I recently have received a few comments here on my Shrewviews substack as well as on Off Guardian regarding my ill treatment of sheep. Several people claim that my posts seem to ooze hate and vitriol, which really is not what we need these days as we strive for unification. What do all of you think of this?
Yes, my posts are not altogether kind to sheep (even calling this group of complying individuals “sheep” is considered by many to be bigoted and hateful). After all, I have been told to get on with it and die by two different sheep I considered at one time to be very close and dear friends. The local Toronto Star newspaper ran a story at the height of all of this jab-mania nonsense. The author was basically saying he only wished bad things for unvaccinated individuals, including being barred from hospitals, having no access to ventilators (fine with me) as well as ultimately dying from Covid since we are so irresponsible not to be jabbed—and clearly deserve the worst. I have lost literally dozens of friends, some serious friends, who all would fit under the label of sheep. Nearly no one in these groups were kind to me, and nearly all of them expressed some pretty hateful things before their departure from my life, some, as noted, even wishing for my ultimate demise. I never said a nasty word to any of them, before or after their departure.
Now, I know hate should not beget hate, but really, am I that mean? Maybe I am. I respect this person that wrote to me, and I respect that she bothered to express herself, and I do question my callousness toward our fluffy friends. However, in my defense, I have always claimed to love the sheep who are close to me (at least the ones who still speak to me, albeit rarely). I wish them no ill fate. In fact, most of my effort for two and half years has been in trying to bring them to their senses so they survive this global cockup.
I feel my attitude has always been similar to a coach coaching a soccer team whose members are lazy, inattentive, distracted, and irresponsible. “Get it together you bums!!” (insert more appropriate expletive). Sheep are indeed my fellow humans, and I am more frustrated and disappointed in them than angry. Yes, I am also impatient, edgy, confused, and maybe a bit hateful. But most of this is presented in my articles with a tongue in cheek presentation. I try to be funny, and to look at all of this in a sort of frustratingly humorous way. I mean I even invented the label of shrew to depict us freedom fighters…shrews are funny, aren’t they? And sheep? Sheep are very funny.
Certainly being all lovey-dovey with these folks is not going to bring us all together in a Kumbaya moment, but I also am quick to admit that being mean to them won’t either.
Oh well, you can’t please ‘em all. I truly do want to do what is right, by everybody. And again, I so appreciate people expressing their views and having the gumption to tell me how they feel about this.
So what do all of you think? How are you feeling about my sheep vs. shrew commentary? Am I too hateful? What say you?
I wouldn't call you hateful or say you're guilty of bigotry. What keeps coming to mind as I hear what you go through is how adamantly Jung, in his work, would repeat the profound importance of suffering in a person's life for growth.
Unfortunately I feel like we live in a time where people are willing to identify with anything that helps them feel coddled, protected, or "safe". And it's literally like watching someone take a soother from a toddler when that identity is challenged. Theres genuine suffering on the sheeps end, to whatever extent and for whatever reasons they have, when their ideas are challenged or compromised, that's not your fault. A narrow spectrum of "science" gate kept by "experts" that implodes may shave the wool and leave them cold for a while, but atleast they'll know what to expect the next time they get shaved.
So how would you describe this from a Jungian perspective? Surely there is something about non integration of the shadow in here...and that is basically what you describe with sheep-safety zone. I think you are right on with that...the sheep are children who have lost their way and they run to mommy and daddy to keep them safe. They are indeed coddled. But why is that? What has reverted us back to a child state? Was it intentionally cultured by an evil overlord? And if so, what is the Jungian take on that? How did Jung describe the raising up of Hitler and National Socialism? I actually know little about this, but he certainly had much to say about it...?? He lived through both wars...
No you’re are not mean or whatever hurt feelings they want to attribute to you. That’s the problem with most 🐑 they’re are so worried about their feelings in today’s new narrative that we can’t have a discussion anymore on any topic cuz someone may get offended! 🤮. Bottom Line We All Know what happens to Sheeple 🐑… they Get slaughtered! So they can vax, jab & boost themselves and get Depopulated😊 the True Agenda behind all this! & that fine with me! It’s called Survival of the Fittest! Cuz their DNA has been compromised by these mRNA bio weapons! .
Interesting that the complaints actually came from shrews! Not sheep! Oh my, if any sheep read my articles I would be crucified...I do feel a bit badly about that, because I really do approach them as if part of their brain is missing. I am planning on writing an article, or a series of articles, aimed specifically AT sheep...
Sometimes I feel just as you seem to feel here..."they made their bed, let them sleep in it"...it really is as if they all deserve what's coming to them. I don't know if that is a very nice way to feel, but often I can't help it. We have all tried to hard to politely inform them, and all most of them do is spit back...so eventually we just give up...
What a strange world we live in, and stranger yet with what is down the road. For me, I truly doubt if I survive mentally...I will end up being one of those psychos meandering down the street looking for rats to eat.
😯 Yes indeed We live in a strange world! But that’s part off the agenda! Divide & conquer & it seems to be working 😔 even right here in the good old USA! Europe I expect as only thing that unites the European Union is their monetary system the € but otherwise their language & cultures are different! If I can get Biblical if that’s ok:) Faith over Fear!
If my anti COVID vaccine attitude saves 1 person from death or side effect I do want to live outside the sheep herd. Keep writing biting pieces so people will think
You are not hateful ……you are analytical . The commentary is helpful. When I look at the sheep in my life ( sheep as characterized by you - judgemental , hateful , angry etc ) I realize that those individuals have always been inclined in that direction…..the Covid period / excuse has just allowed them to show their colours more vibrantly. This period has opened my eyes I now understand why I was never totally comfortable with those “ friends “. Mary R
Ignore them. I don't find you hateful at all. We have all been through so much, we are just standing up for ourselves. They may be offended by your words, we are offended by their actions. Keep up the good work.
I think the sheep analogy is perfectly fine. For explanation I turn to the German philosopher Immanuel Kant, citing from his famous essay "What is Enlightenment" ("Was ist Aufklärung"):
"Aufklärung ist der Ausgang des Menschen aus seiner selbstverschuldeten Unmündigkeit. Unmündigkeit ist das Unvermögen, sich seines Verstandes ohne Leitung eines anderen zu bedienen."
The internet turns up this English translation:
"Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-imposed nonage. Nonage is the inability to use one's own understanding without another's guidance."
However, the key German word here is "Unmündigkeit". Now, if you enter "unmündig" into Google translate you are in for a treat: Google says the English expression for this is "sheep-like".
So, sheep is the perfectly appropriate word given that we attribute the above quoted definition to our former and current sheep friends. They do certainly not agree, but isn't that part of the definition?
BTW, for all that don't know the essay quoted: take a look, it is well worth the (actually quite short) read and perfectly describes humanities problems.
Unfortunately, some people confuse anger with hate. Anger is totally appropriate and orients us toward injustice. Turning off an appropriate reaction is what the sheep do--many of them have lost their inner compass.
Very true...it seems things like hate, anger, discussion, observation, differing opinions, pride in one's own "tribe", are all being confused. Such difficult times...
But we must love our enemies. Love doesn’t always mean nice or excuse making. It means wiling their good, and sometimes this requires them to see the anger their evil deserves.
I do see the sheep and the sheep herders as two different things...some overlap of course, but essentially two distinct types of personalities...I do see many of the people at the top of this pyramid to be pure evil, what else can explain it? And I do feel hatred toward them...these are the Fauci's, Biden's, Walenski's, Bourla's etc. Now, I do believe in a spiritual forgiveness...but as these people exist and function in the material realm, I don't have much empathy for them.
Ignore them. Your writing is always a joy to read. Only Snowflakes would see strong opinions as hate and vitriol. I guess they never had the benefit of hearing the childhood rhyme in public school: Sticks and stones can break my bones but names will never hurt me.
One of these people I respect quite a bit, and respect her opinion as well, but I suspect, considering all of the very supporting comments, that my worries are not really shared. It seems that my intentions are definitely getting through to all of you, and I so appreciate it...
Dr. Hayen, I don’t see your substacks as hateful. You are expressing your opinions and feelings on your personal substack column. It is an opinion piece. Now, IF you had the influence of the Prime Minister of our country it would be a hateful thing to publicly separate the 2 groups and to disparage one calling them racist, misogynist, hateful, and not deserving of our rights. Oh ya… right, ours did. He very publicly and very clearly stated his feelings and questioned even tolerating us. Now that is downright HATE -- disturbing and disgusting! It is interesting how real hate isn’t called hate, but sharing our written personal feelings and opinions are!
I, for one, have always taken your writing as a form of “letting it out” -- an airing of grievances to like-minded people; putting into words how we are all feeling. It is refreshing to know that somebody of greater intelligence than myself relates. You express my feelings better I can. There are many of us out here who are hurting and angry about the circumstances in our personal lives, angry that the “vaccinated” (is that a better term??) won’t wake up and see the truth of what is happening, and especially angry that the ones in control of this craziness, keep it going. You put those feelings into words…. Perhaps sometimes angry words… but not hateful words. I guess this is the age we are living in…. only one side can express true feelings; the other side’s anger and frustration is hate.
I don’t believe that any of us shrews wish bad things (or hate) on the vaccinated. I know that, for me, seeing all the vaccine induced injuries and deaths makes me so very disturbed and angry. Yes , I am angry about that…and I even HATE that it is happening. However, I am not angry at or do not hate those poor people who were somehow manipulated into taking the shots! This damage to human life could be stopped and should be stopped! It is the ones that are like sheep and keep following are the reason it continues. More need to wake up (before they are hurt) and stand up and oppose it…. Not continually follow blindly… as sheep do.
I am such an old pedant! Before the subject matter even begins to surface, I'm editing: "Hmmm, receive ... i before e except after c ... don't depend on spellcheck. It's illiterate."
Regardless, something about your post really upset me. Not the fact that you see clearly, and speak clearly. Cassandra has always been demeaned and disbelieved, and eventually thrown herself from the cliff in despair, Ezekiel's watchman on the tower notwithstanding. But the fact that your spouse is a sheep.
I am reminded of a good friend of mine whose mother grew up in Bonn, Germany. Her father, a Jew, was a music professor in the university there. He had to run early, as intellectual Jews were among the first to be exterminated by the Nazis. But his wife stayed with her daughter in Bonn, not believing him - she was a blonde, blue-eyed Aryan (who, we discovered LAST YEAR!! had converted to Judaism) who could 'pass' for white. A year or so later, when things were getting much worse, and even she realized she had to get her daughter out before she was murdered, the father came back secretly to help them escape. But, this time, a neighbour, a former friend and colleague, informed on him, and he was caught and slain. Meanwhile the mother and daughter managed to get away to France for a time.
You may say, what's your point here? To think that sheep are at the least innocuous, only at the very worst hostile, is to indulge in deliberately naive and pink thinking, to put one's shrew-self at risk because of a delusion. To indulge in exactly the same kind of denial and willful blindness that plagues sheep. The delusion of shrews, though, is an individualist mirage in a collective nightmare: they're not so bad, or this one or that one would not ever hurt a shrew, or at the very least not hurt me because they're my ..... (insert appropriate label of relation such as child, spouse, parent, friend, etc.).
Matts Desmets, many of us agree, is right. But you cannot accept his analysis of mass formation unless you also accept the odious truth at the heart of it, which is that this mass is comprised of our relatives, our friends, our work colleagues, the local butcher, baker and candlestick maker. To deny the truth of this is to deny the truth of what we already see happening - that they, almost every mother's son of them, although right now most are masking their own complicity behind a mask of innocence and ignorance and simple inaction, would bleat us out to the authorities if it came to it in order to perform sufficient compelled speech and action so as to stay safe. That's the real meaning behind the noxious popular utterance of farewell - "Stay safe!"
To accept, at this point, that their ignorance is harmless is to pretend to ourselves that they really are ignorant, and to dismiss the fact and the power behind the truth that their seeming ignorance is actually the result of an extremely powerful neurotic denial, that will, if left unchecked, develop into much more murderous hate-powered behaviour ... as we have clearly seen before in modern history.
At the same time, we cannot alter another's lens, especially if it is being strengthened neurotically by discursive manipulation, BUT we must stay alert and awake to the possible harms coming from them, whatever the motive, so as not to be taken unprepared. Let's not act as my friend's grandfather did, and set ourselves up for persecution for our disproportionate capacity to tolerate the foolishness and blindness of the mob.
I try hard not to go there (seeing sheep as similar to "Hitler's Willing Executioners") but if we keep on this path that is exactly what is going to happen. This is the psychology of this sort of thing...the "cult psychology" where all reason exits. People will do just about anything and they will do the bidding of their handlers no matter how evil and disgusting.
I see this too, and worry about it...the upcoming zombie apocalypse is the end game, and the potential for that is not only possible, but probable if something doesn't stop this.
I am going to write more on your comment but am out the door and wanted to make a comment on the misspell...So funny you caught that!! I originally had the word "gotten" instead of "received" and felt that was a bit awkward so changed it to received. I spelled it correctly the first time but for some reason the program underlined the word (in blue, not red)...which I interpreted as meaning it was misspelled...I changed the order of "I" and "e" and the editor did nothing...I was too tired, and did it too quickly to notice it "looked" wrong...so strange...I wonder if there is a synchronicity in this or not...hmmmm...hey, I am a bigger pedant than you I am sure!!! You caught me with my pants down and my misspelling actually is embarrassing to me! :-)
Oct 17, 2022·edited Oct 17, 2022Liked by Todd Hayen, PhD, RP
Todd. I have interpreted your expressions as pretty srong, but not hateful. I have understood your expressions, because it seems to me that you have been the recipient of quite a bit of hate yourself. So, it can be real tough to return that sort of treatment with kindness.
BTW, fortunately, in Puerto Rico where I live, sheep do not seem to be as hateful as in Canada. Still a lot of division and attitude of "virtue"... but not as bad.
Thank you Ivan!! I am so happy to see you here!! Curious to know how wonderful Puerto Rico is doing...??
That is wild about the sheep situation in PR...that that many people are still wearing masks...I think it is pretty bad in Canada, at least when compared to the US, or parts of it. Lots of people driving around in cars alone with masks on.
Thanks for the words about my sheep talk. I honestly feel that I use the word because it is easy to describe a certain way of thinking (not so much to describe a PERSON)...it is one word, easy peasy...instead of having to say "people who follow the mainstream narrative" every time...same goes for shrew.
Now...my disdain for this way of thinking is certainly there...and strong...but honestly I do not apply that disdain to the person themselves...anyway...thank you again for the note...glad to hear you survived!!
This is how people who've chosen the wrong religion deal with the anxiety it causes them. They're aggressive because they secretly fear we're right. It's easier to project that fear onto us than to find a capacity for independence that they don't believe they have. I have a very hard time being sympathetic, but I try. It helps me to avoid expressing my exasperation inappropriately by doing two things: reading insightful and humorous commentary like yours, and reminding myself that this Earth is a school. You do me a great service! Keep it coming!
You are so sweet....thank you...I appreciate your words...
As for a "sympathic approach"...not sure if I can conjure that up myself. I DO feel love toward all people, at their core is divinity, and I can recognize that...clearly...but as far as "living" with them, I don't know if I can then see them as victims and have empathy for that...now, that being said, if anything bad happens to any of these people I am right there with empathy and sadness...for sure...but I will never really understand their position...that is why I write about it so much.
I recently saw a video clip of kids in a school gym, walking around its perimeter (no idea why). One kid collapses on the floor, and starts shaking, then just lays still...dozens of kids just walk by him, very few of them even look at him. I find this sort of thing quite perplexing. What we are observing now with sheep is very similar...
I think you are and have been coming from a place of utter frustration and I can relate to that 100% so I have never saw your words as hateful! Not even close. But then again, I relate and empathize with all you say every time...
Thank you...I really appreciate what you say, and honestly that has always been my intention and impetus for writing what I write...to tap into a common frustration we are all feeling. Thank you.
I don't think it's a question of being hateful or derogatory; it's more an issue of calling a spade a spade and the spade objecting to the label. If, as a human being gifted with high intelligence and having free access to heaps of information (denied to actual sheep) enabling you to make an informed decision, you nevertheless behave in a manner that is highly reminiscent of the way herd-like sheep behave, then you shouldn't moan when people make the obvious comparison. OK, maybe sheeple would be more accurate.
If I called "sheep" "sheeple" then what do I call shrews? "Shrewple?" I also played with the idea of referring to the sheep as "sheep-mind"...same problem though..."shrew-mind"?
At worse my use of these terms is profiling...although I only speak of sheep on a broad basis, I rarely point out anyone in particular to be a sheep...unless I know them personally well enough that the label fits them.
yeah, that was a pretty disgusting article by the Star. I was told early on by my (former) best friend that I was confusing people by posting survival rates (literally the opposite of the death rates) in Ontario, and that Public Health was "doing the best they can". She said she could no longer talk to me and that was that after 20 years of friendship. I have another "friend" who puts me off every time I suggest getting together since the last time we spoke in person. That was when told her I was going to the World Wide Freedom Rally in Toronto, May 2021. She said, "And of course you're going to wear a mask." I replied no and explained (again) that they don't stop viruses. Those are just a couple of stories... I have quite a few more. I've been told that those people weren't really my friends to begin with. That doesn't really help, just makes me feel more stupid and pathetic. I have met some wonderful people though and that helps. I know they'd hide me in their attic if it came to that and I would do the same for them.
We find each other in the strangest of places now: in a queue at city hall, on a telephone call with someone who acknowledges my proton email as code for awake. I think there are a lot more shrews/lions out there than we realize. They're hard to spot but they're there. So I will not be bitter. I'll spend my energy looking.
I still feel very lonely and isolated because the woman I love is a super sheep. I also feel estranged from half of my family because one of my sisters is a super sheep. I tell my clients who also feel to be isolated shrews to find groups of shrews to hang out with, be part of the shrew community. Yes, there ARE many shrews...but if you live with a sheep, it is difficult to get out and mingle with other shrews...or even talk or chat with them online...
I’m with a male “closet shrew”; he doesn’t want to risk his image with family members who are not accepting of his views. Personally, I’d rather he was a honest sheep!
I'm sorry. My husband is also a shrew so at least we have each other. My daughter is 75%sheep, my son maybe 50%. My brother, his wife, their 3 grown kids and spouses haven't talked to me in a year, haven't seen them since before Covid. My husband's brother and sister-in-law were " why don't you just get the shot?" last summer (we have common property up north) this year big hugs and no talk of jabs/covid so that's something. I use Facebook to post truth thinking that truth would reduce fear and enable people to think clearly... didn't work.
We left Toronto because it was just too nuts. I'm pretty sure everyone was jabbed on our street so it was hard making small talk. Now we're an hour east of TO and about 30 minutes south of Peterborough on a very big lot with lots of trees and no baggage so to speak. Hard to start over but at least we can breathe.
Loved your interview on Jermwarfare btw. I've been watching him for the better part of 2 years and think he's just great! Such amazingly smart and interesting guests. It's so weird, I feel like podcasters like him and Trish Wood are like my new besties (how screwd up is that?) :)
Before your writing, I would have been a bit off put at being called a shrew, as it has been used as a negative connotation, especially against women; the most notable example being “The Taming of the Shrew”. But compared to being a sheep, I’m happy to be an assertive, disobedient, non-complying Shrew!
Think of the derogatory use of "Shrew" in depicting a "shrewish" woman as just one more attack from the patriarchy due to their fear and perceived threat that a woman expressing her emotions poses to men. The "shrewness" of women is seen as something men should attempt to tame. Fat chance of that. Look at the goddesses of ancient civilizations like Kali, and Sekmet...these female goddesses were full of "shrewness"...Shakespeare's shrew in "Taming of the Shrew" was a frustrated women unable to express herself through her oppression...all of these things are attributes, not faults. My labeling of our movement as "shrews" seems more and more appropriate to me, not so much because of the tie to expressive femininity but because shrews fight against all odds...they are fearless, clever, and persistent....!!!
I think you’re doing the best you can Todd. I’ve tried to be patient and empathetic myself, however I just reached a point a few months ago when I basically said “screw it”. It’s not that I want to be mean. I simply will no longer try to accommodate people who - by their attitudes - are doing so much harm to everyone. The blind adherence by sheep continues to propagate the harms.
Yes, personally I am doing the same thing...my writing is mostly venting so I don't feel compelled to slap masked people silly when I encounter them in public.
I had to be in midtown Toronto today and was walking by some brownstones when I saw that one window had a poster on it: Bill Gates exhorting vaccines. I legit wanted to toss a brick through it!😂😂😂 Thank goodness for being able to vent!
And everyone keep in mind that my writing is aimed clearly at shrews to read, not sheep. If a sheep read what I wrote I know they would be greatly offended. I have toyed with the idea of writing some articles aimed at sheep, where I would be gentler. Anyone think that is a good idea? They all of you could cut and paste and send to sheep friends...I don't think linking them to this substack would be a good idea...HA
Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:
If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;
Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.
But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand." Ezekiel 33
And I think an addiction to convenience... And to quote the Corbett Report "The path of convenience leads to the world of total surveillance and control. If we want to avoid that path, we're going to have to get used to taking the path less travelled."
Thank you...yes, when you look at all of this from different angles you can at once see the sheep as innocent victims as well as arrogant and ignorant people who are very dangerous due to their arrogance and ignorance. They have had plenty of time to figure this out, yet many of them have not and stick to their blind allegiance to evil. However, I am often left with the viewpoint that supports "Forgive them, they know not what they do."
I wouldn't call you hateful or say you're guilty of bigotry. What keeps coming to mind as I hear what you go through is how adamantly Jung, in his work, would repeat the profound importance of suffering in a person's life for growth.
Unfortunately I feel like we live in a time where people are willing to identify with anything that helps them feel coddled, protected, or "safe". And it's literally like watching someone take a soother from a toddler when that identity is challenged. Theres genuine suffering on the sheeps end, to whatever extent and for whatever reasons they have, when their ideas are challenged or compromised, that's not your fault. A narrow spectrum of "science" gate kept by "experts" that implodes may shave the wool and leave them cold for a while, but atleast they'll know what to expect the next time they get shaved.
Excellent! I love the shaving wool analogy!
So how would you describe this from a Jungian perspective? Surely there is something about non integration of the shadow in here...and that is basically what you describe with sheep-safety zone. I think you are right on with that...the sheep are children who have lost their way and they run to mommy and daddy to keep them safe. They are indeed coddled. But why is that? What has reverted us back to a child state? Was it intentionally cultured by an evil overlord? And if so, what is the Jungian take on that? How did Jung describe the raising up of Hitler and National Socialism? I actually know little about this, but he certainly had much to say about it...?? He lived through both wars...
No you’re are not mean or whatever hurt feelings they want to attribute to you. That’s the problem with most 🐑 they’re are so worried about their feelings in today’s new narrative that we can’t have a discussion anymore on any topic cuz someone may get offended! 🤮. Bottom Line We All Know what happens to Sheeple 🐑… they Get slaughtered! So they can vax, jab & boost themselves and get Depopulated😊 the True Agenda behind all this! & that fine with me! It’s called Survival of the Fittest! Cuz their DNA has been compromised by these mRNA bio weapons! .
Interesting that the complaints actually came from shrews! Not sheep! Oh my, if any sheep read my articles I would be crucified...I do feel a bit badly about that, because I really do approach them as if part of their brain is missing. I am planning on writing an article, or a series of articles, aimed specifically AT sheep...
Sometimes I feel just as you seem to feel here..."they made their bed, let them sleep in it"...it really is as if they all deserve what's coming to them. I don't know if that is a very nice way to feel, but often I can't help it. We have all tried to hard to politely inform them, and all most of them do is spit back...so eventually we just give up...
What a strange world we live in, and stranger yet with what is down the road. For me, I truly doubt if I survive mentally...I will end up being one of those psychos meandering down the street looking for rats to eat.
😯 Yes indeed We live in a strange world! But that’s part off the agenda! Divide & conquer & it seems to be working 😔 even right here in the good old USA! Europe I expect as only thing that unites the European Union is their monetary system the € but otherwise their language & cultures are different! If I can get Biblical if that’s ok:) Faith over Fear!
If my anti COVID vaccine attitude saves 1 person from death or side effect I do want to live outside the sheep herd. Keep writing biting pieces so people will think
You are not hateful ……you are analytical . The commentary is helpful. When I look at the sheep in my life ( sheep as characterized by you - judgemental , hateful , angry etc ) I realize that those individuals have always been inclined in that direction…..the Covid period / excuse has just allowed them to show their colours more vibrantly. This period has opened my eyes I now understand why I was never totally comfortable with those “ friends “. Mary R
Thank you Mary!! Yes, I have experienced the same thing with friends...
Ignore them. I don't find you hateful at all. We have all been through so much, we are just standing up for ourselves. They may be offended by your words, we are offended by their actions. Keep up the good work.
Thank you!!
I think the sheep analogy is perfectly fine. For explanation I turn to the German philosopher Immanuel Kant, citing from his famous essay "What is Enlightenment" ("Was ist Aufklärung"):
"Aufklärung ist der Ausgang des Menschen aus seiner selbstverschuldeten Unmündigkeit. Unmündigkeit ist das Unvermögen, sich seines Verstandes ohne Leitung eines anderen zu bedienen."
The internet turns up this English translation:
"Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-imposed nonage. Nonage is the inability to use one's own understanding without another's guidance."
However, the key German word here is "Unmündigkeit". Now, if you enter "unmündig" into Google translate you are in for a treat: Google says the English expression for this is "sheep-like".
So, sheep is the perfectly appropriate word given that we attribute the above quoted definition to our former and current sheep friends. They do certainly not agree, but isn't that part of the definition?
BTW, for all that don't know the essay quoted: take a look, it is well worth the (actually quite short) read and perfectly describes humanities problems.
Thank you so much for this!
And if it ok with Kant, its ok with me...
Unfortunately, some people confuse anger with hate. Anger is totally appropriate and orients us toward injustice. Turning off an appropriate reaction is what the sheep do--many of them have lost their inner compass.
Very true...it seems things like hate, anger, discussion, observation, differing opinions, pride in one's own "tribe", are all being confused. Such difficult times...
Todd is a compassionate angel regarding sheep compared to Coleman. I share Coleman’s righteous anger and think it is justified. There isn’t enough anger, in my opinion: https://vernoncoleman.org/articles/whats-going-happen-next
Here’s why: it’s willful disobedience to God and truth, which is worthy of anger and judgment: we must hate what God hates: https://open.substack.com/pub/thaddeuskozinski/p/a-pandemic-of-disobedience-revised?utm_source=direct&r=24l7o&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
But we must love our enemies. Love doesn’t always mean nice or excuse making. It means wiling their good, and sometimes this requires them to see the anger their evil deserves.
Wow, this IS intense!!
I do see the sheep and the sheep herders as two different things...some overlap of course, but essentially two distinct types of personalities...I do see many of the people at the top of this pyramid to be pure evil, what else can explain it? And I do feel hatred toward them...these are the Fauci's, Biden's, Walenski's, Bourla's etc. Now, I do believe in a spiritual forgiveness...but as these people exist and function in the material realm, I don't have much empathy for them.
The sheep are a bit different.
I thought we were striving for Unicornication.
Sounds good to me...
The Star will soon fall. Are you based in Toronto?
Yep...been here about 10 years, swore my allegiance to the queen and everything...used to really like it!! I am a dual citizen...USA/Canada...
Nice me too!
Ignore them. Your writing is always a joy to read. Only Snowflakes would see strong opinions as hate and vitriol. I guess they never had the benefit of hearing the childhood rhyme in public school: Sticks and stones can break my bones but names will never hurt me.
One of these people I respect quite a bit, and respect her opinion as well, but I suspect, considering all of the very supporting comments, that my worries are not really shared. It seems that my intentions are definitely getting through to all of you, and I so appreciate it...
Dr. Hayen, I don’t see your substacks as hateful. You are expressing your opinions and feelings on your personal substack column. It is an opinion piece. Now, IF you had the influence of the Prime Minister of our country it would be a hateful thing to publicly separate the 2 groups and to disparage one calling them racist, misogynist, hateful, and not deserving of our rights. Oh ya… right, ours did. He very publicly and very clearly stated his feelings and questioned even tolerating us. Now that is downright HATE -- disturbing and disgusting! It is interesting how real hate isn’t called hate, but sharing our written personal feelings and opinions are!
I, for one, have always taken your writing as a form of “letting it out” -- an airing of grievances to like-minded people; putting into words how we are all feeling. It is refreshing to know that somebody of greater intelligence than myself relates. You express my feelings better I can. There are many of us out here who are hurting and angry about the circumstances in our personal lives, angry that the “vaccinated” (is that a better term??) won’t wake up and see the truth of what is happening, and especially angry that the ones in control of this craziness, keep it going. You put those feelings into words…. Perhaps sometimes angry words… but not hateful words. I guess this is the age we are living in…. only one side can express true feelings; the other side’s anger and frustration is hate.
I don’t believe that any of us shrews wish bad things (or hate) on the vaccinated. I know that, for me, seeing all the vaccine induced injuries and deaths makes me so very disturbed and angry. Yes , I am angry about that…and I even HATE that it is happening. However, I am not angry at or do not hate those poor people who were somehow manipulated into taking the shots! This damage to human life could be stopped and should be stopped! It is the ones that are like sheep and keep following are the reason it continues. More need to wake up (before they are hurt) and stand up and oppose it…. Not continually follow blindly… as sheep do.
I hope everyone can see this...it is so eloquently stated...thank you!! Beautiful...
And thank you too for saying "sometimes angry words, but never hateful"...that again is my intention.
So well sad…my feelings exactly!
I am such an old pedant! Before the subject matter even begins to surface, I'm editing: "Hmmm, receive ... i before e except after c ... don't depend on spellcheck. It's illiterate."
Regardless, something about your post really upset me. Not the fact that you see clearly, and speak clearly. Cassandra has always been demeaned and disbelieved, and eventually thrown herself from the cliff in despair, Ezekiel's watchman on the tower notwithstanding. But the fact that your spouse is a sheep.
I am reminded of a good friend of mine whose mother grew up in Bonn, Germany. Her father, a Jew, was a music professor in the university there. He had to run early, as intellectual Jews were among the first to be exterminated by the Nazis. But his wife stayed with her daughter in Bonn, not believing him - she was a blonde, blue-eyed Aryan (who, we discovered LAST YEAR!! had converted to Judaism) who could 'pass' for white. A year or so later, when things were getting much worse, and even she realized she had to get her daughter out before she was murdered, the father came back secretly to help them escape. But, this time, a neighbour, a former friend and colleague, informed on him, and he was caught and slain. Meanwhile the mother and daughter managed to get away to France for a time.
You may say, what's your point here? To think that sheep are at the least innocuous, only at the very worst hostile, is to indulge in deliberately naive and pink thinking, to put one's shrew-self at risk because of a delusion. To indulge in exactly the same kind of denial and willful blindness that plagues sheep. The delusion of shrews, though, is an individualist mirage in a collective nightmare: they're not so bad, or this one or that one would not ever hurt a shrew, or at the very least not hurt me because they're my ..... (insert appropriate label of relation such as child, spouse, parent, friend, etc.).
Matts Desmets, many of us agree, is right. But you cannot accept his analysis of mass formation unless you also accept the odious truth at the heart of it, which is that this mass is comprised of our relatives, our friends, our work colleagues, the local butcher, baker and candlestick maker. To deny the truth of this is to deny the truth of what we already see happening - that they, almost every mother's son of them, although right now most are masking their own complicity behind a mask of innocence and ignorance and simple inaction, would bleat us out to the authorities if it came to it in order to perform sufficient compelled speech and action so as to stay safe. That's the real meaning behind the noxious popular utterance of farewell - "Stay safe!"
To accept, at this point, that their ignorance is harmless is to pretend to ourselves that they really are ignorant, and to dismiss the fact and the power behind the truth that their seeming ignorance is actually the result of an extremely powerful neurotic denial, that will, if left unchecked, develop into much more murderous hate-powered behaviour ... as we have clearly seen before in modern history.
At the same time, we cannot alter another's lens, especially if it is being strengthened neurotically by discursive manipulation, BUT we must stay alert and awake to the possible harms coming from them, whatever the motive, so as not to be taken unprepared. Let's not act as my friend's grandfather did, and set ourselves up for persecution for our disproportionate capacity to tolerate the foolishness and blindness of the mob.
I try hard not to go there (seeing sheep as similar to "Hitler's Willing Executioners") but if we keep on this path that is exactly what is going to happen. This is the psychology of this sort of thing...the "cult psychology" where all reason exits. People will do just about anything and they will do the bidding of their handlers no matter how evil and disgusting.
I see this too, and worry about it...the upcoming zombie apocalypse is the end game, and the potential for that is not only possible, but probable if something doesn't stop this.
Incredible comment…and helps me rethink my view on this complicated situation.
I am going to write more on your comment but am out the door and wanted to make a comment on the misspell...So funny you caught that!! I originally had the word "gotten" instead of "received" and felt that was a bit awkward so changed it to received. I spelled it correctly the first time but for some reason the program underlined the word (in blue, not red)...which I interpreted as meaning it was misspelled...I changed the order of "I" and "e" and the editor did nothing...I was too tired, and did it too quickly to notice it "looked" wrong...so strange...I wonder if there is a synchronicity in this or not...hmmmm...hey, I am a bigger pedant than you I am sure!!! You caught me with my pants down and my misspelling actually is embarrassing to me! :-)
I'll comment later on your wonderful post...
(BTW, I fixed the error...!!)
Todd. I have interpreted your expressions as pretty srong, but not hateful. I have understood your expressions, because it seems to me that you have been the recipient of quite a bit of hate yourself. So, it can be real tough to return that sort of treatment with kindness.
BTW, fortunately, in Puerto Rico where I live, sheep do not seem to be as hateful as in Canada. Still a lot of division and attitude of "virtue"... but not as bad.
Thank you Ivan!! I am so happy to see you here!! Curious to know how wonderful Puerto Rico is doing...??
That is wild about the sheep situation in PR...that that many people are still wearing masks...I think it is pretty bad in Canada, at least when compared to the US, or parts of it. Lots of people driving around in cars alone with masks on.
Thanks for the words about my sheep talk. I honestly feel that I use the word because it is easy to describe a certain way of thinking (not so much to describe a PERSON)...it is one word, easy peasy...instead of having to say "people who follow the mainstream narrative" every time...same goes for shrew.
Now...my disdain for this way of thinking is certainly there...and strong...but honestly I do not apply that disdain to the person themselves...anyway...thank you again for the note...glad to hear you survived!!
This is how people who've chosen the wrong religion deal with the anxiety it causes them. They're aggressive because they secretly fear we're right. It's easier to project that fear onto us than to find a capacity for independence that they don't believe they have. I have a very hard time being sympathetic, but I try. It helps me to avoid expressing my exasperation inappropriately by doing two things: reading insightful and humorous commentary like yours, and reminding myself that this Earth is a school. You do me a great service! Keep it coming!
You are so sweet....thank you...I appreciate your words...
As for a "sympathic approach"...not sure if I can conjure that up myself. I DO feel love toward all people, at their core is divinity, and I can recognize that...clearly...but as far as "living" with them, I don't know if I can then see them as victims and have empathy for that...now, that being said, if anything bad happens to any of these people I am right there with empathy and sadness...for sure...but I will never really understand their position...that is why I write about it so much.
I recently saw a video clip of kids in a school gym, walking around its perimeter (no idea why). One kid collapses on the floor, and starts shaking, then just lays still...dozens of kids just walk by him, very few of them even look at him. I find this sort of thing quite perplexing. What we are observing now with sheep is very similar...
I think you are and have been coming from a place of utter frustration and I can relate to that 100% so I have never saw your words as hateful! Not even close. But then again, I relate and empathize with all you say every time...
Thank you...I really appreciate what you say, and honestly that has always been my intention and impetus for writing what I write...to tap into a common frustration we are all feeling. Thank you.
I don't think it's a question of being hateful or derogatory; it's more an issue of calling a spade a spade and the spade objecting to the label. If, as a human being gifted with high intelligence and having free access to heaps of information (denied to actual sheep) enabling you to make an informed decision, you nevertheless behave in a manner that is highly reminiscent of the way herd-like sheep behave, then you shouldn't moan when people make the obvious comparison. OK, maybe sheeple would be more accurate.
If I called "sheep" "sheeple" then what do I call shrews? "Shrewple?" I also played with the idea of referring to the sheep as "sheep-mind"...same problem though..."shrew-mind"?
At worse my use of these terms is profiling...although I only speak of sheep on a broad basis, I rarely point out anyone in particular to be a sheep...unless I know them personally well enough that the label fits them.
Shrewman beings? :)
yeah, that was a pretty disgusting article by the Star. I was told early on by my (former) best friend that I was confusing people by posting survival rates (literally the opposite of the death rates) in Ontario, and that Public Health was "doing the best they can". She said she could no longer talk to me and that was that after 20 years of friendship. I have another "friend" who puts me off every time I suggest getting together since the last time we spoke in person. That was when told her I was going to the World Wide Freedom Rally in Toronto, May 2021. She said, "And of course you're going to wear a mask." I replied no and explained (again) that they don't stop viruses. Those are just a couple of stories... I have quite a few more. I've been told that those people weren't really my friends to begin with. That doesn't really help, just makes me feel more stupid and pathetic. I have met some wonderful people though and that helps. I know they'd hide me in their attic if it came to that and I would do the same for them.
We find each other in the strangest of places now: in a queue at city hall, on a telephone call with someone who acknowledges my proton email as code for awake. I think there are a lot more shrews/lions out there than we realize. They're hard to spot but they're there. So I will not be bitter. I'll spend my energy looking.
Thanks for your post.
I still feel very lonely and isolated because the woman I love is a super sheep. I also feel estranged from half of my family because one of my sisters is a super sheep. I tell my clients who also feel to be isolated shrews to find groups of shrews to hang out with, be part of the shrew community. Yes, there ARE many shrews...but if you live with a sheep, it is difficult to get out and mingle with other shrews...or even talk or chat with them online...
I’m with a male “closet shrew”; he doesn’t want to risk his image with family members who are not accepting of his views. Personally, I’d rather he was a honest sheep!
I'm sorry. My husband is also a shrew so at least we have each other. My daughter is 75%sheep, my son maybe 50%. My brother, his wife, their 3 grown kids and spouses haven't talked to me in a year, haven't seen them since before Covid. My husband's brother and sister-in-law were " why don't you just get the shot?" last summer (we have common property up north) this year big hugs and no talk of jabs/covid so that's something. I use Facebook to post truth thinking that truth would reduce fear and enable people to think clearly... didn't work.
We left Toronto because it was just too nuts. I'm pretty sure everyone was jabbed on our street so it was hard making small talk. Now we're an hour east of TO and about 30 minutes south of Peterborough on a very big lot with lots of trees and no baggage so to speak. Hard to start over but at least we can breathe.
Loved your interview on Jermwarfare btw. I've been watching him for the better part of 2 years and think he's just great! Such amazingly smart and interesting guests. It's so weird, I feel like podcasters like him and Trish Wood are like my new besties (how screwd up is that?) :)
Hang in there! Your sheep may morph yet ;)
Before your writing, I would have been a bit off put at being called a shrew, as it has been used as a negative connotation, especially against women; the most notable example being “The Taming of the Shrew”. But compared to being a sheep, I’m happy to be an assertive, disobedient, non-complying Shrew!
Think of the derogatory use of "Shrew" in depicting a "shrewish" woman as just one more attack from the patriarchy due to their fear and perceived threat that a woman expressing her emotions poses to men. The "shrewness" of women is seen as something men should attempt to tame. Fat chance of that. Look at the goddesses of ancient civilizations like Kali, and Sekmet...these female goddesses were full of "shrewness"...Shakespeare's shrew in "Taming of the Shrew" was a frustrated women unable to express herself through her oppression...all of these things are attributes, not faults. My labeling of our movement as "shrews" seems more and more appropriate to me, not so much because of the tie to expressive femininity but because shrews fight against all odds...they are fearless, clever, and persistent....!!!
Hooray Shrews!!!
YES!!!! Hooray Shrews!!!
I think you’re doing the best you can Todd. I’ve tried to be patient and empathetic myself, however I just reached a point a few months ago when I basically said “screw it”. It’s not that I want to be mean. I simply will no longer try to accommodate people who - by their attitudes - are doing so much harm to everyone. The blind adherence by sheep continues to propagate the harms.
Yes, personally I am doing the same thing...my writing is mostly venting so I don't feel compelled to slap masked people silly when I encounter them in public.
🤣🤣🤣
😂😂😂
I had to be in midtown Toronto today and was walking by some brownstones when I saw that one window had a poster on it: Bill Gates exhorting vaccines. I legit wanted to toss a brick through it!😂😂😂 Thank goodness for being able to vent!
I am afraid it may eventually come to that...
They are simply confirming you have chosen the most perfect word/animal to describe their mindset and actions.🤣
Funny...yes...I love sheep/shrew...
I think you've struck the right balance of hate personally. Telling people to wake up will never wake them up.
Hear, hear....
And everyone keep in mind that my writing is aimed clearly at shrews to read, not sheep. If a sheep read what I wrote I know they would be greatly offended. I have toyed with the idea of writing some articles aimed at sheep, where I would be gentler. Anyone think that is a good idea? They all of you could cut and paste and send to sheep friends...I don't think linking them to this substack would be a good idea...HA
"Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:
If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;
Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.
But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand." Ezekiel 33
This is excellent insight! Thank you!!
My tact has been to withdraw attention and affection from them. I make an exception for my children. I treat them like addicts.
Yes...these are such difficult times...
Dr. Mark McDonald calls the suffering of sheep an addiction...addiction to fear.
And I think an addiction to convenience... And to quote the Corbett Report "The path of convenience leads to the world of total surveillance and control. If we want to avoid that path, we're going to have to get used to taking the path less travelled."
Exactly! It’s so much easier to just go along, use the app, let them track you, who cares? 🤦🏻♀️
Thank you...yes, when you look at all of this from different angles you can at once see the sheep as innocent victims as well as arrogant and ignorant people who are very dangerous due to their arrogance and ignorance. They have had plenty of time to figure this out, yet many of them have not and stick to their blind allegiance to evil. However, I am often left with the viewpoint that supports "Forgive them, they know not what they do."