I wrote a lengthy email to my local Town council in the summer of 2020. Here's an excerpt:
"First of all, I firmly believe that mainstream media (including the CBC that I trusted and loved for decades) have instilled fear and irrational thoughts in the minds of their viewers. Social media and other platforms have contributed negatively in the same way. The result has been that people see their fellow citizens now as potential threats to their health and well-being. As someone I read put it, ‘others’ are seen as ‘bio-weapons’ now. This is profoundly upsetting, and I don’t know how we ‘go back’ from this mentality? Certainly, asking to don a face-mask/shield in public (outside of medical/clinical settings) will not solve this conundrum, and if it is mandated, how do we go back from the ‘mask-state’? I am far more fearful of the future now compared to post- 9/11 —-mainly because of society’s ongoing reaction to this ‘virus’. "
(My former mayor did take the time to phone me in reply, but alas he passed away in 2021 of what seemed like a 'turbo-cancer'. I'm not kidding.)
So today, here's where we're at. We're reaping what THEY sowed, and we got this strange, dystopian world that so many want to be --figuratively, and maybe literally--- fat, stupid, and unhappy.
I encourage anyone despairing to take the time to read some Russian classics like Tolstoy, Chekhov, Solzhenitsyn et.al. to understand that others have lived through similar 'worlds' and that history is a great teacher.
I am a huge fan of Russian literature...so I agree 100% with your last comment. I also love Hannah Arendt in this regard, and of course the classic dystopian novels (Orwell and Huxley). I am astonished by CS Lewis' insight in "That Hideous Strength"...and of course, there are hundreds of current titles worth investigating.
Kudos to you for writing that letter. I so admire people who have made the effort to knock some sense into our government leaders...sadly it hasn't done much good. Seems like it would be similar to writing to the devil and saying, "I really think you are a bad guy and you really shouldn't be"...but THANK YOU for doing it! One of my sisters does the same sort of thing, and I really do believe it is important to do...again, it raises the consciousness of humanity just a tad...
I just had this conversation with my wife about how unhappy we are. She said that we were not unhappy, just annoyed. I said, we have been perpetually annoyed since 2020, and to be perpetually annoyed is to be unhappy. Cynically, we often remark to each other, that if the world were shaped like a ball and there was a huge grenade inside that could blow the whole thing up, we’d definitely pull the pin to put everybody out of our collective misery.
Please- get up and go outside! Dig a nice big hole and smell the earth - millions of years went into that ground. Now burry that grenade right there and forget about it. There is more to life on this ball than just humans and their myopic concerns. Find yourself reflected in an animals eyes.
Totally agree...and I do what you say, every day...I am not "troubled"-- I am not complaining...I am a writer, and I write articles that are truthful, but also reflective of a "state of being"...not sure if that makes sense...
Ha! I doubt it, but I understand what you are saying. I believe in God's experiment regarding humankind. I have seen in my life such beauty and love and thoughtfulness coming from fellow humans. And what I am observing is uniquely human. I do not believe that other animals have the capacity to "care" and be empathic as humans do. So I believe God had the right idea and has faith that we will all figure this out before He closes the book on humanity.
However, I also believe it could be a million years from now before we live up to God's, and our, expectations. So if the world blew up, it wouldn't end it. The world blowing up is a metaphor for the Great Flood (which is also most likely a metaphor). Somewhere, somehow, some humans would survive...although THAT isn't even necessary.
You don't to believe in the traditional God to see this. I think most, even atheists, would agree that humans are rather unique and unusual. Although I think you have to believe SOMETHING to believe that this "experiment" will not end with our physical demise...
Oh man, I just can’t go down that rabbit hole right now, the “what in the world is God doing rabbit hole”.
One of the most frustrating parts of life is exactly what you are getting at: so much beauty all around us, so much capacity for goodness, vitality, and happiness; and yet, I would say the the amount of pain, sorrow, and suffering, is vastly greater than the good.
Better is the day of one’s death, than the day of his birth; better still, is he who was never born. Ecclesiasties
Personally I am not so sure if God does much in the material plane. He set it all in motion, gave us free will, and said "we'll see how it turns out"...I think most of His work is in the saving souls department, and giving us hints we shouldn't worry, but still do what is "right"...this is a simplistic explanation, but I hope you know what I mean.
Some say the material realm doesn't even exist (A Course in Miracles) but I can't too much on board with that (I probably am misinterpreting ACIM).
I live your solutions - fitness, nature, culture, good food, no smart phone, etc. In addition, I fired my toxic friends and family. Life is so much better without them.
Fortunately, I live in a mostly conservative rural area and none of the locals wear masks. I think I saw one at the the little local grocery store a few months ago and it was obviously someone passing through, in their early 20's. When I venture into more populated areas (30-40 minutes away), I see some once in a while but not very often. I'm sorry that you live in an area where there are so many indoctrinated people!
I’ve found this to be true. Here in overwhelmingly blue NJ folks started wearing masks again a couple months ago. When we’re in central Maine (deep red Trump country) no one wears masks
One of the many reasons there is a mass exodus from blue states to red states! I am in a red area in a blue state but have contemplated moving because the capital is blue and continues to pass ridiculous laws. Just recently they removed the discount on insurance for people with good credit so they could give lower rates to people with bad credit.
This is the same thought process the eugenicists, the crowd that says "useless eaters" and "three generations of imbeciles is enough" to each other as they scheme how to get the world's population down to a more manageable 500,000,000 from the current 8,500,000,000. They see 8 billion people in the same way you describe, fat, stupid and unhappy.
Difference is, they haf vays auf dealing vith us. And elucidating your thoughts, thoughts we all are guilty of having at some times in our lives, shows how easy it becomes for those with power to do something about their thoughts that we also sometimes possess.
When we hear the saying that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely we often imagine corruption as financial gain and incentive. When it's closer to the truth to understand that corruption of the human soul, morals becoming corrupted by immorality or amorality is often the driver of the worst atrocities ever commited.
If you had the power to do something about all of the fat, stupid, unhappy people it would only be your morality to restrain you. And that is only fortified by faith in God, almighty. The Atheists/Humanists with power lack that restraint. Their morals become corrupted when Man is supreme, when men worship at the altar of other men.
That is the largest source of the failure of man in this age to treat their fellow man, the fat, stupid and unhappy, with moral restraint.
I have once in a while wondered if I am on the wrong side...but then I realize I am only on the side of humanity...whether humanity is fat, stupid and unhappy AT THE MOMENT is not the issue. I just wish they would wake up so we all don't go down the drain with them.
I think the key here is indifference. The agenda sees the fat, stupid and unhappy "people" as "ants"...if even that. They aren't angry or disappointed with them. They are indifferent. They see them as nothing. Well, maybe not "nothing"...they certainly are "in the way". I see them as human beings who are messing everything up. I want them to figure it out...not on my terms, but on the terms of just being human.
Yes. They don't care. Like machines don't care. Machines are soulless. Machines just solve a problem they're designed to solve. They are incapable of caring. That automated voice on a customer service line, the brushless car wash, the wood chipper. They don't care if you get mad at no live voice, if your windows are open or if your arm gets caught and pulls you in. Machines. Soulless machines.
Our society without God is making soulless people. Automatons. Just doing a job. No morality. No questioning if a unique circumstance arises. Trained to handle the 80% of problems they most frequently encounter. The hostess saying "mask up...above the nose"...to walk you five feet to the table to sit down before you take it off. Their job. Rule compliance. No thinking, no reasoning, just doing what they're told. Jab enforcement. HR says "front line worker is hero" March-December 2020, says same worker is "(less than) zero" January 2021-present for no jab. No thought, no reasoning, no soul. Soulless machines.
This only happens without faith in God. This only happens when men in positions of power are submitted to as false gods demand.
The God-less people we get angry with, those in positions of power and those who submit to God-less people in positions of power do so because they don't submit to God above all. Their morality is predicated on obedience to men in power. Without God in the hearts and minds of those we get angry with things will get more and more messed up. We need people to figure out that faith in God is what allows us to be free, to live our best lives. Faith in God-less man, machines, is the surest path to hell on earth.
PERFECTLY said, EXACTLY how I feel, and I am not even religious...well, I wasn't before 2020...spiritual in a sort of metaphoric way...but now I am quite literal, and you put my thoughts into words perfectly.
Have you read CS Lewis' "That Hideous Strength"?..pretty much what he says too.
Thank you! I've not read that. I've read many parts of The Abolition of Man, just excerpts of other works. I've found CS Lewis' work to be very insightful, prescient but a difficult read to push through at times.
Though I have The Magician's Twin - a collection of his essays with insights offered by other writers - on deck:
"There is much more to commend this book, particularly in Section Four of the book on Society. The description of Transhumanism, or the human enhancement movement, centered especially in Oxford, England, shows Lewis’s predictions in The Abolition of Man to be frighteningly accurate, as technology advances rapidly while our moral knowledge declines (see especially Chapter 10, “C. S. Lewis and the Advent of the Posthuman,” by James A Herrick)"
Yours is an interesting read and summation, thank you for it. I appreciate you adding your analysis to it.
I'm putting together a piece for my own Stack now and was going to lead with a famous quote of his about tyrannies, robber barons and moral busybodies. Your suggestion to read your Stack from a few years ago is very timely!
Oh Todd, I don’t know what reaction you were expecting to get out of us with this article today but i can’t stop laughing as I read it. And the picture of that thing is hilarious!
Maintaining a state of discomfort, distrust, and vigilance around people with masks covering their faces is a healthy and necessary protective response to threat. These people are, at best, irrational, thus unpredictable and untrustworthy. At worst, they are predators or criminals, concealing their identities to avoid the social and legal consequences of their pattern of abuse, theft, assault, rape...whatever human contract they are planning on breaking today.
This is a fundamental reason for my opposition to normalizing mask-wearing as simply a "personal preference." It trains everyone to disavow their biological protective instincts necessary for survival.
Good adults never offer candy or rides to children they don't know, not because the candy or the ride is inherently harmful. They refrain from "helping," because they don't want children to let their guard down, come to trust potential predators, and then find themselves chained to the floor of a rape van with blacked-out windows.
Continuing to think, "People who cover their faces are up to no good" is an act of service to yourself and to society. That duty should not be taken lightly.
Thank you so much for this Mark...thank you for taking the satire out of this very serious situation...I just didn't have the balls to say it!
"This is a fundamental reason for my opposition to normalizing mask-wearing as simply a "personal preference." It trains everyone to disavow their biological protective instincts necessary for survival."
This above quote is 100% EXACTLY how I feel as well. Have you written anything specific about this idea?...that we cannot just let people "do whatever they want" with regard to mask-wearing? I get this so often from my sheep friends claiming my insistence that people stop following this insane behaviour is none of my business.
Yes! I've published over a dozen articles since 2020 on masks. You can pull them all up on one page using the link below. The one most pertinent to this specific angle is titled, "Mask Wearing Must be Banned--Why 'My Body My Choice' is BS." That one is free to read. Some of the others require a paid membership.
I just love this Substack; thankful how you eloquently put into words my over analyzing thoughts! 🙂 Response from the “shrews” is likewise encouraging.
Todd, I know you write music but have you ever written a book?? If not you should!
When I see a masked face now, it releases a torrent of feelings none too pleasant. It’s a constant reminder of the propaganda that THEY continue to employ.
I have actually written two books. One is a very personal chronicle of my experience with my wife's passing from cancer, "On the Very Edge of Magnificence" and one published by Routledge on a metaphysical perspective of Ancient Egypt, "Ancient Egypt and Modern Psychotherapy: Sacred Science and the Search for Soul." Both are available on Amazon (sorry).
I am working on a compilation of Shrew Views articles as well as a few psychological-type books...
I wondered if it came from someone’s interpretation of Jung.
I lost a friend (sic) a couple of months ago after suggesting that she let go of the mask. She had complained that people treated her like an outsider and I said maybe that’s part of it. But she seems to have boarded a freight train to isolation.
I was glad you began with “but I really don’t mean it”. We DO feel that way, but we don’t MEAN to
You hit the mark every time Todd, for me anyway. I feel it and you express it. It's an amazing gift you have, and I am so grateful that you share it....
“We notice most the faults of others that we, ourselves, possess.” I have no idea who the lady was quoting Lol
It made such an impression on my 18-year-old self that I have never forgotten it. And it has helped me to be more understanding of my reactions to people who annoy me, and more compassionate toward them. Maybe not compassionate-maybe just less angry at them because I’m really disappointed in myself.
I find myself angry at people (in general) much more often these days. Impatient with their willingness to let others do their thinking, and just angry at their obedience to nonsense.
You stated it very well. Do we go on and save ourselves, and leave them to die in their ignorance? Do we pry their heads open and pour the knowledge in? Neither is a satisfactory solution
One of the great statements of history, but is it true? I don’t buy it. Sure, there’s probably a grain of truth to it some times, but it’s not an immutable truth. Often we find the fault in others for very legitimate reasons.
As I have said, I do see pretty clear truth in the theory of projection in clients when there is an extreme reaction to someone....but I agree that "finding fault in others" can be a very objective, and truthful, assessment with legitimate reasons...and even projection does not mean what you are projecting is not true. Jung, I believe, said you had to at least have a hook to hang your projection on.
If someone projects a disgusting attribute onto another, AND reacts rather violently in that projection, it doesn't mean that disgusting attribute doesn't exist...maybe not to the degree the projector insists, but more than likely it does exist in some manner.
Your quote probably ultimately originated with Carl Jung describing "projection"...I am well aware of projection as I have studied it for much of my adult life. And I do apply the concept to my own projections when hate, disdain, and anger enter the picture.
My little story here is more than likely partially projection...but projection does not mean a perception of stupidity, "sheepness" etc. does not exist and is only due to our own projection of "the faults we ourselves possess"...it is only when we become REACTIVE to those faults in others than we can hang it on projection. I can observe narcissism, say, in a person like Donald Trump. If I HATE him for it, more than likely projection has a role. If I just observe it, and see a disliking for it, then that is not projection.
My article here is tongue in cheek to some degree...and is also a bit of satire. And yes, my disdain, dislike, frustration, and anger regarding masked people is projection (some of it) but my distrust, sadness, concern, etc. is not...a thin line for sure!! The article is primarily intended to show my humanness...with projection as an example.
To tell you the truth, I think Jung went a bit overboard with his concept of projection. I do think it applies to "reactions"...but anger, even hatred (depending on your definition of the word) can be sincere and authentic responses to what we observe in people.
Could there be a little bit of scripture behind that saying, too? "Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye." (Luke 6:41-42)
So, I assume you are every bit as infuriated with the trans movement, the Covid lie, etc., etc., etc. Are you projecting? Or do you just hate liars and scoundrels?
Yes, I wouldn't be surprised if Jung came up with his theory on projection from reading the Bible.
As I said earlier, I do not believe that all forms of character criticism is projection, although for us to recognize behaviour we have to have some sort of personal experience with it. I think it is a mistake to dismiss any assessment someone might have of us, or of others, as "merely" projection...that too is a projection!
We just have to be conscious that if any behaviour we recognize in another person triggers a complex reaction, that likely there is some projective quality in it. I love to use Trump as an example of this, so many people HATE the guy, I mean really HATE him...most likely there is some projection going on there...
My article here illustrates a bit of that as well...my own projection of disgust on these "fat, stupid" people...it is my disgust of my own fatness and stupidness I am trying to rid myself of...much like virtue signalling...
I completely agree with the over rotation with respect to projection. When I recoil every time I see masked people it's about them and not me. Those wretched masks symbolize the evil perpetrated on us from 2020 and they still trigger me in the same way they trigger you.
I agree. We can be triggered by impending danger...if we see something that indicates someone is leading us into danger, we can respond the way we respond without calling it projection...however, I do believe often my response to masked people is partially projection. They make me so angry, probably due to my own fear of being stupid and doing something mindless and dumb...which I certainly have had the experience of doing. That stupid part of me is afraid of being stupid, or accepting my stupidity as part of me...therefore I project it onto mask wearers....now, I am describing MYSELF...not you! Or anyone else...we cannot make blanket statements...
With you 100%! I keep telling myself, "forgive them, they know not what they do". Once you accept they are mentally handicapped (LOL) you can pity them instead of hate them. Well, I try anyway! To stop getting triggered, I avoid crowds and urban areas as much as possible. When I'm in London, I walk (fast) for hours rather than get the Tube.
My son - who hates hearing about WEF things as he calls them, and is of a philosophical, rather than spiritual, bent - tells me he doesn't get upset about the state of the world (and the people in it) because it is beyond his power to change it/them. He insists that all we can do is tend to our own 'patch' and focus on things we can change within our own personal orbit, rather than get worked up about things we cannot change. I sort of agree, and yet............
There definitely is some wisdom to your son's philosophy. And this situation is one where that approach may be the wisest. But you tend to be a dirt warrior, and get into the nitty gritty of injustice, it is difficult to resist. There ARE things you can do. You may never see what you do as having a direct effect on the situation, but any action against this Goliath, raises the consciousness of humanity.
Your son is very wise! He sounds very much like my husband who also doesn't like to hear or talk about "Covid stuff" (his "WEF things" equivalent). During the Convid years it drove a wedge between us because I was apoplectic and couldn't talk to him very much about what was being done to us. Since things have seemingly calmed down I have taken your son's and my husband's approach to things and am much more calm about that which I cannot change. I can only be an example of non-compliance to others and go about living my life the best way I know how within the constraints foisted upon us. The outrage is still there but it doesn't need to be projected all the time! My home life is much improved as a result.
My wife says I go looking for trouble...I don't think I have to "look" for it.
If being a shrew causes anger, angst, depression, etc there needs to be a way to process that. Being the age that I am, without too much more I want to accomplish in life, I am fine with it all. It is very very sad at times...but if I have like minded people around (like here!) I am doing fine.
Sheep believe shrews go looking for trouble while we believe sheep are blind to trouble. It's all a matter of perspective!
I think sheep are also angry, anxious and depressed but my sense is they are less in touch with the reasons. Cognitive dissonance must have a deleterious effect eventually. Having said that, the "ignorance is bliss" crowd might actually appear well adjusted but are at high risk of butting up against reality at some point.
I agree that having a community or at least a few people who confirm we aren't crazy is important. Whenever anyone said "stay safe" during the Convid years I would always reply with "stay sane." I guess the advice still applies.
We’d all like to live in that place of blissful ignorance, but what eats away at us, is that we know what the cumulative and trickle down effect of their actions spells for us and our families.
I agree...I think it eats away at us. Watch the movie "The Zone of Interest"...see how that situation of denial of humanity eats away at the main character...
Yes, he's only 25 and we spend quite a bit of time together for one reason and another and so, like you, despite being enraged by so much, it is a better policy to remain calm and try and swerve certain topics and avoid the news altogether. Makes for fewer grumpy silences. I suppose the thing I can't get past is that those who can't see what has happened, will allow it to happen again. Whilst I'm a live and let live kind of person, my non-compliance might not be tolerated in the future by those who are taken in by government lies.
Regardless of whether anyone is fat, stupid or unhappy, I share your feelings that I really dislike anyone whom I see with a mask on. As you say, I don't think I hate anyone, but in the past I think I sort of of "liked" most people out in the street. Not anymore.
Said with perfect conciseness and clarity...yes, that is exactly what I mean...and it is very sad, but maybe closer to the truth (that people out in the street really cannot be fully trusted.)
Exactly! I used to look at my fellow citizens as benign and mostly good people. Unfortunately, I no longer have that luxury because they proved themselves to be anything but kind and benign when they had no problem trampling on our human rights to supposedly keep themselves safe. They threw their children and grandchildren under the bus and destroyed people's businesses and livelihoods. No matter who our next "leader" is we cannot forget that it was our fellow citizens who went along with it all and would likely do the same thing all over again.
Wow...I had forgotten that quote!! I should have titled my article that...but then again, I sort of did a parody on the quote and didn't realize it! I'm not that clever...
I wrote a lengthy email to my local Town council in the summer of 2020. Here's an excerpt:
"First of all, I firmly believe that mainstream media (including the CBC that I trusted and loved for decades) have instilled fear and irrational thoughts in the minds of their viewers. Social media and other platforms have contributed negatively in the same way. The result has been that people see their fellow citizens now as potential threats to their health and well-being. As someone I read put it, ‘others’ are seen as ‘bio-weapons’ now. This is profoundly upsetting, and I don’t know how we ‘go back’ from this mentality? Certainly, asking to don a face-mask/shield in public (outside of medical/clinical settings) will not solve this conundrum, and if it is mandated, how do we go back from the ‘mask-state’? I am far more fearful of the future now compared to post- 9/11 —-mainly because of society’s ongoing reaction to this ‘virus’. "
(My former mayor did take the time to phone me in reply, but alas he passed away in 2021 of what seemed like a 'turbo-cancer'. I'm not kidding.)
So today, here's where we're at. We're reaping what THEY sowed, and we got this strange, dystopian world that so many want to be --figuratively, and maybe literally--- fat, stupid, and unhappy.
I encourage anyone despairing to take the time to read some Russian classics like Tolstoy, Chekhov, Solzhenitsyn et.al. to understand that others have lived through similar 'worlds' and that history is a great teacher.
I am a huge fan of Russian literature...so I agree 100% with your last comment. I also love Hannah Arendt in this regard, and of course the classic dystopian novels (Orwell and Huxley). I am astonished by CS Lewis' insight in "That Hideous Strength"...and of course, there are hundreds of current titles worth investigating.
Kudos to you for writing that letter. I so admire people who have made the effort to knock some sense into our government leaders...sadly it hasn't done much good. Seems like it would be similar to writing to the devil and saying, "I really think you are a bad guy and you really shouldn't be"...but THANK YOU for doing it! One of my sisters does the same sort of thing, and I really do believe it is important to do...again, it raises the consciousness of humanity just a tad...
Thank you....
I just had this conversation with my wife about how unhappy we are. She said that we were not unhappy, just annoyed. I said, we have been perpetually annoyed since 2020, and to be perpetually annoyed is to be unhappy. Cynically, we often remark to each other, that if the world were shaped like a ball and there was a huge grenade inside that could blow the whole thing up, we’d definitely pull the pin to put everybody out of our collective misery.
How about you; would you pull the pin?
Please- get up and go outside! Dig a nice big hole and smell the earth - millions of years went into that ground. Now burry that grenade right there and forget about it. There is more to life on this ball than just humans and their myopic concerns. Find yourself reflected in an animals eyes.
Totally agree...and I do what you say, every day...I am not "troubled"-- I am not complaining...I am a writer, and I write articles that are truthful, but also reflective of a "state of being"...not sure if that makes sense...
Ha! I doubt it, but I understand what you are saying. I believe in God's experiment regarding humankind. I have seen in my life such beauty and love and thoughtfulness coming from fellow humans. And what I am observing is uniquely human. I do not believe that other animals have the capacity to "care" and be empathic as humans do. So I believe God had the right idea and has faith that we will all figure this out before He closes the book on humanity.
However, I also believe it could be a million years from now before we live up to God's, and our, expectations. So if the world blew up, it wouldn't end it. The world blowing up is a metaphor for the Great Flood (which is also most likely a metaphor). Somewhere, somehow, some humans would survive...although THAT isn't even necessary.
You don't to believe in the traditional God to see this. I think most, even atheists, would agree that humans are rather unique and unusual. Although I think you have to believe SOMETHING to believe that this "experiment" will not end with our physical demise...
Oh man, I just can’t go down that rabbit hole right now, the “what in the world is God doing rabbit hole”.
One of the most frustrating parts of life is exactly what you are getting at: so much beauty all around us, so much capacity for goodness, vitality, and happiness; and yet, I would say the the amount of pain, sorrow, and suffering, is vastly greater than the good.
Better is the day of one’s death, than the day of his birth; better still, is he who was never born. Ecclesiasties
Personally I am not so sure if God does much in the material plane. He set it all in motion, gave us free will, and said "we'll see how it turns out"...I think most of His work is in the saving souls department, and giving us hints we shouldn't worry, but still do what is "right"...this is a simplistic explanation, but I hope you know what I mean.
Some say the material realm doesn't even exist (A Course in Miracles) but I can't too much on board with that (I probably am misinterpreting ACIM).
I live your solutions - fitness, nature, culture, good food, no smart phone, etc. In addition, I fired my toxic friends and family. Life is so much better without them.
That certainly is a viable solution. I know many people who have done that....
Fat, Stupid and Unhappy...and not necessarily in that order......
Fortunately, I live in a mostly conservative rural area and none of the locals wear masks. I think I saw one at the the little local grocery store a few months ago and it was obviously someone passing through, in their early 20's. When I venture into more populated areas (30-40 minutes away), I see some once in a while but not very often. I'm sorry that you live in an area where there are so many indoctrinated people!
Mask wearing does seem to be very regional. Of course highly conservative/Republican areas you probably would see much less of it.
I’ve found this to be true. Here in overwhelmingly blue NJ folks started wearing masks again a couple months ago. When we’re in central Maine (deep red Trump country) no one wears masks
One of the many reasons there is a mass exodus from blue states to red states! I am in a red area in a blue state but have contemplated moving because the capital is blue and continues to pass ridiculous laws. Just recently they removed the discount on insurance for people with good credit so they could give lower rates to people with bad credit.
That’s totally outrageous!
I wish I could move to a red state...or to Mexico....
This is the same thought process the eugenicists, the crowd that says "useless eaters" and "three generations of imbeciles is enough" to each other as they scheme how to get the world's population down to a more manageable 500,000,000 from the current 8,500,000,000. They see 8 billion people in the same way you describe, fat, stupid and unhappy.
Difference is, they haf vays auf dealing vith us. And elucidating your thoughts, thoughts we all are guilty of having at some times in our lives, shows how easy it becomes for those with power to do something about their thoughts that we also sometimes possess.
When we hear the saying that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely we often imagine corruption as financial gain and incentive. When it's closer to the truth to understand that corruption of the human soul, morals becoming corrupted by immorality or amorality is often the driver of the worst atrocities ever commited.
If you had the power to do something about all of the fat, stupid, unhappy people it would only be your morality to restrain you. And that is only fortified by faith in God, almighty. The Atheists/Humanists with power lack that restraint. Their morals become corrupted when Man is supreme, when men worship at the altar of other men.
That is the largest source of the failure of man in this age to treat their fellow man, the fat, stupid and unhappy, with moral restraint.
I have once in a while wondered if I am on the wrong side...but then I realize I am only on the side of humanity...whether humanity is fat, stupid and unhappy AT THE MOMENT is not the issue. I just wish they would wake up so we all don't go down the drain with them.
I think the key here is indifference. The agenda sees the fat, stupid and unhappy "people" as "ants"...if even that. They aren't angry or disappointed with them. They are indifferent. They see them as nothing. Well, maybe not "nothing"...they certainly are "in the way". I see them as human beings who are messing everything up. I want them to figure it out...not on my terms, but on the terms of just being human.
Yes. They don't care. Like machines don't care. Machines are soulless. Machines just solve a problem they're designed to solve. They are incapable of caring. That automated voice on a customer service line, the brushless car wash, the wood chipper. They don't care if you get mad at no live voice, if your windows are open or if your arm gets caught and pulls you in. Machines. Soulless machines.
Our society without God is making soulless people. Automatons. Just doing a job. No morality. No questioning if a unique circumstance arises. Trained to handle the 80% of problems they most frequently encounter. The hostess saying "mask up...above the nose"...to walk you five feet to the table to sit down before you take it off. Their job. Rule compliance. No thinking, no reasoning, just doing what they're told. Jab enforcement. HR says "front line worker is hero" March-December 2020, says same worker is "(less than) zero" January 2021-present for no jab. No thought, no reasoning, no soul. Soulless machines.
This only happens without faith in God. This only happens when men in positions of power are submitted to as false gods demand.
The God-less people we get angry with, those in positions of power and those who submit to God-less people in positions of power do so because they don't submit to God above all. Their morality is predicated on obedience to men in power. Without God in the hearts and minds of those we get angry with things will get more and more messed up. We need people to figure out that faith in God is what allows us to be free, to live our best lives. Faith in God-less man, machines, is the surest path to hell on earth.
PERFECTLY said, EXACTLY how I feel, and I am not even religious...well, I wasn't before 2020...spiritual in a sort of metaphoric way...but now I am quite literal, and you put my thoughts into words perfectly.
Have you read CS Lewis' "That Hideous Strength"?..pretty much what he says too.
https://www.shrewviews.com/p/the-eerie-premonitions-of-cs-lewis?utm_source=publication-search
Thank you! I've not read that. I've read many parts of The Abolition of Man, just excerpts of other works. I've found CS Lewis' work to be very insightful, prescient but a difficult read to push through at times.
Though I have The Magician's Twin - a collection of his essays with insights offered by other writers - on deck:
CS Lewis on Science, Scientism and Society
https://web.archive.org/web/20170216001117/http://www.cslewisweb.com/the-magicians-twin-c-s-lewis-on-science-scientism-and-society/
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305653572_The_Magician's_Twin_C_S_Lewis_on_Science_Scientism_and_Society_2012
"There is much more to commend this book, particularly in Section Four of the book on Society. The description of Transhumanism, or the human enhancement movement, centered especially in Oxford, England, shows Lewis’s predictions in The Abolition of Man to be frighteningly accurate, as technology advances rapidly while our moral knowledge declines (see especially Chapter 10, “C. S. Lewis and the Advent of the Posthuman,” by James A Herrick)"
Yours is an interesting read and summation, thank you for it. I appreciate you adding your analysis to it.
I'm putting together a piece for my own Stack now and was going to lead with a famous quote of his about tyrannies, robber barons and moral busybodies. Your suggestion to read your Stack from a few years ago is very timely!
Oh Todd, I don’t know what reaction you were expecting to get out of us with this article today but i can’t stop laughing as I read it. And the picture of that thing is hilarious!
Thank you thank you!!! Your response is exactly what I was hoping for.
Maintaining a state of discomfort, distrust, and vigilance around people with masks covering their faces is a healthy and necessary protective response to threat. These people are, at best, irrational, thus unpredictable and untrustworthy. At worst, they are predators or criminals, concealing their identities to avoid the social and legal consequences of their pattern of abuse, theft, assault, rape...whatever human contract they are planning on breaking today.
This is a fundamental reason for my opposition to normalizing mask-wearing as simply a "personal preference." It trains everyone to disavow their biological protective instincts necessary for survival.
Good adults never offer candy or rides to children they don't know, not because the candy or the ride is inherently harmful. They refrain from "helping," because they don't want children to let their guard down, come to trust potential predators, and then find themselves chained to the floor of a rape van with blacked-out windows.
Continuing to think, "People who cover their faces are up to no good" is an act of service to yourself and to society. That duty should not be taken lightly.
Thank you so much for this Mark...thank you for taking the satire out of this very serious situation...I just didn't have the balls to say it!
"This is a fundamental reason for my opposition to normalizing mask-wearing as simply a "personal preference." It trains everyone to disavow their biological protective instincts necessary for survival."
This above quote is 100% EXACTLY how I feel as well. Have you written anything specific about this idea?...that we cannot just let people "do whatever they want" with regard to mask-wearing? I get this so often from my sheep friends claiming my insistence that people stop following this insane behaviour is none of my business.
Yes! I've published over a dozen articles since 2020 on masks. You can pull them all up on one page using the link below. The one most pertinent to this specific angle is titled, "Mask Wearing Must be Banned--Why 'My Body My Choice' is BS." That one is free to read. Some of the others require a paid membership.
https://dissidentmd.com/tag/masking/
I just love this Substack; thankful how you eloquently put into words my over analyzing thoughts! 🙂 Response from the “shrews” is likewise encouraging.
Todd, I know you write music but have you ever written a book?? If not you should!
When I see a masked face now, it releases a torrent of feelings none too pleasant. It’s a constant reminder of the propaganda that THEY continue to employ.
I have actually written two books. One is a very personal chronicle of my experience with my wife's passing from cancer, "On the Very Edge of Magnificence" and one published by Routledge on a metaphysical perspective of Ancient Egypt, "Ancient Egypt and Modern Psychotherapy: Sacred Science and the Search for Soul." Both are available on Amazon (sorry).
I am working on a compilation of Shrew Views articles as well as a few psychological-type books...
Thanks for asking!
Yes. Anger and hatred is legit.
I wondered if it came from someone’s interpretation of Jung.
I lost a friend (sic) a couple of months ago after suggesting that she let go of the mask. She had complained that people treated her like an outsider and I said maybe that’s part of it. But she seems to have boarded a freight train to isolation.
I was glad you began with “but I really don’t mean it”. We DO feel that way, but we don’t MEAN to
You've made my day Todd.... thank you!!!
I was a bit worried about this one, so thank you for that...
You hit the mark every time Todd, for me anyway. I feel it and you express it. It's an amazing gift you have, and I am so grateful that you share it....
I love you.
😊
50 years ago I was quoted this-
“We notice most the faults of others that we, ourselves, possess.” I have no idea who the lady was quoting Lol
It made such an impression on my 18-year-old self that I have never forgotten it. And it has helped me to be more understanding of my reactions to people who annoy me, and more compassionate toward them. Maybe not compassionate-maybe just less angry at them because I’m really disappointed in myself.
I find myself angry at people (in general) much more often these days. Impatient with their willingness to let others do their thinking, and just angry at their obedience to nonsense.
You stated it very well. Do we go on and save ourselves, and leave them to die in their ignorance? Do we pry their heads open and pour the knowledge in? Neither is a satisfactory solution
One of the great statements of history, but is it true? I don’t buy it. Sure, there’s probably a grain of truth to it some times, but it’s not an immutable truth. Often we find the fault in others for very legitimate reasons.
As I have said, I do see pretty clear truth in the theory of projection in clients when there is an extreme reaction to someone....but I agree that "finding fault in others" can be a very objective, and truthful, assessment with legitimate reasons...and even projection does not mean what you are projecting is not true. Jung, I believe, said you had to at least have a hook to hang your projection on.
If someone projects a disgusting attribute onto another, AND reacts rather violently in that projection, it doesn't mean that disgusting attribute doesn't exist...maybe not to the degree the projector insists, but more than likely it does exist in some manner.
Your quote probably ultimately originated with Carl Jung describing "projection"...I am well aware of projection as I have studied it for much of my adult life. And I do apply the concept to my own projections when hate, disdain, and anger enter the picture.
My little story here is more than likely partially projection...but projection does not mean a perception of stupidity, "sheepness" etc. does not exist and is only due to our own projection of "the faults we ourselves possess"...it is only when we become REACTIVE to those faults in others than we can hang it on projection. I can observe narcissism, say, in a person like Donald Trump. If I HATE him for it, more than likely projection has a role. If I just observe it, and see a disliking for it, then that is not projection.
My article here is tongue in cheek to some degree...and is also a bit of satire. And yes, my disdain, dislike, frustration, and anger regarding masked people is projection (some of it) but my distrust, sadness, concern, etc. is not...a thin line for sure!! The article is primarily intended to show my humanness...with projection as an example.
To tell you the truth, I think Jung went a bit overboard with his concept of projection. I do think it applies to "reactions"...but anger, even hatred (depending on your definition of the word) can be sincere and authentic responses to what we observe in people.
Could there be a little bit of scripture behind that saying, too? "Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye." (Luke 6:41-42)
So, I assume you are every bit as infuriated with the trans movement, the Covid lie, etc., etc., etc. Are you projecting? Or do you just hate liars and scoundrels?
Yes, I wouldn't be surprised if Jung came up with his theory on projection from reading the Bible.
As I said earlier, I do not believe that all forms of character criticism is projection, although for us to recognize behaviour we have to have some sort of personal experience with it. I think it is a mistake to dismiss any assessment someone might have of us, or of others, as "merely" projection...that too is a projection!
We just have to be conscious that if any behaviour we recognize in another person triggers a complex reaction, that likely there is some projective quality in it. I love to use Trump as an example of this, so many people HATE the guy, I mean really HATE him...most likely there is some projection going on there...
My article here illustrates a bit of that as well...my own projection of disgust on these "fat, stupid" people...it is my disgust of my own fatness and stupidness I am trying to rid myself of...much like virtue signalling...
I completely agree with the over rotation with respect to projection. When I recoil every time I see masked people it's about them and not me. Those wretched masks symbolize the evil perpetrated on us from 2020 and they still trigger me in the same way they trigger you.
I agree. We can be triggered by impending danger...if we see something that indicates someone is leading us into danger, we can respond the way we respond without calling it projection...however, I do believe often my response to masked people is partially projection. They make me so angry, probably due to my own fear of being stupid and doing something mindless and dumb...which I certainly have had the experience of doing. That stupid part of me is afraid of being stupid, or accepting my stupidity as part of me...therefore I project it onto mask wearers....now, I am describing MYSELF...not you! Or anyone else...we cannot make blanket statements...
With you 100%! I keep telling myself, "forgive them, they know not what they do". Once you accept they are mentally handicapped (LOL) you can pity them instead of hate them. Well, I try anyway! To stop getting triggered, I avoid crowds and urban areas as much as possible. When I'm in London, I walk (fast) for hours rather than get the Tube.
My son - who hates hearing about WEF things as he calls them, and is of a philosophical, rather than spiritual, bent - tells me he doesn't get upset about the state of the world (and the people in it) because it is beyond his power to change it/them. He insists that all we can do is tend to our own 'patch' and focus on things we can change within our own personal orbit, rather than get worked up about things we cannot change. I sort of agree, and yet............
There definitely is some wisdom to your son's philosophy. And this situation is one where that approach may be the wisest. But you tend to be a dirt warrior, and get into the nitty gritty of injustice, it is difficult to resist. There ARE things you can do. You may never see what you do as having a direct effect on the situation, but any action against this Goliath, raises the consciousness of humanity.
Yup. We all agree and YET…
Yep.
Your son is very wise! He sounds very much like my husband who also doesn't like to hear or talk about "Covid stuff" (his "WEF things" equivalent). During the Convid years it drove a wedge between us because I was apoplectic and couldn't talk to him very much about what was being done to us. Since things have seemingly calmed down I have taken your son's and my husband's approach to things and am much more calm about that which I cannot change. I can only be an example of non-compliance to others and go about living my life the best way I know how within the constraints foisted upon us. The outrage is still there but it doesn't need to be projected all the time! My home life is much improved as a result.
My wife says I go looking for trouble...I don't think I have to "look" for it.
If being a shrew causes anger, angst, depression, etc there needs to be a way to process that. Being the age that I am, without too much more I want to accomplish in life, I am fine with it all. It is very very sad at times...but if I have like minded people around (like here!) I am doing fine.
Sheep believe shrews go looking for trouble while we believe sheep are blind to trouble. It's all a matter of perspective!
I think sheep are also angry, anxious and depressed but my sense is they are less in touch with the reasons. Cognitive dissonance must have a deleterious effect eventually. Having said that, the "ignorance is bliss" crowd might actually appear well adjusted but are at high risk of butting up against reality at some point.
I agree that having a community or at least a few people who confirm we aren't crazy is important. Whenever anyone said "stay safe" during the Convid years I would always reply with "stay sane." I guess the advice still applies.
We’d all like to live in that place of blissful ignorance, but what eats away at us, is that we know what the cumulative and trickle down effect of their actions spells for us and our families.
I agree...I think it eats away at us. Watch the movie "The Zone of Interest"...see how that situation of denial of humanity eats away at the main character...
Yes, he's only 25 and we spend quite a bit of time together for one reason and another and so, like you, despite being enraged by so much, it is a better policy to remain calm and try and swerve certain topics and avoid the news altogether. Makes for fewer grumpy silences. I suppose the thing I can't get past is that those who can't see what has happened, will allow it to happen again. Whilst I'm a live and let live kind of person, my non-compliance might not be tolerated in the future by those who are taken in by government lies.
Regardless of whether anyone is fat, stupid or unhappy, I share your feelings that I really dislike anyone whom I see with a mask on. As you say, I don't think I hate anyone, but in the past I think I sort of of "liked" most people out in the street. Not anymore.
Said with perfect conciseness and clarity...yes, that is exactly what I mean...and it is very sad, but maybe closer to the truth (that people out in the street really cannot be fully trusted.)
Exactly! I used to look at my fellow citizens as benign and mostly good people. Unfortunately, I no longer have that luxury because they proved themselves to be anything but kind and benign when they had no problem trampling on our human rights to supposedly keep themselves safe. They threw their children and grandchildren under the bus and destroyed people's businesses and livelihoods. No matter who our next "leader" is we cannot forget that it was our fellow citizens who went along with it all and would likely do the same thing all over again.
As Dean Wormer once famously said, "Fat drunk and stupid is no way to go through life son."
Wow...I had forgotten that quote!! I should have titled my article that...but then again, I sort of did a parody on the quote and didn't realize it! I'm not that clever...
That cartoon depiction reminds me of what humans turned into in that Pixar movie Wall E. Great article sir!!
Thank you!