Caitlin, I have to disagree with you completely on this article.
Most people DON'T WANT the truth - most people wouldn't be able to handle the truth (as per the Jack Nicholson line in "A Few Good Men"). Hence the invention of narratives and stories (since the beginning of humanity) as a survival mechanism on planet earth.
There is a WHOLE AREA of anthropology that studies LIES, lies in evolutionary psychology, narratives invented to handle reality and explain things away, LIES as a survival mechanism, etc.
Very few people want the truth - and those that do are bound for a life of hardships (if they intend on sticking with the truth against all odds and society) and struggles. BUT, despite all of these challenges, SOME PEOPLE would rather have THIS TRUTH than anything else. For a small minority of people, the truth DOES satisfy.
My heart and support goes out to all those PERSISTENT truth-seekers! ❤️
I came to the conclusion many years ago that the older I get the more I realize how little I know. From that time on I began understanding part of what is true but I know that at my age I will never truly know enough of the truth to say that there is much that is empirical. There's simply too much misdirecting bullshit to sift through. Still, I keep trying.
I think story telling, legend creating, fables have been a way of telling some truths. Lessons taught through fiction perhaps. The problem comes when people, inadvertently or maliciously, take or use those stories as the truth. I’m guessing here (hoping) because I haven’t read widely on the topic. You’ve characterized them as “lies” or the studies have. Isn’t there a difference between a story/legend/fable and a lie?
Ron, without getting into a philosophical discussion about narratives, I consider 2 things to be the most important when analyzing them:
(1) What is the origination and direction of propagation of the narratives? i.e. is it top-down from positions of power & authority?
(2) What purpose does the narrative fulfill? i.e. what is the aim/goal of the narrative?
Depending on the above (and other factors not mentioned), it would give people a clue as to the purpose of "narratives" (which are EVERYWHERE in human society and culture) and which group(s) the narratives serve.
Yes, most certainly there’s a distinction to be made between literal lies and “tall tales,” for example. The figurative or metaphorical meaning of myth(s) surpasses the literal/factual value of a given claim/pronouncement/statement/declaration because THE test of a proposition’s value/worth is its acceptance/affirmation or rejection by the “Public.” And in a propagandized society, Machiavellian, Orwellian, Huxleyan, and even absurdist Kafka-esque forms of governmental totalitarianism are empirically proven means of CONtrol populations via #DivideAndConquer. The now deceased War Criminal Henry Kissinger was depressingly correct in saying: It is what is Perceived(!) that is accepted as Truth.
I don't believe that we truth-seekers are in a minority. That doesn't mean that one must wallow in harsh reality or live in fear 24/7. One of the most ubiquitous primal fears is that of death. We all fear death and we all know we will someday die, but we don't let that reality rule us.
I have to disagree. Most people are only too happy to cling to the fabrications of society if for nothing else other than to comfort themselves. I honestly believe a majority of people are happily living in ignorance.
Is it that or are do they fear straying from "the herd"? So many people fear speaking the obvious because of their fear of being ejected from "the herd." Like lemmings they will stampede over the cliff mistakenly thinking they are secure in "the herd".
Certainly most people instinctively follow the herd, but my belief is that they accept most of the belief system of their fellow herd members as truth. A large majority do not question accepted "truths."
They can be convinced of crazy things, like jet passenger planes spraying toxic chemicals into the atmosphere. Good luck explaining to them that jet vapor trails are mostly water. They believe this fantasy; there is no doubt in their minds, and looking at the science doesn't enter their minds.
Also the voting public does not think much about politics outside of election season. To form a valid opinion is no small task. It involves looking at a myriad of sources and weighing each against likely or possible conflicting interests. The follow-the-leader mentality ascribes greater relevance to "trusted sources" which once were mainstream media outlets. It's possible that MSM sources have become discredited in their eyes following the disintegration of the lying DNC, but beliefs once trusted can be hard to shake.
i am a woodsman. That has been in my blood and lifestyle since I was old enough to run through the woods. Maybe the jet trails are water vapor and then again maybe they're not. What I do know is up here in British Columbia about thirty or forty years ago the government started "fertilizing" the forest by helicopter. I inquired and was told that this will make the forest grow faster. Sounds logical but I noticed every time I saw this procedure in roughly two years the deer population abruptly crashed but only where they drop the fertilizer. When I mentioned it to others most laughed. Funny thing is though, quite a few people began observing the same thing once they started looking for it. I think it far too consistent to be coincidence. Two thoughts occur to me. One is that they are killing off the game to make people more dependent on commercial food chains. Given the likes of people like Bill Gates this is not beyond the realms of possibility. Two is maybe because deer eat seedlings it is an extermination by forestry to reap more profit for the big business of forestry. I'm sure there may be other reasons but these are the two that stand out to me. Maybe the "nutbars" are not so nutty after all when it comes to contrails. Personally I have not observed these contrail grids they speak of. Just because I haven't seen them doesn't mean they are not happening. Given the evil we see in this world by the ones who think there are too many of us I certainly wouldn't put it past them
Skepticism is needed today when every successful professional is like in that power-wealth Class because they do or find or lie anything needed by their masters, since we watched every virtuous man and a few women Stand against some untruth, inJustice, disOrder, some genociding poison injection, so lies of WMD that could have prevented so many dead except those Masters wanted more of those virtuous White Christian men's genocide.
About the Chem-Trails, a link to a gov web site was posted and it was pretty clear that Chem-trails existed and were on a schedule. Also, you know that weather control by seeding clouds and causing rain before they blew over Vietnam to cause drought.
The Chem-trails are reportedly some particularized Aluminum and they stay in upper atmosphere for a while and suppose to reflect back into space some of the solar energy and heat, and so cooling the area.
There is some question as to the stated goal is the only goal and ever is a goal, and the Aluminum in air drifting down slowly to be breathed in and cause neurological retardation as does the mercury in vaccines do.
Since I know the powerful ruling elite families hate us all and want us all and all we love suffering and dying, that airborne poisoning seem more likely.
But having worked in a science research lab - I also really do not like listening to most people's theories about this topic, like listening to a rambling fool while he is fingering his poo, so I can understand intolerance.
Knowing an ugly truth can cause fear or unhappiness or stress or any other unpleasant feeling. I contend that most people would prefer to know the truth, because regardless of how bad a truth is, we don't let it rule our lives.
>>"I contend that most people would prefer to know the truth..."
That is a nebulous statement for the following reasons:
(1) Will people even know what the truth is if it presents itself? i.e. You may want the truth, but you may also WANT to believe a narrative as the truth. So how will you know that what you believe is the truth?
(2) Do people really want the truth? Look all around you. Belief in God, supernatural/paranormal events, pseudoscience, superstitions, etc. shows that people would RATHER "believe in what they WANT to believe" than the truth/reality. i.e. EMOTIONS (and sense of self) are more important (to most people) than TRUTH.
Well no people don't just believe things because they want to . I believe many things that I don't like at all eg that death comes to all living things , that the world is not headed for universal love and peace . And most of us who believe in God don't do so because we want to - some would prefer they were NOT convinced !
-------"So how will you know that what you believe is the truth?"------
Critical thinking skills coupled with research. Conclusions I reach as to the truth of a matter are something I consider to be very likely, but keeping an open mind is also key to the equation.
--------"Do people really want the truth? Look all around you. Belief in God, supernatural/paranormal events, pseudoscience, superstitions, etc. shows that people would RATHER "believe in what they WANT to believe""-----
I disagree. I think they truly believe these improbable things because those they hang out with believe them, and thus they also accept these as truth.
The sad thing is 'research' as in finding papers that test, measure, and analyze the subject of interest of politically pushed subjects is often knowingly wrong to get the results they know is wanted, for advancement and funding, like research around 'climate change'
Many people that use Wikipedia know which subjects are false on purpose, and those that are likely reliable, that is how to go about research.
As a basic medical researcher working in a lab for 12-13 years starting in late 1980's I came to realize that many of those around me were meritless Affirmative Action hires that resented me because of my work but willingness to try to help. This was the 3rd wave feminism where they would talk openly about all men being rapists, oppressors, violent .. that is behaving only because there are police on call. At the time I assumed they were joking or at least did not believe but repeating it.
Was her resentment of me for helping her, for 'mansplaining', or somehow it was Nolt my constant studying and collecting Science info from 5th grade, it is because I am a white man?
.. if someone corrects me and explains so I realize the mistake - why would I not thank him because I will never make that mistake again, or pass it one, and that is Godsend. And maybe that is the line I should have drawn to go talk to our boss and tell him she needs to go - because she is a delusion dangerous psycho that will gather those mobs of ball-kicking women and spread lies and drama behind my back.
And that is what happened, maybe not her starting it but since I never ran into anyone it Just and safer for everyone they gone, and a few others. Never ran into evil so I could not believe or understand.
Research labs filled with those Nightmares destroying others work, toxic hell-hole of lying demonic horrors ..
.. how could I trust anything that was published in last 30 years of putrid slimy lying male-hating fem-evil women to immune that to report any problem or abuse was to lose job and get a 'problem working with women' note that would unJustly spread their vomit-lies over every professional job after? Should I hope daily she falls down stairway to break her neck or car accident, her and the other vile ones, getting side swiped by a huge truck?
I will try to be brief. I was raised from crib with a lot of lies and omissions I would need when left home. My father would normally speak Truths I needed, and those to separate from, and explain as best he could any ways questions, especially why did mom lie about some and not tell me other things I needed.
.. But because he was always under threat of separation from all he loved and [no-faut] divorce he could not be a Father to me and younger siblings like he was to older brothers from first marriage not married to a lying witch that destroyed all her sons' lives. Perhaps if I knew that I needed to learn some other things a teacher could have helped, back them even younger grades were not completely filled with putrid vicious sexual-pedo-women mind-raping and joy-success-life-destroyers, but we have some good Mentoring man Teachers and Admin.s I could and would have asked.
So while I was filled in the life-destroying crippling male-hate self-loathing lies mother and older sister told me, that mothers, women, schools, my mother joined a group of Feminist nursing students at a local community collage, with a few soul-eating baby torturing to death Witches, and she passed on what she could grasp, and I was helpless, I could not slap-her and say, "WTF are they poisoning you with!", being unaware and shorter and unwilling to slap her.
Okay beside an older nurse my mother and I joined at lunch their (me taking a computer class - 7th Grade I think) and we were talking and she heard some life murdering Poisonous vile Feminist vomit came out my mouth, and the nurse turned to my mother and in a shape tone said Feminism is deadly for boys, it mind-abuse - or something like that, and after nurse left I asked my mother what she was talking about - but she said to wait till later .. and later came some ten years ago with way to much failures, sufferings, near-deaths, pass-out drunk, self-loathing that there in not enough screaming Death of mothers, teachers, medical, all professions screaming while lowed into acid or flames .. not enough Justice for children now getting it jammed down their throats, and older, adults forced by fear of homelessness to suffer DEI and Affirmative Actions and worship the Vag-goddess that will kick you in testicles and you must smile.
Lies in silence and lies in uncomfortableness in their sneaking off baby-murdering our children, false-rape accusing, constant lying, and secrete pregnant with other men but you make more money, and divorce-rapes, .. Horrors that is modern Western mothers and women.
So, at age 15_ each lie you tell will require that Saturday to be secured in public - like park - and a collar around neck, and Tasered till soiling-self and screaming, and each offense increased time length, and depending on the evil your lie created in the world - other Loving correcting punishments added.
idk, once you've had a taste of it ... caitlin says 'we might not be aware ...'. also in other comments it seems like being lied to and accepting lies is not something people do because they 'want' or desire it, but rather because they fear - the fear of being cast outside the simian flock.
Far as I can tell, most humans want lies and want to be lied to. This is why they are so readily fooled, and why they refuse to admit that they were had, even as the evidence stares them in the face like a roaring lion.
For most humans most of the time, the fastest and surest way to wind up dead or seriously disadvantaged has been at the hands of other humans. At the same time, "our group", whether by faith, family, tribe, regiment, whatever, are the people we can trust to have our back.
Therefore, whatever else happens, whatever humans have to do, believe absurdities, blindly follow barking insane leaders, parrot obvious lies to our detriment, do or suffer terrible things, but please whatever you do, please don't kick us out of the group!
What this also means is that when we are presented with incontrovertible proof that the group narrative is wrong or that the group leaders are mad or charlatans or worse, rather than change leaders or change beliefs or change groups, most people, most of the time will instead double down. Witness the behavior of cultists.
The process is called "cognitive dissonance" and it is abundantly documented. As alluded to earlier, there are entire religions organized around the principle.
Cognitive dissonance is not limited to stupid people. In fact, the intelligent are at least as prone, perhaps because they are better at rationalizing. In fact, much so-called "knowledge work" is basically learning symbol manipulation in order to rationalize something.
russian_bot, A translation for us lesser beings would have been nice! I am in awe of Russian literary giants without much in-depth knowledge. As for Pushkin I have seen the operas - Eugene Onegin and Boris Godunov and been entranced by them.
Pushkin is notoriously difficult to translate to any language because of his mastery of the Russian. Part of the reason he cannot really be appreciated unless read and understood in Russian.
Marci, we often LIE to OURSELVES more often than not - sometimes even more so than others' lies.
There is a reason LYING (to oneself) can be IMPORTANT - it serves a survival purpose - it gives us an ability to imagine a level of control over our environment and personalities in an otherwise hostile world. Similarly, we believe other lies/narratives often because it makes us FEEL a certain way and ALLOWS us to EXIST and BELIEVE and gives us HOPE sometimes. But THIS is a different consideration from the "truth"/factuality of the lie/narrative.
I ask because for a man to Stand alone in a group and be correct, so advancing in peer group is a mating strategy, and it can be as good. A little like wrestling a man your size that seems as good or better and winning - before a tournament crowd.
How is it a mating strategy? Well women cannot judge a lot of things they want in a man, but it's a good strategy to observe how he and his peers interact, is he Respected? Relaxed? Do they turn to him for advice or help?
But perhaps you noticed this generation are testicle crushed from crib for acting like a boy and then a man.
Before you ask where the good men are, look to the women of power nearby, or the groups of women that will mob a man like rabid dogs with as little morals, or slowly and secretly overtime like a cancerous gut rotting joy-murdering poison that does not hurt at first but after a while so much pain that you consider jumping to your death to end it.
.. And you look up and notice those women watching with pleasure at the endless suffering and destroyed life they did to you. And quietly so only you can hear them, from the common depth of most women today - kill yourself, kill yourself, kill yourself.
So, show this to an older woman and ask her if I understand moder womanhood and if I think mass death would be better than subjecting children or anyone under their power.
And ask if that mob, or that male-hating vile vicious pile of vomit, destroying any man near them at work or in public for standing alone, or not acting like a castrated [her] Vag-power worshiping crawling bootlicking discrace .. perhaps if she and those like her were gone or never existed for the last 60 years - you'd be in a nice home taking care of some children while packing for a dream vacation with him and kids.
Anyone who sincerely resolves to get real about reality will at some point find themselves staring at some dark, ugly things inside themselves that they wish weren’t there."
Yes, I can testify to several such pointed barbs of realization over the past 5 years of my life.
My high school had it written in script on the front wall near the entry stair: "the truth will make you free". Almost every morning as we skeptics congregated on those stairs, we'd snicker at the motto and someone would invariable quip: "everybody ready, the truth shall make you blush today".
"What we all want, deep down, is a truth-based relationship with reality."
Really? I feel like here in America, both Democrats and Republicans want to avoid any truth that makes their side look bad. We spent four years of Trump's nonstop corruption and Republicans saying, "He's the best President ever!" Then we spent four years of of Biden's warmongering and genocide with Democrats saying, "He's the best President ever!"
They don't want to hear the truth. They just want to "own the libtards" or "stop MAGA fascism".
I'm surprised with the level of awareness you possess that you have faith in humanity like that.
That sounds like a boast ! I guess I am just stupid then because I used to be very cynical but am not anymore . I suppose that indicates the onset of senility ?
Truth is the essence of life and liberty and happiness. It really does set you free!
In Islamic escatology ( End Times/ Hadith) it is written and predicted by the Prophet Mohammed ( peace be upon him and all prophets) that towards the End Times...liars ( referring to leaders) will be glorified/ respected/ believed and truthful ones villified/ridiculed and not believed.
We are in these times I believe.
God save us from these liars, hypocrites and enemies of humanity and God.
“The overwhelming majority of humanity is lost in delusion.”
Yeah, I’m not so sure about that. Overwhelming majority? Like, more than 70%? Which would be 5.6 billion people, give or take. Maybe I’m deluded, but I’d like to think that the 80% or so of humanity who exist outside of the direct control of the outlaw US empire are not as lost in delusion as those of us who are living inside the empire. Has the vast majority of humanity—in China, India, Africa, Southeast Asia, the former Soviet Union, South Asia, Central and South America and West Asia—really swallowed the Hollywood consumerist bullshit whole? Even if that were partially the case, one would hope that after seeing the atrocities of the last few years they would start to be a lot more questioning.
Still I don't think that delusional people want to believe in lies. I think they simply cannot see through the lies. As herding animals, they want to believe in a leader that they have chosen (or has been chosen for them) to follow.
This week, I was reading "The Need for Roots" by Simone Weil, and so much of it echoes what Caitlin is saying here.
In particular, Weil writes that "truth is an essential need of the soul." Even as an agnostic, I couldn't agree more.
Therefore, I have to conclude that mass propaganda is among the worst of all crimes, simply for the fact that it represents a spiritual wound against most of humanity.
I’d suggest that seeing your government killing children or parents, and continuing the slaughter against a people for simply existing, might just edge that out. At least, it does for me.
Caitlin often talks about narratives. In response I offer this.
“We are all made of stories”
A few days ago I was sitting in a book store cafe with my dear friend and confidant, Saddam. Saddam and I are in the habit of walking once a week and then following this up with a coffee that becomes a breakfast that turns into a morning discussion of politics and the madness of crowds.
The staff in the coffee shop were wearing T-shirts with this logo on it, “we are all made of stories”, and this inspired us to talk about narratives- the way we construct narratives or stories to make sense of the world.
It is, we remarked, a crucial aspect of being human, this tendency towards storytelling. As Carl Alviani has written, humans
“…..have been telling stories as long as there’s been a language to tell them in. We think in stories, remember in stories, and turn just about everything we experience into a story, sometimes adjusting or omitting facts to make it fit.”
In other words, from our distant ancestors who tens of thousands of years ago sat around the camp fire telling tales of the hunt or conflicts with other nomadic groups; to modern literature - from markings on cave walls to Shakespeare to 21st century cinema - we make sense of the world by crafting stories.
Perhaps we do this to impose a sort of order on the world. To cut through the chaos and randomness and seemingly irrational confusion of life to find some kind of meaning. You might call it ‘sense making’. And so one of the most important aspects of storytelling or narrative making, is that they are capable of making sense of being plausible. Narratives don’t have to be true, or even an accurate description of the world, but they must be plausible. They must be possible within a whole range of possible possibilities. They must be able to be believed.
There may be elements of truth contained within the narrative but it is not measured on how closely it approximates truth. It is measured on its meaning (the values contained within it), its plausibility (to what extent people accept it), and its usefulness (does it serve a particular function that benefits a particular group).
A central aspect of the narrative is what I call ‘co-opting authenticity’, or the ‘appropriation of virtue’. That is, we are all heroes in our own narratives. We do not embrace narratives that tell how evil or corrupt or bad we are, unless the ‘bad’ is a ‘good’ - a Seinfeld reference there -. No. We are the good guys and they, being our adversaries, are the bad guys. And that is a very oblique reference to a Mitchell and Webb comedy skit. Our narratives talk of our bravery, our righteousness, our sacrifice, our prevailing against overwhelming odds. And as good as we are, so our enemies are equally as evil, malicious, cunning, and cowardly.
We can see the way narratives work when we think of our current attitude toward China.
China is clearly a threat to US hegemony. That is, it is a threat to the American economic, political and military global dominance. The US has been, ever since the Second World War, the most powerful state in the world. It has had the most dynamic and productive economy, its military are unmatched in terms of power and reach and indeed, experience, and thus its political influence and authority is vast and far reaching. It is, as I like to say, the Lannisters of the modern era - a Game of Thrones reference there. What I mean by this is that nothing happens in the world unless the US agrees to it, and if you are an enemy of the US or perceived of as a threat, then your days are surely numbered. As I said, the Lannisters of the modern world.
But now US power and authority is being challenged. Not the actual US itself. Not the land mass of the US. But its ability to dictate to the rest of the world and to impose on the world its politics and policies. Its ability to bend other nations to its will. And this is what terrifies it.
And so the narrative is that China, the main challenger to US power and authority, is ‘hyper-aggressive’ (yes, I’ve even seen that term used). This might suggest that China is a rapacious, militaristic state who invades others, is constantly at war with its neighbours, and pays no attention to the rules of international law.
But the evidence suggests otherwise. Since 1945 the US has invaded Puerto Rico in 1950; Vietnam in 1964; the Dominican Republic in 1965; Laos and Cambodia in 1968; Iran in 1980; Grenada in 1983; Panama in 1990; Iraq in 1991 and again in 1998 and in 2001 to 2021 Afghanistan- the list is by no means exhaustive. At the same time the US has continually sought to undermine and destabilise states whose policies and politics it has found offensive. According to a Washington Post report of December 23 2016, in the time of the Cold War the US sought to change other countries governments 72 times. And of course we have its well documented history of torture, of extrajudicial executions by way of drone attacks and of course the use of chemical weapons against civilian populations- I’m referring to agent orange here.
Yet the narrative is that China is a threat to world peace, order and security. The narrative in my country is that war with China is inevitable and imminent. China’s increasing “belligerence” is a danger to us and our way of life, thus we must prepare for conflict.
This the danger of narratives. That we will accept them and believe them, and go along with those beliefs without thinking or questioning. We are culturally programmed to agree with, or accept as fact, the dominant social narratives or stories. To challenge them is to risk alienating ourselves from the group. Yet we must do this. We must question the truthfulness of these stories. We must ask who this narrative benefits? What alternative narratives are there? Does the evidence support this narrative? Failure to ask these questions is likely to consign us to being bystanders at our own destruction.
I forget who, but someone once said that too many, in pursuit of 'happiness', borrow money they can't afford to buy stuff they don't really want to impress people they don't really like. The 'Wow!' factor is mighty fleeting, they find. The very best we can hope for is a degree of CONTENTMENT in life, with occasional moments of happiness, usually brought about by music, a good book, a rewarding relationship or experience and so on. A necessary contrast will inevitably be times of sadness which cannot be allayed by buying 'stuff'. Check out a book by Clive Hamilton (Allen & Unwin, 2005) called 'Affluenza - When Too Much Is Never Enough' for some common sense. All this pointless, rewardless consumption is screwing the planet.
I think people just want to live their lives. Buy their groceries. Stay healthy. Meet up with their friends. Trouble is, we are being divided into so many different groups: straight, gay, trans, Christian, Muslim etc. And then the zionists come along and accuse us of antisemitism, which is a horrible thing to be accused of if you remember the holocaust so people just go along with all the bullshit they spew out. People are confused. Mixed up. Who knows what truth even is? Especially those who just read and listen to mainstream news. Before we can have a "truth-based relationship with reality" we have to figure out reality.
Nils Melzer, The Trial of Julian Assange: "The problem really is not that we do not know the truth, but that we do not want to know it. The problem is that we allow the powerful, against our better judgement, to disregard justice and the rule of law, and that we do not hold them accountable, either legally or politically, but celebrate them as great leaders and possibly even honor them with Nobel Peace Prizes. The problem is that we allow corporate bosses to ruthlessly destroy our livelihoods and shamelessly exploit the vast majority of the world's population, and still admire them as benefactors and philanthropists when they donate a few billion dollars from their looted wealth for the mitigation of humanitarian disasters they helped to create. We do not want to the see that the corporate media that feed us our understanding of world politics, and our personal circumstances, are owned by the very same people who also finance the election campaigns and careers of our politicians. Nor that those politicians, in turn, pass the laws and make the billion-dollar investments that keep allowing an increasingly narrow segment of society to enrich themselves at the expense of the general public and of future generations."
Caitlin, I have to disagree with you completely on this article.
Most people DON'T WANT the truth - most people wouldn't be able to handle the truth (as per the Jack Nicholson line in "A Few Good Men"). Hence the invention of narratives and stories (since the beginning of humanity) as a survival mechanism on planet earth.
There is a WHOLE AREA of anthropology that studies LIES, lies in evolutionary psychology, narratives invented to handle reality and explain things away, LIES as a survival mechanism, etc.
Very few people want the truth - and those that do are bound for a life of hardships (if they intend on sticking with the truth against all odds and society) and struggles. BUT, despite all of these challenges, SOME PEOPLE would rather have THIS TRUTH than anything else. For a small minority of people, the truth DOES satisfy.
My heart and support goes out to all those PERSISTENT truth-seekers! ❤️
I came to the conclusion many years ago that the older I get the more I realize how little I know. From that time on I began understanding part of what is true but I know that at my age I will never truly know enough of the truth to say that there is much that is empirical. There's simply too much misdirecting bullshit to sift through. Still, I keep trying.
I think story telling, legend creating, fables have been a way of telling some truths. Lessons taught through fiction perhaps. The problem comes when people, inadvertently or maliciously, take or use those stories as the truth. I’m guessing here (hoping) because I haven’t read widely on the topic. You’ve characterized them as “lies” or the studies have. Isn’t there a difference between a story/legend/fable and a lie?
Ron, without getting into a philosophical discussion about narratives, I consider 2 things to be the most important when analyzing them:
(1) What is the origination and direction of propagation of the narratives? i.e. is it top-down from positions of power & authority?
(2) What purpose does the narrative fulfill? i.e. what is the aim/goal of the narrative?
Depending on the above (and other factors not mentioned), it would give people a clue as to the purpose of "narratives" (which are EVERYWHERE in human society and culture) and which group(s) the narratives serve.
Yes, most certainly there’s a distinction to be made between literal lies and “tall tales,” for example. The figurative or metaphorical meaning of myth(s) surpasses the literal/factual value of a given claim/pronouncement/statement/declaration because THE test of a proposition’s value/worth is its acceptance/affirmation or rejection by the “Public.” And in a propagandized society, Machiavellian, Orwellian, Huxleyan, and even absurdist Kafka-esque forms of governmental totalitarianism are empirically proven means of CONtrol populations via #DivideAndConquer. The now deceased War Criminal Henry Kissinger was depressingly correct in saying: It is what is Perceived(!) that is accepted as Truth.
I don't believe that we truth-seekers are in a minority. That doesn't mean that one must wallow in harsh reality or live in fear 24/7. One of the most ubiquitous primal fears is that of death. We all fear death and we all know we will someday die, but we don't let that reality rule us.
I have to disagree. Most people are only too happy to cling to the fabrications of society if for nothing else other than to comfort themselves. I honestly believe a majority of people are happily living in ignorance.
I agree. It applies to most people around me. They don’t engage . Just carry on with life within their bubbles .
If they are in a bubble, they do not realize that they are being lied to.
Is it that or are do they fear straying from "the herd"? So many people fear speaking the obvious because of their fear of being ejected from "the herd." Like lemmings they will stampede over the cliff mistakenly thinking they are secure in "the herd".
Certainly most people instinctively follow the herd, but my belief is that they accept most of the belief system of their fellow herd members as truth. A large majority do not question accepted "truths."
They can be convinced of crazy things, like jet passenger planes spraying toxic chemicals into the atmosphere. Good luck explaining to them that jet vapor trails are mostly water. They believe this fantasy; there is no doubt in their minds, and looking at the science doesn't enter their minds.
Also the voting public does not think much about politics outside of election season. To form a valid opinion is no small task. It involves looking at a myriad of sources and weighing each against likely or possible conflicting interests. The follow-the-leader mentality ascribes greater relevance to "trusted sources" which once were mainstream media outlets. It's possible that MSM sources have become discredited in their eyes following the disintegration of the lying DNC, but beliefs once trusted can be hard to shake.
i am a woodsman. That has been in my blood and lifestyle since I was old enough to run through the woods. Maybe the jet trails are water vapor and then again maybe they're not. What I do know is up here in British Columbia about thirty or forty years ago the government started "fertilizing" the forest by helicopter. I inquired and was told that this will make the forest grow faster. Sounds logical but I noticed every time I saw this procedure in roughly two years the deer population abruptly crashed but only where they drop the fertilizer. When I mentioned it to others most laughed. Funny thing is though, quite a few people began observing the same thing once they started looking for it. I think it far too consistent to be coincidence. Two thoughts occur to me. One is that they are killing off the game to make people more dependent on commercial food chains. Given the likes of people like Bill Gates this is not beyond the realms of possibility. Two is maybe because deer eat seedlings it is an extermination by forestry to reap more profit for the big business of forestry. I'm sure there may be other reasons but these are the two that stand out to me. Maybe the "nutbars" are not so nutty after all when it comes to contrails. Personally I have not observed these contrail grids they speak of. Just because I haven't seen them doesn't mean they are not happening. Given the evil we see in this world by the ones who think there are too many of us I certainly wouldn't put it past them
Marci, Marci, Marci!
Skepticism is needed today when every successful professional is like in that power-wealth Class because they do or find or lie anything needed by their masters, since we watched every virtuous man and a few women Stand against some untruth, inJustice, disOrder, some genociding poison injection, so lies of WMD that could have prevented so many dead except those Masters wanted more of those virtuous White Christian men's genocide.
About the Chem-Trails, a link to a gov web site was posted and it was pretty clear that Chem-trails existed and were on a schedule. Also, you know that weather control by seeding clouds and causing rain before they blew over Vietnam to cause drought.
The Chem-trails are reportedly some particularized Aluminum and they stay in upper atmosphere for a while and suppose to reflect back into space some of the solar energy and heat, and so cooling the area.
There is some question as to the stated goal is the only goal and ever is a goal, and the Aluminum in air drifting down slowly to be breathed in and cause neurological retardation as does the mercury in vaccines do.
Since I know the powerful ruling elite families hate us all and want us all and all we love suffering and dying, that airborne poisoning seem more likely.
But having worked in a science research lab - I also really do not like listening to most people's theories about this topic, like listening to a rambling fool while he is fingering his poo, so I can understand intolerance.
God Bless., Steve
I don't understand the logic of your statement.
You said (simplifying):
IF (truth-seekers not minority) => THEN [(one must wallow in harsh reality or live in fear) = FALSE].
??
What is the relationship of "fear" here? Fear is a separate variable regardless of truth/falsity.
Knowing an ugly truth can cause fear or unhappiness or stress or any other unpleasant feeling. I contend that most people would prefer to know the truth, because regardless of how bad a truth is, we don't let it rule our lives.
>>"I contend that most people would prefer to know the truth..."
That is a nebulous statement for the following reasons:
(1) Will people even know what the truth is if it presents itself? i.e. You may want the truth, but you may also WANT to believe a narrative as the truth. So how will you know that what you believe is the truth?
(2) Do people really want the truth? Look all around you. Belief in God, supernatural/paranormal events, pseudoscience, superstitions, etc. shows that people would RATHER "believe in what they WANT to believe" than the truth/reality. i.e. EMOTIONS (and sense of self) are more important (to most people) than TRUTH.
Well no people don't just believe things because they want to . I believe many things that I don't like at all eg that death comes to all living things , that the world is not headed for universal love and peace . And most of us who believe in God don't do so because we want to - some would prefer they were NOT convinced !
-------"So how will you know that what you believe is the truth?"------
Critical thinking skills coupled with research. Conclusions I reach as to the truth of a matter are something I consider to be very likely, but keeping an open mind is also key to the equation.
--------"Do people really want the truth? Look all around you. Belief in God, supernatural/paranormal events, pseudoscience, superstitions, etc. shows that people would RATHER "believe in what they WANT to believe""-----
I disagree. I think they truly believe these improbable things because those they hang out with believe them, and thus they also accept these as truth.
The sad thing is 'research' as in finding papers that test, measure, and analyze the subject of interest of politically pushed subjects is often knowingly wrong to get the results they know is wanted, for advancement and funding, like research around 'climate change'
Many people that use Wikipedia know which subjects are false on purpose, and those that are likely reliable, that is how to go about research.
As a basic medical researcher working in a lab for 12-13 years starting in late 1980's I came to realize that many of those around me were meritless Affirmative Action hires that resented me because of my work but willingness to try to help. This was the 3rd wave feminism where they would talk openly about all men being rapists, oppressors, violent .. that is behaving only because there are police on call. At the time I assumed they were joking or at least did not believe but repeating it.
Was her resentment of me for helping her, for 'mansplaining', or somehow it was Nolt my constant studying and collecting Science info from 5th grade, it is because I am a white man?
.. if someone corrects me and explains so I realize the mistake - why would I not thank him because I will never make that mistake again, or pass it one, and that is Godsend. And maybe that is the line I should have drawn to go talk to our boss and tell him she needs to go - because she is a delusion dangerous psycho that will gather those mobs of ball-kicking women and spread lies and drama behind my back.
And that is what happened, maybe not her starting it but since I never ran into anyone it Just and safer for everyone they gone, and a few others. Never ran into evil so I could not believe or understand.
Research labs filled with those Nightmares destroying others work, toxic hell-hole of lying demonic horrors ..
.. how could I trust anything that was published in last 30 years of putrid slimy lying male-hating fem-evil women to immune that to report any problem or abuse was to lose job and get a 'problem working with women' note that would unJustly spread their vomit-lies over every professional job after? Should I hope daily she falls down stairway to break her neck or car accident, her and the other vile ones, getting side swiped by a huge truck?
God Bless., Steve
"Improbable" is just your considered judgement . Many of us do not agree that some of these are at all improbable !
About the soul-death lies can do. (Truth)
I will try to be brief. I was raised from crib with a lot of lies and omissions I would need when left home. My father would normally speak Truths I needed, and those to separate from, and explain as best he could any ways questions, especially why did mom lie about some and not tell me other things I needed.
.. But because he was always under threat of separation from all he loved and [no-faut] divorce he could not be a Father to me and younger siblings like he was to older brothers from first marriage not married to a lying witch that destroyed all her sons' lives. Perhaps if I knew that I needed to learn some other things a teacher could have helped, back them even younger grades were not completely filled with putrid vicious sexual-pedo-women mind-raping and joy-success-life-destroyers, but we have some good Mentoring man Teachers and Admin.s I could and would have asked.
So while I was filled in the life-destroying crippling male-hate self-loathing lies mother and older sister told me, that mothers, women, schools, my mother joined a group of Feminist nursing students at a local community collage, with a few soul-eating baby torturing to death Witches, and she passed on what she could grasp, and I was helpless, I could not slap-her and say, "WTF are they poisoning you with!", being unaware and shorter and unwilling to slap her.
Okay beside an older nurse my mother and I joined at lunch their (me taking a computer class - 7th Grade I think) and we were talking and she heard some life murdering Poisonous vile Feminist vomit came out my mouth, and the nurse turned to my mother and in a shape tone said Feminism is deadly for boys, it mind-abuse - or something like that, and after nurse left I asked my mother what she was talking about - but she said to wait till later .. and later came some ten years ago with way to much failures, sufferings, near-deaths, pass-out drunk, self-loathing that there in not enough screaming Death of mothers, teachers, medical, all professions screaming while lowed into acid or flames .. not enough Justice for children now getting it jammed down their throats, and older, adults forced by fear of homelessness to suffer DEI and Affirmative Actions and worship the Vag-goddess that will kick you in testicles and you must smile.
Lies in silence and lies in uncomfortableness in their sneaking off baby-murdering our children, false-rape accusing, constant lying, and secrete pregnant with other men but you make more money, and divorce-rapes, .. Horrors that is modern Western mothers and women.
So, at age 15_ each lie you tell will require that Saturday to be secured in public - like park - and a collar around neck, and Tasered till soiling-self and screaming, and each offense increased time length, and depending on the evil your lie created in the world - other Loving correcting punishments added.
God Bless., Steve
idk, once you've had a taste of it ... caitlin says 'we might not be aware ...'. also in other comments it seems like being lied to and accepting lies is not something people do because they 'want' or desire it, but rather because they fear - the fear of being cast outside the simian flock.
Far as I can tell, most humans want lies and want to be lied to. This is why they are so readily fooled, and why they refuse to admit that they were had, even as the evidence stares them in the face like a roaring lion.
They go to the media to be told what to say to maintain their group membership. Those who do not say these things are cast out of the group.
For most humans most of the time, the fastest and surest way to wind up dead or seriously disadvantaged has been at the hands of other humans. At the same time, "our group", whether by faith, family, tribe, regiment, whatever, are the people we can trust to have our back.
Therefore, whatever else happens, whatever humans have to do, believe absurdities, blindly follow barking insane leaders, parrot obvious lies to our detriment, do or suffer terrible things, but please whatever you do, please don't kick us out of the group!
What this also means is that when we are presented with incontrovertible proof that the group narrative is wrong or that the group leaders are mad or charlatans or worse, rather than change leaders or change beliefs or change groups, most people, most of the time will instead double down. Witness the behavior of cultists.
The process is called "cognitive dissonance" and it is abundantly documented. As alluded to earlier, there are entire religions organized around the principle.
Cognitive dissonance is not limited to stupid people. In fact, the intelligent are at least as prone, perhaps because they are better at rationalizing. In fact, much so-called "knowledge work" is basically learning symbol manipulation in order to rationalize something.
"Ах, обмануть меня не трудно!.. Я сам обманываться рад!"
https://rvb.ru/pushkin/01text/01versus/0423_36/1826/0419.htm
russian_bot, A translation for us lesser beings would have been nice! I am in awe of Russian literary giants without much in-depth knowledge. As for Pushkin I have seen the operas - Eugene Onegin and Boris Godunov and been entranced by them.
Pushkin is notoriously difficult to translate to any language because of his mastery of the Russian. Part of the reason he cannot really be appreciated unless read and understood in Russian.
I meant poetry of course.
"Ah, it's not hard to fool me. I myself am glad to to be fooled."
I would say that, if you seek an English language understanding of Russia, her history and culture, you could do worse than "The Icon Amd The Axe".
Ну, да....
They accept those ideas because they themself depend on their truthfulness for their belief structure
Top one is that The State is their friend - one of the biggest scams of all time
🎯
It's in the DNA, no?
I suspect so. Humans are herd animals to rival any sheep or lemming. Must be why they have so much in common with dogs.
Dogs are not anything like humans. They are much better. So are sheep and lemmings for that matter.
Most people are followers, it's true, but I'm unconvinced that even the dullest witted of us want to be lied to.
Marci, we often LIE to OURSELVES more often than not - sometimes even more so than others' lies.
There is a reason LYING (to oneself) can be IMPORTANT - it serves a survival purpose - it gives us an ability to imagine a level of control over our environment and personalities in an otherwise hostile world. Similarly, we believe other lies/narratives often because it makes us FEEL a certain way and ALLOWS us to EXIST and BELIEVE and gives us HOPE sometimes. But THIS is a different consideration from the "truth"/factuality of the lie/narrative.
Feral Finster,
Are you a woman?
I ask because for a man to Stand alone in a group and be correct, so advancing in peer group is a mating strategy, and it can be as good. A little like wrestling a man your size that seems as good or better and winning - before a tournament crowd.
How is it a mating strategy? Well women cannot judge a lot of things they want in a man, but it's a good strategy to observe how he and his peers interact, is he Respected? Relaxed? Do they turn to him for advice or help?
But perhaps you noticed this generation are testicle crushed from crib for acting like a boy and then a man.
Before you ask where the good men are, look to the women of power nearby, or the groups of women that will mob a man like rabid dogs with as little morals, or slowly and secretly overtime like a cancerous gut rotting joy-murdering poison that does not hurt at first but after a while so much pain that you consider jumping to your death to end it.
.. And you look up and notice those women watching with pleasure at the endless suffering and destroyed life they did to you. And quietly so only you can hear them, from the common depth of most women today - kill yourself, kill yourself, kill yourself.
So, show this to an older woman and ask her if I understand moder womanhood and if I think mass death would be better than subjecting children or anyone under their power.
And ask if that mob, or that male-hating vile vicious pile of vomit, destroying any man near them at work or in public for standing alone, or not acting like a castrated [her] Vag-power worshiping crawling bootlicking discrace .. perhaps if she and those like her were gone or never existed for the last 60 years - you'd be in a nice home taking care of some children while packing for a dream vacation with him and kids.
God Bless., Steve
Anyone who sincerely resolves to get real about reality will at some point find themselves staring at some dark, ugly things inside themselves that they wish weren’t there."
Yes, I can testify to several such pointed barbs of realization over the past 5 years of my life.
"Remove all untruth from yourself, and do everything you can to remove untruth from the world around you." --Caitlin Johnstone
"...You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” --Jesus of Nazareth (John 8:32)
Great philosophies to follow to build a truth-driven world.
"The truth will set you free, but first, it will piss you off." - Pharrell Williams
That it will! Hopefully after the initial anger has passed, we can get down to work on things that really matter.
My high school had it written in script on the front wall near the entry stair: "the truth will make you free". Almost every morning as we skeptics congregated on those stairs, we'd snicker at the motto and someone would invariable quip: "everybody ready, the truth shall make you blush today".
"What we all want, deep down, is a truth-based relationship with reality."
Really? I feel like here in America, both Democrats and Republicans want to avoid any truth that makes their side look bad. We spent four years of Trump's nonstop corruption and Republicans saying, "He's the best President ever!" Then we spent four years of of Biden's warmongering and genocide with Democrats saying, "He's the best President ever!"
They don't want to hear the truth. They just want to "own the libtards" or "stop MAGA fascism".
I'm surprised with the level of awareness you possess that you have faith in humanity like that.
Putting any faith in the political system and choosing a side to identify with is probably the biggest lie people feed themselves.
I lost faith in humanity years ago.
I cannot lose what I never had.
Good point.
That sounds like a boast ! I guess I am just stupid then because I used to be very cynical but am not anymore . I suppose that indicates the onset of senility ?
Not at all 🙄 No clue.
Uh...very deep down?
How deep down? Republicans and Democrats just want their lies supported by society and imposed on everyone.
Super duper deep down?
They might just be unsure of what is going on - both inside and outside themselves and seek certainty in following people who appear to have it .
And the golden gift of truth telling: trust. And it can disappear in the blink of an eye.
Brilliant !! Another excellent piece of writing.
Truth is the essence of life and liberty and happiness. It really does set you free!
In Islamic escatology ( End Times/ Hadith) it is written and predicted by the Prophet Mohammed ( peace be upon him and all prophets) that towards the End Times...liars ( referring to leaders) will be glorified/ respected/ believed and truthful ones villified/ridiculed and not believed.
We are in these times I believe.
God save us from these liars, hypocrites and enemies of humanity and God.
Amen.
“The overwhelming majority of humanity is lost in delusion.”
Yeah, I’m not so sure about that. Overwhelming majority? Like, more than 70%? Which would be 5.6 billion people, give or take. Maybe I’m deluded, but I’d like to think that the 80% or so of humanity who exist outside of the direct control of the outlaw US empire are not as lost in delusion as those of us who are living inside the empire. Has the vast majority of humanity—in China, India, Africa, Southeast Asia, the former Soviet Union, South Asia, Central and South America and West Asia—really swallowed the Hollywood consumerist bullshit whole? Even if that were partially the case, one would hope that after seeing the atrocities of the last few years they would start to be a lot more questioning.
It's way more than that...
I think your numbers are closer to the truth.
Still I don't think that delusional people want to believe in lies. I think they simply cannot see through the lies. As herding animals, they want to believe in a leader that they have chosen (or has been chosen for them) to follow.
Look how hard they resist the truth.
But not everyone in the world HAS seen them .
"Most people confuse 'self-knowledge' with knowledge of their conscious ego personalities."
~Carl Jung
This week, I was reading "The Need for Roots" by Simone Weil, and so much of it echoes what Caitlin is saying here.
In particular, Weil writes that "truth is an essential need of the soul." Even as an agnostic, I couldn't agree more.
Therefore, I have to conclude that mass propaganda is among the worst of all crimes, simply for the fact that it represents a spiritual wound against most of humanity.
"Only a few prefer freedom. The rest seek nothing more than fair masters." Sallust
Truer words were never spoken.
I can't think of anything sadder to witness than someone being a fool in their children's eyes.
I’d suggest that seeing your government killing children or parents, and continuing the slaughter against a people for simply existing, might just edge that out. At least, it does for me.
Is it that rare then ?
Oh someone else who saw it and didn't just go on about what a classic etc etc ! A very great movie and deeply humane - but not heroic !
Caitlin often talks about narratives. In response I offer this.
“We are all made of stories”
A few days ago I was sitting in a book store cafe with my dear friend and confidant, Saddam. Saddam and I are in the habit of walking once a week and then following this up with a coffee that becomes a breakfast that turns into a morning discussion of politics and the madness of crowds.
The staff in the coffee shop were wearing T-shirts with this logo on it, “we are all made of stories”, and this inspired us to talk about narratives- the way we construct narratives or stories to make sense of the world.
It is, we remarked, a crucial aspect of being human, this tendency towards storytelling. As Carl Alviani has written, humans
“…..have been telling stories as long as there’s been a language to tell them in. We think in stories, remember in stories, and turn just about everything we experience into a story, sometimes adjusting or omitting facts to make it fit.”
In other words, from our distant ancestors who tens of thousands of years ago sat around the camp fire telling tales of the hunt or conflicts with other nomadic groups; to modern literature - from markings on cave walls to Shakespeare to 21st century cinema - we make sense of the world by crafting stories.
Perhaps we do this to impose a sort of order on the world. To cut through the chaos and randomness and seemingly irrational confusion of life to find some kind of meaning. You might call it ‘sense making’. And so one of the most important aspects of storytelling or narrative making, is that they are capable of making sense of being plausible. Narratives don’t have to be true, or even an accurate description of the world, but they must be plausible. They must be possible within a whole range of possible possibilities. They must be able to be believed.
There may be elements of truth contained within the narrative but it is not measured on how closely it approximates truth. It is measured on its meaning (the values contained within it), its plausibility (to what extent people accept it), and its usefulness (does it serve a particular function that benefits a particular group).
A central aspect of the narrative is what I call ‘co-opting authenticity’, or the ‘appropriation of virtue’. That is, we are all heroes in our own narratives. We do not embrace narratives that tell how evil or corrupt or bad we are, unless the ‘bad’ is a ‘good’ - a Seinfeld reference there -. No. We are the good guys and they, being our adversaries, are the bad guys. And that is a very oblique reference to a Mitchell and Webb comedy skit. Our narratives talk of our bravery, our righteousness, our sacrifice, our prevailing against overwhelming odds. And as good as we are, so our enemies are equally as evil, malicious, cunning, and cowardly.
We can see the way narratives work when we think of our current attitude toward China.
China is clearly a threat to US hegemony. That is, it is a threat to the American economic, political and military global dominance. The US has been, ever since the Second World War, the most powerful state in the world. It has had the most dynamic and productive economy, its military are unmatched in terms of power and reach and indeed, experience, and thus its political influence and authority is vast and far reaching. It is, as I like to say, the Lannisters of the modern era - a Game of Thrones reference there. What I mean by this is that nothing happens in the world unless the US agrees to it, and if you are an enemy of the US or perceived of as a threat, then your days are surely numbered. As I said, the Lannisters of the modern world.
But now US power and authority is being challenged. Not the actual US itself. Not the land mass of the US. But its ability to dictate to the rest of the world and to impose on the world its politics and policies. Its ability to bend other nations to its will. And this is what terrifies it.
And so the narrative is that China, the main challenger to US power and authority, is ‘hyper-aggressive’ (yes, I’ve even seen that term used). This might suggest that China is a rapacious, militaristic state who invades others, is constantly at war with its neighbours, and pays no attention to the rules of international law.
But the evidence suggests otherwise. Since 1945 the US has invaded Puerto Rico in 1950; Vietnam in 1964; the Dominican Republic in 1965; Laos and Cambodia in 1968; Iran in 1980; Grenada in 1983; Panama in 1990; Iraq in 1991 and again in 1998 and in 2001 to 2021 Afghanistan- the list is by no means exhaustive. At the same time the US has continually sought to undermine and destabilise states whose policies and politics it has found offensive. According to a Washington Post report of December 23 2016, in the time of the Cold War the US sought to change other countries governments 72 times. And of course we have its well documented history of torture, of extrajudicial executions by way of drone attacks and of course the use of chemical weapons against civilian populations- I’m referring to agent orange here.
Yet the narrative is that China is a threat to world peace, order and security. The narrative in my country is that war with China is inevitable and imminent. China’s increasing “belligerence” is a danger to us and our way of life, thus we must prepare for conflict.
This the danger of narratives. That we will accept them and believe them, and go along with those beliefs without thinking or questioning. We are culturally programmed to agree with, or accept as fact, the dominant social narratives or stories. To challenge them is to risk alienating ourselves from the group. Yet we must do this. We must question the truthfulness of these stories. We must ask who this narrative benefits? What alternative narratives are there? Does the evidence support this narrative? Failure to ask these questions is likely to consign us to being bystanders at our own destruction.
I forget who, but someone once said that too many, in pursuit of 'happiness', borrow money they can't afford to buy stuff they don't really want to impress people they don't really like. The 'Wow!' factor is mighty fleeting, they find. The very best we can hope for is a degree of CONTENTMENT in life, with occasional moments of happiness, usually brought about by music, a good book, a rewarding relationship or experience and so on. A necessary contrast will inevitably be times of sadness which cannot be allayed by buying 'stuff'. Check out a book by Clive Hamilton (Allen & Unwin, 2005) called 'Affluenza - When Too Much Is Never Enough' for some common sense. All this pointless, rewardless consumption is screwing the planet.
I think people just want to live their lives. Buy their groceries. Stay healthy. Meet up with their friends. Trouble is, we are being divided into so many different groups: straight, gay, trans, Christian, Muslim etc. And then the zionists come along and accuse us of antisemitism, which is a horrible thing to be accused of if you remember the holocaust so people just go along with all the bullshit they spew out. People are confused. Mixed up. Who knows what truth even is? Especially those who just read and listen to mainstream news. Before we can have a "truth-based relationship with reality" we have to figure out reality.
Nils Melzer, The Trial of Julian Assange: "The problem really is not that we do not know the truth, but that we do not want to know it. The problem is that we allow the powerful, against our better judgement, to disregard justice and the rule of law, and that we do not hold them accountable, either legally or politically, but celebrate them as great leaders and possibly even honor them with Nobel Peace Prizes. The problem is that we allow corporate bosses to ruthlessly destroy our livelihoods and shamelessly exploit the vast majority of the world's population, and still admire them as benefactors and philanthropists when they donate a few billion dollars from their looted wealth for the mitigation of humanitarian disasters they helped to create. We do not want to the see that the corporate media that feed us our understanding of world politics, and our personal circumstances, are owned by the very same people who also finance the election campaigns and careers of our politicians. Nor that those politicians, in turn, pass the laws and make the billion-dollar investments that keep allowing an increasingly narrow segment of society to enrich themselves at the expense of the general public and of future generations."