when a “conservative MSNBC commentator” gets all his news from MSNBC, that’s not really “consuming news for a living” that’s “professional grade confirmation bias.”
the suppression of the fact that half the country has not been inhabiting this hallucination for over a year and the outright vilification of the leaders who stood up for the rights of their people and especially of their children has been as surreal to watch as it has been societally damaging.
even more staggering is the fact that it seems to have worked on the 25% of america that still tune into these addled wastelands of vitriol and pernicious punditry.
i see only one of two possible conclusions here.
either:
media mouthpieces (even purportedly conservative ones) are really so hopelessly out of touch that despite reams of information, data, internet chatter, and 100’s of thousands of people moving to get their children back into sane educational systems, they honestly did not know that kids were in school as normal in most of america and suffering no ill effects for it
or
media manipulators are so dishonest and think that you are so gullible that they believe that spinning a tall tale about “shocked, yes, shocked i am to discover that there was any other narrative but the one i have been burying you in for 2 years! wow, isn’t everyone going to be surprised!” is going to work.
stop and consider: which one makes you want to trust them as a news source?
if option one is true, then what does it say about american media and echo-chambers of online groupthink that a professional “news consumer” with 90,000 twitter followers never even came across this information? what does it say about bias and self absorption and denial?
and if option 2 is true, well, that sort of speaks for itself, doesn’t it?
honestly, i suspect both carry some real truth. i find noah’s claim that none of his followers of media consumption ever showed him any glimmer of this vast truth utterly implausible.
i mean:
there is just no way anyone plugged in the deeply missed something this vast.
BUT, his denial of having noticed speaks volumes as he’s literally inverting the relationship and claiming victim status, an ironic take from one who has been such a potent critic of social justice movements
perhaps he stared too long into the abyss…
“i didn’t know!
“i am just like you, the victim here, shocked by the sudden emergence of these facts, just as you are!”
“we wuz mislead!”
or perhaps it was something else. noah was not one of the baddies per se. he did not cheer lead for tyranny.
but he DID look the other way while others did.
he went along to get along and in a time of great moment, chose to keep his head low and stand down when he could have stood up.
and that is ALWAYS how this happens. the rabid 10% that are dying to perpetrate things like the last 2 years are always with us and they disproportionately inhabit government and media.
but they only manage to get traction when the middle lets them find purchase and grants them free, uncritical passage. and this is why their cowardice the floodgate to our being overrun.
as we look back on times of great crisis, “we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends…”
on the one hand, i don’t mean to pick on noah. he’s actually one of the good ones and i like and agree with quite a bit of what he’s written on a number of topics. but on the other, i really do, because he was one of the good ones and the good ones in the middle were supposed to fight the good fight here.
this was clearly not confined to just him. a stunning number of folks from alleged logicians and ethicists to one time lions of libertarianism all caved and crumbled and failed. noah is just a convenient exemplar for a trend that’s now taking off all through media and “opinion leaders”:
the time to change uniforms so you can pick over the battlefield with the winning side.
we’re seeing it everywhere. even equity circus yelling clown cramer is has pivoted from “we should use the army to force vaccines” to “i don’t care about cases and vaccines’ faster than you can say “hey, where did i that money i put into bear stearns stock go?”
this is literally the bully who took your lunch money on the school bus all year putting his arm around you and saying “can you believe the way those guys pick on us?” because it looks like the teacher is coming to send him to detention.
he’s just another victimizer claiming victim status, alas the all too common status quo for so much of the intersectional aggrievement warriors of wokedom.
you’re going to see a lot of this for while, especially in media.
this is their metier, their go to play both tactically and by inclination.
it’s the low effort self defense mechanism of the abuser who just got caught swapping his guard’s uniform for prisoner’s togs and trying to file out with those who was oppressing just yesterday.
these media outlets have been deeply complicit in this debacle and media has a dark history of not only supporting but loving and lionizing fascism because under fascism, the media gets to wield great power as an organ of the state, protected, cosseted, and preferenced.
it is precisely because these franchises from once august print mastheads to the broadcast oligopolies have been under such dire and existential threat for 20 years that they were so desirous of pushing for jobs as disinformation ministries and societal censors.
it’s protection and promotion for them.
and these incentives have not changed a whit and will only intensify as this crisis abates and ratings, import, and trust lie in tatters.
they are not your friends.
their aims are not in accordance with your welfare nor do they find confluence with the function of a healthy society.
and it’s only going to get worse.
it is time to starve them to extinction.
they earned it.
it is time to establish our own ecosystems of trusted information.
That’s a great one! No wonder everyone has been treating me like a leper when I share my views and predictions on the pandemic. I mean, I’m nearly always right, but being six months early on being right is as good as being crazy these days. Cassandra syndrome is a real drag.
And now they actually (I think) HATE me because of the excess mortality statistics and what they may mean for them and their friends. Hey, my husband gulled me into getting the jabs, too; I did NOT want to but he was whining and so I capitulated, to my everlasting regret. I now have to take about 20 supplements a day in the HOPE that they will keep my blood from clotting, my heart from stopping, my brain from failing, and COVID from becoming entrenched. So far, so good but I really wish instead that I were still unjabbed. (NO boosters, though, thank God. And I've converted him (a little too late) into an anti-Covid-vaxxer.
Story of my LIfe Michael....even now....problem is being ahead of things is heretical so the odds for success are slim and the 'stakes' are high for crucifiction or burning at the stake.......I have found those who pay attention to the evolving science and 'get it' recognize genius because they are one step away, while the Luddites, several steps back, who are loathe to admit their thoughts are not their own feign lunacy......Genius or Lunacy is in the eyes of the beholder and, currently, too many eyeballs only see fear. ....that being said I am hopeful....with the accumulation of data to corroborate the real world fail of the vaccination policy, there is this swelling sub-conscious undercurrent of fear in most people who followed the rules/narrative that this is not working out as they were led to believe. That will only grow the more they cling to the status quo as this decouples and our voices will begin to be heard.
That's sort of like the joke of two hikers pursued by a grizzly. One stops, drops his backpack, pulls out a pair of trainers and proceeds to exchange them for his hiking boots. His friend, looking on incredulously, says "Are you out of your mind? We have to outrun a bear!" The friend replies, "I don't have to outrun the bear. I only have to outrun you." 😀
When folks are shocked about vax injuries and deaths they have experienced, I ask “how come I knew not to get this experimental jab?! “ and “I knew but you wouldn’t listen to me.”
Dad, a WW II vet, advocated "low profile." One example of this was to not be first in line, but perhaps third. (Presumably, for something desirable, like a weekend pass, perhaps.) He didn't give any guidance for avoiding the negative. But by inference, I'd guess you'd want to be close to the end of the line for getting an experimental injection.
Bless your Dad. I’m mostly keeping a low profile as he advocated. Sitting back and watching it all go down. But sometimes I can’t keep my mouth shut! It’s all so obvious.
A very familiar logic, Herr Doorknob. By virtue of association with the wife's family, eventually living among them on the ancestral farm in the western German border country, I was gifted the insights of a host of WW2 vets and POWs of every rank and stripe. Personal stories from the Gulag, from the German caps, from the largely ignored US starvation camps on the Rhine.
Contrary to what most assume, these men proved the most adamantly pacifist cadre with whom I've ever associated. The father-in-law, one of those unfortunate boys hoovered up by the German war machine in late '44, offered a consistent refrain :
The government is NOT your ally.
This from a guy chucked into the meat grinder for skipping too any Hitler Youth meetings, who served as the village mayor and in county politics for many years. Speaking from personal experience, in other words.
It was truly a strange sensation for this long-time American ex-pat, former Marine and lifelong student of history, to find such a staunch ally in a German veteran, who summarily introduced me to dozens of US vets he'd befriended in the years after the war. So many lessons.
I've long described my life strategy in literary terms : "silence, exile and cunning". That's Joyce, for those who've avoided his work. Exile, check. Cunning, check. Silence has always been the difficult one.
“it is time to establish our own ecosystems of trusted information.” We already have—Substack!
As slimy as these switcharoos are, I can’t help taking pleasure in them because it means their narrative is collapsing and these plague-propagandizing rats are jumping ship.
Substack has served us well indeed. It provided a ground for an exceptional 'swarm intelligence'.
What substack is not designed to provide is a good source of valid hard data - and in fact mostly there was none all along. This is crucial to have the whole cycle of uncovering the truth.
It would be great to equip substack with a wikileaks capability - to be able to upload and community verify leaks. This could mitigate the dependency on official gov data.
it took a while for twitter to make it into the overall zeitgeist as well.
but now it's cited in virtually all media.
substack has not quite made the jump yet.
the challenge with substack is that it's not as peer to peer or confrontational. this has advantages in terms of signal to noise, buy drawbacks in terms of not being under constant scrutiny and review.
the two modalities seem like strong complements to one another.
shame the bluebird is so determined to kneecap and slant debate.
we will, at some point, take this all peer to peer and break the silos.
That’s an interesting idea. I do think we have developed an internal “immunity” system where we often fact-check each other’s findings (e.g., https://igorchudov.substack.com/p/fact-checking-dr-malone-deaths-up), and the comment I wrote at the post I just linked relates to that:
“One of the things I love about our Substack community as well as the broader community of free, critical, independent thinkers around the world is we don’t take something at face value just because someone we like or trust says it. We investigate; we research; we dig in; and we corroborate, clarify, or disconfirm, and as a result, our findings are either strengthened or refined based on additional input.
“THIS is what the scientific process is supposed to be.
“Thank you for performing this yeoman’s work, Igor, and for helping to verify these extremely serious statistics that absolutely warrant further analysis. I wonder if there are any life insurance publications or resources that tabulate these findings on an annual basis so we could check life insurance statistics across the industry. Maybe you can look into that ;-)”
I am sure substack means well, but I would also suspect they run on AWS, so Substack will exist for as long as Amazon approves of it, and no more than that.
This is exactly what we need to prep for... It's too had there isn't a way where everyone call pool their resources but downloading an app or program on their home and work computers, somehow designating say 10% space and resources to create a huge peer to peer tied together, countrywide mega server. I'm not computer nerd enough to know if this is feasible, if it has been designed, or how to go about it... But it would be awesome to do.
I'm busy getting all my company programs, apps, and replacement server off Microsoft (onto Linux), workstations onto Ubuntu Linux, install LibreOffice onto them all, buying a new Linux based program to replace my current program, and a replacement for Outlook. I refuse to use Apple, MS, Google*, or any other company actively working against our free society. I'm tired of paying these oligarchs money to spit in my face. And if course, I changed my political status to that of a State National as well, because I'm tired of the defacto govt overreaching their powers as our contractors, so time to take control as the dejure govt where we belong.
*Gmail I do use personally, but it's my junk email address right now.
I think this is the idea of the fediverse, though I don't know much about it yet, unfortunately no one seems to have cracked making an easy entry point for it.
Exactly right. It’s already happened that entire domains were deleted even though they were “owned.”
What does that even mean today, “own your domain.” It’s not a brick and mortar home where you can defend yourself with a freedom stick. A “domain” in the ether of the interwebs is more ephemeral than a haint on a hot Alabam’ day. One stiff breeze from the direction of Seattle and poof, it’s gone. There have already been several deleted in spite of “ownership.”
And yet, we need to always be ready to pack up and disappear over the next hill if things go bad. I suspect we'll all end up in the fediverse at the end of the day.
True. Substack CEO Chris Best has repeatedly voiced his commitment to sustaining this as a free-speech platform, and I heard (but haven’t confirmed) he rejected an offer from Twitter, so fingers crossed, Substack will remain a “safe” space for free speech. Steve Kirsch floated the idea of creating an alternative platform, so that could be a fallback if needed.
I have no doubt that the evil ones are plotting the demise of Substack at this very moment. After all, the voices of reason are to be found here -- and we can't have that, can we? I hear also that they have been trying to get control of GETTR, too. They are becoming desperate, I do believe.
I know—that was upsetting to say the least. That said, giving a diabolical mainstream mouthpiece a platform is different from censoring counter-narrative voices. It’s a detestable choice, but no censorship is occurring.
You're right, of course, but putting him center stage and paying him a stipend instead of the dozens of voices here because they are literally oppressed voices is a bad omen.
I agree. I’m in communication with Substack support about some other matters so will suggest they make Robert Malone their writer-in-residence next month :-)
The "soft middle 40%" as Mattias Desmet says about Mass Formation, are people who just go with whatever the majority is honking on about. I've observed in my own life these are people eagerly looking for signs on doors to tell them to put a mask on or not, they cannot think for themselves and are terrified of getting voted off the island. They also suffer cognitive dissonance - they'll tell you they know the vaccines are dangerous and then next week you find out they got a booster. My recent feeling is it's time to push on this gang a bit harder, challenge them more. Make it harder for them to keep playing along with the bullshit - all they want is for the louder voice to tell them what to do. It's up to all of us to have these conversations... be polite but be firm. The middle 40% must be turned over so that this ends.
Absolutely 100% correct. Stay on the offensive. Remind the vaccinated that they were lied to: the vaccines do not stop infection or transmission, no one knows the long-term effects of them, and if you know someone who had an adverse reaction, speak out about the horrible side-effects.
All the time I hear whining about how the vaxxed push for the segregation of preserved humans. So let me tell a story: A friend of mine was invited to high-school reunion a month ago, and she was mulling it over. She is a preserved human, and well instructed by me, so she was hesitant whether to attend or not since she could expect a vaxxed crowd. The hesitancy was compounded by her attending a dinner party last November, where she was one of two preserved humans, and the other ten were the opposite. Within 48 hours, she fell ill. It was a salutary experience, and with the reunion she was mostly thinking about what excuse to come up with for not going. Her predicament was quickly resolved by other preserved humans who one by one, started making it clear they did not wish to mix with the damaged. In the end, the headcount at the party was cut down by half. And that is the way to do it.
I experienced such a clear example of this when the mask mandate was reintroduced in my country.
I went to a busy supermarket on Friday, the day before the mandate - zero masks - and again on Saturday, the first day of the mandate - 100% masking (well, 100% not counting myself).
If people think that masks help, why didn't they wear one on Friday? If people think the masks don't help, why did they wear one on Saturday?
I can only conclude that most people are extremely afraid of standing out from the crowd or that they actually believe that they have no choice but to obey the mandate. I hope that second group in particular gets some encouragement from seeing me walk around in blatant disregard of the mandate. ;)
Yes! I sometimes tell the story about when the CDC dropped mask rules for the vaccinated. Suddenly the people wearing masks were the ones sticking out, and THEY DID NOT LIKE IT AT ALL.
Sure enough, the masks came back on just a few short weeks later, so now the truly terrified feel safe because the squishy middle is back on their side.
Don't comply but also express your displeasure with those merchants who adhere to foolish mask mandates. I know this won't work where local governments are onboard with the mandates, but it has worked, in my experience, where I live because masking is optional. Still, the petty tyrants at most of the big box stores try to make us comply and I just refuse to do so. I contacted one merchant, complained about their masking requirement, and a month later the sign in front of the store said "Masks are Recommended" but not the "Mask are Required" sign that had been there earlier. Small victories.
Hmm. I am struggling with having just a *tiny* bit of compassion for *some* of these people in the media who "went along to get along." But, after that passing thought I still end up right back to what I usually think: No excuses. If, indeed, the narrative that has been pushed for 2 years truly has killed and maimed untold thousands of people, anyone who has been complicit needs to be brought to justice in a court of law. I'm done with all of them. If a cop catches me in the act of stabbing an old lady for her purse and I use the excuse, "I didn't know that it was illegal", I'll bet I would hear, "Ignorance is no excuse."
I've been reading "They Thought They Were Free" to try to understand my fellow citizens (who seem completely insane from where I stand). Unfortunately, one of the main takeaways is that the average German knew darned well what was going on but was thinking, "Better him than me."
I will have to take a look at that - many people are mentioning it; you may also want to consider: "Hitler's First 100 Days" Peter Friztche (Basic). "Gliechschaltung" (Co-ordination) there - and here: by mid April 2020 every.single.website.in.the.entire.world had posted a "Our Covid 19 statement" page; many flashing an insistent banner almost mandated that you click on it - weird! My take (there and here) is that opportunistic/cynical Germans were well out-numbered by those who enthusiastically embraced the new regime - their new normal.
We don't trust them again. That's why I can't get with this "welcome the newly awakened" talk. Great that your brain cells started firing properly but go to the back of the class, sit down, and stfu because you've done enough damage. Oh and since you like to wear items to virtue signal, get fitted for the dunce cap you've more than earned.
I’ve lost so much faith in humanity and in Americans. I thought this was the Land of the Free and home of the Brave up until 2020. Then I watched 90% of everyone turn into abject cowards, willing to turn on each other like hungry plague rats for a snippet of social approval or maybe just the atavistic thrill of being the aggressor.
Brave? Sure, when they were attacking the lone dissenter or shoving granny into an empty rest home to die. But there was zero bravery witnessed in the face of potential public disapproval for being the one to call out these lockdowns, school closures, and mandates for the hideously wrong measures that they were.
I knew George Mason would fold, because institutions are only as rational as their least rational/most crazy inhabitant. Look at what happened to Mark Crispin Miller who taught a propaganda class at Columbia. Not that Columbia was any hotbed of academic freedom, but if the administration is funding “fill-in-the-blank-Studies” programs, they’re lost before the starting gun is fired. One of my nephews was in a Columbia PhD program years ago and all his students were Chinese nationals. He endeavored to explain to them why a building had “Year of Our Lord” carved into the cornerstone. It was impossible.
He slowly realized that they were there just to size up the available real estate.
I heard Walter Olson at an April 2020 Cato event on Covid lockdowns, where he spoke in terms of his fellow human beings throwing their fists around as they walked. And thus the non-aggression principle turned into just another excuse for prior restraints and mass-scale oppression.
I am similarly disappointed of some of the George Mason economists, though I'd long since suspected Cowen was Kunlangeta, or at least suckling at Moloch's teet enthusiastically.
No compassion for the wide-eyed-and-innocent media from me. Their job description is literally to find the truth and report it; to inform the public, to provide valid and useful information. If you can't even get that right, you have no business being part of the media.
IMHO there should be a civilian task force that looks into the negative impact of incomplete and/or false "news" that led to Americans making health decisions that resulted in sickness or death or both. This should include the psychological impact on school aged children.
Additionally, the economic impact on individual lives due to the media promotion of what is essentially mass formation psychosis based on lies which includes the omission of information.
Holding media corporation owners, board members, management and mouthpieces fully accountable for the damage.
"News Distortion. The Commission often receives complaints concerning broadcast journalism, such as allegations that stations have aired inaccurate or one-sided news reports or comments, covered stories inadequately, or overly dramatized the events that they cover. For the reasons noted previously, the Commission generally will not intervene in these cases because it would be inconsistent with the First Amendment to replace the journalistic judgment of licensees with our own. However, as public trustees, broadcast licensees may not intentionally distort the news. The FCC has stated that “rigging or slanting the news is a most heinous act against the public interest.” The Commission will investigate a station for news distortion if it receives documented evidence of rigging or slanting, such as testimony or other documentation, from individuals with direct personal knowledge that a licensee or its management engaged in the intentional falsification of the news. Of particular concern would be evidence of the direction to employees from station management to falsify the news. However, absent such a compelling showing, the Commission will not intervene."
Yes, but my point is they're the ones with the cultural and political power to be deciding who is the arbiter of truth in mainstream news.
I don't think this is just an issue of people being insufficiently motivated until now to stand up to the Ministry of Truth. This is an extremely powerful social institution that you can really only injure by boycotting them, which I already do.
The only repercussion for MSM that I want to see is their utter destruction when their fanbase realizes they’ve been duped. Hell hath no fury like a leftist scorned.
That is a nice thought but remember most of their fanbase want to be led by the nose. Their fanbase will most likely go down with the ship of fools, too ignorant or stupid to think to do anything but hang on tighter.
Both FTC and FCC were involved in shutting down doctors on social media. I doubt we’ll see any Mexican Standoff between those agencies about any of this.
I suggested years ago that the abbreviation for Reagan Airport should be changed from DCA to CYA.
I do believe there is a path to redemption for ordinary people, even many of the more rabid Covidians, as long as they realize their folly and show genuine remorse. Not so for those operating the levers of power, even if it was just a tiny lever. They are complicit in a genocide and must be punished accordingly.
A major obstacle to any kind of redemption is the utter inability of leftists in general, and Democrats in particular, to ever admit they were wrong.
Huge numbers of them have been utterly bamboozled into believing utter nonsense while advocating, condoning and engaging in absurd and destructive behavior for no gain whatsoever.
It would be difficult for the best of us to accept such humiliation. It simply will not happen on any scale that matters.
The path forward is to create firebreaks against the imposition of future mass insanity and hysteria. This is one of them.
The people that did this to us have been at it for a very long time. They will not give up and when they lose this battle, which I think they are, there will certainly be another. Soon.
I fear you are correct. I have first-hand experience working with alcoholics and other addicts. I abused substances myself for many years. The "normies", the people on the outside who have never experienced the worst of addiction either personally or with close friends or family, have no conception of the power of addiction. Many pursue it into the gates of insanity or death, says AA's "Big Book." The analogy is not perfect but mass formation (a mass social delusion) seems to share a lot in common with severe addiction. Very rare indeed is the person who left to his own devices gets a sudden flash of insight and says to himself "Gee, what a fool I've been! Why, I'll just stop this self-destructive behavior and my life will improve starting immediately!" Ah, if only it were that simple...
I have more experience than anyone could want with addiction in my family and friends, though I have been fortunate enough to escape it.
You are right, the parallels are undeniable and profoundly disturbing.
An insatiable desire for, and willingness to accept, the destruction and debasement of one's self, family and circle, combined with an almost total blindness to the effects of one's behavior.
What I consider worst of all is how innocent children have been thrown to the modern-day Moloch based on political agendas and justified by junk science.
This is nothing short of a descent into barbarism. I wonder if these people who purport to be adults give a thought to what they are teaching the next generation.
Sadly, we may all be soon reaping what they have sown.
My son is 17. I've had many conversations with him from the time he was little about "the world". When he was about nine years old he asked me, "will the bad guys win?" I had never considered that question before, and it took me several minutes to think of an answer because this has been going on for a very, very long time. "They" have lost battles here and there but overall, they've not suffered true defeat and they take what they learn from the battles and regroup and try again. They are in it for the long haul.
True story. One of the few places in Georgia that you have to wear a mask (since April 2020) is hospitals and doctor's offices (their requirement, not the state's). I went in for my annual physical and when I got into the doctor's office he says, "take that thing off". I asked him why they were enforcing mask wearing in the office despite the fact that they must know the scientific data says they don't work against respiratory viruses. He says they are following the local hospital system's rules on masking. He told me about a year into the pandemic, a group of doctor's at the hospital led a "revolt" laying out the peer reviewed evidence that the kinds of masks patients were wearing coming into the hospital weren't effective. Not able to refute them, the administration changed the policy to require double masking. The rebel group asked how did they know the double masking would work? The answer was, "we don't, but neither can you prove they don't work, so you can't object anymore"
That is the madness. In the past, in medicine, we had to prove that something worked to even suggest that it be used. Now they ask you to prove that it does not work, and they feel the right to FORCE you to use it.
This guy could learn something from the recent passing of John Madden. Go back and watch that awesome documentary on him on Christmas. Because of his intense fear of flying he traveled by train and then got his famous personal Greyhound called the Madden Cruiser. Whilst on the road he learned something. About America and himself. It opened his eyes, broadened his horizons but connected him to MORE and different people than himself. I think all of us would be better off if we did at least one big road trip a year. I'm not saying it has to be the Griswold's but hit the road. Stop off in random off the beaten path places. Look around, ask questions. Observe people but more importantly, talk to them. Be inquisitive and a learner. I bet you come out a winner every single time. Noah. What an ironic name....
Agreed. I travel cross-country often, with a 1960 Airstream and a cute dog at my side. If one of those doesn't start a conversation with strangers, the other usually does. The conversations I've had have been a breath of fresh air, compared to the NPR-fueled group-think of my deep-blue town.
Well said. I've been on that road for forty years, stopping in and chatting the whole time, and I'd say that is one thing that has kept me from ever contemplating signing on to any ideology.
When you plunk down on that diner- or bar-stool between strangers who've likely led a completely different life from yours, you nearly always come away feeling a connection, not a division.
Add-on comment: Highly recommend the 1982 book "Blue Highways", by William Least Heat Moon, chronicling the diversity of American cultures right at the advent of our homogeneous mall culture.
I'm also not a huge fan of flying but will when there's really no other choice. I love riding Amtrak (although I hope we'll get high speed rail one day). Anyway, I've always met amazing people.
Somewhat familiar with Noah having listened to the Commentary podcast intermittently. Yes their prattle is mostly small c conservative and given their base in NY/NJ, I was happy to look past some of their holier than thou comments about fly over conservatives or hard core patriots to a point. Once the Covid train got rolling the whole group of them on the pod supported most if not all of the government overreach and did so with a bit of condescending smarm, essentially calling freedom and liberty supporters “deplorables” without calling them deplorables and that is when I decided that I had enough. Have also stopped supporting Federalist for mostly the same reason. If we are going to change the channel on this garbage, we need these people out of our lives. They are a waste of time because they will always first test to see which way the political winds are blowing. ‘Eff them all.
I like this statement:
“When it all comes out, don’t ask me how I knew. Ask yourself why you didn’t”.
I knew. A LOT of us knew. It's just that no one believed us.
They didn’t listen to you, sir. That is the answer.
There’s an old saying; “if you’re a step ahead of others, you’re a genius. If you’re two steps ahead, you’re a lunatic”.
I’ve never been good on diplomacy...
That’s a great one! No wonder everyone has been treating me like a leper when I share my views and predictions on the pandemic. I mean, I’m nearly always right, but being six months early on being right is as good as being crazy these days. Cassandra syndrome is a real drag.
And now they actually (I think) HATE me because of the excess mortality statistics and what they may mean for them and their friends. Hey, my husband gulled me into getting the jabs, too; I did NOT want to but he was whining and so I capitulated, to my everlasting regret. I now have to take about 20 supplements a day in the HOPE that they will keep my blood from clotting, my heart from stopping, my brain from failing, and COVID from becoming entrenched. So far, so good but I really wish instead that I were still unjabbed. (NO boosters, though, thank God. And I've converted him (a little too late) into an anti-Covid-vaxxer.
Story of my LIfe Michael....even now....problem is being ahead of things is heretical so the odds for success are slim and the 'stakes' are high for crucifiction or burning at the stake.......I have found those who pay attention to the evolving science and 'get it' recognize genius because they are one step away, while the Luddites, several steps back, who are loathe to admit their thoughts are not their own feign lunacy......Genius or Lunacy is in the eyes of the beholder and, currently, too many eyeballs only see fear. ....that being said I am hopeful....with the accumulation of data to corroborate the real world fail of the vaccination policy, there is this swelling sub-conscious undercurrent of fear in most people who followed the rules/narrative that this is not working out as they were led to believe. That will only grow the more they cling to the status quo as this decouples and our voices will begin to be heard.
That's sort of like the joke of two hikers pursued by a grizzly. One stops, drops his backpack, pulls out a pair of trainers and proceeds to exchange them for his hiking boots. His friend, looking on incredulously, says "Are you out of your mind? We have to outrun a bear!" The friend replies, "I don't have to outrun the bear. I only have to outrun you." 😀
When folks are shocked about vax injuries and deaths they have experienced, I ask “how come I knew not to get this experimental jab?! “ and “I knew but you wouldn’t listen to me.”
Dad, a WW II vet, advocated "low profile." One example of this was to not be first in line, but perhaps third. (Presumably, for something desirable, like a weekend pass, perhaps.) He didn't give any guidance for avoiding the negative. But by inference, I'd guess you'd want to be close to the end of the line for getting an experimental injection.
Bless your Dad. I’m mostly keeping a low profile as he advocated. Sitting back and watching it all go down. But sometimes I can’t keep my mouth shut! It’s all so obvious.
A very familiar logic, Herr Doorknob. By virtue of association with the wife's family, eventually living among them on the ancestral farm in the western German border country, I was gifted the insights of a host of WW2 vets and POWs of every rank and stripe. Personal stories from the Gulag, from the German caps, from the largely ignored US starvation camps on the Rhine.
Contrary to what most assume, these men proved the most adamantly pacifist cadre with whom I've ever associated. The father-in-law, one of those unfortunate boys hoovered up by the German war machine in late '44, offered a consistent refrain :
The government is NOT your ally.
This from a guy chucked into the meat grinder for skipping too any Hitler Youth meetings, who served as the village mayor and in county politics for many years. Speaking from personal experience, in other words.
It was truly a strange sensation for this long-time American ex-pat, former Marine and lifelong student of history, to find such a staunch ally in a German veteran, who summarily introduced me to dozens of US vets he'd befriended in the years after the war. So many lessons.
I've long described my life strategy in literary terms : "silence, exile and cunning". That's Joyce, for those who've avoided his work. Exile, check. Cunning, check. Silence has always been the difficult one.
Doctors' Trial: Never Forget on Substack is curently free if you have an hour or so of reading time.
https://doctorstrial.substack.com/
“it is time to establish our own ecosystems of trusted information.” We already have—Substack!
As slimy as these switcharoos are, I can’t help taking pleasure in them because it means their narrative is collapsing and these plague-propagandizing rats are jumping ship.
Here’s looking at you, kitty.
and to the beginnings of many a beautiful friendship...
😹🤝
I watched “Casablanca” just the other night. It seemed oddly apropos.
Substack has served us well indeed. It provided a ground for an exceptional 'swarm intelligence'.
What substack is not designed to provide is a good source of valid hard data - and in fact mostly there was none all along. This is crucial to have the whole cycle of uncovering the truth.
It would be great to equip substack with a wikileaks capability - to be able to upload and community verify leaks. This could mitigate the dependency on official gov data.
it took a while for twitter to make it into the overall zeitgeist as well.
but now it's cited in virtually all media.
substack has not quite made the jump yet.
the challenge with substack is that it's not as peer to peer or confrontational. this has advantages in terms of signal to noise, buy drawbacks in terms of not being under constant scrutiny and review.
the two modalities seem like strong complements to one another.
shame the bluebird is so determined to kneecap and slant debate.
we will, at some point, take this all peer to peer and break the silos.
it will be exciting stuff.
That’s an interesting idea. I do think we have developed an internal “immunity” system where we often fact-check each other’s findings (e.g., https://igorchudov.substack.com/p/fact-checking-dr-malone-deaths-up), and the comment I wrote at the post I just linked relates to that:
“One of the things I love about our Substack community as well as the broader community of free, critical, independent thinkers around the world is we don’t take something at face value just because someone we like or trust says it. We investigate; we research; we dig in; and we corroborate, clarify, or disconfirm, and as a result, our findings are either strengthened or refined based on additional input.
“THIS is what the scientific process is supposed to be.
“Thank you for performing this yeoman’s work, Igor, and for helping to verify these extremely serious statistics that absolutely warrant further analysis. I wonder if there are any life insurance publications or resources that tabulate these findings on an annual basis so we could check life insurance statistics across the industry. Maybe you can look into that ;-)”
Awesome, perfectly put, and spot on! This is exactly what the scientific process is supposed to be. 🙏
I am sure substack means well, but I would also suspect they run on AWS, so Substack will exist for as long as Amazon approves of it, and no more than that.
This is exactly what we need to prep for... It's too had there isn't a way where everyone call pool their resources but downloading an app or program on their home and work computers, somehow designating say 10% space and resources to create a huge peer to peer tied together, countrywide mega server. I'm not computer nerd enough to know if this is feasible, if it has been designed, or how to go about it... But it would be awesome to do.
I'm busy getting all my company programs, apps, and replacement server off Microsoft (onto Linux), workstations onto Ubuntu Linux, install LibreOffice onto them all, buying a new Linux based program to replace my current program, and a replacement for Outlook. I refuse to use Apple, MS, Google*, or any other company actively working against our free society. I'm tired of paying these oligarchs money to spit in my face. And if course, I changed my political status to that of a State National as well, because I'm tired of the defacto govt overreaching their powers as our contractors, so time to take control as the dejure govt where we belong.
*Gmail I do use personally, but it's my junk email address right now.
I think this is the idea of the fediverse, though I don't know much about it yet, unfortunately no one seems to have cracked making an easy entry point for it.
Check out the Qortal Project. It's getting there by leaps and bounds.
Heaven forfend 😧
Once again you win the prize for using a word that I thought only I used...forfend it is! Love your writing...
Hahaha, it was either that or Heavens to Murgatroyd 😆
And, aww, thanks so much, Dr. K!
That one I get LOL.
Who knew that you were secretly Snagglepuss!? It all comes clear now!
cloudflare.com owns the IP address 104.18.0.201 which nslookup finds for DNS reg
Exactly right. It’s already happened that entire domains were deleted even though they were “owned.”
What does that even mean today, “own your domain.” It’s not a brick and mortar home where you can defend yourself with a freedom stick. A “domain” in the ether of the interwebs is more ephemeral than a haint on a hot Alabam’ day. One stiff breeze from the direction of Seattle and poof, it’s gone. There have already been several deleted in spite of “ownership.”
8chan used to provide the service - as long as it lasted. Which is also why it is gone.
Exactly.
Isn't Steve Kirsch trying to do something like that here: https://www.campfire.wiki/doku.php?id=start
And yet, we need to always be ready to pack up and disappear over the next hill if things go bad. I suspect we'll all end up in the fediverse at the end of the day.
True. Substack CEO Chris Best has repeatedly voiced his commitment to sustaining this as a free-speech platform, and I heard (but haven’t confirmed) he rejected an offer from Twitter, so fingers crossed, Substack will remain a “safe” space for free speech. Steve Kirsch floated the idea of creating an alternative platform, so that could be a fallback if needed.
You saw who their "writer in residence " was last month, right? We subscribe to almost identical stacks.
Who was it? I am new here.
“Dr.” Eric Topol-a vaccine/Harmaceutical spokeshole. 🤬
👍👍👍
😆👏
You didn't miss much. 😊 But it was quite a blow to those of us that saw Substack as a refuge for marginalized voices.
I have no doubt that the evil ones are plotting the demise of Substack at this very moment. After all, the voices of reason are to be found here -- and we can't have that, can we? I hear also that they have been trying to get control of GETTR, too. They are becoming desperate, I do believe.
Eric Topol (which autocorrect appropriately tried to correct to “Tool” ;-) See below for details.
LOVE IT!!
Ah! Eric Topol. A font of disinformation -- or bad information.
I know—that was upsetting to say the least. That said, giving a diabolical mainstream mouthpiece a platform is different from censoring counter-narrative voices. It’s a detestable choice, but no censorship is occurring.
You're right, of course, but putting him center stage and paying him a stipend instead of the dozens of voices here because they are literally oppressed voices is a bad omen.
I agree. I’m in communication with Substack support about some other matters so will suggest they make Robert Malone their writer-in-residence next month :-)
The "soft middle 40%" as Mattias Desmet says about Mass Formation, are people who just go with whatever the majority is honking on about. I've observed in my own life these are people eagerly looking for signs on doors to tell them to put a mask on or not, they cannot think for themselves and are terrified of getting voted off the island. They also suffer cognitive dissonance - they'll tell you they know the vaccines are dangerous and then next week you find out they got a booster. My recent feeling is it's time to push on this gang a bit harder, challenge them more. Make it harder for them to keep playing along with the bullshit - all they want is for the louder voice to tell them what to do. It's up to all of us to have these conversations... be polite but be firm. The middle 40% must be turned over so that this ends.
Absolutely 100% correct. Stay on the offensive. Remind the vaccinated that they were lied to: the vaccines do not stop infection or transmission, no one knows the long-term effects of them, and if you know someone who had an adverse reaction, speak out about the horrible side-effects.
All the time I hear whining about how the vaxxed push for the segregation of preserved humans. So let me tell a story: A friend of mine was invited to high-school reunion a month ago, and she was mulling it over. She is a preserved human, and well instructed by me, so she was hesitant whether to attend or not since she could expect a vaxxed crowd. The hesitancy was compounded by her attending a dinner party last November, where she was one of two preserved humans, and the other ten were the opposite. Within 48 hours, she fell ill. It was a salutary experience, and with the reunion she was mostly thinking about what excuse to come up with for not going. Her predicament was quickly resolved by other preserved humans who one by one, started making it clear they did not wish to mix with the damaged. In the end, the headcount at the party was cut down by half. And that is the way to do it.
You are 100% correct. Now is the time to stand up because freedom cannot survive another year like 2021.
https://simulationcommander.substack.com/p/a-not-so-happy-new-year
I experienced such a clear example of this when the mask mandate was reintroduced in my country.
I went to a busy supermarket on Friday, the day before the mandate - zero masks - and again on Saturday, the first day of the mandate - 100% masking (well, 100% not counting myself).
If people think that masks help, why didn't they wear one on Friday? If people think the masks don't help, why did they wear one on Saturday?
I can only conclude that most people are extremely afraid of standing out from the crowd or that they actually believe that they have no choice but to obey the mandate. I hope that second group in particular gets some encouragement from seeing me walk around in blatant disregard of the mandate. ;)
Yes! I sometimes tell the story about when the CDC dropped mask rules for the vaccinated. Suddenly the people wearing masks were the ones sticking out, and THEY DID NOT LIKE IT AT ALL.
Sure enough, the masks came back on just a few short weeks later, so now the truly terrified feel safe because the squishy middle is back on their side.
Don't comply but also express your displeasure with those merchants who adhere to foolish mask mandates. I know this won't work where local governments are onboard with the mandates, but it has worked, in my experience, where I live because masking is optional. Still, the petty tyrants at most of the big box stores try to make us comply and I just refuse to do so. I contacted one merchant, complained about their masking requirement, and a month later the sign in front of the store said "Masks are Recommended" but not the "Mask are Required" sign that had been there earlier. Small victories.
Asch Experiment in vivo. Life follows research.
Brilliantly stated and from my perch, 100% correct. I am surrounded by these enablers in my community.
That’s right! To change the behavior of the sheep, the lions have to roar!
Hmm. I am struggling with having just a *tiny* bit of compassion for *some* of these people in the media who "went along to get along." But, after that passing thought I still end up right back to what I usually think: No excuses. If, indeed, the narrative that has been pushed for 2 years truly has killed and maimed untold thousands of people, anyone who has been complicit needs to be brought to justice in a court of law. I'm done with all of them. If a cop catches me in the act of stabbing an old lady for her purse and I use the excuse, "I didn't know that it was illegal", I'll bet I would hear, "Ignorance is no excuse."
and when they came for you, i was silent, because, um, i didn't know.
yeah. um, didn't know. ..
it's just not very compelling from those who claim to stand against such things.
i saw so many fail this test.
even among the hotbeds of libertarianism and austrian economics like george mason, so many failed.
folks like mark perry and don boudreaux stood tall (as they always do).
and i will never forget them for it.
but man did half the folks around them cave in and start clamoring for governmental take overs and intervention because they got scared.
and i will not forget them either.
we got quite a look at who the turncoats were, who just stood by and watched, and who stood up and joined the fight for freedom and for honesty.
and that middle bucket who simply stood and did nothing are what let this happen. their principles and courage failed them.
how are we supposed to trust them again?
I've been reading "They Thought They Were Free" to try to understand my fellow citizens (who seem completely insane from where I stand). Unfortunately, one of the main takeaways is that the average German knew darned well what was going on but was thinking, "Better him than me."
I will have to take a look at that - many people are mentioning it; you may also want to consider: "Hitler's First 100 Days" Peter Friztche (Basic). "Gliechschaltung" (Co-ordination) there - and here: by mid April 2020 every.single.website.in.the.entire.world had posted a "Our Covid 19 statement" page; many flashing an insistent banner almost mandated that you click on it - weird! My take (there and here) is that opportunistic/cynical Germans were well out-numbered by those who enthusiastically embraced the new regime - their new normal.
That’s a great book.
We don't trust them again. That's why I can't get with this "welcome the newly awakened" talk. Great that your brain cells started firing properly but go to the back of the class, sit down, and stfu because you've done enough damage. Oh and since you like to wear items to virtue signal, get fitted for the dunce cap you've more than earned.
I’ve lost so much faith in humanity and in Americans. I thought this was the Land of the Free and home of the Brave up until 2020. Then I watched 90% of everyone turn into abject cowards, willing to turn on each other like hungry plague rats for a snippet of social approval or maybe just the atavistic thrill of being the aggressor.
Brave? Sure, when they were attacking the lone dissenter or shoving granny into an empty rest home to die. But there was zero bravery witnessed in the face of potential public disapproval for being the one to call out these lockdowns, school closures, and mandates for the hideously wrong measures that they were.
At least the folks over at Mises Institute never cucked!
For those that are not aware of it, check out the Mises Caucus of the LP.
They are making progress into making the Libertarian Party actually libertarian.
https://lpmisescaucus.com/
The rabbit hole is much deeper than the vaccines and lockdowns as the only solution for the 'rona. I would trust them if they start digging there
- RFK Jr's book is a good place to start
- the origins of SarsCov2. who financed what research. do we go forward with gain of function
- who suppressed the early treatment protocols. why?
- censorship on big tech.
They can prove themselves if they want, or will just prove that they knew all along and are executing the damage control playbook
I knew George Mason would fold, because institutions are only as rational as their least rational/most crazy inhabitant. Look at what happened to Mark Crispin Miller who taught a propaganda class at Columbia. Not that Columbia was any hotbed of academic freedom, but if the administration is funding “fill-in-the-blank-Studies” programs, they’re lost before the starting gun is fired. One of my nephews was in a Columbia PhD program years ago and all his students were Chinese nationals. He endeavored to explain to them why a building had “Year of Our Lord” carved into the cornerstone. It was impossible.
He slowly realized that they were there just to size up the available real estate.
Watch this: https://www.bitchute.com/video/WfNxhRGXj0Wh/
The lady in the embedded video is speaking from September 2019! She figured this out like some kind of Cassandra. It’s pretty eye opening.
I heard Walter Olson at an April 2020 Cato event on Covid lockdowns, where he spoke in terms of his fellow human beings throwing their fists around as they walked. And thus the non-aggression principle turned into just another excuse for prior restraints and mass-scale oppression.
Brilliantly stated. A usual. :) Some of them could regain my trust. But they are going to have to work overtime to do so. For a long time.
When you’re in the ignorance industry….
There is an upside to everything.
The upside to this is that the fifth column has largely exposed itself.
The next fight is coming, and now we know who is sound and who is not.
None of us should forget.
I am similarly disappointed of some of the George Mason economists, though I'd long since suspected Cowen was Kunlangeta, or at least suckling at Moloch's teet enthusiastically.
But Boudreaux is indeed a rock.
No compassion for the wide-eyed-and-innocent media from me. Their job description is literally to find the truth and report it; to inform the public, to provide valid and useful information. If you can't even get that right, you have no business being part of the media.
I have been mulling it over, and I think I have reached a point now where I could be a hangman. It's going to be a booming trade - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Official_Table_of_Drops
Or, we could bring back the French method? 😉
IMHO there should be a civilian task force that looks into the negative impact of incomplete and/or false "news" that led to Americans making health decisions that resulted in sickness or death or both. This should include the psychological impact on school aged children.
Additionally, the economic impact on individual lives due to the media promotion of what is essentially mass formation psychosis based on lies which includes the omission of information.
Holding media corporation owners, board members, management and mouthpieces fully accountable for the damage.
https://www.fcc.gov/media/radio/public-and-broadcasting#DISTORT
"News Distortion. The Commission often receives complaints concerning broadcast journalism, such as allegations that stations have aired inaccurate or one-sided news reports or comments, covered stories inadequately, or overly dramatized the events that they cover. For the reasons noted previously, the Commission generally will not intervene in these cases because it would be inconsistent with the First Amendment to replace the journalistic judgment of licensees with our own. However, as public trustees, broadcast licensees may not intentionally distort the news. The FCC has stated that “rigging or slanting the news is a most heinous act against the public interest.” The Commission will investigate a station for news distortion if it receives documented evidence of rigging or slanting, such as testimony or other documentation, from individuals with direct personal knowledge that a licensee or its management engaged in the intentional falsification of the news. Of particular concern would be evidence of the direction to employees from station management to falsify the news. However, absent such a compelling showing, the Commission will not intervene."
The other side is already doing exactly this, only we're the misinformation, and to hear it, we're the deadliest threat since Pearl Harbor.
Precisely why it is (past) time to stop accommodating them, don't you think?
Yes, but my point is they're the ones with the cultural and political power to be deciding who is the arbiter of truth in mainstream news.
I don't think this is just an issue of people being insufficiently motivated until now to stand up to the Ministry of Truth. This is an extremely powerful social institution that you can really only injure by boycotting them, which I already do.
The only repercussion for MSM that I want to see is their utter destruction when their fanbase realizes they’ve been duped. Hell hath no fury like a leftist scorned.
That is a nice thought but remember most of their fanbase want to be led by the nose. Their fanbase will most likely go down with the ship of fools, too ignorant or stupid to think to do anything but hang on tighter.
Both FTC and FCC were involved in shutting down doctors on social media. I doubt we’ll see any Mexican Standoff between those agencies about any of this.
I suggested years ago that the abbreviation for Reagan Airport should be changed from DCA to CYA.
I do believe there is a path to redemption for ordinary people, even many of the more rabid Covidians, as long as they realize their folly and show genuine remorse. Not so for those operating the levers of power, even if it was just a tiny lever. They are complicit in a genocide and must be punished accordingly.
I'm not sure if many Covidians can be salvaged.
A major obstacle to any kind of redemption is the utter inability of leftists in general, and Democrats in particular, to ever admit they were wrong.
Huge numbers of them have been utterly bamboozled into believing utter nonsense while advocating, condoning and engaging in absurd and destructive behavior for no gain whatsoever.
It would be difficult for the best of us to accept such humiliation. It simply will not happen on any scale that matters.
The path forward is to create firebreaks against the imposition of future mass insanity and hysteria. This is one of them.
The people that did this to us have been at it for a very long time. They will not give up and when they lose this battle, which I think they are, there will certainly be another. Soon.
We need to be far more prepared when it comes.
I fear you are correct. I have first-hand experience working with alcoholics and other addicts. I abused substances myself for many years. The "normies", the people on the outside who have never experienced the worst of addiction either personally or with close friends or family, have no conception of the power of addiction. Many pursue it into the gates of insanity or death, says AA's "Big Book." The analogy is not perfect but mass formation (a mass social delusion) seems to share a lot in common with severe addiction. Very rare indeed is the person who left to his own devices gets a sudden flash of insight and says to himself "Gee, what a fool I've been! Why, I'll just stop this self-destructive behavior and my life will improve starting immediately!" Ah, if only it were that simple...
I have more experience than anyone could want with addiction in my family and friends, though I have been fortunate enough to escape it.
You are right, the parallels are undeniable and profoundly disturbing.
An insatiable desire for, and willingness to accept, the destruction and debasement of one's self, family and circle, combined with an almost total blindness to the effects of one's behavior.
What I consider worst of all is how innocent children have been thrown to the modern-day Moloch based on political agendas and justified by junk science.
This is nothing short of a descent into barbarism. I wonder if these people who purport to be adults give a thought to what they are teaching the next generation.
Sadly, we may all be soon reaping what they have sown.
My son is 17. I've had many conversations with him from the time he was little about "the world". When he was about nine years old he asked me, "will the bad guys win?" I had never considered that question before, and it took me several minutes to think of an answer because this has been going on for a very, very long time. "They" have lost battles here and there but overall, they've not suffered true defeat and they take what they learn from the battles and regroup and try again. They are in it for the long haul.
True story. One of the few places in Georgia that you have to wear a mask (since April 2020) is hospitals and doctor's offices (their requirement, not the state's). I went in for my annual physical and when I got into the doctor's office he says, "take that thing off". I asked him why they were enforcing mask wearing in the office despite the fact that they must know the scientific data says they don't work against respiratory viruses. He says they are following the local hospital system's rules on masking. He told me about a year into the pandemic, a group of doctor's at the hospital led a "revolt" laying out the peer reviewed evidence that the kinds of masks patients were wearing coming into the hospital weren't effective. Not able to refute them, the administration changed the policy to require double masking. The rebel group asked how did they know the double masking would work? The answer was, "we don't, but neither can you prove they don't work, so you can't object anymore"
That is the madness. In the past, in medicine, we had to prove that something worked to even suggest that it be used. Now they ask you to prove that it does not work, and they feel the right to FORCE you to use it.
You're too easy on them. The media deserve far worse than extinction.
I too call bs on the fake “shock”. More like laying the groundwork work for, “I’m not a bad person, I just didn’t know”.
This guy could learn something from the recent passing of John Madden. Go back and watch that awesome documentary on him on Christmas. Because of his intense fear of flying he traveled by train and then got his famous personal Greyhound called the Madden Cruiser. Whilst on the road he learned something. About America and himself. It opened his eyes, broadened his horizons but connected him to MORE and different people than himself. I think all of us would be better off if we did at least one big road trip a year. I'm not saying it has to be the Griswold's but hit the road. Stop off in random off the beaten path places. Look around, ask questions. Observe people but more importantly, talk to them. Be inquisitive and a learner. I bet you come out a winner every single time. Noah. What an ironic name....
Agreed. I travel cross-country often, with a 1960 Airstream and a cute dog at my side. If one of those doesn't start a conversation with strangers, the other usually does. The conversations I've had have been a breath of fresh air, compared to the NPR-fueled group-think of my deep-blue town.
Well said. I've been on that road for forty years, stopping in and chatting the whole time, and I'd say that is one thing that has kept me from ever contemplating signing on to any ideology.
When you plunk down on that diner- or bar-stool between strangers who've likely led a completely different life from yours, you nearly always come away feeling a connection, not a division.
Add-on comment: Highly recommend the 1982 book "Blue Highways", by William Least Heat Moon, chronicling the diversity of American cultures right at the advent of our homogeneous mall culture.
I'm also not a huge fan of flying but will when there's really no other choice. I love riding Amtrak (although I hope we'll get high speed rail one day). Anyway, I've always met amazing people.
Somewhat familiar with Noah having listened to the Commentary podcast intermittently. Yes their prattle is mostly small c conservative and given their base in NY/NJ, I was happy to look past some of their holier than thou comments about fly over conservatives or hard core patriots to a point. Once the Covid train got rolling the whole group of them on the pod supported most if not all of the government overreach and did so with a bit of condescending smarm, essentially calling freedom and liberty supporters “deplorables” without calling them deplorables and that is when I decided that I had enough. Have also stopped supporting Federalist for mostly the same reason. If we are going to change the channel on this garbage, we need these people out of our lives. They are a waste of time because they will always first test to see which way the political winds are blowing. ‘Eff them all.