Excellent post. The only thing I'd slightly disagree with is the statement that we are taught "being a rebel is a bad thing". I'd rather say that we are taught to believe that being a REAL rebel is a bad thing. Rebellion, like everything else in our society, has been branded and packaged. Ever since the early 70s, rebellion has been tamed and sold back to us. Look around you. The streets are full of "rebels". See their tattoos and t-shirts with radical "Stick it to the man" messages on them. And what about a bit of blue or green hair day and a rant on Twitter in favour of whatever the current thing is? Or better still, look at all our wonderfully "rebellious" rock stars like Bruce Springsteen or Kneel Young? These are all examples of the fake, faux and false rebellion that is perfectly acceptable to the state. However, REAL rebellion is very different. As you say so eloquently above, Todd, it's standing up against the paradigm, refusing to follow the crowd, or not letting yourself be browbeaten by the latest perverted trend. During Covid, I noticed that without exception, NONE of the faux rebellion crowd stood up to the Covid nazis. None, whether local people or national icons like Springsteen and Young. Coming back to My Lai, something you didn't mention, Todd, was the real hero of the day was a helicopter pilot, Hugh Thompson, who physically intervened to save many Vietnamese lives. When he got home, he received thousands of death threats and hate letters. Calley got widespread praise and public support.
Thanks for this...many of your examples of the "accepted rebel" come from my era of time! The '70s and '80s...there were many rebels out there then, and it was an archetypal expression that although put down by the "powers that be" was readily embraced by the "younger" folks. Interesting that you say during this time rebellion was "tamed and sold back to us." I don't doubt that there was effort by the agenda to control this part of society as well (the rebellious part). I don't know if they were, back then, as successful at it as they wanted to be.
I think in describing today you are right on...like everything else, rebellion, if it even exists, has been entirely "tamed" and in control. Kids today think they are being rebellious by getting a tattoo, or wearing sexy and revealing clothes, or deciding to be another gender...this is all controlled nonsense, there is no true rebellion in it at all...
Within six months of the start of the Covid era (March 2020) , “I was just following orders” became the default setting for all layers of society. Now, I believe the groundwork is done for this to be the future (and current) response to policy matters delivered from above.
Obviously, Big Pharma, Big Medicine, and Big Government were at the heart, and there were plenty of examples where their ‘courtiers’ retired or moved on from those positions around 2022, but there were so many deeper players as well. Think about how modern corporations are hierarchical —like the military—- and you will understand.
Don’t forget all the corporations who received Covid-Funding or lucrative Covid-contracts, and then were able to downsize when the obvious ‘recession’ followed the lockdowns. And all the public/corporate employees who began to ‘work-from-home’. And I know several folks who lost jobs due to refusing the Covid-injections.
Everyone wants to forget now, but I can’t forget the totalitarian implementation of order-following since March of 2020.
I have very little faith in people after the Covid hysteria. However, I still believe it's hard to predict how people will react. Here in Switzerland, we are the only people on the planet who actually had a chance to vote for or against the emergency measures. In fact, we voted three times on them - and every time, 65% voted to keep them till...2032. That depressing statistic shows how scared the sheep were are are. However, the government also knows from the same results that there are between 30 and 40% of people who aren't going to go along with it. The majority doesn't matter - it never has - when big changes are in play. It's always the significant minority. We who fought back against Big Government had our eyes opened and made it realise loud and clear that we will never conform.
Yep. The second time around MAY be slightly different, but not by much. They will scare the bejesus out of us with something "new and even more deadly"...it is a very complex machine they've got going there, and Covid has proven how easily malleable the sheep are. It has strengthened our resolve (shrews) for sure, and it may appear that many sheep are turning into shrews, but I don't believe that for a second. Some may have for good, but most of the people who have appeared to "wake" up have not at all.
We say that, and I suspect you are mostly right. However, the fact is that people HAVE rebelled and revolted in the past. That's mainly why our lives as ordinary peasants today are vastly better than they were in the 14th century. I've long given up trying to convince the sheep; I'd rather spend my remaining energy in keeping in contact with the rebellious minority.
Solzhenitsyn is a beacon of freedom to us all. He was virtually one guy against the whole USSR apparatus. And he won! I think too that he gave what is real bottom line for any freedom lover: "The lie may enter the world. The lie may even win. BUT NOT THROUGH ME!" We all want to be part of a big movement for freedom, fighting shoulder to shoulder with like minded people against evil. However, at the end of the day it is about us as individuals. One day, we might be totally alone. Will be have the courage, like AS, to tell the evil ones and their lives to go to hell?
BTW, for anyone who would like to share any of my writings, please feel free to do so. Just give me credit! If any of this stuff has the potential of doing any good in the world, I would love the opportunity...
I personally cannot “forgive and forget” the outrageous wrongs that have been and are being committed, especially in regards to the Covid scam. Whoever came up with that gem of a saying must have been afraid of the revenge and justice I hope to witness in my lifetime.
"Forgiving" is more of a spiritual thing than a practical one, and of course it eases our own pain to forgive. Forgetting...not sure where that came from. If the assault is egregious enough, there typically is no "forgetting."
I am also not one to "forgive and forget" in this situation. I do not feel I need to punish anyone (except for the true criminals high up) but I feel this has gone on long enough that the friends and family who treated us so horribly need to be aware of what they did. I doubt if that ever happens.
You're a better man than I, Todd. I want these people to hang for what they did. Not just lose their jobs and move on to a nice little Ivy League teaching sinecure or a place on the board of a Fortune 500 company. Hanged! Then I'll consider forgiveness.
Well, I agree, they should be severely punished. I would settle for complete and total humiliation and loss of any sort of credibility...but I am not holding my breath.
I can overlook the bad behavior by friends and family but not the actions of the medical community, our government officials and the evil ones who came up with this genocide in the first place.
No, what the medical industry has done, and is continuing to do, is unconscionable. And if all of this IS intentional (democide), and I believe it is, there really is no reconciliation.
I keep a copy of On The Duty of Civil Disobedience beside my desk, to be reminded of the gross inconsistencies that are tolerated by the unthinking herd.
"Oh for a man who is a man, and, as my neighbour says, has a bone in his back which you cannot pass your hand through!" - Henry David Thoreau
Our education system trains young minds to be compliant and obedient and uses shame and exclusion to make sure no-one rebels. After potentially 20 years of this mind warping on impressionable young minds, they become very good at following orders. That's not an accident.
Talking of education, I noticed a strange phenomenon during Covid. I found that in my wide circle of friends, colleagues and acquaintances, the more highly educated they were, the more easily they accepted the lies. The guy who cuts my hair, the lady who cleans our house, and my mechanic all knew instinctively that it was all lies and BS.
Grass roots, salt of the earth folks, who are not as entwined with the consumer machine.
However, most of the people subscribing to this Substack seem to be VERY intelligent.
I am not convinced intelligence is the issue, today, most "intelligent" people set out into the mainstream...high level University, then a professional occupation such as medicine, or law...THAT is what destroys them...keeping up with the Joneses. Consumerism, materialism, loss of spirit, and soul.
A few highly intelligent people are not tempted to go the path of material acquisition. They find careers doing other things that don't make as much money, (a few decades ago I would say teaching, social work, but those professions have been infiltrated by the extreme left, wokeism, etc.)
These intelligent folks are the shrews...they didn't drink the Kool Aid...
Excellent post. The only thing I'd slightly disagree with is the statement that we are taught "being a rebel is a bad thing". I'd rather say that we are taught to believe that being a REAL rebel is a bad thing. Rebellion, like everything else in our society, has been branded and packaged. Ever since the early 70s, rebellion has been tamed and sold back to us. Look around you. The streets are full of "rebels". See their tattoos and t-shirts with radical "Stick it to the man" messages on them. And what about a bit of blue or green hair day and a rant on Twitter in favour of whatever the current thing is? Or better still, look at all our wonderfully "rebellious" rock stars like Bruce Springsteen or Kneel Young? These are all examples of the fake, faux and false rebellion that is perfectly acceptable to the state. However, REAL rebellion is very different. As you say so eloquently above, Todd, it's standing up against the paradigm, refusing to follow the crowd, or not letting yourself be browbeaten by the latest perverted trend. During Covid, I noticed that without exception, NONE of the faux rebellion crowd stood up to the Covid nazis. None, whether local people or national icons like Springsteen and Young. Coming back to My Lai, something you didn't mention, Todd, was the real hero of the day was a helicopter pilot, Hugh Thompson, who physically intervened to save many Vietnamese lives. When he got home, he received thousands of death threats and hate letters. Calley got widespread praise and public support.
Thanks for this...many of your examples of the "accepted rebel" come from my era of time! The '70s and '80s...there were many rebels out there then, and it was an archetypal expression that although put down by the "powers that be" was readily embraced by the "younger" folks. Interesting that you say during this time rebellion was "tamed and sold back to us." I don't doubt that there was effort by the agenda to control this part of society as well (the rebellious part). I don't know if they were, back then, as successful at it as they wanted to be.
I think in describing today you are right on...like everything else, rebellion, if it even exists, has been entirely "tamed" and in control. Kids today think they are being rebellious by getting a tattoo, or wearing sexy and revealing clothes, or deciding to be another gender...this is all controlled nonsense, there is no true rebellion in it at all...
Within six months of the start of the Covid era (March 2020) , “I was just following orders” became the default setting for all layers of society. Now, I believe the groundwork is done for this to be the future (and current) response to policy matters delivered from above.
Obviously, Big Pharma, Big Medicine, and Big Government were at the heart, and there were plenty of examples where their ‘courtiers’ retired or moved on from those positions around 2022, but there were so many deeper players as well. Think about how modern corporations are hierarchical —like the military—- and you will understand.
Don’t forget all the corporations who received Covid-Funding or lucrative Covid-contracts, and then were able to downsize when the obvious ‘recession’ followed the lockdowns. And all the public/corporate employees who began to ‘work-from-home’. And I know several folks who lost jobs due to refusing the Covid-injections.
Everyone wants to forget now, but I can’t forget the totalitarian implementation of order-following since March of 2020.
I have very little faith in people after the Covid hysteria. However, I still believe it's hard to predict how people will react. Here in Switzerland, we are the only people on the planet who actually had a chance to vote for or against the emergency measures. In fact, we voted three times on them - and every time, 65% voted to keep them till...2032. That depressing statistic shows how scared the sheep were are are. However, the government also knows from the same results that there are between 30 and 40% of people who aren't going to go along with it. The majority doesn't matter - it never has - when big changes are in play. It's always the significant minority. We who fought back against Big Government had our eyes opened and made it realise loud and clear that we will never conform.
Very good points...
Yep. The second time around MAY be slightly different, but not by much. They will scare the bejesus out of us with something "new and even more deadly"...it is a very complex machine they've got going there, and Covid has proven how easily malleable the sheep are. It has strengthened our resolve (shrews) for sure, and it may appear that many sheep are turning into shrews, but I don't believe that for a second. Some may have for good, but most of the people who have appeared to "wake" up have not at all.
We say that, and I suspect you are mostly right. However, the fact is that people HAVE rebelled and revolted in the past. That's mainly why our lives as ordinary peasants today are vastly better than they were in the 14th century. I've long given up trying to convince the sheep; I'd rather spend my remaining energy in keeping in contact with the rebellious minority.
Yes, exactly...same here...done with convincing sheep. You are right, it has always been the minority rebels who make change...
We have to drill this point home about following orders...I do believe at some point--"the truth will out'
Have you read "They Thought They Were Free" by Milton Mayer?
It shows what happened in Germany in the aftermath of WWII in one German town.
Solzhenitsyn is right "live not by lies" the hardest, but the best way to live.
Solzhenitsyn is a beacon of freedom to us all. He was virtually one guy against the whole USSR apparatus. And he won! I think too that he gave what is real bottom line for any freedom lover: "The lie may enter the world. The lie may even win. BUT NOT THROUGH ME!" We all want to be part of a big movement for freedom, fighting shoulder to shoulder with like minded people against evil. However, at the end of the day it is about us as individuals. One day, we might be totally alone. Will be have the courage, like AS, to tell the evil ones and their lives to go to hell?
Excellent! And SO true!!
Yes, it is an amazing book. I read the Gulag when I was in college...and have started it again.
This should be sent as a letter to the editor of every newspaper
That's a very nice compliment, thank you.
BTW, for anyone who would like to share any of my writings, please feel free to do so. Just give me credit! If any of this stuff has the potential of doing any good in the world, I would love the opportunity...
I personally cannot “forgive and forget” the outrageous wrongs that have been and are being committed, especially in regards to the Covid scam. Whoever came up with that gem of a saying must have been afraid of the revenge and justice I hope to witness in my lifetime.
"Forgiving" is more of a spiritual thing than a practical one, and of course it eases our own pain to forgive. Forgetting...not sure where that came from. If the assault is egregious enough, there typically is no "forgetting."
I am also not one to "forgive and forget" in this situation. I do not feel I need to punish anyone (except for the true criminals high up) but I feel this has gone on long enough that the friends and family who treated us so horribly need to be aware of what they did. I doubt if that ever happens.
You're a better man than I, Todd. I want these people to hang for what they did. Not just lose their jobs and move on to a nice little Ivy League teaching sinecure or a place on the board of a Fortune 500 company. Hanged! Then I'll consider forgiveness.
You and Paul Alexander!
Well, I agree, they should be severely punished. I would settle for complete and total humiliation and loss of any sort of credibility...but I am not holding my breath.
I can overlook the bad behavior by friends and family but not the actions of the medical community, our government officials and the evil ones who came up with this genocide in the first place.
No, what the medical industry has done, and is continuing to do, is unconscionable. And if all of this IS intentional (democide), and I believe it is, there really is no reconciliation.
I keep a copy of On The Duty of Civil Disobedience beside my desk, to be reminded of the gross inconsistencies that are tolerated by the unthinking herd.
"Oh for a man who is a man, and, as my neighbour says, has a bone in his back which you cannot pass your hand through!" - Henry David Thoreau
My mother gave me a copy of HDT for my 16th birthday. Opened up a new perspective
Another book I have to get!! Thank you...
Our education system trains young minds to be compliant and obedient and uses shame and exclusion to make sure no-one rebels. After potentially 20 years of this mind warping on impressionable young minds, they become very good at following orders. That's not an accident.
True, but most humans don't need any prompting to be compliant and non-thinking. Very few humans have critical thinking skills.
Agreed. And they are proud of it!!
Probably the worst thing that ever happened to the human race was centrally organized education for children.
Talking of education, I noticed a strange phenomenon during Covid. I found that in my wide circle of friends, colleagues and acquaintances, the more highly educated they were, the more easily they accepted the lies. The guy who cuts my hair, the lady who cleans our house, and my mechanic all knew instinctively that it was all lies and BS.
Grass roots, salt of the earth folks, who are not as entwined with the consumer machine.
However, most of the people subscribing to this Substack seem to be VERY intelligent.
I am not convinced intelligence is the issue, today, most "intelligent" people set out into the mainstream...high level University, then a professional occupation such as medicine, or law...THAT is what destroys them...keeping up with the Joneses. Consumerism, materialism, loss of spirit, and soul.
A few highly intelligent people are not tempted to go the path of material acquisition. They find careers doing other things that don't make as much money, (a few decades ago I would say teaching, social work, but those professions have been infiltrated by the extreme left, wokeism, etc.)
These intelligent folks are the shrews...they didn't drink the Kool Aid...