Open Thread - 06-17-22 - Tight Rope

What is true and what is false? Do we even know anymore? Our reality is being formed right before our eyes in the guise of propaganda. That screen display in your hand, on your desk, on your wall is stealing your mind. The monied class is forming a new reality. They want you to know that there are many things other than themselves that are the cause of the maladies that are beset upon you. Don't fall for it. It is on them.

Our language is being transformed, words are mutable, in flux with the political wind. Bend the words and bend the mind, Orwell understood such. Your mind is in play. It is under assault. Our history is being rewritten.

There are distractions everywhere. How quickly the flags changed from Ukraine to Rainbow, from Johnny Depp to Amber Heard, from demand destruction to empty food shelves. One catastrophe after another. It is meant to make the head swim.

rope-breaking.jpg

The gaslighting is relentless. Are you feeling confused to the point of giving up? That's what they want. They, that want you to have nothing and force you to be happy about it. They, that want you to despair. To feel like you're losing touch with reality. To capitulate. Then, they win.

Who is 'they'? They've been around since civilization's start. They abound in history books. They are the manipulators of men and minds, that lust for wealth and power. And they care not a rat's ass for you. It's an old story that keeps repeating itself. It seems we're stuck in this ruler/ruled oscillating paradigm of human interaction. The rulers overreach, the ruled pull them back, then once again the ruled deceive themselves into believing that the rulers are actually acting in their best interest and subsequently the ruled request more serfdom, again. Over and over. This time it will be different. You'd think the serfs would learn.

It appears they will try to starve us again. On a global scale this time. I say 'they' because, can a famine that is predicted so far in advance be organic? Here's a little prediction: Those that make it through to the other side of whatever this is coming at us like a freight train will find little to no jobs because of robotics and the decimation of the economy. The state will hand out universal basic income (UBI) which will amount to living on a subsistence level. Then a work provision will be added as a requisite for UBI benefits. What's the term again that describes that situation? Serf's up!

Isn't it ironic that those that would ruin lives for personal gain and those that contribute very little to society other than bleeding it dry, have the unmitigated gall to call anyone a useless eater.

Do not comply. History is watching. Our children's children's children are watching. They'll want to know how this was allowed to happen.

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see you on the other side, I hope.

Resist in any way you can, no matter how small.

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Lookout's picture

proposed by Russia and China will be a hitch in their get up for the reset. We in the west may be done unto...Look at Canada for example. But most of the world may escape this scheme. I hope so.

Glad I can hide in the holler.

I got up early and finished up my week long re-decking project. Looks nice and no longer feels like you can fall through it. We're due another hot one next week. Got to get out early to cope with it.

Thanks for the OT!

Edit to add - more bad news...
Julian Assange faces US extradition after UK approves transfer
This ruling does provide him the opportunity to make a broader appeal. No justice!

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

@Lookout
although China is looking harsh in its treatment of its people. I do like your hiding in the holler scheme though.

Julian Assange is the harbinger of all that is at stake.

Will the deck hold a 10 member jam session? That includes stomping feet, jugs and jars.

Have a good one old buddy.

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Lookout's picture

@JtC

10 or more, but not our best picking area. We use it mainly for starting seedlings and crafts...at one time we made many paper mache' birds...maybe well get back to it.

I cheaped out and bought discount "treated" lumber 20 + years ago. Just had to pay the price of that decision. Should last out my days now. Sure hope so.

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8 users have voted.

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

usefewersyllables's picture

that we live in a post-truth world; that the entire concept of objective Truth is being systematically deprecated. I believe that more than ever now.

It is apparently extremely important to the Owners that we all be completely divorced from Truth, and therefore Reality. William Casey said it best, way back in 1982, "We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false."

This is hardly new, but with the advent of the Internet (or, more accurately, the World Wide Web), I think that it has become complete. There is still Truth out there, but it is trivial to drown it out with half-truths, prevarications, selective embroidery of details, and especially that great American downfall: we love nothing more than to see someone, especially one of our heroes, ground into dust.

Merely apply massive sums of money and a bunch of well trained professional liars (read: PR people), and any Truth can be converted into just another garden-variety "maybe lie but certainly nothing more than an opinion". There are hordes of experts in every field who will happily deny that the sun will rise tomorrow- for the right number of pieces of silver.

I have said for decades that we the American people are the most comprehensively propagandized society on the planet, and I still believe that to be true. This task was accomplished by liberal application of The Big Lie, but the one they used here was the biggest and most effective of all.

They told us that we weren't.

Goebbels would *weep*. And we believed them. We swallowed it all- hook, line and sinker. We are Exceptional, we are better than that, we have Freedumb and Gawd-given Rights granted by the Constitution, and we are the shining city on the hill.

Bullshit. Maybe we were, once; but certainly never in my lifetime.

So now we are living in Idiocracy, and the big garbage pile up the hill from us is sliding in through our windows- right down one of the many slippery slopes that we have happily and voluntarily walked down, arm in arm, shouting USA! USA! Our team is winning! Ooh-rah!

The garbage pile isn't going to stop, now. Once again, I'm glad that I'm old and childfree. And when the shooting starts, I'll be right there- so that I can voluntarily walk into the middle of the nearest crossfire and be Freedumbed right the fuck out of here.

No smiley. But your mileage may vary- and by all means, drink your Brawndo, and have a nice day.

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Twice bitten, permanently shy.

@usefewersyllables
you should write more often. That sir, was an essay unto itself.

Thanks, my friend, and good luck to you and to us all.

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revolve around what are we going to do about it? and how do we go about doing it? Whatever remedies that exist now aren't doing it.

There are no guaranties in any of the old solutions, they seem to be effectively neutered. We can send money to our politician, like Bernie, and the tv spots run, and the news segment right after paints him as the socialist nation destroyer. Or we can demonstrate with the other dozen people protesting in the designated free speech zone while being photographed by the local swat team for our FBI files. Or we can don our pink pussy hats and feel real good about ourselves.

So, right now I'm in the despair group. I don't see any solution that doesn't involve violence.

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@Snode
except for the despair thing, I try not to let myself go there. But I do admit to hedging my bets.

I don't see any solution that doesn't involve violence.

Thanks for your perspective, my friend.

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enhydra lutris's picture

We, as a people and as a society, have increasingly relied upon experts, spokespersons, pundits, "sources" and other talking heads and advisors to inform us as to reality, truth and "the facts". Since we have been variously propagandized from inception, this has formed a self-reinforcing vicious cycle. And, of course, our formal educational processes skimp on and/or omit logic and all but a glancing peek at science in the sense of scientific method and methodologies. What isn't and wasn't, ab initio, faith based in the religious sense, has been nonetheless faith based in the sense that we've been forever taking somebody's word for things from bits of information as to things and events to vast edifices of pseuod-science like economics.

You voice 2 precepts or instructions that should be repeated often; Do not comply. and

Resist in any way you can, no matter how small.

They should become something of a catechism which includes the fact that the powerful and controlling elites are not your friends and are not on your side, and that they are invariably the answer to "cui bono?" which should be the perpetual question. Similarly, one should not consent, as part of one's resistance. We have no real say in our government, its laws, regulations and programs and our economy and need to always make it as clear as we can to as many of our peers as possible that we are ruled without that "consent of the governed" that is the necessary hallmark of legitimate governments.

Lastly, we must, at all opportunities expose the lies, misrepresentations, and myths of our history and governance, starting with the first incursions onto these shores and continuing up to today's "News".

Thanks not merely for the OT, but quite specifically for its content.

be well and have a good one

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

@enhydra lutris
as always, mi hermano.

To not resist is the equivalent to consenting. I do not consent. I will not abide.

Thanks, el, old friend.

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The English variant "And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free" is carved in stone in the Original Headquarters Building (OHB) of the Central Intelligence Agency.(from Wikipedia)

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

@on the cusp
truth and freedom are fungible commodities in a land of bendable words. Can we sue them for false advertising?

Thank you, my dear.

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@JtC since 1776.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

That's what I think we should be doing. Instead of violence, or demonstrations, or lawsuits, we should be stopping our fueling of it. We should stop allowing the Fed to print money to bail out the rich, run wars and starve children.

I don't know how we stop enabling this war machine, but we have to, and we can. Pull the Plug.

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17 users have voted.

@Linda Wood
what they wont tell you and what they don't want us to know is we possess the power to stop it. That, I'm sure, keeps them up at night.

The forecast famine may be the straw that breaks the back of the monied class and their hold on humanity. Empty stomachs speak loudly.

Do not consent.

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14 users have voted.

accept empty store shelves and warehouses, especially groceries. Like, you didn't need to eat all that much.Just today, AARP is promoting a science-based book on eating less, losing weight. Nobody is going to argue against maintaining a healthy diet, but the push to diet, science-based, is great conditioning for the coming food scarcity.
Also, the first time I heard the phrase "Science based", was maybe 2 years ago. What does that mean? Sort of connected to science? If the diet, etc...was scientific, why not just call it scientific?
We are adding phrases to the language all the time. SADS comes to mind.
We change definitions as propaganda requires.
It is unreal.
Turn off the TV and radio. Find news to read from a source that has no CIA connections.
Tell your family not to join the military.
Do not take away traditional family ties because of wokeness. Keep sons and daughters. Keep Dads and moms. Do not diminish those identities.
Argue with your politicians. Shame them.
We are the majority. We pose the ultimate problem to TPTB when we are sticking together.

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17 users have voted.

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Caitlin has been very good at calling out the propaganda infrastructure and themes.

But there is one contradiction which is a bit perplexing. Glenn Greenwald rightly points out that surveys show people hate tradition media and have stopped watching CNN as a televised outlet. But then again, cnn.com is one of the most view websites on the Internet. We are talking about 200 hundred million views per month. While people may not be viewing the cable version, they are certainly viewing the online version and believing it.

For example, over the last several years, Americans have come to view China in a very negative way.
Unfavorable Views Of China At New High In Pew Survey Of Americans

This has happened over the last several years. Same is true on favorability numbers for Russia. During this period the major media outlets have been very anti-Russian and anti-Chinese.

The contradiction is that while Americans may not like the major media outlets on cable, they view them in huge numbers online and apparently believe their propaganda.

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snoopydawg's picture

@MrWebster

from China because of the ‘China flyFLU' and the 'Wuhan virus.' It caused attacks on Asians to go up, but now they are in a conundrum because soon democrats will have to manufacture consent for the war against China. How will the shitlibs square that in their brains or will they just be able to switch on a dime like they did with their hatred of the unjabbed to pro Ukraine and more Russiaphobia? I see so many of them calling Russia a 3rd world country and the Russian people lots of unkind names. Stay tuned for when democrats get their consent for more war. They aren’t batting an eye at how much money and weapons Biden’s sending to Ukraine no matter the consequences of what it’s doing to our economy.

Dammit auto suggestion!

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12 users have voted.

Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

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NYCVG

with the avalanche of problems we face. C. Johnstone's article of yesterday speaks to the issue you raise about propaganda and lies.
She finishes the article by saying;

...we do each have the power to make things better by exactly one unit of human effort. We can help spread awareness of what’s going on in the world by fighting the lies we’ve been told by the powerful and drawing attention to things the powerful would rather keep hidden. We can help spread awareness of the human condition with art and with empathy. We can expand our own consciousness by getting very curious about how we operate and what makes us tick, and being very real with ourselves about what we find in that exploration.

Whatever you choose to believe about all this, it’s your adventure. I wish you the best in your travels.

https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2022/06/16/were-here-to-become-as-conscious...

I would add that each person has talent and aptitude in something. If we all bend that talent towards a collective good, that is a mountain of resistance.

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lotlizard's picture

groups disparaged as “believers in conspiracy theories,” because that’s the only form of resistance that seems to really discomfit the all-party, EU-NATO-Atlanticist-globalist, anti-Russian, anti-Chinese, pro-endless-war elite coalition and their party-line-toeing media that mocks and suppresses even the slightest dissent.

Journalist Mathias Bröckers is one of the few “left” dissenters left, but it has been decades since the taz.de daily newspaper, where he was once a regular, has allowed his words to appear in its pages on any subject other than cannabis and psychedelic counterculture.

https://www.broeckers.com

Other mavericks that seem to disturb Germany’s political “peace of the graveyard” and have attracted my interest are Tübingen’s Green mayor Boris Palmer and the Left Party’s Sahra Wagenknecht. Both figures are being targeted for expulsion by the woke-istas who now run their respective parties.

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@lotlizard lotlizard...JtC is right about despair. It doesn't help.
I love Germany, the people, the place, the current government not so much, but some of the best days of my life were spent there, and I hope it thrives forever and a day.
Take good care!

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

CB's picture

The causes and consequences of the Ukraine war

A lecture by John J. Mearsheimer
27,029 views Streamed live on Jun 16, 2022

In this lecture, Prof. Mearsheimer will aim to focus on both the origins of the war in Ukraine and some of its most important consequences. He will argue that the crisis is largely the result of the West’s efforts to turn Ukraine into a Western bulwark on Russia’s border. Russian leaders viewed that outcome as an existential threat that had to be thwarted. While Vladimir Putin is certainly responsible for invading Ukraine and for Russia’s conduct in the war, Prof. Mearsheimer states that he does not believe he is an expansionist bent on creating a greater Russia. Regarding the war’s consequences, the greatest danger is that the war will go on for months if not years, and that either NATO will get directly involved in the fighting or nuclear weapons will be used — or both. Furthermore, enormous damage has already been inflicted on Ukraine. A prolonged war is likely to wreak even more devastation on Ukraine.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qciVozNtCDM&t=647s]

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