. And this is the snake oil that American TV viewers are routinely sold.
Meanwhile, Saudi has cut oil production, and that works to increase the cost and value of Russian oil. Now Biden is disgusted w/ Bin Salmon, and accusing him of being a Russian patsy.
So while the U.S. is vigilant in its commitment to militarily weaken Russia, Putin has been building relationships to create an alternative to the dollar. If this were chess, the queen is in jeopardy.
What about the Ukrainians living in the EU? Is there any Ukrainian opposition to Zelensky speaking out abroad or have they all been silenced? I've never come across any Ukrainian voices critical of Zelensky in any Western media, which seems rather odd, if you think of it, but nobody does any more.
Given that social media platforms like Meta's Instagram likes to silence people who correctly points out how Israel loves torturing Palestine on a daily basis, it would not surprise me if the media silences and sensors Ukrainians who oppose Zelensky.
If you look up how citizens of the EU are treated for alternative views (a comment with names in this article's section) then what do you expect from Ukrainians there?
Ukrainians have historically looked askance at Russia. It wasn’t vitriolic or blood thirsty, and it wasn’t all right-wing neo-Nazis. But that segment was always kept in check, and life went on. Now the West has put the hard-core true believers in charge and they are getting their wish. After getting MI-6 to blow the bridge in Crimea, Kyiv has been shaken, and a lot of Ukrainians must be pondering their chances of surviving this big assist from Washington.
You have to admit regardless of your belief structure around COVID is was delivered with a massive, unseen before level of propaganda, coercion, demands for compliance and never ending fear mongering media. For my 2 cents any time the media is pushing something that hard there is some ulterior motive driving their actions.
One thing that became abundantly clear with the world reaction to COVID19 is that we are woefully unprepared for the release of a bio-weapon. Governments are no longer the only source of danger any longer, either. If one of the PETA trust fund brats decides that Earth would be better off with several billion fewer people on the planet it's actually within their reach to make it happen. Gene splicing equipment that was bleeding edge five years ago is available on eBay for the price of a luxury car. You can design a gene with free online tools and contract for several billion copies to be FedEx'd to you a week later for a few hundred dollars.
COVID19 showed very clearly that borders are not barriers to disease when the incubation time is more than a couple of days, and showed even clearer that nations lack either the will or the ability to coordinate a useful response across those borders. Modern travel means that a person infected in Tokyo today can be in Buenos Aires or Pretoria or Montreal tomorrow. With Pentagon-funded bio-labs in Ukraine it seems that if things go badly for the oligarchs in Kiev we may be looking at a non-nuclear Armageddon.
Humanity watches in horror, as the orange mushroom clouds billow into the sky, blinding everyone. Suddenly it's intermission. Time to get some popcorn and soda pop. What a great movie! I wonder who will survive? -- This is modern reality. Totally disconnected. Totally decontextualized from the real world.
Yeah I got a “dopey” empire apologist friend. He just spends his life swimming in and soaking up western propaganda and culture to the point now where the substructure of his brain is a coke commercial. He was telling me how my point of view is Russian propaganda and so I was like “well other than RT I don’t know any Russian news outlets. Maybe you could name a few of these purveyors of Russian propaganda so I can duly avoid them.” Of course he couldn’t think of any. I suggested that him calling something Russian propaganda was merely a talking point of the msm he was parroting. It’s all lost on him. It’s simply Putin = bad. Biden = good. Duh.
I was lamenting yesterday about the child like naivety of the infantilized American population. It was in response to Mark Hamill using star wars references about drones in support of sending more weapons to Ukraine. It was sickening the level of condescension he mustered and used on the American infant population.
The Forc(ing of wrong opinions onto the masses) is strong with Hamill. And he's a perfect example of the extreme idiocy of much of the Hollywood/DNC suck-ups of our day. The combination of ignorance and certitude among them is astounding.
A shame, though. That idiot did some good acting with that little green puppet.
People of the professional-managerial class PMC) tend to be like that, because the primary qualification for advancement in the ranks is to be a good student, by which I mean someone who earnestly takes in whatever the authorities dish out and takes care to learn it well. The authorities, of course, include the respectable media. I think it is best to avoid contradicting these people because they often become seriously upset if someone or something impugns their chosen authorities. It's really odd to see ostensibly intelligent people fall into this trap, though.
The funny thing is, I came across an article by Alexander Dugin in a Russian newspaper with the exact simplification, only the other way round: the West = Evil. Russia = good.
There must be a way out of this narrative labyrinth.
The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him.
Excellent quote. And the groundwork for the idiocy here in the USA was laid a century ago, made more potent in recent decades by the latest iteration of our "news" media and that great destroyer of humanity, "social" media. Everyone "knows" everything now.
I fight against this within myself every day. Hopefully with some success.
Someone who responded to commentary on another site said he has a female friend who was born in Ukraine, and left as a child. She now lives in the US. She claims to be a hard core liberal, even woke. She voted for Hilary and cried when she lost, and thought America's future would be bright with a Biden win. He said she highly favors a direct confrontation with Russia. Well, her presidential choices say she's no liberal, worse yet, she's nuts. Even as a child I thought adults were crazy because of their one sided view of things, America good, Russia bad. Not me, so if we did go to war both sides would be guilty and that's when I lost my fear because if adults were that crazy I didn't want to be here anymore. Now of course I want to stay and people who think like his woke friend just piss me off.
The link above describes how a German journalist Alina Lipp, has had her bank account frozen and I believe her parents accounts have also been stopped. She now faces criminal charges following her on the ground reporting of Ukrainian atrocities in the Donbas region.
The extent of MSM collusion with western governments in the cover up of the recent history leading to this conflict and the determination of governments that the truth will not emerge is truly off the charts.
European politicians cannot all be stupid, cowards or ideologues, so why are they not speaking out about the sheer madness of it all?
There's a few people like that. You can look up Frenchman Adrian Boke. Or Frenchwoman Anne-Laure Bonnel.
So your assertion "European politicians cannot all be stupid, cowards or ideologues" is likely false. They're at least one of the qualifiers, and likely two or more.
I keep thinking that we must be fairly close to the end of the West as we know it, because once propaganda and lying become default behavior, the social order is going to fall apart and the leadership and their immediate followers will not know who they are or who the other guys are. One of the important defects of lying is loss of identity. On a personal scale, the individual becomes unreliable and ineffective. On a larger community scale, the society loses its coherence and its ability to function.
THIS: "Focusing one's criticisms on the most dangerous impulses of the most powerful and destructive power structure on earth is the normal thing to do. It's not strange and suspicious when you do it, it's strange and suspicious that everyone else does not."
I just don't get it that people can't see how manipulated they are by the military industrial complex to think war is inevitable and even favorable to life on earth. I just can't understand why more people aren't suspicious as hell about what their corporate owned-and-operated politicians are up to continually giving the okay to send billions of dollars worth of arms to a corrupt regime whose puppet leader openly encourages nuclear first strikes. I guess my brain hasn't evolved enough to put up with the lethal bullsh*t these warmongers keep dishing out, huh? #NoWar
"In one of the countless billions of galaxies in the universe lies a medium-sized star, and one of its satellites, a green and insignificant planet, is now dead". - ending Beneath the Planet of the Apes
So I'm normal then? I'm normal!!! Hallelujah!! Thank you! It's not me - it's this world that has gone nuts! Hoping there will be another sunrise tomorrow morning. Cuz that's about all I got left now: a dime in my pocket and hope.
Trump yesterday came out strongly against nuclear war, and in favor of negotiations. I hope that makes people happy, and not upset, even if they hate Trump.
But Biden has been so effective at moving us toward WWIII. But to be fair, Biden was also an epic proponent of the Iraq War, and his 1994 crime bill sure sent a ton of people to jail.
And his propaganda at the time made it all sound so good, to many people.
Dear Caitlin, first txs a lot for your illuminating articles and for your style of writing that I personally love! Second, I did translate some of those in italian on my Sub propagator.substack.com (that is iin italian btw XD)
Finally, the sense of your article is much more appreciable after I translated and published yesterday the integral Putin speech for the accession of the east ukrainian Republics to Russia Federation. That speech is impressive, rarely I heard or red something like that by a President.
So, my conclusion is that if any will use nuclear arms, will be USA first, they already did for no need in 1945 in Japan and by now are the only one that used it, so they might redo... Maybe installing a couple of nuclear headed missiles in the garden of that cocaine puppet clown that is Zelensky and his nazi friends. So US can always say: "we didn't, Zelensky did"
Because Putin has already turned the page of that "special mission" in Ukraine, he has his head on something more interesting and big.
I intentionally wandered into the lions den, the comments section of MSNBC, I do this occasionally to test the waters of the empire media and its bot armies, trolls and actual followers. The outlook in MSNBC land is that I am a crazy Putin apologist, a Russian bot pointing out that Russia using a biological weapon or a nuclear weapon in Ukraine is insane. They are all convinced of the propaganda, that Putin is a mad man that has become desperate and is lashing out in an emotional revenge outburst.
From my studies of Putins speeches, the words of Lavrov, the official pronouncements of the Russian MOD: I find them to be very logical, restrained, unemotional and certainly not acting desperately. All the desperation oozes from Zelensky and western media, jumping on the smallest bit of news to yet again declare Ukrainian victories that are as illusory as smoke. All the territory taken in recent weeks by the offensives has been lost and the Ukrainian troops making those advances have also been lost.
The non stop missile campaign has the stated goal of destroying all military and political targets inside Ukraine. Russia has accepted the idea that there is no negotiating with the Nazi regime in Kiev and has decided to destroy it instead of try to negotiate.
Never thought I'd be nostalgic for the second half of the Bush years--not because I like Bush or miss him, to be clear, but because back then you could be anti-war and practically nobody would attack you for it. As opposed to now.
I got some news (second hand) from an acquaintance in Kiev. A lot of Ukrainian people want out of this war at any price, but saying so is a good way to end up in one of the SBU's torture chambers.
A lot of hysterical propaganda of fighting to the end, but everyone is sick of it, just as they are sick of the politicians who cower in their bunkers (V.A. Zelenskii, I am looking at you!) while foaming at the mouth for more war.
Reminds me of the William Sherman quote:
“It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, more vengeance, more desolation. War is hell.”
"You consider war to be inevitable? Very good. Let everyone who advocates war be enrolled in a special regiment of advance-guards, for the front of every storm, of every attack, to lead them all!"
L. N. Tolstoy, Anna Karenina
I was writing in my journal today - I find it mind boggling so many people are so willing to die for what seems so little. Although admittedly, many are trapped in Ukraine or have been coerced into dying for "the great cause". Of what, dying for a piece of land many of them don't even own? Defending their on the cover Vogue hero Zelensky - who seems all to willing to die himself?
There just is so much more we could be doing right now rather than killing each other. There is still plenty of land on the earth for people to live (hell there is even more awaiting us once we explore outside of earth). And our developing technologies do promise a release from any energy shortages we are having right now- if the efforts of the shit brained Elites weren't bent on more violence, more domination
What is any of this accomplishing? Even if the West somehow "wins" it still is an obscenity for all the lives taken away, all the infrastructure destroyed - the economies ruined as we speak. We are run by sociopathic children who think violence is the best way to move the world forward. And what amazes me, is so many are willing to die for these sociopathic children who insist all this death is justified and worth it. Worth it for whom? What's the fucking point of fighting if you end up dead? Do people understand when you're dead - you're fucking DEAD. You're gone: that's it.
William Shirer's "Berlin Diary" and "End of a Berlin Diary" are something to read to draw analogy to the current situation. The former is written as the events take place, and the latter with some documents available for a hindsight.
Very similar to what is going on now. And the testament that nothing changes. And nothing will.
I read Shirer's "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" as a teenager, but don't think I read his Berlin Diary. Will need to add it to my book queue. I've always had a fascination with World War II, even to this day. But not because I actually think war is a good way to resolve our problems in real life. War is interesting to read about - and can be a great dramatic tool in storytelling - but imaginary storytelling shouldn't be mixed up with real life. The more I have read about war, the more I realize it's one thing humans should avoid at all costs.
I assume "at all costs" shouldn't include the cost of full submission/enslavement/annihilation/etc. Unfortunately, that's where things get pushed most if not every single time.
Here's the beginning of the foreword to the "End of a Berlin Diary" to give an idea, written in 1947:
"The notes that made up the book Berlin Diary ended in December 1940, when I left Germany to return to my native land. The Third Reich, which Hitler had boasted would last a thousand years, was at that excruciating moment at the zenith of its brutal power. The Master Race had conquered most of Europe and made slaves of its stunned inhabitants. The extermination of the Jews and other peoples was under way. So were plans to turn on Russia, finish gallant Britain, and then go on, with Japan, to conquer the world by bringing the United States to heel.
When I came home from Berlin at Christmas time in 1940, I found most of my fellow countrymen unaware of what Hitler was really up to and somewhat confused as to how he had accomplished his evil designs. Some Americans didn’t much care. Since it had been my lot to witness Europe’s agony at first hand, I collected some of my notes in a book for the edification of such citizens as cared to read it.
This book of notes is, in a way, a sequel to Berlin Diary. It is the end of my own small contribution to the Berlin story. There was a great deal, of course, that a reporter had not been able to learn in the frenzied Nazi capital beyond the Elbe. The sinister plots, the fateful decisions, that had plunged the world into such awful horror and misery had been made in secret. And what had really gone on in Germany after I left? Had defeat and collapse solved the German problem—at least for the rest of our lifetime?
After the war’s end I went back to Berlin to try to find out. I prowled the obscene ruins of the once proud capital and talked with the remnants of the Herrenvolk. At Nuremberg, amidst the debris of the lovely medieval town, I saw the surviving leaders of the Nazi gangster world, who had wielded such monstrous power so arrogantly when last I beheld them, finally brought to justice. Most important of all, I had access to a good part of the fourteen hundred tons of secret German documents that the Allies had captured intact. You will find the essential portions of many of them in this book. I have been content to let the German authors tell in their own inimitable words the dark and almost unbelievable tale of their savagery and deceit. Had these secret archives of the German government been destroyed, as the Nazis intended them to be, much of the truth about our weird period in history would have been buried forever. Now it is here for those who care to learn it.
I have also tried to include in this book the thread of another story—the story of the beginning of the Peace. Reader, you and I have already forgotten the fleeting moment of glory and man’s magnificent sense of dedication the day peace descended on this wretched earth. I know that erring mortals cannot remain on the heights for long. But these notes, scribbled down at the time, may help to remind you that many on our side achieved those heights after the war’s bloody struggles had brought out their inhuman courage, their bravery, and their wonderful fortitude. At San Francisco, for a flicker of time when the United Nations was being born, I saw the high hopes, the noble purpose, the patient understanding of the men of our world seeking to find a way to permanent peace.
Where and when and how did their hopes start to turn to stone? In these day-to-day notes, perhaps, you will see how the dark cloud, which presently envelops us, grew.
... "
Unwilling to die? A soft focus Vogue cover and fawning coverage is far from the front lines.
Yes - it makes you think he's a bit deluded himself on what is going on.
Frankly, I see Zelenskii as a puppet. A cynical puppet, but he knows that he has no authority in his own house.
I didn't know Sherman knew Lindsey Graham!
this makes a lot of sense. My contacts in the south-east of Ukraine are even more critical of Zelensky and blame him for betraying them, but they cannot speak out for the same reasons: immediate problems with the SBU and at the very least very uncomfortable conversations, at most disappearance and death.
That the western "leaders" support this immoral criminal regime they raised makes it troubling multiple times over, though I understand their hard logic.
What I cannot understand is the level of brain washing among the western "intelligentsia".
If you follow the American media, there is zero analysis of the policy or the government tactics. Last Sunday ABC News had David Patraeus on and he couldn’t conceal his delight in explaining to the viewing audience that Putin has no fallback position... “ his weapons are outdated, his troops are too thin and morale is low...he’s talking about nukes because he is desperate ...”. And this is the snake oil that American TV viewers are routinely sold.
Meanwhile, Saudi has cut oil production, and that works to increase the cost and value of Russian oil. Now Biden is disgusted w/ Bin Salmon, and accusing him of being a Russian patsy.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2022/10/10/opecs-body-blow-to-biden-presidency/
So while the U.S. is vigilant in its commitment to militarily weaken Russia, Putin has been building relationships to create an alternative to the dollar. If this were chess, the queen is in jeopardy.
What about the Ukrainians living in the EU? Is there any Ukrainian opposition to Zelensky speaking out abroad or have they all been silenced? I've never come across any Ukrainian voices critical of Zelensky in any Western media, which seems rather odd, if you think of it, but nobody does any more.
Given that social media platforms like Meta's Instagram likes to silence people who correctly points out how Israel loves torturing Palestine on a daily basis, it would not surprise me if the media silences and sensors Ukrainians who oppose Zelensky.
If you look up how citizens of the EU are treated for alternative views (a comment with names in this article's section) then what do you expect from Ukrainians there?
Ukrainians have historically looked askance at Russia. It wasn’t vitriolic or blood thirsty, and it wasn’t all right-wing neo-Nazis. But that segment was always kept in check, and life went on. Now the West has put the hard-core true believers in charge and they are getting their wish. After getting MI-6 to blow the bridge in Crimea, Kyiv has been shaken, and a lot of Ukrainians must be pondering their chances of surviving this big assist from Washington.
That *is* odd. I know one, from Lvov, and he detests the regime more than I do.
The same people who hid indoors and masked/jabbed to protect themselves from a cold are now pushing for nuclear war.
While there's much to criticize about the sometimes-extreme dominant response to COVID-19, equating it to a common cold errs in the other direction.
You have to admit regardless of your belief structure around COVID is was delivered with a massive, unseen before level of propaganda, coercion, demands for compliance and never ending fear mongering media. For my 2 cents any time the media is pushing something that hard there is some ulterior motive driving their actions.
One thing that became abundantly clear with the world reaction to COVID19 is that we are woefully unprepared for the release of a bio-weapon. Governments are no longer the only source of danger any longer, either. If one of the PETA trust fund brats decides that Earth would be better off with several billion fewer people on the planet it's actually within their reach to make it happen. Gene splicing equipment that was bleeding edge five years ago is available on eBay for the price of a luxury car. You can design a gene with free online tools and contract for several billion copies to be FedEx'd to you a week later for a few hundred dollars.
COVID19 showed very clearly that borders are not barriers to disease when the incubation time is more than a couple of days, and showed even clearer that nations lack either the will or the ability to coordinate a useful response across those borders. Modern travel means that a person infected in Tokyo today can be in Buenos Aires or Pretoria or Montreal tomorrow. With Pentagon-funded bio-labs in Ukraine it seems that if things go badly for the oligarchs in Kiev we may be looking at a non-nuclear Armageddon.
Noam Chomsky is one exception.
Always be skeptical of anything that government and media are trying in tandem to sell you, even to the point of throttling dissenting narratives.
Why doesn't it sell itself?
Humanity watches in horror, as the orange mushroom clouds billow into the sky, blinding everyone. Suddenly it's intermission. Time to get some popcorn and soda pop. What a great movie! I wonder who will survive? -- This is modern reality. Totally disconnected. Totally decontextualized from the real world.
Yeah I got a “dopey” empire apologist friend. He just spends his life swimming in and soaking up western propaganda and culture to the point now where the substructure of his brain is a coke commercial. He was telling me how my point of view is Russian propaganda and so I was like “well other than RT I don’t know any Russian news outlets. Maybe you could name a few of these purveyors of Russian propaganda so I can duly avoid them.” Of course he couldn’t think of any. I suggested that him calling something Russian propaganda was merely a talking point of the msm he was parroting. It’s all lost on him. It’s simply Putin = bad. Biden = good. Duh.
I was lamenting yesterday about the child like naivety of the infantilized American population. It was in response to Mark Hamill using star wars references about drones in support of sending more weapons to Ukraine. It was sickening the level of condescension he mustered and used on the American infant population.
The Forc(ing of wrong opinions onto the masses) is strong with Hamill. And he's a perfect example of the extreme idiocy of much of the Hollywood/DNC suck-ups of our day. The combination of ignorance and certitude among them is astounding.
A shame, though. That idiot did some good acting with that little green puppet.
People of the professional-managerial class PMC) tend to be like that, because the primary qualification for advancement in the ranks is to be a good student, by which I mean someone who earnestly takes in whatever the authorities dish out and takes care to learn it well. The authorities, of course, include the respectable media. I think it is best to avoid contradicting these people because they often become seriously upset if someone or something impugns their chosen authorities. It's really odd to see ostensibly intelligent people fall into this trap, though.
The funny thing is, I came across an article by Alexander Dugin in a Russian newspaper with the exact simplification, only the other way round: the West = Evil. Russia = good.
There must be a way out of this narrative labyrinth.
I’m familiar with Dugin’s philosophical background and find such reductionisms puerile. Rejection of simplification is our “way out”.
The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him.
Leo Tolstoy, The Kingdom of God Is Within You
Excellent quote. And the groundwork for the idiocy here in the USA was laid a century ago, made more potent in recent decades by the latest iteration of our "news" media and that great destroyer of humanity, "social" media. Everyone "knows" everything now.
I fight against this within myself every day. Hopefully with some success.
Someone who responded to commentary on another site said he has a female friend who was born in Ukraine, and left as a child. She now lives in the US. She claims to be a hard core liberal, even woke. She voted for Hilary and cried when she lost, and thought America's future would be bright with a Biden win. He said she highly favors a direct confrontation with Russia. Well, her presidential choices say she's no liberal, worse yet, she's nuts. Even as a child I thought adults were crazy because of their one sided view of things, America good, Russia bad. Not me, so if we did go to war both sides would be guilty and that's when I lost my fear because if adults were that crazy I didn't want to be here anymore. Now of course I want to stay and people who think like his woke friend just piss me off.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/
german-journalist-faces-three-years-prison-over-reporting-donbass-region
The link above describes how a German journalist Alina Lipp, has had her bank account frozen and I believe her parents accounts have also been stopped. She now faces criminal charges following her on the ground reporting of Ukrainian atrocities in the Donbas region.
The extent of MSM collusion with western governments in the cover up of the recent history leading to this conflict and the determination of governments that the truth will not emerge is truly off the charts.
European politicians cannot all be stupid, cowards or ideologues, so why are they not speaking out about the sheer madness of it all?
There's a few people like that. You can look up Frenchman Adrian Boke. Or Frenchwoman Anne-Laure Bonnel.
So your assertion "European politicians cannot all be stupid, cowards or ideologues" is likely false. They're at least one of the qualifiers, and likely two or more.
If they were not cynics, cowards or ideologues, they would not be where they are today.
I keep thinking that we must be fairly close to the end of the West as we know it, because once propaganda and lying become default behavior, the social order is going to fall apart and the leadership and their immediate followers will not know who they are or who the other guys are. One of the important defects of lying is loss of identity. On a personal scale, the individual becomes unreliable and ineffective. On a larger community scale, the society loses its coherence and its ability to function.
If there is any truth to The Iron Law Of Oligarchy, what we are seeing now is but a reversion to the mean.
THIS: "Focusing one's criticisms on the most dangerous impulses of the most powerful and destructive power structure on earth is the normal thing to do. It's not strange and suspicious when you do it, it's strange and suspicious that everyone else does not."
I just don't get it that people can't see how manipulated they are by the military industrial complex to think war is inevitable and even favorable to life on earth. I just can't understand why more people aren't suspicious as hell about what their corporate owned-and-operated politicians are up to continually giving the okay to send billions of dollars worth of arms to a corrupt regime whose puppet leader openly encourages nuclear first strikes. I guess my brain hasn't evolved enough to put up with the lethal bullsh*t these warmongers keep dishing out, huh? #NoWar
"In one of the countless billions of galaxies in the universe lies a medium-sized star, and one of its satellites, a green and insignificant planet, is now dead". - ending Beneath the Planet of the Apes
“It’s a MADHOUSE! A MADHOUSE!
good one
So I'm normal then? I'm normal!!! Hallelujah!! Thank you! It's not me - it's this world that has gone nuts! Hoping there will be another sunrise tomorrow morning. Cuz that's about all I got left now: a dime in my pocket and hope.
Me too. I think it's all most of have.
Trump yesterday came out strongly against nuclear war, and in favor of negotiations. I hope that makes people happy, and not upset, even if they hate Trump.
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2022/10/09/trump_demand_immediate_negotiation_of_a_peaceful_end_to_the_war_in_ukraine.html
I am not trying to win you over to Trump. Just take good statements where you can get them.
I'm starting to think that we would have been better off had the United States re-elected Donald Trump in 2020.
But Biden has been so effective at moving us toward WWIII. But to be fair, Biden was also an epic proponent of the Iraq War, and his 1994 crime bill sure sent a ton of people to jail.
And his propaganda at the time made it all sound so good, to many people.
Just a reminder of the preparations: https://rumble.com/vwnkvz-flash-back-mccain-and-graham-in-the-ukraine..html
Lindsay Graham to Ukrainian soldiers: "Your fight is our fight"
Dear Caitlin, first txs a lot for your illuminating articles and for your style of writing that I personally love! Second, I did translate some of those in italian on my Sub propagator.substack.com (that is iin italian btw XD)
Finally, the sense of your article is much more appreciable after I translated and published yesterday the integral Putin speech for the accession of the east ukrainian Republics to Russia Federation. That speech is impressive, rarely I heard or red something like that by a President.
So, my conclusion is that if any will use nuclear arms, will be USA first, they already did for no need in 1945 in Japan and by now are the only one that used it, so they might redo... Maybe installing a couple of nuclear headed missiles in the garden of that cocaine puppet clown that is Zelensky and his nazi friends. So US can always say: "we didn't, Zelensky did"
Because Putin has already turned the page of that "special mission" in Ukraine, he has his head on something more interesting and big.
I intentionally wandered into the lions den, the comments section of MSNBC, I do this occasionally to test the waters of the empire media and its bot armies, trolls and actual followers. The outlook in MSNBC land is that I am a crazy Putin apologist, a Russian bot pointing out that Russia using a biological weapon or a nuclear weapon in Ukraine is insane. They are all convinced of the propaganda, that Putin is a mad man that has become desperate and is lashing out in an emotional revenge outburst.
From my studies of Putins speeches, the words of Lavrov, the official pronouncements of the Russian MOD: I find them to be very logical, restrained, unemotional and certainly not acting desperately. All the desperation oozes from Zelensky and western media, jumping on the smallest bit of news to yet again declare Ukrainian victories that are as illusory as smoke. All the territory taken in recent weeks by the offensives has been lost and the Ukrainian troops making those advances have also been lost.
The non stop missile campaign has the stated goal of destroying all military and political targets inside Ukraine. Russia has accepted the idea that there is no negotiating with the Nazi regime in Kiev and has decided to destroy it instead of try to negotiate.
Sounds like the #BlueMAGA crowd from Twitter. All the liberals there are... how can I put this nicely... hypnotized and possessed.
Never thought I'd be nostalgic for the second half of the Bush years--not because I like Bush or miss him, to be clear, but because back then you could be anti-war and practically nobody would attack you for it. As opposed to now.