I constantly am left dumbfounded by how little people are able to think through what is right in front of their eyes.
I believe the Covid phenomenon allowed a massive behavioral modification program to be unleashed on the people (classical & operant). As a positive reinforcement dog trainer I saw parallels immediately. Even though I’m an orthodox Christian and believe strongly that we have free will these techniques still seem to be working on our biological animal nature, which is terrifying to think about. I read this article back in 2021 and this author laid out the parallels nicely https://www.ukcolumn.org/article/we-are-all-pavlovs-dogs-now
(Case in point …this author was very thought provoking in 2021 and has now gone off the rails down one of the numerous rabbit holes that been conveniently provided for us)
Yes. Conditioning was rife, and it's still in process through what could be considered a kind of inertia of the discourses, institutions and apparatuses of ideological reproduction.
We certainly have free will, but manipulation or "nudging" doesn't even have to challenge or have us questioning its existence. Free will is surely compatible with propaganda -- if we're given a false set of choices, and then freely choose, there's no reason to question the reality of the liberum arbitritum.
And on that note, I just re-read this C. S. Lewis quote today:
The odd thing was that before God closed in on me, I was in fact offered what now appears a moment of wholly free choice. In a sense.
The choice appeared to be momentous but it was also strangely unemotional. I was moved by no desires or fears. In a sense I was not moved by anything. I chose to open, to unbuckle, to loosen the rein. I say, “I chose,” yet it did not really seem possible to do the opposite. On the other hand, I was aware of no motives. You could argue that I was not a free agent, but I am more inclined to think that this came nearer to being a perfectly free act than most that I have ever done.
Necessity may not be the opposite of freedom, and perhaps a man is most free when, instead of producing motives, he could only say, “I am what I do.”
One of the most dangerous cults is the cult of nostalgia.
Kunstler is indeed channeling the Reagan hype.
Reagan was also a show business guy, like Trump, who got the false credit for stopping the cold war.
But I'm less worried this time because the cold war military obsession is not as strong. It's been replaced by questioning health policy. Of course they focus on things like food dyes, but once people learn that the govt and corporations lied about safety of food additives, they'll look into vaccines and prescription drugs that also were based on lies of safety.
I really enjoyed this piece, Johan. You are right on target. It’s so disheartening for me dealing with other young people who consider themselves on the left. Many of them are engaged in activism which does nothing but fuel the fascistic agenda of late stage capitalism.
Thanks! Sorry for the late reply, things have been hectic.
I get a feeling there's something fruitful brewing on the left at the moment, however, especially in the wake of the Palestinian genocide and how this sort of have wiped a lot of scales from people's eyes.
I found this in a book shop last night, and it's one of the best summaries of our overall situation that I've encountered so far, for instance:
I agree. The Palestinian genocide seems to have been an opportunity for reunification on the left. I’ll check out that book, it looks interesting! Keep up the good work :)
So, we can't read about, listen to, contemplate on our own about how fucked up a person Trump is without the JewLandia Media or the Christian Wacko hate radio stations?
And, it's an either or -- Hitler or the Second Coming?
This proposition you set forth is really meaningless, and who the fuck was George Washington? And you write this on AmeriKKKa's Black Friday scam Day, when we should be discussing not just land acknowledgement but land return?
This is a settler colonial racist project, set forth before that scum bucket Washington got his laurels.
Hitler and Trump? Christ, Bush Family and Jews worked with the Nazi's before and during WWII. It's all just smear and fear porn.
This country tis of thee has done damage, dude, before Trump, before any of the Teddy and FDR crew, but especially with Monroe DOctrine One, Two, THree and now FOur.
84 out of the 194 countries recognized by the United Nations and has been militarily involved with 191 of those.
Christ, so, this WWF rigged system of Casino and Predatory Capitalism has brought us to 2024 and the evil of the lessers, and the Kushner-Trump JewLandia LLC won over Emoff-Harris Zyklon Blinken.
Hitler? Jesus Fucking Christ -- the USA is a far cry above any or all Hitlers, and this freak and his freak show will indeed continue the Bad Seed USA bad to the bone, bad to the world blues song for the rest of the WORLD.
“Imperialism leaves behind germs of rot which we must clinically detect and remove from our land but from our minds as well,” Frantz Fanon wrote in The Wretched of the Earth.
Nice post, Johan. It's a bit disheartening that so few people understand how this process works.
I argued this same point with different terminology in this post: https://neofeudalreview.substack.com/p/the-consolidation-phase-of-the-egalitarian
Nice, and much more thoroughly researched than my rant. Thanks. The "counter-elite" is quite a useful concept I think.
C. J. Hopkins was making a similar argument in one of his latest pieces as well. Worth a read.
Brilliant and spot on.
I constantly am left dumbfounded by how little people are able to think through what is right in front of their eyes.
I believe the Covid phenomenon allowed a massive behavioral modification program to be unleashed on the people (classical & operant). As a positive reinforcement dog trainer I saw parallels immediately. Even though I’m an orthodox Christian and believe strongly that we have free will these techniques still seem to be working on our biological animal nature, which is terrifying to think about. I read this article back in 2021 and this author laid out the parallels nicely https://www.ukcolumn.org/article/we-are-all-pavlovs-dogs-now
(Case in point …this author was very thought provoking in 2021 and has now gone off the rails down one of the numerous rabbit holes that been conveniently provided for us)
Very observant! The psychologists behind these mind kontrol programs have been uber successful at their kraftwerk.
Thanks for the kind words!
Yes. Conditioning was rife, and it's still in process through what could be considered a kind of inertia of the discourses, institutions and apparatuses of ideological reproduction.
We certainly have free will, but manipulation or "nudging" doesn't even have to challenge or have us questioning its existence. Free will is surely compatible with propaganda -- if we're given a false set of choices, and then freely choose, there's no reason to question the reality of the liberum arbitritum.
And on that note, I just re-read this C. S. Lewis quote today:
The odd thing was that before God closed in on me, I was in fact offered what now appears a moment of wholly free choice. In a sense.
The choice appeared to be momentous but it was also strangely unemotional. I was moved by no desires or fears. In a sense I was not moved by anything. I chose to open, to unbuckle, to loosen the rein. I say, “I chose,” yet it did not really seem possible to do the opposite. On the other hand, I was aware of no motives. You could argue that I was not a free agent, but I am more inclined to think that this came nearer to being a perfectly free act than most that I have ever done.
Necessity may not be the opposite of freedom, and perhaps a man is most free when, instead of producing motives, he could only say, “I am what I do.”
One of the most dangerous cults is the cult of nostalgia.
Kunstler is indeed channeling the Reagan hype.
Reagan was also a show business guy, like Trump, who got the false credit for stopping the cold war.
But I'm less worried this time because the cold war military obsession is not as strong. It's been replaced by questioning health policy. Of course they focus on things like food dyes, but once people learn that the govt and corporations lied about safety of food additives, they'll look into vaccines and prescription drugs that also were based on lies of safety.
10 out of 10
I really enjoyed this piece, Johan. You are right on target. It’s so disheartening for me dealing with other young people who consider themselves on the left. Many of them are engaged in activism which does nothing but fuel the fascistic agenda of late stage capitalism.
Thanks! Sorry for the late reply, things have been hectic.
I get a feeling there's something fruitful brewing on the left at the moment, however, especially in the wake of the Palestinian genocide and how this sort of have wiped a lot of scales from people's eyes.
I found this in a book shop last night, and it's one of the best summaries of our overall situation that I've encountered so far, for instance:
https://www.mackbooks.us/products/hello-chaos-a-love-story-the-disorder-of-seeing-and-being-seen-br-charlie-engman-br-spbh-editions
Kampen fortsätter.
I agree. The Palestinian genocide seems to have been an opportunity for reunification on the left. I’ll check out that book, it looks interesting! Keep up the good work :)
Går inte det här emot bullan?
So, we can't read about, listen to, contemplate on our own about how fucked up a person Trump is without the JewLandia Media or the Christian Wacko hate radio stations?
And, it's an either or -- Hitler or the Second Coming?
This proposition you set forth is really meaningless, and who the fuck was George Washington? And you write this on AmeriKKKa's Black Friday scam Day, when we should be discussing not just land acknowledgement but land return?
This is a settler colonial racist project, set forth before that scum bucket Washington got his laurels.
Hitler and Trump? Christ, Bush Family and Jews worked with the Nazi's before and during WWII. It's all just smear and fear porn.
This country tis of thee has done damage, dude, before Trump, before any of the Teddy and FDR crew, but especially with Monroe DOctrine One, Two, THree and now FOur.
84 out of the 194 countries recognized by the United Nations and has been militarily involved with 191 of those.
Christ, so, this WWF rigged system of Casino and Predatory Capitalism has brought us to 2024 and the evil of the lessers, and the Kushner-Trump JewLandia LLC won over Emoff-Harris Zyklon Blinken.
Hitler? Jesus Fucking Christ -- the USA is a far cry above any or all Hitlers, and this freak and his freak show will indeed continue the Bad Seed USA bad to the bone, bad to the world blues song for the rest of the WORLD.
https://paulokirk.substack.com/p/judaism-jinxing-jabberwocky-jimmy
So what are we doing here, exactly?
Sanitizing?
“Imperialism leaves behind germs of rot which we must clinically detect and remove from our land but from our minds as well,” Frantz Fanon wrote in The Wretched of the Earth.