This is a disheartening piece to me, because the concept of freedom is deeply motivating and profoundly meaningful to me, but as I commented on another substack, “freedom” simply is not valued by many people. When I use that word, the responses range from good-natured patience with me to outright anger. My own sister got really quite inflamed with me about the issue of freedom — I would say it also made her disdainful that I would think “freedom” is important to the whole discussion of mandates and lockdowns etc. I can summarize her response as “Grow up, Cindy, you’re such a selfish person!” Freedom = Selfish. To many other people, they are so beaten down that the words “You can’t fight City Hall” have more meaning than “We are endowed by our Creator with unalienable rights.” Other people are so far gone that the mere mention of the Declaration of Independence makes their brains go DING: “racist white guys.” To people who are patient with my belief in the importance of freedom, the standard reply is, “It’s about saving lives.” Said like they’re talking to a child. If they can go to the mall and choose a shirt to buy, or turn on the TV and choose a show to watch, then that is good enough for them. Some of them think I’m paranoid to think freedom is even in peril. It’s exhausting. We can’t give up, but it’s exhausting.
Yes. And exactly why those among us that place emotional responses to complicated matters above pragmatic, tough decision making are the real problem. Tyrants are downstream of culture.
Selfish? Walensky, Fauci, and even Gates have admitted the jabs don't stop infection or transmission. They aren't rolling out the boosters because the first and second doses worked too well. It's a matter of personal risk assessment and bodily autonomy. There is no greater good. And don't many of the vaxxed want the unvaxxed to get sick and die, so we learn our lesson? Shouldn't they be celebrating our stupidity or something?
Tell your sister this...the UK Health Security Agency has reported a higher rate of infection in those age 30 and older for the last seven weeks. In some age cohorts the rate of infection in the fully vaxxed is more than double that of the unvaxxed. Even though the jabs do seem to provide protection against hospitalization and death when normalized for the population, nearly four of five of the deaths in the last eight reports were in the fully vaxxed (week 39: 73.9%; week 46: 78.2%). And I could make an argument that the fully vaxxed age 30 and older are a greater risk for viral spread than the unvaxxed age 30 and older. Perhaps your sister is the selfish one?
Austria is going into full lockdown on Monday...the entire population, not just the unvaxxed. The government has mandated jabs for the population by February 2022. The double-vaxxed must get a booster. Ask her to explain why the Austrian government is mandating jabs that don't stop infection or transmission. Clearly, it isn't about a virus or public health.
Israel started giving boosters in late July. The government requires the double-vaxxed to get the booster at six months...or their green pass is disabled and they cannot live a normal life.
Ask her how many boosters of a "vaccine" that doesn't stop infection or transmission she's willing to take to go to a restaurant or enter a store or keep a job.
Ask her how often she's willing to take a booster...every six months...every three months.
Ask her how long she's willing to take booster...one year...two? Forever?
The cognitive dissonance in the vaxxed is hard to break. Talking about freedom...which I agree is the most important point...may be lost on them. Telling them the damn things don't work might not be.
I've been a broken record on this, but the only possible way of making sense of this is through the lens of ideology. The ideological battle line is "collectivism vs individualism" (left vs right, east vs west). I can't say for sure, but it appears which side you fall on is hard-wired, maybe from birth. Thus, you have differing sides within the same family. Plus "conversion" seems vanishingly rare, which should tell us a lot. Your sister sounds exactly like my older brother, embracing and enforcing the collectivist narrative. Like many, my older brother had a lot of anxiety about the virus, right out of the gate, which makes no sense (he was an F-15 pilot). I suspect the virus was merely a "trigger", but the fundamental cause of the anxiety is much deeper. Perhaps fatigue from a seemingly meaningless individualistic, decadent, incessantly competitive meritocracy? He's effectively an atheist (I'm not), which might factor into the "meaningless" aspect, although plenty of atheist/humanist individualists on our side, so this clearly isn't the full story. Still lots of unanswered questions.
Mike, I am not sure about the hard-wired. I was liberal when I was young, now lean conservative and will stay here but am an Independent. I see value in both individual and the collective pending the topic and believe they can work together at the exact same time. Left and Right can coexist well as a balance to one another, like yin and yang. Then again, on a bell curve, I am probably an outlier so there you have it.
And for what it is worth, your brother served our country and was very brave in his chosen profession. I thank him for his service.
I hear you, although I don't think liberal vs conservative is the issue. I don't see liberal vs conservative as "hard-wired", but more like a situational bias. Liberal vs conservative is the stuff of political bickering. True ideology is the stuff of wars.
It's been fascinating seeing people (particularly on Twitter) who identify as "liberal" and lifelong democrats come out on our side, showing their primary ideological spirit. Plus, I don't think people are all or none. We're clearly a mix. In regards to collectivism vs individualism, it seems like we have a primary spirit and a secondary spirit. I suspect people resist this view because they like to think they fully chose their position based on intelligence and virtue. Getting away from this is difficult and takes the fun out of it.
Yes, I do agree a situational bias and yes, most of us are a mix.
When did we allow life to get so complicated. Do we not all remember the KISS method? I find the most intelligent among us are many times those without the highest levels of education...they have retained common sense, moderation, escaped indoctrination, and apply the art of compromise with great deftness. If everyone looked in the mirror and were real honest, there are an infinitesimal few that can make the boast that they live virtuous lives consistently. I know I will never be remotely close to a Mother Teresa or Gandhi.
I remember the old line "If you're not a socialist when young, you have no heart. If you're not a libertarian when old, you have no brain.". It makes me laugh because it's true of you me and a lot others.
The idea of helping and looking out for each other strikes the idealism of youth. Once they get some experience with the "WTF?" moments they realize both sides are mostly bought and paid for.
I like the folks and goals of both the "legit left" (RFK Jr, Max Blumenthal, etc) and the "real right" (all states who've outlawed vax passports (all red so far). Despite their differences they still have the idealistic goals, just different ways to achieve them.
I could not agree more TRM. If only I had the wisdom in my youth that I have now. I would have been a force to be reckoned with. Only time and experience can give us clarity, insight and wisdom. Love RFK Jr. He is very informative. I don't mind right or left but would like them to live in the middle, fanatics need not apply!
Democrats/Leftists are already conditioned to be obedient slaves that love state dictatorship.
Freedom has become a foreign notion for these people.
Not by chance all places where leftists have majority are defacto totalitarian enclaves where hirings, workplace practices and services are used to filter out dissenting voices.
As more and more social structures are controlled by leftists the society becomes more and more totalitarian.
Leftism and Fascism are almost undistinguishable and not by chance China switched from Communism to Fascism and many people are not even aware of that.
Freedom is vital. For those that do not cherish it, they should be sent to live in China or Iran for 6 months, then let them see for themselves how wrong they were.
I feel the same way, Cindy. Please hang in there. Yesterday, after seeing videos of protests around the globe, I found a new sense of hope. There are millions of us. The problem is that US media does an outstanding job at censoring and keeping us uninformed. - Maria
“It’s about saving lives.” A decent response to that is along the lines of "But if lockdowns are/were effective, why are so many people still dying from covid? And do you really believe your government's capable of saving your life?"
Stand strong and just say no to Medical Rape! Also refer to mandatory vaccination as medical rape wherever possible. We need to identify the position of supporting mandates with supporting rapists. Making these idiotic Leftists the clear Bad Guys is the only way forward.
I’ve been listening to a podcast on YouTube called Debra gets red-pilled. The premise is this guy, Adam, and his mother in law, Debra, have a talk every week (with guests of all kinds) and he exposes her to stuff she had never questioned or didn’t even know existed. Debra’s your typical nice, don’t rock the boat, go along to get along, cnn-watching hippie-era Democrat. Sweet but naive and also the type of person that’s the reason we’re facing the danger we’re in: they don’t bite or fight back. They can’t believe anything truly bad is happening at all until the day they’re watching a loved one get dragged away and put in a boxcar for not getting the vax.
In the episode I watched last night, things come to a head. It has been building up for a while. Adam wants to know where she stands now that he is about to lose his job. Debra still thinks that the easiest thing is to just get the vaccine even though she’s against the mandates.
For me, the peak comes when he asks her “I’m going to get graphic here. Im being raped and you’re asking me to just give in”
“Wh- what?”
“I’m being raped and your advice is to give in, to make it consensual.”
I think that was a pivotal moment for her.
It’s not a podcast for everyone and at times it’s a bit slow, but I find value in it.
In any case, medical rape is a very accurate analogy.
I can’t find the specific exchange I mention but it’s in the second hour. The first 41 minutes are skippable. The “hard truths” part begins at 41:15
It’s a hard episode to watch, this one. Very uncomfortable for Debra. For the viewer too. And Adam is not the type of person to mollycoddle her throughout the difficult moments. He keeps a deadpan face. I like him though. I like them both. It’s obvious the podcast has deepened their relationship but oh god, this one was so hard. (I recommend speeding it up a bit to 1.25.)
Their episodes are normally not like this one (I mean, who would put themselves through it if it was just constantly being put on the spot?) and they’ve had some very entertaining guests. It’s a good ride watching Debra discover and react to MK Ultra, mud flood, cryptozoology, Boston marathon, ufos and other fringe subjects.
Thanks! Amazingly, when I was scrolling through the episodes of this show (which I had never heard of prior to you mentioning it here) that exact episode is the one that piqued my interest. I’m already a good half-hour into it and fascinated by the interaction.
it is NOT instantiated to produce ever more convoluted aggregation fallacies about the “common good” and to force them upon the populace “for its own betterment.”
BRAVO!!! This needs repeating infinitely.
I took a course in ethics years ago. I remember what my teacher said. The worst problems come not when it is a question of right vs wrong, but when right vs. right. The worst was the individual vs. the collective/community.
I thought this country was built on the supremacy of the individual right. Because we´ve seen what happens when we come down on the side of the community: Socialism, Nazism, Communism, and Pol Pot. Not to mention the CCP.
Our government needs reminding that they must ALWAYS come down on the rights of the individual.
But you must admit that governing based on the rights of the individual will, by default, lead back to a meritocracy; something minorities of all definition seems to be battling. So there is cognitive dissonance that is at the root of these issues and it needs to be dealt with first.
I am not sure what you mean. I don't necessarily believe the rights of the individual, as specified in the bill of rights /constittuion will lead back to a meritocracy ---because if people merit their positions, they are good at it, and consistently adher to constitutional law, I think it would be great. BUT, I do think if we do NOT learn from our current issues, it will become some sort of oligarchy...either run by corporations (like now), or by oligarchs (like now, with Soros backing Obama with money, and following the cloven pivard playbook/rules for radicals), all backed by the CCP who laid out their asymetric warfare plan in a book in the late 90;s..oh I can think of so many things that have gone wrong...the failure of our anti trust unit, the policitization of the DOJ, the weaponization of the FBI, etc. and of course our politicians who are beholden to thei donors...our law crafted tax code which is a temptation to any politician running for office again.....but I beleive if we look carefully at all our institutions, we can figure out where we went wrong (by building them in the first place, by not having terms limits on all BUREAUCRATS and POLITICIANs) by not making Congress live under the laws they pass for the rest of us, etc etc . etc...The FCC, the FTC, the NIH, CDC Etc etc. and yes, even the Military all need to be re-constructed from teh ground up, and many eliminated and transferred to local power.
And I don't think minorities are battling meritocracies...I think they are battling bad policies that need to go bye bye.
And with all that said. I believe the US is the only country that was founded by geniuses, and I believe in the strict interpretation of the constitution. I do not LIKE it when words are not interpreted in the context of the time they were said..for example, the General Welfare clause which was never meant to lead to actual Welfare and food stamps.
Now we have changed the definition of vaccine, herd Immunity and something else I can't remember but I will stop now. Contant vigilance, and Yes, my generation is guilty of living in happyland for years, and not keeping an eye on what has happened.
And if the grizzly bear has spent the last two years grooming you by convincing you of the dangers of everything that is NOT mating with a grizzly, and presenting data on the safety of human-grizzly mating, and how everyone else is doing it-- and that in fact if you suffer afterwards, it means you have done it really really RIGHT, and perhaps you should even post a postcoital photo of yourself on social media, which everybody else cheers...that's not consent, either, no matter how much you insist to me that you wanted it. It's why I'm furious at some of my fellow citizens for their willing compliance, but I also see them as victims, and they're not the true focus of my angry energy.
Gato, your recent pieces have something of an anarchistic streak. More than OK by me.
Of course, many people who hear the word 'anarchy' immediately have visions of violence, mayhem and rampant wrongdoing.
Actually, and ideally, anarchy puts the responsibility for the well being of society on the individual. Its central themes are autonomy, equality, teamwork, and freedom from organized authority, from diktat.
These are lofty sentiments indeed. Wish more people were attuned to them.
indeed, anarchy is about agorism and voluntary association to generate consensual, emergent order. it's a free market for societies.
trying to pass it off as some sort of black pill violence and chaos has always struct me as the defensive reactionary response of those who would like to keep their seats at the ruling table so they can order the rest for their own good.
if what they're selling is so desirable, why must they use force to impose it?
We live in an anarchy probably 99% of our lives. Unfortunately, our governments have decided that they need to get in our faces on a daily basis, which for me is intolerable: my ideal number of interactions with government in my lifetime is zero.
From “On Civil Disobedience,” by Mohandas Gandhi July 27, 1916
"But through the other method of combating injustice, we alone suffer the consequences of our mistakes, and the other side is wholly spared. This other method is truth-force (satyagraha). One who resorts to it does not have to break another’s head; he may merely have his own head broken. He has to be prepared to die himself suffering all
the pain. In opposing the atrocious laws of the Government of South Africa, it was this method that we adopted. We made it clear to the said Government that we would never bow to its outrageous laws. No clapping is possible without two hands to do it, and no quarrel without two persons to make it. Similarly, no State is possible without two entities (the rulers and the ruled). You are our sovereign, our Government, only so long as we consider ourselves your subjects. When we are not subjects, you are not the sovereign either. So long as it is your endeavor to control us with justice and love, we will let you do so. But if you wish to strike at us from behind, we cannot permit it. Whatever you do in other matters, you will have to ask our opinion about the laws that concern us. If you make laws to keep us suppressed in a wrongful manner and without taking us into confidence, these laws will merely adorn the statute-books. We will never obey them. Award us for it what punishment you like, we will put up with it. Send us to prison and we will live there as in a paradise. Ask us to mount the
scaffold and we will do so laughing. Shower what sufferings you like upon us, we will calmly endure all and not hurt a hair of your body. We will gladly die and will not so much as touch you. But so long as there is yet life in these our bones, we will never comply with your arbitrary laws."
Related Gandhi on Vaccines: "Those who are conscientious objectors to vaccination should, of course, have the courage to face all penalties or persecutions to which they may be subjected by law, and stand alone, if need be, against the whole world, in defence of their conviction."
the Mohatma was referring to Satya: truthfulness, honesty which is second to Ahimsa: non-violence, non-injury, harmlessness (do no harm) in the 10 precepts of yama yoga. familiar to hindus
"The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting."--Sun Tzu. It is painful to watch so many of our citizens so willing to be subdued. Thank you, Cattitude! Now, let's get out there and be UNGOVERNABLE!!
I keep asking this to people and it gets the dear in the headlights reaction. They have no response other than to pretend the injections are not experimental. My question to them is:
How can I give informed consent when information is being withheld? I can’t and as such I refuse to do so. What information is being withheld? I'm so glad you asked!!
1) Their patents have "company proprietary secret sauce ingredients" and the government let them get away with that! This is NOT Kentucy Fried Chicken. This is an IRREVERSIBLE experimental gene therapy injection.
2) The raw data from the “Phase 2 Human Experimental Trials” which completed in October 2020, has not been made publicly available. Pfizer & Moderna have said that they will release it “sometime in 2022”. Talk to me AFTER that.
3) Where are the animal studies that Pfizer and Moderna did in parallel with the phase 2 human experimental trials? Did they not do them? Did they not release them?
4) The data for the approval of the Cominaty version took 108 days to "review" (aka rubber stamp) but the FDA wants 55 years to release? WTF?
There is NO NEGOTIATION on this point. You do NOT claim "science" and get to withhold information that they admit exists. NO, NEIN, NYET, NEVER.
Without the raw data we cannot verify their claims for safety & efficacy.
Think about the precedent you are setting. You are letting large corporations with:
1) A blatant financial conflict of interest.
2) A recent history of maiming and killing thousands of the “customers” annually.
3) Decide what information about their “products” we get to see.
And I have to take it? ROTFLMAO. No. That is stark raving mad.
Go ahead and give your "uninformed consent" all you want but I refuse to and you coerce me at your own peril.
This looks like the seeds of a new and liberating Declaration of Independence to me, complete with kitty flag! I can’t think of a better animal to represent being ungovernable in the most wonderful possible way. Kitty power to the people! 🐈
Sheeple or People ? If you have a family, like so many with 2 young kids... it's a tough call to be so independent. I'm single. It's an easier choice for me. When it's say 'No' and lose your job, it's a tough call. I have a friend who's brother was a Doctor. But refusing the jabs, he was fired. He now does off the books construction work. Can many families afford to make this sacrifice ? When you're so deeply woven Into the social fabric... turning on a dime to something else is very, very difficult. I sympathize with families with young kids.
What I've thought all along is that if they kill liberal democracy, they are effectively killing the goose which lays the golden eggs. I have actually come to believe, however, that they are playing a longer game: they really do want 6 out of seven of us dead. It's the only hypothesis which makes sense, in the context of mandates for kid jabs, for example.
I never signed no stinking social contract. When I buy houses and cars, I sign innumerable documents. Heck, you have to sign every time you get a new app, probably including substack. Taxes are the price we pay for the uncivilized parts of society.
"Taxes are the price we pay for the uncivilized parts of society."
this is an apt formulation. those "public goods" that the public values above their cost to provide need not be funded by collectivist taxes. they can be paid for by user fees of one sort or another.
it is only those programs for which the public would NOT voluntarily pay (and that therefore are always non pareto optimal) that must be funded in such fashion.
Honestly I spend a lot of time in my life circumventing -legally- daily government oppressions. Once you start you can’t stop. I’m an evangelist in this way. There are many zombies out in the general public. Shock them by telling them they don’t have to obey. It’s very gratifying, even the small things.
And I am vocal when government hacks don’t do their job. The post office hates me because I will announce it very loudly when there is ineptitude and when employees treat me poorly. AT THE VERY LEAST make them uncomfortable. Make them squirm. Ignore their dictates. Get rid of the Democrats in your life. I promise you will be better for it. And I NEED that cat flag.
Are we living in Concentration Camp 2.0? In the updated version, psychologically battered inmates amble around in a state of permanent learned helplessness, a brigade of Karens standing guard, eager to inform on anyone who demonstrates a faint alertness.
When they reach the invisible boundaries of their self-constructed walls, they stop. When the atmosphere grants permission to proceed, they tiptoe tentatively forward, cringing in anticipation of the thunderclap order to halt and reverse. And it comes. It almost always comes—but at random intervals, nerves fraying as they remain suspended in a state of perpetual tension, anxiety, and terror until the next shock.
After enough waves of dread, they forget. They forget what it was like before, and they forget what it was like ahead. They forget there is an outside. They forget they have the capacity to stride through those phantom walls. They forget they have agency over their own lives. They forget they possess the power of a collective, resounding “NO!”
this is such a common human situation. Think about others lives and what is their normal, or new normal, perhaps living with a severe chronic condition. They do look back often on what life was like before, and it is normal to feel hopeless, or even doubtful that your life will ever be like that, or perhaps!! many do not even remember their "old life"
This situation for each individual could be something like soft terrorism. It is wearing on the heart.
I think “soft terrorism” is a good description of what’s occurring. They are following Biderman’s Chart of Coercion (https://margaretannaalice.substack.com/p/letter-to-a-tyrant) to a T, but the torture is entirely psychological, thus making it impossible to point to direct forms of assault. If the torture were physical in nature, people wouldn’t be able to deny it, but the psychological scars take longer to become evident.
This is a disheartening piece to me, because the concept of freedom is deeply motivating and profoundly meaningful to me, but as I commented on another substack, “freedom” simply is not valued by many people. When I use that word, the responses range from good-natured patience with me to outright anger. My own sister got really quite inflamed with me about the issue of freedom — I would say it also made her disdainful that I would think “freedom” is important to the whole discussion of mandates and lockdowns etc. I can summarize her response as “Grow up, Cindy, you’re such a selfish person!” Freedom = Selfish. To many other people, they are so beaten down that the words “You can’t fight City Hall” have more meaning than “We are endowed by our Creator with unalienable rights.” Other people are so far gone that the mere mention of the Declaration of Independence makes their brains go DING: “racist white guys.” To people who are patient with my belief in the importance of freedom, the standard reply is, “It’s about saving lives.” Said like they’re talking to a child. If they can go to the mall and choose a shirt to buy, or turn on the TV and choose a show to watch, then that is good enough for them. Some of them think I’m paranoid to think freedom is even in peril. It’s exhausting. We can’t give up, but it’s exhausting.
"The welfare of humanity is always the alibi of tyrants." - Albert Camus.
Yes. And exactly why those among us that place emotional responses to complicated matters above pragmatic, tough decision making are the real problem. Tyrants are downstream of culture.
This is a great quote!
Selfish? Walensky, Fauci, and even Gates have admitted the jabs don't stop infection or transmission. They aren't rolling out the boosters because the first and second doses worked too well. It's a matter of personal risk assessment and bodily autonomy. There is no greater good. And don't many of the vaxxed want the unvaxxed to get sick and die, so we learn our lesson? Shouldn't they be celebrating our stupidity or something?
Gates:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZplF4qdwII
Fauci:
https://rumble.com/vp7isp-dr.-fauci-admits-vaccines-did-not-work-as-advertised-and-that-vaccinated-ar.html
Walensky:
https://rumble.com/vku759-cdc-director-covid-vaccines-do-not-prevent-transmission-of-covid.html?fbclid=IwAR18zYbEMU5meWM7plpHUjHwuxEmu0MBwgOi0O576dqY_6zh66J7cQGFVx4
Tell your sister this...the UK Health Security Agency has reported a higher rate of infection in those age 30 and older for the last seven weeks. In some age cohorts the rate of infection in the fully vaxxed is more than double that of the unvaxxed. Even though the jabs do seem to provide protection against hospitalization and death when normalized for the population, nearly four of five of the deaths in the last eight reports were in the fully vaxxed (week 39: 73.9%; week 46: 78.2%). And I could make an argument that the fully vaxxed age 30 and older are a greater risk for viral spread than the unvaxxed age 30 and older. Perhaps your sister is the selfish one?
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccine-weekly-surveillance-reports
Austria is going into full lockdown on Monday...the entire population, not just the unvaxxed. The government has mandated jabs for the population by February 2022. The double-vaxxed must get a booster. Ask her to explain why the Austrian government is mandating jabs that don't stop infection or transmission. Clearly, it isn't about a virus or public health.
Israel started giving boosters in late July. The government requires the double-vaxxed to get the booster at six months...or their green pass is disabled and they cannot live a normal life.
Ask her how many boosters of a "vaccine" that doesn't stop infection or transmission she's willing to take to go to a restaurant or enter a store or keep a job.
Ask her how often she's willing to take a booster...every six months...every three months.
Ask her how long she's willing to take booster...one year...two? Forever?
The cognitive dissonance in the vaxxed is hard to break. Talking about freedom...which I agree is the most important point...may be lost on them. Telling them the damn things don't work might not be.
And then show her this...https://openvaers.com/covid-data.
Does she really think the VAERS data is just made up my crazed anti-vaxxers who are being mean to Fauci?
In the end, you don't owe anyone an explanation for your choice to refuse the jab...not even your family.
"Perhaps your sister is the selfish one?" --- Well put.
I've been a broken record on this, but the only possible way of making sense of this is through the lens of ideology. The ideological battle line is "collectivism vs individualism" (left vs right, east vs west). I can't say for sure, but it appears which side you fall on is hard-wired, maybe from birth. Thus, you have differing sides within the same family. Plus "conversion" seems vanishingly rare, which should tell us a lot. Your sister sounds exactly like my older brother, embracing and enforcing the collectivist narrative. Like many, my older brother had a lot of anxiety about the virus, right out of the gate, which makes no sense (he was an F-15 pilot). I suspect the virus was merely a "trigger", but the fundamental cause of the anxiety is much deeper. Perhaps fatigue from a seemingly meaningless individualistic, decadent, incessantly competitive meritocracy? He's effectively an atheist (I'm not), which might factor into the "meaningless" aspect, although plenty of atheist/humanist individualists on our side, so this clearly isn't the full story. Still lots of unanswered questions.
Mike, I am not sure about the hard-wired. I was liberal when I was young, now lean conservative and will stay here but am an Independent. I see value in both individual and the collective pending the topic and believe they can work together at the exact same time. Left and Right can coexist well as a balance to one another, like yin and yang. Then again, on a bell curve, I am probably an outlier so there you have it.
And for what it is worth, your brother served our country and was very brave in his chosen profession. I thank him for his service.
I hear you, although I don't think liberal vs conservative is the issue. I don't see liberal vs conservative as "hard-wired", but more like a situational bias. Liberal vs conservative is the stuff of political bickering. True ideology is the stuff of wars.
It's been fascinating seeing people (particularly on Twitter) who identify as "liberal" and lifelong democrats come out on our side, showing their primary ideological spirit. Plus, I don't think people are all or none. We're clearly a mix. In regards to collectivism vs individualism, it seems like we have a primary spirit and a secondary spirit. I suspect people resist this view because they like to think they fully chose their position based on intelligence and virtue. Getting away from this is difficult and takes the fun out of it.
Yes, I do agree a situational bias and yes, most of us are a mix.
When did we allow life to get so complicated. Do we not all remember the KISS method? I find the most intelligent among us are many times those without the highest levels of education...they have retained common sense, moderation, escaped indoctrination, and apply the art of compromise with great deftness. If everyone looked in the mirror and were real honest, there are an infinitesimal few that can make the boast that they live virtuous lives consistently. I know I will never be remotely close to a Mother Teresa or Gandhi.
I remember the old line "If you're not a socialist when young, you have no heart. If you're not a libertarian when old, you have no brain.". It makes me laugh because it's true of you me and a lot others.
The idea of helping and looking out for each other strikes the idealism of youth. Once they get some experience with the "WTF?" moments they realize both sides are mostly bought and paid for.
I like the folks and goals of both the "legit left" (RFK Jr, Max Blumenthal, etc) and the "real right" (all states who've outlawed vax passports (all red so far). Despite their differences they still have the idealistic goals, just different ways to achieve them.
I could not agree more TRM. If only I had the wisdom in my youth that I have now. I would have been a force to be reckoned with. Only time and experience can give us clarity, insight and wisdom. Love RFK Jr. He is very informative. I don't mind right or left but would like them to live in the middle, fanatics need not apply!
Democrats/Leftists are already conditioned to be obedient slaves that love state dictatorship.
Freedom has become a foreign notion for these people.
Not by chance all places where leftists have majority are defacto totalitarian enclaves where hirings, workplace practices and services are used to filter out dissenting voices.
As more and more social structures are controlled by leftists the society becomes more and more totalitarian.
Leftism and Fascism are almost undistinguishable and not by chance China switched from Communism to Fascism and many people are not even aware of that.
Your sibling sounds a lot like mine. "You're not taking this seriously enough" is the line that I received
Freedom is vital. For those that do not cherish it, they should be sent to live in China or Iran for 6 months, then let them see for themselves how wrong they were.
Keep on Cindy, you are not alone.
I feel the same way, Cindy. Please hang in there. Yesterday, after seeing videos of protests around the globe, I found a new sense of hope. There are millions of us. The problem is that US media does an outstanding job at censoring and keeping us uninformed. - Maria
Do you now wish your sister could not vote?
“It’s about saving lives.” A decent response to that is along the lines of "But if lockdowns are/were effective, why are so many people still dying from covid? And do you really believe your government's capable of saving your life?"
exactly Arne, the govt doesnt even know who we are until tax time. they will not save us, we have to save us.
Stand strong and just say no to Medical Rape! Also refer to mandatory vaccination as medical rape wherever possible. We need to identify the position of supporting mandates with supporting rapists. Making these idiotic Leftists the clear Bad Guys is the only way forward.
I agree with this so much.
I’ve been listening to a podcast on YouTube called Debra gets red-pilled. The premise is this guy, Adam, and his mother in law, Debra, have a talk every week (with guests of all kinds) and he exposes her to stuff she had never questioned or didn’t even know existed. Debra’s your typical nice, don’t rock the boat, go along to get along, cnn-watching hippie-era Democrat. Sweet but naive and also the type of person that’s the reason we’re facing the danger we’re in: they don’t bite or fight back. They can’t believe anything truly bad is happening at all until the day they’re watching a loved one get dragged away and put in a boxcar for not getting the vax.
In the episode I watched last night, things come to a head. It has been building up for a while. Adam wants to know where she stands now that he is about to lose his job. Debra still thinks that the easiest thing is to just get the vaccine even though she’s against the mandates.
For me, the peak comes when he asks her “I’m going to get graphic here. Im being raped and you’re asking me to just give in”
“Wh- what?”
“I’m being raped and your advice is to give in, to make it consensual.”
I think that was a pivotal moment for her.
It’s not a podcast for everyone and at times it’s a bit slow, but I find value in it.
In any case, medical rape is a very accurate analogy.
Would you mind sharing the name of that episode?
It’s this one
https://youtu.be/qIKHtG5gnts
Confronting Debra:Hard Truths for Hard Times
I can’t find the specific exchange I mention but it’s in the second hour. The first 41 minutes are skippable. The “hard truths” part begins at 41:15
It’s a hard episode to watch, this one. Very uncomfortable for Debra. For the viewer too. And Adam is not the type of person to mollycoddle her throughout the difficult moments. He keeps a deadpan face. I like him though. I like them both. It’s obvious the podcast has deepened their relationship but oh god, this one was so hard. (I recommend speeding it up a bit to 1.25.)
Their episodes are normally not like this one (I mean, who would put themselves through it if it was just constantly being put on the spot?) and they’ve had some very entertaining guests. It’s a good ride watching Debra discover and react to MK Ultra, mud flood, cryptozoology, Boston marathon, ufos and other fringe subjects.
Thanks! Amazingly, when I was scrolling through the episodes of this show (which I had never heard of prior to you mentioning it here) that exact episode is the one that piqued my interest. I’m already a good half-hour into it and fascinated by the interaction.
Dr. McCullough, he is a lifesaver to so many at this time. I just love that man.
The cat man has become my daily meditiation. I just wish everyone in the world could get scratched by the cat!
it exists to provide us with self-determination.
it is NOT instantiated to produce ever more convoluted aggregation fallacies about the “common good” and to force them upon the populace “for its own betterment.”
BRAVO!!! This needs repeating infinitely.
I took a course in ethics years ago. I remember what my teacher said. The worst problems come not when it is a question of right vs wrong, but when right vs. right. The worst was the individual vs. the collective/community.
I thought this country was built on the supremacy of the individual right. Because we´ve seen what happens when we come down on the side of the community: Socialism, Nazism, Communism, and Pol Pot. Not to mention the CCP.
Our government needs reminding that they must ALWAYS come down on the rights of the individual.
But you must admit that governing based on the rights of the individual will, by default, lead back to a meritocracy; something minorities of all definition seems to be battling. So there is cognitive dissonance that is at the root of these issues and it needs to be dealt with first.
I am not sure what you mean. I don't necessarily believe the rights of the individual, as specified in the bill of rights /constittuion will lead back to a meritocracy ---because if people merit their positions, they are good at it, and consistently adher to constitutional law, I think it would be great. BUT, I do think if we do NOT learn from our current issues, it will become some sort of oligarchy...either run by corporations (like now), or by oligarchs (like now, with Soros backing Obama with money, and following the cloven pivard playbook/rules for radicals), all backed by the CCP who laid out their asymetric warfare plan in a book in the late 90;s..oh I can think of so many things that have gone wrong...the failure of our anti trust unit, the policitization of the DOJ, the weaponization of the FBI, etc. and of course our politicians who are beholden to thei donors...our law crafted tax code which is a temptation to any politician running for office again.....but I beleive if we look carefully at all our institutions, we can figure out where we went wrong (by building them in the first place, by not having terms limits on all BUREAUCRATS and POLITICIANs) by not making Congress live under the laws they pass for the rest of us, etc etc . etc...The FCC, the FTC, the NIH, CDC Etc etc. and yes, even the Military all need to be re-constructed from teh ground up, and many eliminated and transferred to local power.
And I don't think minorities are battling meritocracies...I think they are battling bad policies that need to go bye bye.
And with all that said. I believe the US is the only country that was founded by geniuses, and I believe in the strict interpretation of the constitution. I do not LIKE it when words are not interpreted in the context of the time they were said..for example, the General Welfare clause which was never meant to lead to actual Welfare and food stamps.
Now we have changed the definition of vaccine, herd Immunity and something else I can't remember but I will stop now. Contant vigilance, and Yes, my generation is guilty of living in happyland for years, and not keeping an eye on what has happened.
I will shut up now. Hope I've explained a bit ...
And if the grizzly bear has spent the last two years grooming you by convincing you of the dangers of everything that is NOT mating with a grizzly, and presenting data on the safety of human-grizzly mating, and how everyone else is doing it-- and that in fact if you suffer afterwards, it means you have done it really really RIGHT, and perhaps you should even post a postcoital photo of yourself on social media, which everybody else cheers...that's not consent, either, no matter how much you insist to me that you wanted it. It's why I'm furious at some of my fellow citizens for their willing compliance, but I also see them as victims, and they're not the true focus of my angry energy.
Excellent observations, Diana!
Gato, your recent pieces have something of an anarchistic streak. More than OK by me.
Of course, many people who hear the word 'anarchy' immediately have visions of violence, mayhem and rampant wrongdoing.
Actually, and ideally, anarchy puts the responsibility for the well being of society on the individual. Its central themes are autonomy, equality, teamwork, and freedom from organized authority, from diktat.
These are lofty sentiments indeed. Wish more people were attuned to them.
indeed, anarchy is about agorism and voluntary association to generate consensual, emergent order. it's a free market for societies.
trying to pass it off as some sort of black pill violence and chaos has always struct me as the defensive reactionary response of those who would like to keep their seats at the ruling table so they can order the rest for their own good.
if what they're selling is so desirable, why must they use force to impose it?
Ideas so good they must be mandatory!
doctrine so compelling we must compel you to adopt it.
We live in an anarchy probably 99% of our lives. Unfortunately, our governments have decided that they need to get in our faces on a daily basis, which for me is intolerable: my ideal number of interactions with government in my lifetime is zero.
Anarchy to me is when the law is no longer my shield but is being used as a spear by certain elements in government to punish political enemies.
From “On Civil Disobedience,” by Mohandas Gandhi July 27, 1916
"But through the other method of combating injustice, we alone suffer the consequences of our mistakes, and the other side is wholly spared. This other method is truth-force (satyagraha). One who resorts to it does not have to break another’s head; he may merely have his own head broken. He has to be prepared to die himself suffering all
the pain. In opposing the atrocious laws of the Government of South Africa, it was this method that we adopted. We made it clear to the said Government that we would never bow to its outrageous laws. No clapping is possible without two hands to do it, and no quarrel without two persons to make it. Similarly, no State is possible without two entities (the rulers and the ruled). You are our sovereign, our Government, only so long as we consider ourselves your subjects. When we are not subjects, you are not the sovereign either. So long as it is your endeavor to control us with justice and love, we will let you do so. But if you wish to strike at us from behind, we cannot permit it. Whatever you do in other matters, you will have to ask our opinion about the laws that concern us. If you make laws to keep us suppressed in a wrongful manner and without taking us into confidence, these laws will merely adorn the statute-books. We will never obey them. Award us for it what punishment you like, we will put up with it. Send us to prison and we will live there as in a paradise. Ask us to mount the
scaffold and we will do so laughing. Shower what sufferings you like upon us, we will calmly endure all and not hurt a hair of your body. We will gladly die and will not so much as touch you. But so long as there is yet life in these our bones, we will never comply with your arbitrary laws."
Related Gandhi on Vaccines: "Those who are conscientious objectors to vaccination should, of course, have the courage to face all penalties or persecutions to which they may be subjected by law, and stand alone, if need be, against the whole world, in defence of their conviction."
the Mohatma was referring to Satya: truthfulness, honesty which is second to Ahimsa: non-violence, non-injury, harmlessness (do no harm) in the 10 precepts of yama yoga. familiar to hindus
'No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent' Abraham Lincoln
"The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting."--Sun Tzu. It is painful to watch so many of our citizens so willing to be subdued. Thank you, Cattitude! Now, let's get out there and be UNGOVERNABLE!!
'the patriot must protect his country from his government....' Thomas Paine
and now the social justice rioters, climate calamitous terrorists and branch covidians.......
These times call for a bad cattitude. Remember Just Say No?
I keep asking this to people and it gets the dear in the headlights reaction. They have no response other than to pretend the injections are not experimental. My question to them is:
How can I give informed consent when information is being withheld? I can’t and as such I refuse to do so. What information is being withheld? I'm so glad you asked!!
1) Their patents have "company proprietary secret sauce ingredients" and the government let them get away with that! This is NOT Kentucy Fried Chicken. This is an IRREVERSIBLE experimental gene therapy injection.
2) The raw data from the “Phase 2 Human Experimental Trials” which completed in October 2020, has not been made publicly available. Pfizer & Moderna have said that they will release it “sometime in 2022”. Talk to me AFTER that.
3) Where are the animal studies that Pfizer and Moderna did in parallel with the phase 2 human experimental trials? Did they not do them? Did they not release them?
4) The data for the approval of the Cominaty version took 108 days to "review" (aka rubber stamp) but the FDA wants 55 years to release? WTF?
There is NO NEGOTIATION on this point. You do NOT claim "science" and get to withhold information that they admit exists. NO, NEIN, NYET, NEVER.
Without the raw data we cannot verify their claims for safety & efficacy.
Think about the precedent you are setting. You are letting large corporations with:
1) A blatant financial conflict of interest.
2) A recent history of maiming and killing thousands of the “customers” annually.
3) Decide what information about their “products” we get to see.
And I have to take it? ROTFLMAO. No. That is stark raving mad.
Go ahead and give your "uninformed consent" all you want but I refuse to and you coerce me at your own peril.
And informed consent includes the right to decline. If you can't say "no", it isn't a choice...and there is no consent.
This looks like the seeds of a new and liberating Declaration of Independence to me, complete with kitty flag! I can’t think of a better animal to represent being ungovernable in the most wonderful possible way. Kitty power to the people! 🐈
Sheeple or People ? If you have a family, like so many with 2 young kids... it's a tough call to be so independent. I'm single. It's an easier choice for me. When it's say 'No' and lose your job, it's a tough call. I have a friend who's brother was a Doctor. But refusing the jabs, he was fired. He now does off the books construction work. Can many families afford to make this sacrifice ? When you're so deeply woven Into the social fabric... turning on a dime to something else is very, very difficult. I sympathize with families with young kids.
What I've thought all along is that if they kill liberal democracy, they are effectively killing the goose which lays the golden eggs. I have actually come to believe, however, that they are playing a longer game: they really do want 6 out of seven of us dead. It's the only hypothesis which makes sense, in the context of mandates for kid jabs, for example.
I never signed no stinking social contract. When I buy houses and cars, I sign innumerable documents. Heck, you have to sign every time you get a new app, probably including substack. Taxes are the price we pay for the uncivilized parts of society.
"Taxes are the price we pay for the uncivilized parts of society."
this is an apt formulation. those "public goods" that the public values above their cost to provide need not be funded by collectivist taxes. they can be paid for by user fees of one sort or another.
it is only those programs for which the public would NOT voluntarily pay (and that therefore are always non pareto optimal) that must be funded in such fashion.
Honestly I spend a lot of time in my life circumventing -legally- daily government oppressions. Once you start you can’t stop. I’m an evangelist in this way. There are many zombies out in the general public. Shock them by telling them they don’t have to obey. It’s very gratifying, even the small things.
And I am vocal when government hacks don’t do their job. The post office hates me because I will announce it very loudly when there is ineptitude and when employees treat me poorly. AT THE VERY LEAST make them uncomfortable. Make them squirm. Ignore their dictates. Get rid of the Democrats in your life. I promise you will be better for it. And I NEED that cat flag.
I can’t help but think of this passage from my second essay (https://margaretannaalice.substack.com/p/covid-is-over-if-you-want-it):
Concentration Camp 2.0
Are we living in Concentration Camp 2.0? In the updated version, psychologically battered inmates amble around in a state of permanent learned helplessness, a brigade of Karens standing guard, eager to inform on anyone who demonstrates a faint alertness.
When they reach the invisible boundaries of their self-constructed walls, they stop. When the atmosphere grants permission to proceed, they tiptoe tentatively forward, cringing in anticipation of the thunderclap order to halt and reverse. And it comes. It almost always comes—but at random intervals, nerves fraying as they remain suspended in a state of perpetual tension, anxiety, and terror until the next shock.
After enough waves of dread, they forget. They forget what it was like before, and they forget what it was like ahead. They forget there is an outside. They forget they have the capacity to stride through those phantom walls. They forget they have agency over their own lives. They forget they possess the power of a collective, resounding “NO!”
yes, I read yours as well.
this is such a common human situation. Think about others lives and what is their normal, or new normal, perhaps living with a severe chronic condition. They do look back often on what life was like before, and it is normal to feel hopeless, or even doubtful that your life will ever be like that, or perhaps!! many do not even remember their "old life"
This situation for each individual could be something like soft terrorism. It is wearing on the heart.
I think “soft terrorism” is a good description of what’s occurring. They are following Biderman’s Chart of Coercion (https://margaretannaalice.substack.com/p/letter-to-a-tyrant) to a T, but the torture is entirely psychological, thus making it impossible to point to direct forms of assault. If the torture were physical in nature, people wouldn’t be able to deny it, but the psychological scars take longer to become evident.