"The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it." -Morpheus
We're watching a maniac agenda playing out. And somehow it seems to have the support not only of corrupt political elites but also - bafflingly - from a super-majority of regular citizens turned into self-righteous asses by infantile news propaganda.
Hysterical sanctions, severing of trade links, illegal broken contracts, unprecedented breaches of trust stealing Russia's forex savings, increasingly aggressive NATO expansion, universal exclusion and vilification of everything Russians, a willing submission by "Western" scientists, academics, business leaders, industry, corporations to the depraved worldview of America's most sociopathic war hawks, the overnight transformation of entire populations into Russophobic zealots; and a relentless stream of weapons and covert military operators from unaccountable foreign powers into Ukraine.
The conflict is being recklessly turned into an existential threat for Russia. This will inevitably lead to serious escalation beyond the borders of Ukraine.
The coda of our present trajectory is nuclear holocaust.
I thought of what I'm going to call my video on your research, NE -- Manufacturing Contempt. The connection between Covid goes deeper than even the m.o., much to my surprise. Those biolabs may have created the virus, from the suspicions of Ukranians who petitioned for an investigation. Peter Dasdak was involved and the founder of the Ukranian biolab company, who is a WEF Young Leader, wrote a paper with him on coronaviruses in bats.
They were funded by the CIA, USAID, DoD, Google, Gates, and Hunter Biden's investment firm! As my daughter Cassandra says, you’ve got to admire Hunter’s industry, it seems like he’s got his fingers in everything. No wonder he’s leaving his laptop in repair shops—he was practically late to the meeting to start WWIII!
The main article with this info, and much more on the Covid connection, is Dr. Joseph Mercola. I have a link to his article in mine:
I love your reference to "Manufacturing Contempt." Use it extensively because ironically, the Zionist Noam Chomsky, author of "Manufacturing Consent," has become a leader in the that contempt movement. Never again?
I don't know about Chomsky being a Zionist, although certainly Jewish. Is there evidence of that? It seems like the positions that made him so credible were 100% against the New World Order. But I totally agree that his position on the unvaccinated is thoroughly disappointing. I'm attributing it to age and everyone having blind spots. BTW, love your moniker and its equalizing of both parties.
‘I am opposed to any appearance in Israel that is used for nationalistic or other propaganda purposes to cover up its occupation and denial of Palestinian human rights. I’ve been involved in activities to hold Israel accountable for its international law violations since before the BDS movement took shape. While I have some tactical differences with the BDS movement, I strongly support the actions and continue to participate in them.’
Interesting. Sounds like I should attribute another blind spot to him on BDS. But I know he's been outspoken in condemning Israel's treatment of Palestine, isn't that true? Or am I misremembering?
Thanks, Asher, for making that distinction. I've thought of Palestine as the litmus test for whether an organization or person actually cared about human rights or was just making a career of pretending to care. It seemed that Chomsky had put his own career and reputation on the firing line by his positions for Palestine. I thought I remembered him being tarred with the 'self-hating Jew' brush.
If I were to turn against everyone who's been taken in by the "manufactured contempt" of the vaccine- and WWIII-hesitant, there would be few left. These are hard times to think clearly and we need all the friends we can get.
Hmmm... since this started with my title (I just posted the video and am working on the Substack), I wanted to get clarification. You said Chomsky was a Zionist and I asked why. You said he was on a kibbutz when young (showing he's Jewish) and was against BDS. BeliTsari gave a quote from Chomsky that he was unequivocally refusing to appear in Israel because of his opposition to its occupation and denial of Palestinian human rights, and was supportive of the aims of BDS. So I'd like to know your definition of Zionist, that would fit Chomsky.
A Zionist is anybody who believes there should be a homeland for Jews. Yes, Chomsky opposes the most egregious violations of indigenous rights, as well as the settlements, but I've never heard him say Israel should not exist as a Jewish state. He knows that the "two state" solution is deader than a doorknob, but has he come out in favor of a unitary state? Does he support any sort of right to return?
Chomsky challenges Israel's "right to exist" because in his view no state has a "right to exist," but at the same time he says Israel has "the right to live in peace and security within its recognized international borders, understood to be the pre-June 1967 borders, with minor and mutual adjustments." He opposes BDS and calling Israel out as an apartheid state. Does he say anything about the discrimination against Palestinian citizens within those pre-1967 borders?
When covid -19 surfaced in China , I bought into the rhetoric that it was China. I assumed it was biological warfare as a means to gain an global advantage and silence Hong Kong citizens protesting for Independence from China.
But I now realise a ‘set up ‘ can be orchestrated from a foreign country. Similar in nature to tech savvy people that know how to bounce IP addresses in order to hide their place of origin.
I will never stop believing that COVID was a bioweapon, like Lyme disease. And like Lyme disease, it got out by accident and the governments went into overdrive to save face by covering up their ineptitude. If you’re unfamiliar with Lyme disease look up the history of plum island, and the ex-nazi who ran it.
Now with that being said I do not believe the release of it was intentional. Why damage a perfectly good economy for those already in power?
Oh, here are the links with an intro quote I wrote in 2010:
"... my Google searches led me to the question of whether AIDS was developed as a biological weapon. After we look at the heroic ways in which people are rising to meet the challenge of AIDS, we'll examine the evidence for whether that challenge was man-made, not an act of God or nature."
And: "Responding to Russell's interview of Edward Snowden, called The Greatest Conspiracies Are In Plain Sight, I give my list of the three biggest conspiracies: tax havens, financial derivatives and money itself. I explain what Mafia techniques are used with tax havens, how one building in Delaware houses 280,000 companies, why the interest rate makes me hot, and who stole the right to make money out of nothing and own your home for free. But to start, I find a common 'rub' between pole dancing, online dating, and capitalism."
Agreed on all points (Lyme especially and I'll post a link to some research on AIDS that I put on my radio show a decade ago.) The only real question is intentional or not, which is a point where Ronnie Cummings and Joseph Mercola disagree in their book, The Truth About Covid-19. I lean towards intentional because capital was already in a crisis of overaccumulation, as I talk about in my book. The banker-Zionist link is certainly real, which is why I think we should be careful about using the term lightly. I'll post a link to another episode on Edward Snowden that talks about it. The asset grab now is a desperate attempt to hurl money onto any lifeboat before the petrodollar Titanic goes down.
Yes despite whether vaccines are safe and effective (I don’t think they are), this is absolutely in line with the same manipulation CJ speaks of above. I’ve often wondered why she avoids this parallel.
I've know for at least 50 years that the US DoS and DoD are thoroughly corrupt, and even knew there was corruption present in HHH. The past 5 years taught me that the Democratic Party is corrupt beyond salvation as well as that the Republican Party leadership is also corrupt but at least the Party's bylaws leave it open to the will of the people. The past two years have taught me that HHH and all its alphabet agencies are corrupt to the core and that corporate media and in fact most corporations are steeped in corruption. The core of the Western Empire, consisting of the Anglosphere, is far more corrupt than Zimbabwe.
That said, when Caitlin says, "...and everything you were taught about your nation, your government and your world is a lie, that's definitely a possibility worth considering," I have considered such a nihilistic conclusion about "what you were taught" and I reject it completely. In school, I was taught that the US was founded on the Enlightenment belief in the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. and that the Bill of Rights was adopted in order to guarantee that government would not infringe on the individual natural or God-given rights expressed therein. I also learned of countless individual Americans who struggled for over 200 years, against the hypocrisy of moneyed interests, to bring those rights to reality. Some struggled peacefully, like William Lloyd Garrison and Martin Luther King, Jr., some not so peacefully, like John Brown. Garrison narrowly avoided martyrdom; others did not. It's counter-productive to ignore the true principles on which the country was founded or to claim those principles somehow serve "white supremacy" when so many white men in the Union Army fought to end slavery and many of the martyrs of the Civil Rights struggle were white. We must revere our heroes and heroines and the principles for which they struggled and many died. Not all white people are members of an "oppressor class" that controls the narrative, and not all minorities are victims.
It is true that "...we're all being manipulated at mass scale to think, act and vote in a way which benefits a vast power structure that rules over us while hiding its true nature," but that power structure is not controlled by ALL white people, and there are many BIPOC like Barack Obama, Condoleeza Rice, Colin Powell and Susan Rice who are part of that power structure. J. D. Vance is not (yet) a member of that "power structure," nor the millions of "hill billies" and other "poor white trash" who struggle through life as unrecognized victims of prejudice. The claims that equal opportunity and cultural values like hard work, standard English and STEM somehow serve "white supremacy" are merely attempts to destroy the fabric of society so we can "build back better." But what are we planning to build? If it's a society where incompetents are advanced because they are "members of a traditionally marginalized identity" while hard-working, competent people who don't have such victimhood are victimized, we should all oppose that. You can't fight evil with evil methods, and society will not progress by holding back segments of its "best and brightest" regardless of group identity.
We need a revival of basic American values, and I don't care if that sounds "conservative," or in opposition to race or "feminist" hustlers. I've "paid my dues" by treating all people I interact with equally regardless of their majority, minority or sexual identity. My ancestors were not slavers, but were themselves "wage slaves." This country will be destroyed if we persist in disadvantaging hard working, competent members of any identity group because of ASSUMED guilt.
I read most of Caitlin's stuff. I think I remember Big Brother, but a more careful reading was useful. Like Rod Serling, "How to serve man." I've never read anything by C. Wright Mills, but he has popped into my radar frequently in the last few months. Perhaps I'll read The Power Elite. It may be even more relevant today than it was in 1956.
Its more than Ukraine at this point... as you said earlier in another blog, the main target is china because America feels threatened and wants to maintain hegemony. That’s why the stuff with Pakistan happened just now too. America will do anything and everything to ensure western neoliberalism stays in power
May I add: if you are starting to realize that the old left right divide no longer seems to make sense maybe you should watch Fox and listen to a Trump rally and see what your erstwhile enemy has in common with you and your new sensibility.
Populist is a difficult word, it is a pejorative foisted on us as a disparagement by them that chatter, our betters, them that accrue to themselves the right to arbitrate truth.
Well aa dinae consider masel as yin o yer "betters" and aa understand the term "populist". Hitler ws a prime example o' a populist, promisin the people whit they wanted tae hear. Jobs food and an a better economy etc etc etc. Make Deutschland great again blah blah.
Yup. Unprecedented deluge of propaganda coming from western MSM. I scan headlines in MSM then go see something completely different in independent and foreign non-western news services. #EndTheEmpireOfLies has become my standard hashtag.
I just posted this in WaPo. Let’s see if it survives the mods.
The US is ruled by people who never know when and where to stop. Russian oligarchs?
How about health care? Appalling longevity? Gun control? World or Western world-leading murder, mass murder, racial murder, incarceration, pollution, obesity, child poverty, divorce, …. The list is endless. And see PISA scores for adolescent educational attainment if you want to feel real good.
Is this what happens when a fraudulent Saturday morning cartoon Empire unravels? The evil rulers seek things for which they won’t ever be accountable, to distract from the awful realities? Russian oligarchs? You’ve gone completely out of your minds.
Caitlin: If you believe it's possible that these existential crises we're fast approaching may be the catalyst we need to collectively rip the blindfold from our eyes and begin moving in a truth-based way upon this earth and creating a healthy world, then we are on the same page.
“If you can't recall ever seeing such intense mass media spin about a war before, it's because you haven't.”
Now granted, I don’t have time right now to click through the link, and maybe this is indeed the *most* propagandized war, but I’ll never forget Iraq.
I’m so sick of the lies. Russia invading Ukraine for whatever objective is terrible, but the relentless hypocritical lies are even worse. If international laws actually applied to Americans every president post WW2 would be hung for the same reasons liberals are frothing at the mouth at the idea of hanging Putin.
As a leftist, it’s *insane* to me how much my “progressive” “liberal” friends have been propagandized into mush over this.
Yeah, Iraq was pre-Twitter, but Iraq was HUGE. The battle for Jessica Lynch! Remember that one. Freedom fries! Dixie Chicks BANNED for daring speak out about the war. Every media outlet except I think McClatchy (yeah, youve never heard of them) were pro war.
Only in America. In Scotland(UK) there wisnae the same wall tae wall. coverage in support o' the unlawful Iraq war as it is today wae regards tae Ukraine.
Those o' us who are anti war despise the lies that are used tae justify barbarism.
"If you get the distinct impression that this may be the most aggressively perception-managed and psyop-intensive war in human history, it's because it is."
I gotta question her memory and breadth of historical knowledge, if she thinks the west is currently conducting the heaviest censorship campaign surrounding a war in human history. Russia and China have quite literally banned all press outlets not owned by the state
Considering the revolving door between mainstream journalists and the intelligence services, it’s essentially state owned media but with extra steps. And that ignores the role of the government and social media company crackdowns. “Freedom of speech*” *see terms and conditions.
The government can’t outright ban speech so they control the narrative via private third parties instead.
It’s pointless on the federal level unless you’re voting in the primaries or in a swing state (and even then, it’s manufactured consent between corporate owned candidate red or corporate owned candidate blue).
HOWEVER, locally your vote matters. School board, local representatives, etc. we have to prevent the fascists from taking over state and local governments. Unless you live somewhere where people run unopposed... I didn’t bother voting in the most recent local election because the whole slate ran unopposed. And even if there is opposition good luck figuring out the different candidates views since most local media has been gutted and bought out by national conglomerates pushing an agenda.
Btw my “let’s vote harder!” was sarcasm. Voting isn’t going to fix systemic issues that are there by design and working as intended. Liberal democracy doesn’t work. I say that as a millennial living in the US who’s had 12 years of presidents who lost the popular vote and a wildly gerrymandered house that doesn’t remotely represent the will of the overall people. I’m sick of the boomer death grip on all the points of power in this country. When are these 80 somethings who couldn’t give a damn about nuclear annihilation or climate change going to fucking croak already. I wish COVID were deadlier so pelosi et al can go to hell.
👋👋👋 Aye, some years back in Iceland women got the giether sn s formed a Women's Party. In their manifesto was the 'Two terms of Office' . Politicians only allowed 2 terms of office at one time. Jist like yer ain office o' president but with the chance to return after a break.
The main established male dominated parties smartened up their acts and adopted some of the women's ideas sans the two terms stuff..lol.
A perfect article for today! I put my article on Substack yesterday that starts: "How did the Left become obedient, pro-corporate, pro-censorship, pro-propaganda warmongers? Let’s look at how we learned to stop worrying and love the lie. As Caitlin Johnstone published in US Officials Admit They’re Literally Just Lying to the Public About Russia, these are not lies exposed in some backwater, shadow-banned conspiracy theory website." Then I continue with your NBC quotes and others from When You Lie... I've noticed that some readers are clicking on the links to here.
But in the video, I mistakenly assume Zelensky is not in Ukraine and looked it up AFTER I published it, finding this photo op that seemed so much the brooding hero. But proving my point that he didn't have the ability to negotiate peace, I read Aaron Mate's amazing article yesterday about how Zelensky is captured, not just by the West, but by his own neo-Nazi forces who say openly they will hang him from a tree if he negotiates. So I include that in the article:
The "aliens-from-space" still have to make their appearance to finish their devious plans, after countless virus scares and world war three. You see, the aliens-from-space will be our saviors, since we have cancelled all past heroes, they now must come from "off planet", in order to be that which saves humanity from itself.
Unless this IS the human's last hurrah, then I say, let's GO!
Waiting for saviours is a deeply religious thinking. Once civilisations have developed far enough that they have reached peacefulness, freedom, harmony and thus major wisdom, they realise that blooming life on other planets across the universe needs to fulfil its duty and evolutionize on its own, without interference. We could well face some less developed alien civilisation visitors showing up for study trips, they might bring many things, not necessarily development aid. Ultimately our personal, societal and Earthlings fate lies in our own hands.
Be not mistaken, as I wait for nobody, especially "aliens-from-outer-space". They will be government inventions. Govern=Control Ment=Mental functions/capacities. Never content if not causing chaos, the government's hegemony against us, as in we the people, will grind on in perpetuity.
"The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it." -Morpheus
Propaganda works.
People kill for what they believe in, history 101.
We're watching a maniac agenda playing out. And somehow it seems to have the support not only of corrupt political elites but also - bafflingly - from a super-majority of regular citizens turned into self-righteous asses by infantile news propaganda.
Hysterical sanctions, severing of trade links, illegal broken contracts, unprecedented breaches of trust stealing Russia's forex savings, increasingly aggressive NATO expansion, universal exclusion and vilification of everything Russians, a willing submission by "Western" scientists, academics, business leaders, industry, corporations to the depraved worldview of America's most sociopathic war hawks, the overnight transformation of entire populations into Russophobic zealots; and a relentless stream of weapons and covert military operators from unaccountable foreign powers into Ukraine.
The conflict is being recklessly turned into an existential threat for Russia. This will inevitably lead to serious escalation beyond the borders of Ukraine.
The coda of our present trajectory is nuclear holocaust.
The priorities of the US cohabit with pinworms in the aptly named descending colon.
I hear you
They did it with Covid - making the vaxxed hate the unvaccinated, so they can do it with Ukraine.
https://nakedemperor.substack.com/p/why-anger-towards-the-unvaccinated?s=w
I thought of what I'm going to call my video on your research, NE -- Manufacturing Contempt. The connection between Covid goes deeper than even the m.o., much to my surprise. Those biolabs may have created the virus, from the suspicions of Ukranians who petitioned for an investigation. Peter Dasdak was involved and the founder of the Ukranian biolab company, who is a WEF Young Leader, wrote a paper with him on coronaviruses in bats.
They were funded by the CIA, USAID, DoD, Google, Gates, and Hunter Biden's investment firm! As my daughter Cassandra says, you’ve got to admire Hunter’s industry, it seems like he’s got his fingers in everything. No wonder he’s leaving his laptop in repair shops—he was practically late to the meeting to start WWIII!
The main article with this info, and much more on the Covid connection, is Dr. Joseph Mercola. I have a link to his article in mine:
https://thirdparadigm.substack.com/p/what-zelensky-should-keep
I love your reference to "Manufacturing Contempt." Use it extensively because ironically, the Zionist Noam Chomsky, author of "Manufacturing Consent," has become a leader in the that contempt movement. Never again?
I don't know about Chomsky being a Zionist, although certainly Jewish. Is there evidence of that? It seems like the positions that made him so credible were 100% against the New World Order. But I totally agree that his position on the unvaccinated is thoroughly disappointing. I'm attributing it to age and everyone having blind spots. BTW, love your moniker and its equalizing of both parties.
He spent time on a Kibbutz as a youth. He's stated publicly that he opposes BDS because it would threaten the existence of the Jewish state.
‘I am opposed to any appearance in Israel that is used for nationalistic or other propaganda purposes to cover up its occupation and denial of Palestinian human rights. I’ve been involved in activities to hold Israel accountable for its international law violations since before the BDS movement took shape. While I have some tactical differences with the BDS movement, I strongly support the actions and continue to participate in them.’
Is this a quote from Chomsky?
Chomsky did??? Ughh that makes me lose my last fiber of respect for him
Interesting. Sounds like I should attribute another blind spot to him on BDS. But I know he's been outspoken in condemning Israel's treatment of Palestine, isn't that true? Or am I misremembering?
Israel is so atrocious that there will always be incidents at the fringe that can be condemned to enhance one's own credibility.
Noam Chomsky is NOT a Zionist. Do not conflate being Jewish with being Zionist.
Thanks, Asher, for making that distinction. I've thought of Palestine as the litmus test for whether an organization or person actually cared about human rights or was just making a career of pretending to care. It seemed that Chomsky had put his own career and reputation on the firing line by his positions for Palestine. I thought I remembered him being tarred with the 'self-hating Jew' brush.
If I were to turn against everyone who's been taken in by the "manufactured contempt" of the vaccine- and WWIII-hesitant, there would be few left. These are hard times to think clearly and we need all the friends we can get.
I do NOT conflate the two. Rather, you are either ignorant or very undiscerning.
Hmmm... since this started with my title (I just posted the video and am working on the Substack), I wanted to get clarification. You said Chomsky was a Zionist and I asked why. You said he was on a kibbutz when young (showing he's Jewish) and was against BDS. BeliTsari gave a quote from Chomsky that he was unequivocally refusing to appear in Israel because of his opposition to its occupation and denial of Palestinian human rights, and was supportive of the aims of BDS. So I'd like to know your definition of Zionist, that would fit Chomsky.
A Zionist is anybody who believes there should be a homeland for Jews. Yes, Chomsky opposes the most egregious violations of indigenous rights, as well as the settlements, but I've never heard him say Israel should not exist as a Jewish state. He knows that the "two state" solution is deader than a doorknob, but has he come out in favor of a unitary state? Does he support any sort of right to return?
Chomsky challenges Israel's "right to exist" because in his view no state has a "right to exist," but at the same time he says Israel has "the right to live in peace and security within its recognized international borders, understood to be the pre-June 1967 borders, with minor and mutual adjustments." He opposes BDS and calling Israel out as an apartheid state. Does he say anything about the discrimination against Palestinian citizens within those pre-1967 borders?
When covid -19 surfaced in China , I bought into the rhetoric that it was China. I assumed it was biological warfare as a means to gain an global advantage and silence Hong Kong citizens protesting for Independence from China.
But I now realise a ‘set up ‘ can be orchestrated from a foreign country. Similar in nature to tech savvy people that know how to bounce IP addresses in order to hide their place of origin.
I will never stop believing that COVID was a bioweapon, like Lyme disease. And like Lyme disease, it got out by accident and the governments went into overdrive to save face by covering up their ineptitude. If you’re unfamiliar with Lyme disease look up the history of plum island, and the ex-nazi who ran it.
Now with that being said I do not believe the release of it was intentional. Why damage a perfectly good economy for those already in power?
Oh, here are the links with an intro quote I wrote in 2010:
"... my Google searches led me to the question of whether AIDS was developed as a biological weapon. After we look at the heroic ways in which people are rising to meet the challenge of AIDS, we'll examine the evidence for whether that challenge was man-made, not an act of God or nature."
http://thirdparadigm.org/3p_055.php
And: "Responding to Russell's interview of Edward Snowden, called The Greatest Conspiracies Are In Plain Sight, I give my list of the three biggest conspiracies: tax havens, financial derivatives and money itself. I explain what Mafia techniques are used with tax havens, how one building in Delaware houses 280,000 companies, why the interest rate makes me hot, and who stole the right to make money out of nothing and own your home for free. But to start, I find a common 'rub' between pole dancing, online dating, and capitalism."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKK2Ntqah3A
Agreed on all points (Lyme especially and I'll post a link to some research on AIDS that I put on my radio show a decade ago.) The only real question is intentional or not, which is a point where Ronnie Cummings and Joseph Mercola disagree in their book, The Truth About Covid-19. I lean towards intentional because capital was already in a crisis of overaccumulation, as I talk about in my book. The banker-Zionist link is certainly real, which is why I think we should be careful about using the term lightly. I'll post a link to another episode on Edward Snowden that talks about it. The asset grab now is a desperate attempt to hurl money onto any lifeboat before the petrodollar Titanic goes down.
Yes despite whether vaccines are safe and effective (I don’t think they are), this is absolutely in line with the same manipulation CJ speaks of above. I’ve often wondered why she avoids this parallel.
Yes , I woke up from that sleep as I became aware of the divisiveness of that script.
Deviant narrative.
The last sentence spoke to me. I still have hope for humanity.
Please see my post from a few minutes ago. This might further increase your hope.
I've know for at least 50 years that the US DoS and DoD are thoroughly corrupt, and even knew there was corruption present in HHH. The past 5 years taught me that the Democratic Party is corrupt beyond salvation as well as that the Republican Party leadership is also corrupt but at least the Party's bylaws leave it open to the will of the people. The past two years have taught me that HHH and all its alphabet agencies are corrupt to the core and that corporate media and in fact most corporations are steeped in corruption. The core of the Western Empire, consisting of the Anglosphere, is far more corrupt than Zimbabwe.
That said, when Caitlin says, "...and everything you were taught about your nation, your government and your world is a lie, that's definitely a possibility worth considering," I have considered such a nihilistic conclusion about "what you were taught" and I reject it completely. In school, I was taught that the US was founded on the Enlightenment belief in the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. and that the Bill of Rights was adopted in order to guarantee that government would not infringe on the individual natural or God-given rights expressed therein. I also learned of countless individual Americans who struggled for over 200 years, against the hypocrisy of moneyed interests, to bring those rights to reality. Some struggled peacefully, like William Lloyd Garrison and Martin Luther King, Jr., some not so peacefully, like John Brown. Garrison narrowly avoided martyrdom; others did not. It's counter-productive to ignore the true principles on which the country was founded or to claim those principles somehow serve "white supremacy" when so many white men in the Union Army fought to end slavery and many of the martyrs of the Civil Rights struggle were white. We must revere our heroes and heroines and the principles for which they struggled and many died. Not all white people are members of an "oppressor class" that controls the narrative, and not all minorities are victims.
It is true that "...we're all being manipulated at mass scale to think, act and vote in a way which benefits a vast power structure that rules over us while hiding its true nature," but that power structure is not controlled by ALL white people, and there are many BIPOC like Barack Obama, Condoleeza Rice, Colin Powell and Susan Rice who are part of that power structure. J. D. Vance is not (yet) a member of that "power structure," nor the millions of "hill billies" and other "poor white trash" who struggle through life as unrecognized victims of prejudice. The claims that equal opportunity and cultural values like hard work, standard English and STEM somehow serve "white supremacy" are merely attempts to destroy the fabric of society so we can "build back better." But what are we planning to build? If it's a society where incompetents are advanced because they are "members of a traditionally marginalized identity" while hard-working, competent people who don't have such victimhood are victimized, we should all oppose that. You can't fight evil with evil methods, and society will not progress by holding back segments of its "best and brightest" regardless of group identity.
We need a revival of basic American values, and I don't care if that sounds "conservative," or in opposition to race or "feminist" hustlers. I've "paid my dues" by treating all people I interact with equally regardless of their majority, minority or sexual identity. My ancestors were not slavers, but were themselves "wage slaves." This country will be destroyed if we persist in disadvantaging hard working, competent members of any identity group because of ASSUMED guilt.
I agree with what you say, a-r, AND I agree with the link behind Caitlin's words that you quoted: https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2022/01/21/consider-the-possibility-that-this-is-already-the-dystopia-you-fear/
I read most of Caitlin's stuff. I think I remember Big Brother, but a more careful reading was useful. Like Rod Serling, "How to serve man." I've never read anything by C. Wright Mills, but he has popped into my radar frequently in the last few months. Perhaps I'll read The Power Elite. It may be even more relevant today than it was in 1956.
Its more than Ukraine at this point... as you said earlier in another blog, the main target is china because America feels threatened and wants to maintain hegemony. That’s why the stuff with Pakistan happened just now too. America will do anything and everything to ensure western neoliberalism stays in power
Bernays vs the masses one more time. Hope you're right and this is a Tocqueville "Ancien Regime and the Revolution" moment.
I wonder if the Ukrainian soldiers smoke Lucky Strike?
Perfect!
May I add: if you are starting to realize that the old left right divide no longer seems to make sense maybe you should watch Fox and listen to a Trump rally and see what your erstwhile enemy has in common with you and your new sensibility.
Definitely! Populist unity above all else, party politics is irrelevant at this point as im sure u realized
The "Establishment" vs "Everyone Else".
Populist is a difficult word, it is a pejorative foisted on us as a disparagement by them that chatter, our betters, them that accrue to themselves the right to arbitrate truth.
Well aa dinae consider masel as yin o yer "betters" and aa understand the term "populist". Hitler ws a prime example o' a populist, promisin the people whit they wanted tae hear. Jobs food and an a better economy etc etc etc. Make Deutschland great again blah blah.
Soonds familiar tae me.
Trump as Hitler
Aa never daid that. As used his tactics as an example. If ye had ubderstood the chaos o Veimar Germany nd the effect o Hitlers populist messages.
Boris Johnson is anither example.
But i personally think being for the people means being anti racist which obviously hitler is not
Trump isnae "for" oanybody but himself.
Russell Brand interviews Thomas Frank on this subject: https://rumble.com/v108h77-we-thinks-this-is-right-wing...but-actually-its-not..html
Spot on, girl! 💪👏👏👏
Yup. Unprecedented deluge of propaganda coming from western MSM. I scan headlines in MSM then go see something completely different in independent and foreign non-western news services. #EndTheEmpireOfLies has become my standard hashtag.
Great #
I just posted this in WaPo. Let’s see if it survives the mods.
The US is ruled by people who never know when and where to stop. Russian oligarchs?
How about health care? Appalling longevity? Gun control? World or Western world-leading murder, mass murder, racial murder, incarceration, pollution, obesity, child poverty, divorce, …. The list is endless. And see PISA scores for adolescent educational attainment if you want to feel real good.
Is this what happens when a fraudulent Saturday morning cartoon Empire unravels? The evil rulers seek things for which they won’t ever be accountable, to distract from the awful realities? Russian oligarchs? You’ve gone completely out of your minds.
Go Caitlin.
Caitlin: If you believe it's possible that these existential crises we're fast approaching may be the catalyst we need to collectively rip the blindfold from our eyes and begin moving in a truth-based way upon this earth and creating a healthy world, then we are on the same page.
Congruent 👏🏼
I take issue with this:
“If you can't recall ever seeing such intense mass media spin about a war before, it's because you haven't.”
Now granted, I don’t have time right now to click through the link, and maybe this is indeed the *most* propagandized war, but I’ll never forget Iraq.
I’m so sick of the lies. Russia invading Ukraine for whatever objective is terrible, but the relentless hypocritical lies are even worse. If international laws actually applied to Americans every president post WW2 would be hung for the same reasons liberals are frothing at the mouth at the idea of hanging Putin.
As a leftist, it’s *insane* to me how much my “progressive” “liberal” friends have been propagandized into mush over this.
Let’s just vote harder, that will fix everything!
Yeah, Iraq was pre-Twitter, but Iraq was HUGE. The battle for Jessica Lynch! Remember that one. Freedom fries! Dixie Chicks BANNED for daring speak out about the war. Every media outlet except I think McClatchy (yeah, youve never heard of them) were pro war.
Only in America. In Scotland(UK) there wisnae the same wall tae wall. coverage in support o' the unlawful Iraq war as it is today wae regards tae Ukraine.
Those o' us who are anti war despise the lies that are used tae justify barbarism.
"If you get the distinct impression that this may be the most aggressively perception-managed and psyop-intensive war in human history, it's because it is."
I gotta question her memory and breadth of historical knowledge, if she thinks the west is currently conducting the heaviest censorship campaign surrounding a war in human history. Russia and China have quite literally banned all press outlets not owned by the state
Considering the revolving door between mainstream journalists and the intelligence services, it’s essentially state owned media but with extra steps. And that ignores the role of the government and social media company crackdowns. “Freedom of speech*” *see terms and conditions.
The government can’t outright ban speech so they control the narrative via private third parties instead.
Capitalism is just super efficient like that /s
I quit voting. What a pointless exercise.
It’s pointless on the federal level unless you’re voting in the primaries or in a swing state (and even then, it’s manufactured consent between corporate owned candidate red or corporate owned candidate blue).
HOWEVER, locally your vote matters. School board, local representatives, etc. we have to prevent the fascists from taking over state and local governments. Unless you live somewhere where people run unopposed... I didn’t bother voting in the most recent local election because the whole slate ran unopposed. And even if there is opposition good luck figuring out the different candidates views since most local media has been gutted and bought out by national conglomerates pushing an agenda.
Btw my “let’s vote harder!” was sarcasm. Voting isn’t going to fix systemic issues that are there by design and working as intended. Liberal democracy doesn’t work. I say that as a millennial living in the US who’s had 12 years of presidents who lost the popular vote and a wildly gerrymandered house that doesn’t remotely represent the will of the overall people. I’m sick of the boomer death grip on all the points of power in this country. When are these 80 somethings who couldn’t give a damn about nuclear annihilation or climate change going to fucking croak already. I wish COVID were deadlier so pelosi et al can go to hell.
👋👋👋 Aye, some years back in Iceland women got the giether sn s formed a Women's Party. In their manifesto was the 'Two terms of Office' . Politicians only allowed 2 terms of office at one time. Jist like yer ain office o' president but with the chance to return after a break.
The main established male dominated parties smartened up their acts and adopted some of the women's ideas sans the two terms stuff..lol.
I love naked capitalism!!
A perfect article for today! I put my article on Substack yesterday that starts: "How did the Left become obedient, pro-corporate, pro-censorship, pro-propaganda warmongers? Let’s look at how we learned to stop worrying and love the lie. As Caitlin Johnstone published in US Officials Admit They’re Literally Just Lying to the Public About Russia, these are not lies exposed in some backwater, shadow-banned conspiracy theory website." Then I continue with your NBC quotes and others from When You Lie... I've noticed that some readers are clicking on the links to here.
But in the video, I mistakenly assume Zelensky is not in Ukraine and looked it up AFTER I published it, finding this photo op that seemed so much the brooding hero. But proving my point that he didn't have the ability to negotiate peace, I read Aaron Mate's amazing article yesterday about how Zelensky is captured, not just by the West, but by his own neo-Nazi forces who say openly they will hang him from a tree if he negotiates. So I include that in the article:
https://thirdparadigm.substack.com/p/what-zelensky-should-keep
We have a long road as yet to travel.
The "aliens-from-space" still have to make their appearance to finish their devious plans, after countless virus scares and world war three. You see, the aliens-from-space will be our saviors, since we have cancelled all past heroes, they now must come from "off planet", in order to be that which saves humanity from itself.
Unless this IS the human's last hurrah, then I say, let's GO!
Waiting for saviours is a deeply religious thinking. Once civilisations have developed far enough that they have reached peacefulness, freedom, harmony and thus major wisdom, they realise that blooming life on other planets across the universe needs to fulfil its duty and evolutionize on its own, without interference. We could well face some less developed alien civilisation visitors showing up for study trips, they might bring many things, not necessarily development aid. Ultimately our personal, societal and Earthlings fate lies in our own hands.
Be not mistaken, as I wait for nobody, especially "aliens-from-outer-space". They will be government inventions. Govern=Control Ment=Mental functions/capacities. Never content if not causing chaos, the government's hegemony against us, as in we the people, will grind on in perpetuity.
When all of the television networks coordinate their talking points, left or right, you know you're being manipulated.