I will start this article reiterating what you already know. My experience is not necessarily the experience of others. In fact, one of the primary reasons I write is because I am fascinated how often my experience IS the experience of others—and quite a few others at that! But this time I have my doubts. My observations in this article are rather subtle, so I am not even sure if anyone is hit by this particular absurdity the way I have been. But I’ll give it a go.
I think I came on pretty strong with this article. And I have rewritten parts of it for clarity based on some of your wonderful and insightful comments.
I have thought a lot about this over the past few days and unfortunately I still do believe the intention of the agenda is to make all of us as cowardly as possible, and I think they are succeeding. If anyone is NOT succumbing to the agenda's course to cowardice, it would be my readers here on ShrewViews. We are braver, just by our nature, than the average bear.
I still stand by my observation that modern medicine is designed to make us cowards, and even that the whole work exodus is designed to beat us down into submission. Both of these things, but especially the "work at home" explosion, are presented as very appealing Trojan Horses...but ultimately they are designed to denigrate and tear at the fabric of humanity. Big words I know, and of course, I could be totally batshit crazy, and paranoid, and nothing I said may have any validity at all!!
And, this is important, I personally am TOTALLY guilty of slipping into cowardice. I am a BIG coward...and really didn't know it until now. I am watching the popular series "1883" and realize I do not have one speck the bravery those people that trekked along the Oregon Trail to their promise land in the 1800's did....not one speck. Those people were not cowards.
I fall into all the classes of "cowardice" that I describe in this article. I am terrified to avoid the doctor, believing that if I do, I will surely be ravaged by disease I have no control over, and drop dead as a result. The culture teaches us that when we reach a certain age we have to believe we are living on borrowed time and to maintain our health we much see the doctor frequently. I set myself up for this by not eating well and not exercising (another thing working at home will do to you).
I love the idea of working at home as well, and one day, when I move into a more "retirement paradigm" I will probably see all my clients on Zoom...which I absolutely abhor. I am a chicken, a coward...so I certainly am including myself in this description. I am working on becoming braver, and I think my putting my practice at risk working against the grain of the "state" with my writing, and working against the grain of my relationship (my wife is a sheep) is pretty brave...but it isn't enough...not nearly enough.
Since starting this substack I have seen real bravery in my readers. I have been astounded by how brave some of you have been through all of this. Living off the grid, making a fine life for yourselves without the dependency on technology and the "state"...being defiant and non compliant...amazing bravery. I can only wish I live up to that bravery one day.
So I am sorry if I ruffled any feathers with this article. Some of the comments really did make me rethink a lot of it, and in my angry exuberance I believe I got a few things wrong. So thank you for helping me see that.
Although I agree with most of what Mr Hayen says, I would offer a caution as well. It is a question of babies and bath water. To lump together a state of cowardice with being unfortunate enough to have an anaphylactic response to such things as bee stings, is to be profoundly insulting and guilty of precisely the same sweeping b******* claims as are the powers that be. We must be extremely careful, more careful, not to accuse individuals as if they are faceless units in an identity grouping. I just bought a wonderful t-shirt that says I identify as a conspiracy theorist, and my pronouns are told you so - yet I also can die within minutes from a bee or wasp sting, and therefore am forced to carry medication at all times. This has nothing to do with being a coward. Further, as much attention is being paid to long term effects of childhood vaccinations with respect to rampant development of chronic disease, serious allergies and premature death - "for real"! - critics of the mainstream narrative must not resort to the same sheep-level low blows of name calling, gross oversimplification and misuse of language.
I agree with you, and anyone else that feels the way you do after reading my article. Coward is too strong a word to apply to everyone. And most people interested in thoughts on this side of the fence are quite a distance away from that word. It is primarily a sheep word. And even then, it is too strong for most.
There is no way on earth anyone should label you a coward for depending on meds. I depend on meds for my diabetes, that is not what makes me a coward, if I am one (which I do believe I am for reasons I state below.) I am very sorry, and I apologize profusely, for giving that impression with my article, it was not at all my intention, or the point for what I was saying.
When you start getting into specifics, like you have here, it really doesn't apply at all. I am very sorry if you felt I was implying that someone who feared a bee sting, or feared not having meds to take care of a allergic reaction to a sting, is a coward. Of course not.
But, I will say, that I believe we as a modern culture have been put into unnatural positions that create fear...fear of nature, fear of undue suffering, fear of death. I hope that makes sense. In other words, I am saying that whoever is now allergic to bees, very well may not have been in primal times. That could have been a created condition, created by the culture that thrives on fears,, or a culture that does not give credence to a healthy environment...maybe it is due to over-vaccinating children, and the vaccines have caused this allergic reactions to bees...so then a person allergic to bees feels an unnatural fear for something they would never have had to encounter if the culture did not impose it on them. Does that make sense?? And of course there are exceptions. Maybe an allergic reaction to bees has nothing to do with vaccines or a toxic environment. Maybe it is a genetic situation...and maybe if there were no meds that person would be dead. In either case, they certainly are not a coward to seek out the meds that will save their life
I am a type II diabetic. If I lived in a time where the culture was not so screwed up, I would not be a diabetic, or only mildly affected by it. If I lived at a time where bad food choices were not so prevalent, even if I did have diabetes, it would be more manageable. A false fear is created in me because I am constantly told I am probably going to drop dead any minute because of my condition, and because any cookie I eat could kill me. I am a coward because I can't stand up to this fear. I cannot take the bull by the horns and do something about it. Instead I whine, I cry, I complain about "my condition"...(I am not saying I actually do this...) And remember, fear and concern are not the same thing. I FEAR my condition, therefore I am a coward (by my own definition).
Of course that is really no fault of my own...I am put into a position by the culture, where it is now clear is following an agenda to make us all "cowards." Some people succumb to it, some do not.
I am not sure if I am making my point here...it is not easy to make.
I am also one to make very clear that pretty much none of this sort of commentary (my articles) apply to individuals. We ARE all unique, and each one of us has things to carry and to be concerned with. When I say the culture is all turning into cowards I mean that in a more general way. Some of us are not cowards at all, some are a little bit, and some are in a big way.
Anyway...point taken...again I am sorry for the offense.
I agree on the mask thing and the fear of living. I still get the eyes widening shocked expression when I dare to share an elevator with one of these snowflakes. "Oh no! Another stranger! I will try to hold my breath until I get to my floor." I really don't know what the point of living is if you are going to be in constant fear.
I differ on the work thing. Sometimes change is needed. I'm a tech guy so I can work anywhere I have a stable, secure internet connection. Just before the "pandemic", I was working at a company where I had to commute over 90 minutes each way in order to sit in a cubicle for the entire day with minimal contact with other people doing work I could have done anywhere else. The management at this place was from the Mad Men era, where if an idea were to pop into their little heads, they had to be able to walk to someone's desk to talk about it immediately. So I would spend weeks never talking to any of these people but if I was off site, it was a guarantee that they would come looking for me. So I think forcing people into little cubicles for a huge chunk of their lives and having them clog the roads and subways to get to and from their personal prisons is a very welcome change. Besides, now they can use software to tell them exactly how productive you are working remotely.
I think people will adapt over time (if we have the time and freedom to do so). Those who crave human interaction will find outlets. Those who are fine by themselves will have more opportunities to do so. Vive la difference!
"A natural intervention comes naturally with no fear driving it"
A lot of good thoughts in the article, but this is not one of them, IMO. Fear most definitely has a major role in staying healthy through natural approaches. I've been self-employed for 40 years, and therefore we provided our own, quite marginal health insurance. And we had no income safety net. My wife and I are health and fitness nuts anyway, but a huge motivation to stay healthy has always been that it would be terrible financially to lose our health. So yes, fear of financial catastrophe, as well as fear of losing the ability to do all the things we love to do, have been major driving factors in eating right and exercising. Fear of the medical system and iatrogenic damage or death is also a huge reason we and many others stay healthy naturally.
Certainly can agree to disagree!! But I'll stick by what I said..the fears you describe are not natural fears, they have been created by the systems humans have been ensconced in for quite some time.
I should have made my definition of fear, for the sake of this article, clearer. I am not talking about "concern" or "a troublesome thought"...I am also not saying that if the thing one fears is imminent that it is unnatural to fear pain, suffering, and death. I am talking about fabricated fears, fear of potential when statistically irrelevant. I should have made that clearer.
I will say in agreement that fear CAN be a natural motivating emotion. Fear of the bear chasing a person in the woods will indeed make them run faster. Also, the line you quoted was quoted out of context, but in looking at it again, I do see I was not clear.
I also would say that the examples you give as fear being a motivator I would not describe as fear (unless it is!) but would fit more into a classification of "concern" "rational thinking of possible consequences" and "avoidance"...
Jun 13, 2023·edited Jun 13, 2023Liked by Todd Hayen, PhD, RP
No apologies necessary, like I said, all good except one thing to nit-pick about. Even back when I was in school and they graded tough, that's an "A". I'm always looking for problems and weak spots, just my nature, and an advantage in my profession. We can disagree on what fear is. When I thought of what our lives would be like if our health failed us, what I felt I would call fear, for sure, and it's extremely motivating.
No, I am very pleased you "nit picked"...it really does help me. I tackle some pretty complicated concepts, and very often I do not get it right at all. This is probably one of them. I only wish that I convey what I really mean, and probably didn't here. People can certainly disagree with it! But just wish it made sense.
I don't even know what I mean, to tell you the truth. I just feel a lot of this fear is "agenda made" and has been such for quite some time. Sure, humans have always feared things...that was stupid for me to imply they didn't. But I honestly believe it was a different sort of fear that we experience today. I would expect that primal man feared the alligator or the snake...but to be honest with you, I really don't think they feared these obvious threats to their life the way we would. People love to say that "natives" sat in their hut shaking in fear of the boogieman, ghosts, demons and superstitions...I really don't believe they did. I think they were seriously concerned about these things. I don't think they WANTED to die, but I don't think they feared death, or even pain, the way we do now...
Does that make us "cowards"....?? No...I just used that in my title (because it is the opposite of "Brave" and I wanted the tie in with "Brave New World") and my topic...I do think there are many cowards amongst us (not shrews, but a few there too)...most of them I can't blame for being that way.
Oh, I agree about the cowards. Yes, all of us feel fear, except psychopaths of course, who may feel it but certainly differently than normals) If we didn't there would be no such thing as bravery, as the good old saying goes. Fear is a pathology in society, not only today but always, and it's always exploited for power. There's appropriate fear, and pathological fear, I suspect we can agree on that. You seem to be a big picture guy, for sure. Re that, it took me until about 60, finally at that point I reluctantly concluded that there's not much we can do. Human societies are buffeted about by inexorable forces caused by who we are (which is not pretty), and that's why they always degrade. I could be wrong of course, but when I look hard and impartially, that's what I see.
Good points but the telecommuting thing is not bad at all.
Have you ever worked at a big office? Human relations in an office is hell these days with the litigous nature of people. My girlfriend does not miss her office and thankfully her company is not pushing people to go back to the office.
Commuting is also bullshit, waste of time and stress. Perhaps in smaller towns it's fun and nice, but not in or around cities. That stress is artificially created by urban sprawl and crazy real estate prices!
If the job can be done without physically being in an office where you ironically sit at a computer, why not?
I won't argue with you on this one...it is complicated, and very nuanced. I wrote an article about this you might want to look at, "Fun at Home"...link at the end of this comment. I think the negative impact will take some time, and only for some people. We look at it in a very general way...the New Order wishes to have people in their homes, isolated, and as cut off from the "group" as possible. Working at home is one way to do this.
From a more primal perspective, men, in particular, have always "gone away" from home to do the "work of men"...hunting, war, play, farming, in the fields, even craftsmen worked in the barn, or in the village shop...yes, there are many exceptions, and once the industrial revolution kicked in, all of this was contorted in ways that also caused problems. It is a dense issue, and quite complicated. And truthfully, if all this "work from home" crap were not clearly instigated by the agenda, I probably would not make the connection myself. But there is a reason the agenda is attracted to this, and if you really tease it apart you can see that reason.
Not a biggie...if it is the kind of work that lends itself to working at home, and if there are other ways to compensate for what the worker is missing, then I am sure it can work at least as well as it can without going back into the 17th Century!
You might want to look at my article "Fun at Home" as well as "Zooming Ourselves into Oblivion"
Of course there is no problem in disagreeing!! Most of the things I write about are pure opinion, and my opinion most definitely is not always everyone's truth!!
Dr Hayen, I am not a doctor but will put on a hat and pretend to be one:
my prescription today is a digital diet.
It is good in small portions but a poison when over-consumed.
In May I spent a week on a literal island surrounded by beautiful skies, ocean and lush plant life. I had never experienced that. Only good food, drinks and physical books. Such happiness, contentment, peace.
I aim to take my own advice and be outside as much as possible in these warm months.
Are you suggesting that I haunt the internet too much and am always ready to respond to a comment within minutes? Ha!! I am off today, go to work in the late afternoon, so I am floating around on this thing for most of the day.
But you are right...absolutely. But I have now dedicated my life to being a warrior, and this is the way I do it. Actually, writing about all this darkness is the only thing that seems to calm me down. I go weeks without it and get really wound up. Then I write a few articles and feel at peace again.
But I will not disagree with you...if I really had my way, I would chuck it all and go live in deep nature for my remaining years...
I am like you as before this scam I would never be found in front of a computer. Research, reading and learning about what has happened has provided me with information and understanding but it has become obsessive, and I have to give myself an intervention of trying to be up to date with the latest ner-do-well plots.
Reading clever writers such as yourself has been comforting in knowing that everyone is not insane or cowardly. Amazing how foolish some people think I am for not going along and getting along. I'm too stubborn and independent-minded and don't mind researching deeply into what I deem worthwhile. This has pushed off other interests of mine, like artmaking, and I need to prioritize. I wish days were twice as long so choices were not necessary but alas, that is not so. I wonder how many others are like me wasting away in front of screens to get to the bottom of it all. My recent retreat was so alleviating that I hope to recreate it in small bits.
Well, I'm another one wasting away in front of screens, since the early days of this fiasco. I'm an outdoor and nature buff, that's where it's at for me, but still, this has been so insane, so fascinating, so over-the-top ridiculous, I can't leave it alone. I think I've probably figured it out about as much as I will, but that hasn't cured me. We are of course purebloods in my immediate family. This was an unmistakable scam since about March 2020, it's simply amazing so many people considered "smart" (who obviously are anything but) fell for it.
The silver lining to having a sheep partner is that there is a natural buffer there...I can't absorb myself too much or else I would get kicked out of the house. Really, if my wife were not a sheep, this is all we would talk about, we would be going to rallies, meeting shrew friends, attending lectures...that would be great fun, but really, would it be healthy? Then I think about my shrew colleagues...that IS all they do...!! Like any work we have a passion for, we will become obsessed, it is the name of the game!!
Interesting take, and a very smart one. I consider myself really lucky to have a wife who thinks clearly most of the time, which is the best any of us can do. Even after 42 years we disagree on very little, nothing at all about this insanity. You are correct about it being all you'd talk about.. But that's not so bad, seems like it'd be tough to go through this alone.
Todd, I don't quite see it the same way that you do. I personally only know one person who lives in fear of Covid, but she has anxiety problems anyway. Everyone else around my very small world has returned to normal - my adult children go to work at a high school, a Habitat for Humanity construction site to supervise 20 different people every day, go to music concerts on weekends, participate in nation wide trade shows that draw from all over the US. My grandson works in a resort with 700 on site employees serving hundreds of people. I would just suspect that employees that avoid constantly frustrating commutes to works with high gas prices to a job that does not allow them to meet with others in a creative discussion doesn't seem to be an issue of fear so much as sick and tired of meaningless work. As a generally frail old lady I absolutely did not enjoy standing in long lines at the airport and then since I have 4 metal joints, have to be taken aside by an agent and patted down in front of everyone to check for weapons! Todd, I think the entire modern culture is entirely screwed up by consumerism and the mind-set of more, bigger, better, faster, stronger. People assume this is the correct way to live and people who question things don't seem to have any power to change it. Oh, there is just too much to say about all of this. I think people feel helpless.
Thanks Barb...I find it interesting that you start out saying you don't see things quite the same as I do then you end with a broad statement that is 100% the way I see things! 😆
Yes, we all have different anecdotal experiences. I have colleagues in the psychotherapy profession that tell me of dozens of stories her clients have relayed to her about heart attacks, cancers, sudden deaths...and I hear nearly none of those stories from my own clients. We definitely are also in a "clearing" right now, and for all intents and purposes the world, on the surface, DOES seem to have gone back to something that at least looks normal. The ugly head of the beast has retreated back under the surface...for now.
Most of my musings in this article come from a man who now sees the world as a glass half empty rather than half full. I am very optimistic that good/God will prevail, but I still believe we have a rather formidable fight ahead of us.
I also see that we have been on a slow train towards transhumanism (not just through technology) since the beginning of the industrial age and the loss of religion...the loss of religion is a big topic, and I believe is largely due to humankind's (through organized religion) misinterpretation of God, the Christ, Nature, and a variety of other things that organized religion has felt the need to define. They got some of it right, but way too much of it wrong. Then scientism came along and wiped out all of the other religions and there ya have it...
Of course you are right to say that I contradicted myself. Please let me try to explain. When I describe my family and the people they interact with, THOSE people do not seem to have any fear at all of the future. They believed the official narrative and refused to listen to anything I had to share about any other type of information. So - they live as normal. It is "aware" people like us that see the creeping totalitarianism and tech takeover that feel hopeless to make any difference. I am not even allowed to point out things for them to think about - like why we have to go through that airport security even now after so many of us know that 9/11 was an inside job to slowly bring in this control through the Patriot Act that was somehow already written and ready so fast. I am so grateful for you and the folks on this site that are so intelligent to explain things so well. By the way, Todd, are you familiar with Charles Eisenstein? He is trying to start a Sanity Project for his own support while he becomes a political advisor to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr's Presidential run. I have followed Charles for years. I guess you can call him a philosopher. He sincerely cares about all this - just as you do. And he really suffers about it. Thanks for you time.
I am reading “Where Has The Body Been For 2000 Years”, and the chapter I read yesterday discussed the era of Science and enlightenment as having such a profoundly negative effect on faith, and really ushered in a rather covert deism. I thought it was a thought provoking perspective. And now we see Science as the new established religion. During covid I literally saw a sign flashing along a highway that said “In Science we trust”. And all throughout the neighborhood are new creeds plastered everywhere “We believe Science is real...” It is the new established, gov’t sanctioned religion.
I commiserate with Barb’s comment though. And I’m not even old. Flying is MISERABLE. I hate those full body scanners and have successfully avoided ever using one until last summer in Edinburg, when they tried to “consult with me in a separate room” why I didn’t want to go into the scanner. I bluntly said “because you’re just going to pat me down afterwards anyway. So just do the pat down. They got attitude, the line was long, the connection tight, so I gave in to the scan. And they patted me down after all that anyway.
My husband has worked from home for over a decade. I didn’t see it as laziness. But I did see it as convenient. He got a well-paying job with flexible time (usually spent for family) and we got to live in the community we wanted to be. I will say though, now that covid busted the lid open, and we’re not at all on the same, I don’t see it quite the same way anymore. But still. Working from home and being able to be present with the family throughout the day, in contrast to some of my friends who’ve had to have 1-1.5 hr commutes each way..... One had an unhealthy lack of human connection generally speaking, while the other never sees his family for a basic job to pay the bills.
It definitely seems like everyone’s just moved on. There’s an increase in weird inflammatory issues in a number of friends, and other course they can’t see the connections. I wonder when the cancers will start flaring up. And then I just wonder when I’ll be the crazy lady, muttering to myself on a street corner alone and friendless. 😂
I think I am getting flak for the "work at home" dilemma, not from you particularly but from several others...!! 😀 In general I agree...working at home, as it was done in the past, is not the issue. It is this mass exodus from the traditional physical workspace that used to be essential to business...and even that, by itself, is not where the problem is...see it as a necessary step in the agenda's agenda...isolate everyone, close the streets, close the churches, close the gathering places, keep everyone at home...that is where it gets dicey...
What a wonderful and reflective piece ! I will likely never understand why so many people are stuck in fear and denial. At times I have wondered to myself as to whether this represents mass people pleasing on a global scale …..the need to be approved by the heard ( I know there is much more to the concept of people pleasing).
Many mask wearers I know or encounter seem very smug like they alone are saving the world . Although the issues around the last 3 years continue to be very problematic I have learned and grown a lot especially with the digging I have done . Actually not too much digging was required as most issues were very blatant and obvious if you had even one eye open .
Since the entire Westernized human race seems to be seeking happiness through instant gratification it is no wonder they can't see what is happening, because if a person is not obsessively occupied with a gratifying experience then he or she is obsessed looking for it. TPTB are very adept at keeping people in a static position of either sucking on the pleasing lollipop or OK with waiting for one to appear. They then throw crap at them, like fake wars, fake diseases, fake shortages, etc. so they have to opportunity to save them, or attempt to save them. It is very hard, or next to impossible, to convince people that governments et al are not hugely powerful benevolent entities only there to save them from the horrors of natural life.
TPTB do four things, 1. supply lollipops in the form of entertainment, conveniences, technological fun, sports, TV, video games, cell phones, drugs, medicine...think "Soma" from Brave New World. 2. if #1 isn't good enough for a "hit" they placate the masses with sustenance, food, UBIs, fast food, fast anything, easy medine, fake money, on and on (this is the "waiting for a hit of pleasure" period) 3. fear. Bring on some horror so the people can be saved by TPTB, thus creating a greater loyalty. 4. resolve the fear, slay the dragon, so people can return to complacency loving the slayer..either sucking on the lollipop, or looking for one.
The mere fact that you can recognize it places you leaps and bounds above most people. The realm we exist in is a realm of cowards. It starts in public school. All mental deficiencies start there. The people have been indoctrinated into fear of everything. Bugs, animals, viruses, other races, the devil, poverty, crime, love, justice, all and sundry, are part and parcel with the fear matrix. This is how the people of the land are controlled. Until, and if, people comprehend this there will be no change. It is easier to cower alone than to interact with others. The public at large compensates for their fear by first, "talkin' tough," acting macho, driving giant vehicles, being arrogant and pretending to be hard core, meanwhile one slap in the mouth will generate a barrage of 911 calls for help. It is laughable. Not being afraid is for the humble, the meek, the compassionate, the forgiving, and as we have been informed, "we shall inherit the earth." The All Mighty hates cowards. Those who abuse the weak. When one walks the path ordained, fear and cowardice vanishes.
"Until, and if, people comprehend this there will be no change"
Jean - I'm pretty sure, based on your comments, you realize most people will never comprehend how they are controlled by fear, or any similar subject for that matter. The problem is, there is a small minority who even try to figure things out rationally. The rest are always just following some dogma. The only way we get free and decent societies is when the masses are submitting to a force (Christianity being the best example I know) that guides them in a good direction. Historically, such times have the exception, not the rule. We are reverting to the norm.
So very well put. And yes, this is seen in every aspect of this society. Fear of nearly everything.
Just recently I had a California friend I have not heard from in years contact me on chat and asked if I was "safe" referring to the recent Quebec fires...I flippantly responded, "safe from what?" and she quipped back, "the fires!!!" I of course was prodding her for that response, and did not go further.
This is such an example of this "horror" over nearly everything being potentially life threatening. I live in Toronto, hundreds of miles from any fire. I am in less danger from the fires, obviously, than I am when I take a drive to Tim Horton's for a cup of coffee. Yet this friend thinks I am potentially "unsafe"...it is truly mind numbing.
This "fear of our own shadow" conditioning rots us to the core. And it is obvious how that rot is negatively affecting us. I could go on and on with this...
They have a "TV" mind. The television and social media is their reality. You live in Canada so you must be in danger, "The television said so." California is fear central. The liberal agenda has morphed the people into psychotic, scared rabbits, who exist just to flee from crisis to crisis, a crisis within their own minds, a crisis self created by their own philosophies.
Yesterday I met one of the 50+ local Gas field workers out of the 120+ that worked for the company that walked away from a jab and a job. Some 30+ like him just said "NO I QUIT!" and 20+ were fired for saying NO.
They were replaced with cowards that thought they needed that job so bad they would kiss backsides to keep it.
Personally I don't travel because I have a huge distaste for it any more. At 76, I prefer to stay home. I don't mind going to restaurants or hanging out with friends as long as I can sleep in my own bed at night.
I have a Surgical assistant Nurse learning my craft trade because she was fired from the hospital for saying no. She now travels part time to other locations at her job and earns over twice what she would if she had got jabbed.
The medical establishment stabbed their own selves with that needle. Now they are drastically short of help.
Most of my friends that took the REAL jab and are still alive today look much older than they are.
I believe that when the rebellion finally starts because the dictators have the bodyguards, the cowards that follow their orders will be the new recipients of justice.
I am a big traveller, having been to Egypt 5 times, Tokyo 9 times, Moscow 4 times, among other favorites...but like you, and many others, I am beginning to lose my passion for it (I am 67). I don't think I would mind being dropped into one of these exotic places and just settling...making local friends, enjoying the pleasures of a cup of tea at a local cafe...etc. OR...finding a small house or trailer in Montana or Idaho with a couple of dogs sitting out on the back porch eating beans out of a can with the knife that opened it...(I have shared this image many times with readers so forgive me its redundancy.)
But alas...still here in the middle of the city fighting for my life avoiding the fires in Quebec...lapping at my feet (see above comment).
This comment is way out of sync with the subject of the article, but decided to post it, prompted by your comment about traveling. During my life, I have traveled too many times to count from my home in Puerto Rico to almost every place in the USA. I lived in Iowa City, IA for three years in the 80's, and from there I also traveled to so many places in the USA. But I cannot say I am a "big traveler", because I have never been anywhere else. I always dreamed about the day I would go to Spain, France, Italy... but not anymore. These last three years, I have become very resistant to the idea of ever getting again in a plane (George Carlin would say that if you wanted to get ON a plane, it was fine with him; he would get IN the plane 😆). I'm just not willing to put up with anyone checking whether I am "vaccinated" or not, have people giving me weird looks for not having a mask, or being asked to provide a negative "test". I know some places have changed their "rules", but I still perceive the majority of people under the same narrative. I may travel again if everything returns to "normal"; but I am not betting on it. 🙄
Very sentimental piece. When I think about my first job and all it entailed, the only real memories that stand out are the friendly "good mornings," the standing around the coffee machine asking "What did you do last night?" and the many social events such as Christmas parties.
I could say much more, but I'm off to work (amongst real people). Thanks.
Jun 13, 2023·edited Jun 13, 2023Liked by Todd Hayen, PhD, RP
Cowards, you say? That's what the rulers want- crowds of cowards.
The masked people don’t bother me, personally. I look at them like one looks at the people who talk to themselves at bus stops waiting for a bus that never arrives.
The reality we were born into is disappearing. Boomers and the following generations who are in their late forties and fifties/sixties looking at the new reality with fear and confusion. We were too comfortable with the status quo we thought we had.
All-inclusive holidays, cheap flights to Spain or Portugal and so on. Convenience took away our critical thinking. It is forgotten art now.
I used to wonder why prisoners in the nazi concentration camps didn’t rebel against the guards. And then I came to a realisation—FEAR. That’s what kept them from dying like heroes.
Lately, I catch myself thinking that I can’t be bothered anymore. No one will start to sabotage the new normal as it is too convenient to lose. Like a tiger pacing up and down in the cage of London Zoo, most of us pace up and down within the future 15-minute city walls of the convenient life of the new Normal.
To change something we need a revolution but revolutions don’t bring solutions they only bring misery and new naked emperors. And no soul wants that.
And those who are not cowards will be silenced like they tried to silence the Thai/ German doctor Mr Bhakdi and CJ Hopkins.
I have been watching "Yellowstone" and the prequels "1883" and "1923"...there certainly were fewer cowards back then. And of course even recently...when I was a kid (60's, 70's even a bit of the 80's) we weren't cowards...not as much as we are now. Talk about epidemic.
And yes, the "culture" made us that way...the culture that has been created by "the rulers"...if this ISN'T a well laid out plan, then I don't know what it is. I simply cannot blame a natural social evolution for this...maybe for the way the evil inserted graft has grown is attributable to "organic evolution"...but the graft had to be inserted to start with...it is truly an evil agenda, and if left to continue to grow, will undoubtedly wipe us out.
So, so we not become cowards ourselves when we’re concerned of flying because of jab injured pilots? Or concerned about The govts not looking out for our best interests? I’m constantly struggling with this. It’s extra hard living the the shrew+sheep household (which I know you get). I do worry about going crazy myself. How can I keep going and not go crazy? How can my household stay intact when it feels like, in orde to save it, the only way would be to go back to sleep...at least on the outside...and then I’m back to question 1, how to not go crazy. I am so tired of always being on the defensive, and I’ve had to be on it for so much of my life for one reason or another.
You sure nailed it. I struggle with now knowing who in my office, family and associates bought into the fear and still are. Its almost like I view them as a different species and I hate that. Trust others? Not any more.
Round and round and round it goes in my mind - why am I surrounded by craven idiots? It feels like there should be an answer, but a concise understanding of the situation never arrives. Just an endless loop of puzzled annoyance with no exit strategy. It's a very Kafkaesque world. I get concerned that I might end up being patient zero of a new malady - driven insane from being too sane.
Yes, eagle-friend! My oft-repeated quote of this era is: "It is no measure of good health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society" (J. Krishnamurti). Keep soaring above the cloud.
Ironically, I have been re-reading the trilogy just now, for about the 6th time since the 70's. Reading of the conflict, peril and courage (especially of 'little people') seems to lighten my load, even if it is fiction. Some one said: "If you want to tell the truth then write fiction." And regarding felines, I think a well-adjusted cat is the best guru with whom any human can study.
Oh my, that is an excellent article title, "Driven Insane from Being Too Sane"
This has been a theme of countless books and movies...the innocent prisoner (The Fugitive), the person living in a world where everyone is a covert enemy (The Invaders, Invasion of the Body Snatchers)...on and on.
I have a real compulsion to slip back into denial, to start thinking about a good future again, enjoying the day without being obsessed with reality. I live in a household where this is easy to do (my wife is a super sheep.) But the cloud hovers over me, if only unconscious a lot of the time, I still feel truth. And I write.
How do you find a way to have relationship? I can’t find the way, because the mirage shattered and I found there wasn’t real relationship there to begin with.
The cloud is always there, but I can cope by narrowing my focus into simple pleasures - organic food, some live cultural events, friends with working brains, trees, my garden, good books, music, and now the greatest diversion of all - Pickleball. I love it and it burns up a lot of cortisol.
I think I came on pretty strong with this article. And I have rewritten parts of it for clarity based on some of your wonderful and insightful comments.
I have thought a lot about this over the past few days and unfortunately I still do believe the intention of the agenda is to make all of us as cowardly as possible, and I think they are succeeding. If anyone is NOT succumbing to the agenda's course to cowardice, it would be my readers here on ShrewViews. We are braver, just by our nature, than the average bear.
I still stand by my observation that modern medicine is designed to make us cowards, and even that the whole work exodus is designed to beat us down into submission. Both of these things, but especially the "work at home" explosion, are presented as very appealing Trojan Horses...but ultimately they are designed to denigrate and tear at the fabric of humanity. Big words I know, and of course, I could be totally batshit crazy, and paranoid, and nothing I said may have any validity at all!!
And, this is important, I personally am TOTALLY guilty of slipping into cowardice. I am a BIG coward...and really didn't know it until now. I am watching the popular series "1883" and realize I do not have one speck the bravery those people that trekked along the Oregon Trail to their promise land in the 1800's did....not one speck. Those people were not cowards.
I fall into all the classes of "cowardice" that I describe in this article. I am terrified to avoid the doctor, believing that if I do, I will surely be ravaged by disease I have no control over, and drop dead as a result. The culture teaches us that when we reach a certain age we have to believe we are living on borrowed time and to maintain our health we much see the doctor frequently. I set myself up for this by not eating well and not exercising (another thing working at home will do to you).
I love the idea of working at home as well, and one day, when I move into a more "retirement paradigm" I will probably see all my clients on Zoom...which I absolutely abhor. I am a chicken, a coward...so I certainly am including myself in this description. I am working on becoming braver, and I think my putting my practice at risk working against the grain of the "state" with my writing, and working against the grain of my relationship (my wife is a sheep) is pretty brave...but it isn't enough...not nearly enough.
Since starting this substack I have seen real bravery in my readers. I have been astounded by how brave some of you have been through all of this. Living off the grid, making a fine life for yourselves without the dependency on technology and the "state"...being defiant and non compliant...amazing bravery. I can only wish I live up to that bravery one day.
So I am sorry if I ruffled any feathers with this article. Some of the comments really did make me rethink a lot of it, and in my angry exuberance I believe I got a few things wrong. So thank you for helping me see that.
Live long and prosper....much love...Dr. Shrew
right back atcha doc. you should email these ditty's. very well said. now a query. when you write a book are you consulted on font size?
Although I agree with most of what Mr Hayen says, I would offer a caution as well. It is a question of babies and bath water. To lump together a state of cowardice with being unfortunate enough to have an anaphylactic response to such things as bee stings, is to be profoundly insulting and guilty of precisely the same sweeping b******* claims as are the powers that be. We must be extremely careful, more careful, not to accuse individuals as if they are faceless units in an identity grouping. I just bought a wonderful t-shirt that says I identify as a conspiracy theorist, and my pronouns are told you so - yet I also can die within minutes from a bee or wasp sting, and therefore am forced to carry medication at all times. This has nothing to do with being a coward. Further, as much attention is being paid to long term effects of childhood vaccinations with respect to rampant development of chronic disease, serious allergies and premature death - "for real"! - critics of the mainstream narrative must not resort to the same sheep-level low blows of name calling, gross oversimplification and misuse of language.
I agree with you, and anyone else that feels the way you do after reading my article. Coward is too strong a word to apply to everyone. And most people interested in thoughts on this side of the fence are quite a distance away from that word. It is primarily a sheep word. And even then, it is too strong for most.
There is no way on earth anyone should label you a coward for depending on meds. I depend on meds for my diabetes, that is not what makes me a coward, if I am one (which I do believe I am for reasons I state below.) I am very sorry, and I apologize profusely, for giving that impression with my article, it was not at all my intention, or the point for what I was saying.
When you start getting into specifics, like you have here, it really doesn't apply at all. I am very sorry if you felt I was implying that someone who feared a bee sting, or feared not having meds to take care of a allergic reaction to a sting, is a coward. Of course not.
But, I will say, that I believe we as a modern culture have been put into unnatural positions that create fear...fear of nature, fear of undue suffering, fear of death. I hope that makes sense. In other words, I am saying that whoever is now allergic to bees, very well may not have been in primal times. That could have been a created condition, created by the culture that thrives on fears,, or a culture that does not give credence to a healthy environment...maybe it is due to over-vaccinating children, and the vaccines have caused this allergic reactions to bees...so then a person allergic to bees feels an unnatural fear for something they would never have had to encounter if the culture did not impose it on them. Does that make sense?? And of course there are exceptions. Maybe an allergic reaction to bees has nothing to do with vaccines or a toxic environment. Maybe it is a genetic situation...and maybe if there were no meds that person would be dead. In either case, they certainly are not a coward to seek out the meds that will save their life
I am a type II diabetic. If I lived in a time where the culture was not so screwed up, I would not be a diabetic, or only mildly affected by it. If I lived at a time where bad food choices were not so prevalent, even if I did have diabetes, it would be more manageable. A false fear is created in me because I am constantly told I am probably going to drop dead any minute because of my condition, and because any cookie I eat could kill me. I am a coward because I can't stand up to this fear. I cannot take the bull by the horns and do something about it. Instead I whine, I cry, I complain about "my condition"...(I am not saying I actually do this...) And remember, fear and concern are not the same thing. I FEAR my condition, therefore I am a coward (by my own definition).
Of course that is really no fault of my own...I am put into a position by the culture, where it is now clear is following an agenda to make us all "cowards." Some people succumb to it, some do not.
I am not sure if I am making my point here...it is not easy to make.
I am also one to make very clear that pretty much none of this sort of commentary (my articles) apply to individuals. We ARE all unique, and each one of us has things to carry and to be concerned with. When I say the culture is all turning into cowards I mean that in a more general way. Some of us are not cowards at all, some are a little bit, and some are in a big way.
Anyway...point taken...again I am sorry for the offense.
I agree on the mask thing and the fear of living. I still get the eyes widening shocked expression when I dare to share an elevator with one of these snowflakes. "Oh no! Another stranger! I will try to hold my breath until I get to my floor." I really don't know what the point of living is if you are going to be in constant fear.
I differ on the work thing. Sometimes change is needed. I'm a tech guy so I can work anywhere I have a stable, secure internet connection. Just before the "pandemic", I was working at a company where I had to commute over 90 minutes each way in order to sit in a cubicle for the entire day with minimal contact with other people doing work I could have done anywhere else. The management at this place was from the Mad Men era, where if an idea were to pop into their little heads, they had to be able to walk to someone's desk to talk about it immediately. So I would spend weeks never talking to any of these people but if I was off site, it was a guarantee that they would come looking for me. So I think forcing people into little cubicles for a huge chunk of their lives and having them clog the roads and subways to get to and from their personal prisons is a very welcome change. Besides, now they can use software to tell them exactly how productive you are working remotely.
I think people will adapt over time (if we have the time and freedom to do so). Those who crave human interaction will find outlets. Those who are fine by themselves will have more opportunities to do so. Vive la difference!
"A natural intervention comes naturally with no fear driving it"
A lot of good thoughts in the article, but this is not one of them, IMO. Fear most definitely has a major role in staying healthy through natural approaches. I've been self-employed for 40 years, and therefore we provided our own, quite marginal health insurance. And we had no income safety net. My wife and I are health and fitness nuts anyway, but a huge motivation to stay healthy has always been that it would be terrible financially to lose our health. So yes, fear of financial catastrophe, as well as fear of losing the ability to do all the things we love to do, have been major driving factors in eating right and exercising. Fear of the medical system and iatrogenic damage or death is also a huge reason we and many others stay healthy naturally.
Certainly can agree to disagree!! But I'll stick by what I said..the fears you describe are not natural fears, they have been created by the systems humans have been ensconced in for quite some time.
I should have made my definition of fear, for the sake of this article, clearer. I am not talking about "concern" or "a troublesome thought"...I am also not saying that if the thing one fears is imminent that it is unnatural to fear pain, suffering, and death. I am talking about fabricated fears, fear of potential when statistically irrelevant. I should have made that clearer.
I will say in agreement that fear CAN be a natural motivating emotion. Fear of the bear chasing a person in the woods will indeed make them run faster. Also, the line you quoted was quoted out of context, but in looking at it again, I do see I was not clear.
I also would say that the examples you give as fear being a motivator I would not describe as fear (unless it is!) but would fit more into a classification of "concern" "rational thinking of possible consequences" and "avoidance"...
My apologies for not being clear...
No apologies necessary, like I said, all good except one thing to nit-pick about. Even back when I was in school and they graded tough, that's an "A". I'm always looking for problems and weak spots, just my nature, and an advantage in my profession. We can disagree on what fear is. When I thought of what our lives would be like if our health failed us, what I felt I would call fear, for sure, and it's extremely motivating.
No, I am very pleased you "nit picked"...it really does help me. I tackle some pretty complicated concepts, and very often I do not get it right at all. This is probably one of them. I only wish that I convey what I really mean, and probably didn't here. People can certainly disagree with it! But just wish it made sense.
I don't even know what I mean, to tell you the truth. I just feel a lot of this fear is "agenda made" and has been such for quite some time. Sure, humans have always feared things...that was stupid for me to imply they didn't. But I honestly believe it was a different sort of fear that we experience today. I would expect that primal man feared the alligator or the snake...but to be honest with you, I really don't think they feared these obvious threats to their life the way we would. People love to say that "natives" sat in their hut shaking in fear of the boogieman, ghosts, demons and superstitions...I really don't believe they did. I think they were seriously concerned about these things. I don't think they WANTED to die, but I don't think they feared death, or even pain, the way we do now...
Does that make us "cowards"....?? No...I just used that in my title (because it is the opposite of "Brave" and I wanted the tie in with "Brave New World") and my topic...I do think there are many cowards amongst us (not shrews, but a few there too)...most of them I can't blame for being that way.
Oh, I agree about the cowards. Yes, all of us feel fear, except psychopaths of course, who may feel it but certainly differently than normals) If we didn't there would be no such thing as bravery, as the good old saying goes. Fear is a pathology in society, not only today but always, and it's always exploited for power. There's appropriate fear, and pathological fear, I suspect we can agree on that. You seem to be a big picture guy, for sure. Re that, it took me until about 60, finally at that point I reluctantly concluded that there's not much we can do. Human societies are buffeted about by inexorable forces caused by who we are (which is not pretty), and that's why they always degrade. I could be wrong of course, but when I look hard and impartially, that's what I see.
Good points but the telecommuting thing is not bad at all.
Have you ever worked at a big office? Human relations in an office is hell these days with the litigous nature of people. My girlfriend does not miss her office and thankfully her company is not pushing people to go back to the office.
Commuting is also bullshit, waste of time and stress. Perhaps in smaller towns it's fun and nice, but not in or around cities. That stress is artificially created by urban sprawl and crazy real estate prices!
If the job can be done without physically being in an office where you ironically sit at a computer, why not?
I won't argue with you on this one...it is complicated, and very nuanced. I wrote an article about this you might want to look at, "Fun at Home"...link at the end of this comment. I think the negative impact will take some time, and only for some people. We look at it in a very general way...the New Order wishes to have people in their homes, isolated, and as cut off from the "group" as possible. Working at home is one way to do this.
From a more primal perspective, men, in particular, have always "gone away" from home to do the "work of men"...hunting, war, play, farming, in the fields, even craftsmen worked in the barn, or in the village shop...yes, there are many exceptions, and once the industrial revolution kicked in, all of this was contorted in ways that also caused problems. It is a dense issue, and quite complicated. And truthfully, if all this "work from home" crap were not clearly instigated by the agenda, I probably would not make the connection myself. But there is a reason the agenda is attracted to this, and if you really tease it apart you can see that reason.
Not a biggie...if it is the kind of work that lends itself to working at home, and if there are other ways to compensate for what the worker is missing, then I am sure it can work at least as well as it can without going back into the 17th Century!
You might want to look at my article "Fun at Home" as well as "Zooming Ourselves into Oblivion"
https://www.shrewviews.com/p/fun-at-home
https://www.shrewviews.com/p/zooming-our-way-into-oblivion
Of course there is no problem in disagreeing!! Most of the things I write about are pure opinion, and my opinion most definitely is not always everyone's truth!!
Dr Hayen, I am not a doctor but will put on a hat and pretend to be one:
my prescription today is a digital diet.
It is good in small portions but a poison when over-consumed.
In May I spent a week on a literal island surrounded by beautiful skies, ocean and lush plant life. I had never experienced that. Only good food, drinks and physical books. Such happiness, contentment, peace.
I aim to take my own advice and be outside as much as possible in these warm months.
Cheers
Are you suggesting that I haunt the internet too much and am always ready to respond to a comment within minutes? Ha!! I am off today, go to work in the late afternoon, so I am floating around on this thing for most of the day.
But you are right...absolutely. But I have now dedicated my life to being a warrior, and this is the way I do it. Actually, writing about all this darkness is the only thing that seems to calm me down. I go weeks without it and get really wound up. Then I write a few articles and feel at peace again.
But I will not disagree with you...if I really had my way, I would chuck it all and go live in deep nature for my remaining years...
I am like you as before this scam I would never be found in front of a computer. Research, reading and learning about what has happened has provided me with information and understanding but it has become obsessive, and I have to give myself an intervention of trying to be up to date with the latest ner-do-well plots.
Reading clever writers such as yourself has been comforting in knowing that everyone is not insane or cowardly. Amazing how foolish some people think I am for not going along and getting along. I'm too stubborn and independent-minded and don't mind researching deeply into what I deem worthwhile. This has pushed off other interests of mine, like artmaking, and I need to prioritize. I wish days were twice as long so choices were not necessary but alas, that is not so. I wonder how many others are like me wasting away in front of screens to get to the bottom of it all. My recent retreat was so alleviating that I hope to recreate it in small bits.
Best to you and thanks for your writing.
Well, I'm another one wasting away in front of screens, since the early days of this fiasco. I'm an outdoor and nature buff, that's where it's at for me, but still, this has been so insane, so fascinating, so over-the-top ridiculous, I can't leave it alone. I think I've probably figured it out about as much as I will, but that hasn't cured me. We are of course purebloods in my immediate family. This was an unmistakable scam since about March 2020, it's simply amazing so many people considered "smart" (who obviously are anything but) fell for it.
The silver lining to having a sheep partner is that there is a natural buffer there...I can't absorb myself too much or else I would get kicked out of the house. Really, if my wife were not a sheep, this is all we would talk about, we would be going to rallies, meeting shrew friends, attending lectures...that would be great fun, but really, would it be healthy? Then I think about my shrew colleagues...that IS all they do...!! Like any work we have a passion for, we will become obsessed, it is the name of the game!!
Interesting take, and a very smart one. I consider myself really lucky to have a wife who thinks clearly most of the time, which is the best any of us can do. Even after 42 years we disagree on very little, nothing at all about this insanity. You are correct about it being all you'd talk about.. But that's not so bad, seems like it'd be tough to go through this alone.
Todd, I don't quite see it the same way that you do. I personally only know one person who lives in fear of Covid, but she has anxiety problems anyway. Everyone else around my very small world has returned to normal - my adult children go to work at a high school, a Habitat for Humanity construction site to supervise 20 different people every day, go to music concerts on weekends, participate in nation wide trade shows that draw from all over the US. My grandson works in a resort with 700 on site employees serving hundreds of people. I would just suspect that employees that avoid constantly frustrating commutes to works with high gas prices to a job that does not allow them to meet with others in a creative discussion doesn't seem to be an issue of fear so much as sick and tired of meaningless work. As a generally frail old lady I absolutely did not enjoy standing in long lines at the airport and then since I have 4 metal joints, have to be taken aside by an agent and patted down in front of everyone to check for weapons! Todd, I think the entire modern culture is entirely screwed up by consumerism and the mind-set of more, bigger, better, faster, stronger. People assume this is the correct way to live and people who question things don't seem to have any power to change it. Oh, there is just too much to say about all of this. I think people feel helpless.
Thanks Barb...I find it interesting that you start out saying you don't see things quite the same as I do then you end with a broad statement that is 100% the way I see things! 😆
Yes, we all have different anecdotal experiences. I have colleagues in the psychotherapy profession that tell me of dozens of stories her clients have relayed to her about heart attacks, cancers, sudden deaths...and I hear nearly none of those stories from my own clients. We definitely are also in a "clearing" right now, and for all intents and purposes the world, on the surface, DOES seem to have gone back to something that at least looks normal. The ugly head of the beast has retreated back under the surface...for now.
Most of my musings in this article come from a man who now sees the world as a glass half empty rather than half full. I am very optimistic that good/God will prevail, but I still believe we have a rather formidable fight ahead of us.
I also see that we have been on a slow train towards transhumanism (not just through technology) since the beginning of the industrial age and the loss of religion...the loss of religion is a big topic, and I believe is largely due to humankind's (through organized religion) misinterpretation of God, the Christ, Nature, and a variety of other things that organized religion has felt the need to define. They got some of it right, but way too much of it wrong. Then scientism came along and wiped out all of the other religions and there ya have it...
Of course you are right to say that I contradicted myself. Please let me try to explain. When I describe my family and the people they interact with, THOSE people do not seem to have any fear at all of the future. They believed the official narrative and refused to listen to anything I had to share about any other type of information. So - they live as normal. It is "aware" people like us that see the creeping totalitarianism and tech takeover that feel hopeless to make any difference. I am not even allowed to point out things for them to think about - like why we have to go through that airport security even now after so many of us know that 9/11 was an inside job to slowly bring in this control through the Patriot Act that was somehow already written and ready so fast. I am so grateful for you and the folks on this site that are so intelligent to explain things so well. By the way, Todd, are you familiar with Charles Eisenstein? He is trying to start a Sanity Project for his own support while he becomes a political advisor to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr's Presidential run. I have followed Charles for years. I guess you can call him a philosopher. He sincerely cares about all this - just as you do. And he really suffers about it. Thanks for you time.
Barb
I am reading “Where Has The Body Been For 2000 Years”, and the chapter I read yesterday discussed the era of Science and enlightenment as having such a profoundly negative effect on faith, and really ushered in a rather covert deism. I thought it was a thought provoking perspective. And now we see Science as the new established religion. During covid I literally saw a sign flashing along a highway that said “In Science we trust”. And all throughout the neighborhood are new creeds plastered everywhere “We believe Science is real...” It is the new established, gov’t sanctioned religion.
I commiserate with Barb’s comment though. And I’m not even old. Flying is MISERABLE. I hate those full body scanners and have successfully avoided ever using one until last summer in Edinburg, when they tried to “consult with me in a separate room” why I didn’t want to go into the scanner. I bluntly said “because you’re just going to pat me down afterwards anyway. So just do the pat down. They got attitude, the line was long, the connection tight, so I gave in to the scan. And they patted me down after all that anyway.
My husband has worked from home for over a decade. I didn’t see it as laziness. But I did see it as convenient. He got a well-paying job with flexible time (usually spent for family) and we got to live in the community we wanted to be. I will say though, now that covid busted the lid open, and we’re not at all on the same, I don’t see it quite the same way anymore. But still. Working from home and being able to be present with the family throughout the day, in contrast to some of my friends who’ve had to have 1-1.5 hr commutes each way..... One had an unhealthy lack of human connection generally speaking, while the other never sees his family for a basic job to pay the bills.
It definitely seems like everyone’s just moved on. There’s an increase in weird inflammatory issues in a number of friends, and other course they can’t see the connections. I wonder when the cancers will start flaring up. And then I just wonder when I’ll be the crazy lady, muttering to myself on a street corner alone and friendless. 😂
Thank you for this wonderful comment...
I think I am getting flak for the "work at home" dilemma, not from you particularly but from several others...!! 😀 In general I agree...working at home, as it was done in the past, is not the issue. It is this mass exodus from the traditional physical workspace that used to be essential to business...and even that, by itself, is not where the problem is...see it as a necessary step in the agenda's agenda...isolate everyone, close the streets, close the churches, close the gathering places, keep everyone at home...that is where it gets dicey...
What a wonderful and reflective piece ! I will likely never understand why so many people are stuck in fear and denial. At times I have wondered to myself as to whether this represents mass people pleasing on a global scale …..the need to be approved by the heard ( I know there is much more to the concept of people pleasing).
Many mask wearers I know or encounter seem very smug like they alone are saving the world . Although the issues around the last 3 years continue to be very problematic I have learned and grown a lot especially with the digging I have done . Actually not too much digging was required as most issues were very blatant and obvious if you had even one eye open .
Since the entire Westernized human race seems to be seeking happiness through instant gratification it is no wonder they can't see what is happening, because if a person is not obsessively occupied with a gratifying experience then he or she is obsessed looking for it. TPTB are very adept at keeping people in a static position of either sucking on the pleasing lollipop or OK with waiting for one to appear. They then throw crap at them, like fake wars, fake diseases, fake shortages, etc. so they have to opportunity to save them, or attempt to save them. It is very hard, or next to impossible, to convince people that governments et al are not hugely powerful benevolent entities only there to save them from the horrors of natural life.
TPTB do four things, 1. supply lollipops in the form of entertainment, conveniences, technological fun, sports, TV, video games, cell phones, drugs, medicine...think "Soma" from Brave New World. 2. if #1 isn't good enough for a "hit" they placate the masses with sustenance, food, UBIs, fast food, fast anything, easy medine, fake money, on and on (this is the "waiting for a hit of pleasure" period) 3. fear. Bring on some horror so the people can be saved by TPTB, thus creating a greater loyalty. 4. resolve the fear, slay the dragon, so people can return to complacency loving the slayer..either sucking on the lollipop, or looking for one.
The mere fact that you can recognize it places you leaps and bounds above most people. The realm we exist in is a realm of cowards. It starts in public school. All mental deficiencies start there. The people have been indoctrinated into fear of everything. Bugs, animals, viruses, other races, the devil, poverty, crime, love, justice, all and sundry, are part and parcel with the fear matrix. This is how the people of the land are controlled. Until, and if, people comprehend this there will be no change. It is easier to cower alone than to interact with others. The public at large compensates for their fear by first, "talkin' tough," acting macho, driving giant vehicles, being arrogant and pretending to be hard core, meanwhile one slap in the mouth will generate a barrage of 911 calls for help. It is laughable. Not being afraid is for the humble, the meek, the compassionate, the forgiving, and as we have been informed, "we shall inherit the earth." The All Mighty hates cowards. Those who abuse the weak. When one walks the path ordained, fear and cowardice vanishes.
"Until, and if, people comprehend this there will be no change"
Jean - I'm pretty sure, based on your comments, you realize most people will never comprehend how they are controlled by fear, or any similar subject for that matter. The problem is, there is a small minority who even try to figure things out rationally. The rest are always just following some dogma. The only way we get free and decent societies is when the masses are submitting to a force (Christianity being the best example I know) that guides them in a good direction. Historically, such times have the exception, not the rule. We are reverting to the norm.
So very well put. And yes, this is seen in every aspect of this society. Fear of nearly everything.
Just recently I had a California friend I have not heard from in years contact me on chat and asked if I was "safe" referring to the recent Quebec fires...I flippantly responded, "safe from what?" and she quipped back, "the fires!!!" I of course was prodding her for that response, and did not go further.
This is such an example of this "horror" over nearly everything being potentially life threatening. I live in Toronto, hundreds of miles from any fire. I am in less danger from the fires, obviously, than I am when I take a drive to Tim Horton's for a cup of coffee. Yet this friend thinks I am potentially "unsafe"...it is truly mind numbing.
This "fear of our own shadow" conditioning rots us to the core. And it is obvious how that rot is negatively affecting us. I could go on and on with this...
They have a "TV" mind. The television and social media is their reality. You live in Canada so you must be in danger, "The television said so." California is fear central. The liberal agenda has morphed the people into psychotic, scared rabbits, who exist just to flee from crisis to crisis, a crisis within their own minds, a crisis self created by their own philosophies.
Exactly. Perfectly said.
Yesterday I met one of the 50+ local Gas field workers out of the 120+ that worked for the company that walked away from a jab and a job. Some 30+ like him just said "NO I QUIT!" and 20+ were fired for saying NO.
They were replaced with cowards that thought they needed that job so bad they would kiss backsides to keep it.
Personally I don't travel because I have a huge distaste for it any more. At 76, I prefer to stay home. I don't mind going to restaurants or hanging out with friends as long as I can sleep in my own bed at night.
I have a Surgical assistant Nurse learning my craft trade because she was fired from the hospital for saying no. She now travels part time to other locations at her job and earns over twice what she would if she had got jabbed.
The medical establishment stabbed their own selves with that needle. Now they are drastically short of help.
Most of my friends that took the REAL jab and are still alive today look much older than they are.
I believe that when the rebellion finally starts because the dictators have the bodyguards, the cowards that follow their orders will be the new recipients of justice.
I am a big traveller, having been to Egypt 5 times, Tokyo 9 times, Moscow 4 times, among other favorites...but like you, and many others, I am beginning to lose my passion for it (I am 67). I don't think I would mind being dropped into one of these exotic places and just settling...making local friends, enjoying the pleasures of a cup of tea at a local cafe...etc. OR...finding a small house or trailer in Montana or Idaho with a couple of dogs sitting out on the back porch eating beans out of a can with the knife that opened it...(I have shared this image many times with readers so forgive me its redundancy.)
But alas...still here in the middle of the city fighting for my life avoiding the fires in Quebec...lapping at my feet (see above comment).
This comment is way out of sync with the subject of the article, but decided to post it, prompted by your comment about traveling. During my life, I have traveled too many times to count from my home in Puerto Rico to almost every place in the USA. I lived in Iowa City, IA for three years in the 80's, and from there I also traveled to so many places in the USA. But I cannot say I am a "big traveler", because I have never been anywhere else. I always dreamed about the day I would go to Spain, France, Italy... but not anymore. These last three years, I have become very resistant to the idea of ever getting again in a plane (George Carlin would say that if you wanted to get ON a plane, it was fine with him; he would get IN the plane 😆). I'm just not willing to put up with anyone checking whether I am "vaccinated" or not, have people giving me weird looks for not having a mask, or being asked to provide a negative "test". I know some places have changed their "rules", but I still perceive the majority of people under the same narrative. I may travel again if everything returns to "normal"; but I am not betting on it. 🙄
I’ve started telling people, “I’m not afraid of catching anything from you. I no longer believe in germs”
They’re not sure whether to be glad I’m not afraid, or to be afraid of ME because I’ve lost my mind
I've mentioned before I have a T-shirt I designed that says, "Hug Me! I'm not afraid of you!" Druthers newspaper now sells a version...
https://druthers.net/shop/page/2/
Very sentimental piece. When I think about my first job and all it entailed, the only real memories that stand out are the friendly "good mornings," the standing around the coffee machine asking "What did you do last night?" and the many social events such as Christmas parties.
I could say much more, but I'm off to work (amongst real people). Thanks.
Glad to hear you work with fellow humans!
Cowards, you say? That's what the rulers want- crowds of cowards.
The masked people don’t bother me, personally. I look at them like one looks at the people who talk to themselves at bus stops waiting for a bus that never arrives.
The reality we were born into is disappearing. Boomers and the following generations who are in their late forties and fifties/sixties looking at the new reality with fear and confusion. We were too comfortable with the status quo we thought we had.
All-inclusive holidays, cheap flights to Spain or Portugal and so on. Convenience took away our critical thinking. It is forgotten art now.
I used to wonder why prisoners in the nazi concentration camps didn’t rebel against the guards. And then I came to a realisation—FEAR. That’s what kept them from dying like heroes.
Lately, I catch myself thinking that I can’t be bothered anymore. No one will start to sabotage the new normal as it is too convenient to lose. Like a tiger pacing up and down in the cage of London Zoo, most of us pace up and down within the future 15-minute city walls of the convenient life of the new Normal.
To change something we need a revolution but revolutions don’t bring solutions they only bring misery and new naked emperors. And no soul wants that.
And those who are not cowards will be silenced like they tried to silence the Thai/ German doctor Mr Bhakdi and CJ Hopkins.
So yeah, we are cowards.
I have been watching "Yellowstone" and the prequels "1883" and "1923"...there certainly were fewer cowards back then. And of course even recently...when I was a kid (60's, 70's even a bit of the 80's) we weren't cowards...not as much as we are now. Talk about epidemic.
And yes, the "culture" made us that way...the culture that has been created by "the rulers"...if this ISN'T a well laid out plan, then I don't know what it is. I simply cannot blame a natural social evolution for this...maybe for the way the evil inserted graft has grown is attributable to "organic evolution"...but the graft had to be inserted to start with...it is truly an evil agenda, and if left to continue to grow, will undoubtedly wipe us out.
How do we escape this Cave-- this is the question. And if we escape it how do we know that we didn't entered another Cave?
The theory that we are ruled by demiurge and its archons doesn't sound that crazy :))
Don't get me started on THAT one!! 😆
I would say that the cave is of our own doing, that we chose to be here in order to follow our calling...that's all I will say!
And they are ALL caves...just different types with different illusions...
This is it, my friend. Bloody caves of our own doing. Thank you, sir.
Yes, but also for our own growth. We have been called to a task...
So, so we not become cowards ourselves when we’re concerned of flying because of jab injured pilots? Or concerned about The govts not looking out for our best interests? I’m constantly struggling with this. It’s extra hard living the the shrew+sheep household (which I know you get). I do worry about going crazy myself. How can I keep going and not go crazy? How can my household stay intact when it feels like, in orde to save it, the only way would be to go back to sleep...at least on the outside...and then I’m back to question 1, how to not go crazy. I am so tired of always being on the defensive, and I’ve had to be on it for so much of my life for one reason or another.
You sure nailed it. I struggle with now knowing who in my office, family and associates bought into the fear and still are. Its almost like I view them as a different species and I hate that. Trust others? Not any more.
You said it...
Round and round and round it goes in my mind - why am I surrounded by craven idiots? It feels like there should be an answer, but a concise understanding of the situation never arrives. Just an endless loop of puzzled annoyance with no exit strategy. It's a very Kafkaesque world. I get concerned that I might end up being patient zero of a new malady - driven insane from being too sane.
Yes, eagle-friend! My oft-repeated quote of this era is: "It is no measure of good health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society" (J. Krishnamurti). Keep soaring above the cloud.
What an appropriate quote for these times. Thanks for sharing!
I love that quote too. Glad you know who Gwaihir is. We named our Egyptian Mau cat after that lovely eagle.
Ironically, I have been re-reading the trilogy just now, for about the 6th time since the 70's. Reading of the conflict, peril and courage (especially of 'little people') seems to lighten my load, even if it is fiction. Some one said: "If you want to tell the truth then write fiction." And regarding felines, I think a well-adjusted cat is the best guru with whom any human can study.
Oh my, that is an excellent article title, "Driven Insane from Being Too Sane"
This has been a theme of countless books and movies...the innocent prisoner (The Fugitive), the person living in a world where everyone is a covert enemy (The Invaders, Invasion of the Body Snatchers)...on and on.
I have a real compulsion to slip back into denial, to start thinking about a good future again, enjoying the day without being obsessed with reality. I live in a household where this is easy to do (my wife is a super sheep.) But the cloud hovers over me, if only unconscious a lot of the time, I still feel truth. And I write.
How do you find a way to have relationship? I can’t find the way, because the mirage shattered and I found there wasn’t real relationship there to begin with.
The cloud is always there, but I can cope by narrowing my focus into simple pleasures - organic food, some live cultural events, friends with working brains, trees, my garden, good books, music, and now the greatest diversion of all - Pickleball. I love it and it burns up a lot of cortisol.