How many of you out there have experienced this? You are having a conversation with a sheep friend (if any of you have any of those left, friends who are sheep) and you are doing really well with all the evidence you have gathered about the New World Order, the WEF, the bent on transhumanism from the global-wannabe-world-leader-technocrats, and all of the other things that are clearly obvious. And then whomever you are talking too really can’t come up with any sort of viable counterpoints and they just shake their head and say, “So what?”
In my past history as a person, I truly did not want to care if I heard bad news about something I had supported…that I believed in. Since the covid happening struck I am caring about everything and now am on overload. However, caring about everything makes me more open…I am more aware. And of course caring about everything does not mean I believe everything. Actually I believe less. I don’t know if I am making any sense!
This is a fascinating subject, and perhaps the most important issue we face today. The reason why most people can't engage with facts, truth or reality is that they have become completely demoralised (as per Yuri Bessmenov).
They are demoralised because they are constantly being bombarded with crisis after crisis (terror after terror) with absolutely no context to explain what might actually be happening. Anyone attempting to explain what might actually be going on is dismissed as a 'conspiracy theorist'. In this way nuance and detail are made taboo and only short, low resolution explanations are allowed.
After a lifetime of this most people have resigned themselves to passively watching endless crisis events and dramas being played out on TV without ever understanding the how, why, what, who or when.
This means when you talk to them there is no shared frame of reference. This is what creates the enormous chasm between normies and awake people.
Imagine trying to tell an anecdote about some funny thing which happened to you while on holiday. Maybe your baggage got put on the wrong plane. Or maybe you and your PA went to a work conference and they booked you a double room instead of two singles.
But the person you are talking to doesn't know what an aeroplane is, or a package holiday, or a hotel, or a work conference. So you have to explain all of these things in painstaking detail (over several hours) to give the correct context for your simple 2 minute anecdote. But by the time you've got half way through explaining they've become overwhelmed and lost interest in the conversation. And who can blame them.
People's attention spans are kept short for this reason. Every news story has an explanation which only takes a minute or two to explain. "A deadly virus passed from bats to humans, everyone got sick and the government helped us by locking down the world and making us a magic potion in record time" ...... "Some bad men in a cave attacked a building with some planes and the government helped us with more surveillance and some wars to whoop their asses".
As long as the REAL explanation (and the context which is necessary for it to make sense) takes 10x longer to explain than people's attention spans can cope with, then they will never be reachable and they will remain in their trance.
This is why ranting at these people with a long list of facts, arguments and evidence does not seem to work :)
The opposite approach would be to simplify, simplify, simplify. And make it fun and engaging. And keep things as familiar as possible.
This is rather odd...I was just at a breakfast date with fellow shrews in the area and the topic you present here is PRECISELY what we were talking about...so coincidental. And I have to say I have never really explored it from this perspective...simplicity vs the obvious complexity of most topics.
I think a well developed "common sense" is first required to be hit with the head scratching moment we all experience, "hmmm, this just doesn't make sense"...but in order to fully understand WHY it doesn't make sense one has to dive deep into a whole lot of detail.
I have often been confronted with this sort of conversation, this one regarding vaccines in general, Sheep: "yeah, yeah, I know about you people who think that the MMR childhood vaccine causes autism, but I read a scientific report that says all of that is bogus." Me: "What exactly did that report say?" Sheep: "I don't remember specifically WHAT it said, I just know it said vaccines don't cause autism, and it made sense to me. It said that all those reports that it DID cause autism was based on falsified reports, it was all a scam." Me, "but what was the science behind that claim?" Sheep: "I don't know, that isn't the point, the point is that the claim was bullshit. So, what about you, what is the science behind your claim the MMR DID cause autism??" Me: "Hundreds of pages of science I have read, listened to, evaluated, struggled to understand and eventually did..." Sheep: "So what was it?" Me: "It is way too detailed for me to convey, but I assure you it is there." Sheep: "No, what I read said all of that is not true, it is nonsense."
Right... and this is where everyone's INVESTMENT in a particular narrative comes into play. That investment makes them extremely reluctant to even consider any opposing information, because the thought of having to dismantle and then rebuild your long held views on - say - vaccines is just too much to deal with.
It's so much easier to just find some supposed 'expert' who hand waves away the opposing information and just cite them. Then you can keep your world view intact (along with your friends, social status and career).
We are ALL loyal to the narratives that we've invested in, and none of us want to go through that 'dying ego' feeling when we are forced to change our long held views.
That's why stories about other people changing their views are so valuable..... "I used to be pro vax until X, Y and Z happened. Now I realise what a gullible idiot I was". ....."I used to think Trump was going to save us until X, Y and Z didn't happen. Now I realise what a gullible idiot I was"...... "I used to think feminism was about women's empowerment until ..... " etc etc
If this process of CONFESSING to being a gullible idiot can become socially acceptable - and even a bit of a trendy virtue! - then I think we may see A LOT of people switching sides on a lot of issues very fast.
The awakening process (realising just about everything is a lie, a scam and a fraud) is much harder when you have to do it on your own. Most people simply cannot do it (as you observe in your original blog post). Maybe on a subconscious level the sheeple are waiting to do it together, en masse, so that it will be a relatively painless process .... and cathartic and perhaps even quite enjoyable (as most group activities are).
Humans are social creatures, and sheeple-types are especially locked into the herd mentality. They love to conform. And following the crowd does make sense a lot of the time (floods, forest fires, elephants on the rampage etc).
The same herd mentality which keeps the sheeple going back for boosters today may very well - at some point - make the digital technocracy impossible to implement, if they do ever do decide to change direction.
I wonder if the concept of 'sheeple' is itself a term designed to demoralise us. What if we thought of them, not as sheep ... but as starlings?
How precarious does the official narrative appear now?
Honestly I don’t see the point on trying too hard to maintain friendships with sheep. If you can’t have an open conversation and be willing to disagree, listen and maybe change your mind without anger, what’s the point of the friendship? It’s just fluff. I’d rather read a good book or play with my dog.
Most of my friends are sheep (I do hate a label, but gosh it makes things easier to write about…and of course I LOVE my shrew label). I have in depth friendships with all of my sheep buddies…well not as deep as I would like…their lack of awareness of what is truly happening is startling. And they basically know my view and never ask a question or want to discuss. However, we do have intelligent conversations, share books and films. Fun. And of course their not being aware of the present situation is the biggest mystery of my life.
It depends on how one defines "friendship"...it seems that sheep for the most part do not want to have deeper engagement about anything. That may be too broad a statement. One of my sisters is of the sheep persuasion and she is lovely in conversation...books, art, nature, etc. But of course, politics, global issues, liberalism, are all taboo.
Anyway, if you keep it surface, much like the conversation on FB or other social media (about cats and food), and that is fine for a friendship, then I suppose it will work.
Jordan Peterson: "Nietzsche said a man's worth was determined by how much truth he could tolerate." (12 rules for life pg 223). Supports many people's instinct that the root problem is a lack of will or courage to face the truth - so the then the deflection to "don't care."
Although I do not have a problem blaming a lot of this on "lack of courage"...I tend to lean toward the "lack of will"...people these days are actually living in paradise. They honestly believe they are being cheated if they are not happy and satisfied 24/7. They refuse to believe they are supposed to suffer. When they are TOLD to be frightened, then they will be frightened. But if the big kahuna doesn't say there is anything to worry about, then they won't worry.
Perfectly said. It is all about entertainment. Work at a job is put up with as a means to pay for entertainment. If there is no entertainment, then people suffer, get depressed, take pills, drink. Consumerism and entertainment are synonymous.
Nov 13, 2023·edited Nov 16, 2023Liked by Todd Hayen, PhD, RP
Imagine you are living in 18th Century Europe. In a middling life. Hearing rumblings from the English colonies in America about something called "freedom" and other silly imaginings of foolish people. Would you care about the cause of freedom? Rights you were endowed by your creator with?
That's where we are. Proponents of freedom, constitutional rights have not been teaching young minds for several generations now. Even older generations are far-removed from the telling of the virtues and value of constitutional freedom. Told that removing restrictions on vices and morals equals more freedom, and questions how could a society that decriminalized marijuana and passes out pornography in elementary school be less free?
That's where we are. If ever there was a time for a Thomas Paine "Common Sense" project that could take a 47-page pamphlet from pre-revolutionary times that inspired a revolution and communicate it in 21st Century terms and attention spans this would be it. We haven't made the case for freedom in compelling terms. Sad fact. And Pres. Reagan was right, it's not passed down in the bloodstream.
Along with other things we have been brainwashed to believe, or no longer believe, we have been brainwashed to think that most freedoms must be given up in order to have an orderly society. A functioning society, according to this nonsense, cannot do "anything we want" and have to learn to sacrifice, and learn that being "free" really is impossible.
All of this is hogwash of course. Having decent and fair laws is not an act of taking away freedom, censoring free speech is. And regarding free speech, we have been brainwashed to believe that "hurtful" things should not be spoken or written, or even things that are not "factual" (and what makes something "factual" is determined by the authoritative class.) This also is pure bull. But people believe it.
The rewriting of history goes along with this attitude. Those who think it’s okay to pretend things happened or didn’t happen according to what’s convenient, will have no problem pretending that reality is not important. I’m not saying it right, but you know what I mean
I have had that response and am thankful you are writing on this!
It seems to run parallel with the orchestra playing music on the Titanic while sinking and chaos everywhere. Basically a mode of self preservation to protect oneself from the horror of it all ?!
I don't think we are at the Titanic sinking point yet. But when we do get there, I am sure there will be a huge number of people who still will not look at what is truthfully happening.
I spent about two years trying to get through to sheep. I finally gave up when I realized that my success rate was 0%. Of course I have never thought of myself as a very persuasive person. I do know of one sheep that turned things around, but it wasn't because of anything I said. I would love to hear from one person who has had even one success. My educated guess is that almost everyone has a 0% sheep conversion rate. Anyone out have a success story to tell?
I have one, I think. Skeptic, not Shrew, but my friend in Canada is now looking at things more carefully. She and her husband are now aware that some of the things they believed were not true, and most of the things they’re being told are not true. Funny thing is, her youngest sister has been trying to tell her this stuff for decades and couldn’t get anywhere. Then, little comments from me and a few questions from my friend (in response), and she began to realize that her baby sister might be right about a few things. That’s the way it is sometimes. You never know.
But most of the people I see? They’ll never see it. Cannot allow themselves to see it. Some are angry the minute you express any skepticism. I’ve given up for the most part
Granted I only tried to talk sense into 3 people, but I converted nobody. My daughter seems fine after 2 shots, my brother seems fine after 2 shots, but my best friend now has Type 1 diabetes that came out of nowhere and almost killed her because she ignored the symptoms. I stopped trying after striking out with the people who meant the most to me. None of them were the least bit Covidian but all three didn't want to pay the price for being unvaxxed.
Within my family and friends-tinnitus, sudden renal failure, cancer, sudden death, heart issues, stroke, impetigo, tremors, dementia. None see the connection
I tried very hard to convince my sister and her husband, and failed miserably. Got a lot of that "virtue" crap because he is a scientist and of course knows better. This "effort" literally went on for hours...last Christmas...I was astounded with how little actual information they knew...of course they would say it was information not worth having...
I got my brother in law, the scientist, to look at the Pfizer papers....six months later, my sister claimed he read them, and saw nothing at all odd about them. Which makes me realize you hit them with the most factual information out there, and they still won't budge.
I have two friends that are kicking themselves for not listening to me at the beginning. They both got 2 shot but, after their adverse reactions, took no more. One is still dealing with multiple problems cropping up randomly after 2 years. The other seemed to skim free without a problem.
It’s the ones who have had many shots with no immediate problems that make our case hard to move.
Everyone one in my inner circle that is vaxxed is PERFECTLY fine. Some only had 3 or 4 shots. Some had the whole enchilada. Maybe some sore arms, sick shooting day, but that's it. Nothing. They think nothing of it.
My one friend had all 7 shots and was laid out for a month with “novovirus”. And yes, I made fun of him the whole time for it cuz he just doesn’t get it. (He still luvs me tho)
My best friend of 30 plus years completely dissed me, and I have not heard from him since I said, in a text, that I thought Fauci was an asshat. That's it. I said I thought he was evil, blah blah blah. My friend cut me off. Now, don't say he was never really a friend, he was as close a friend as a person could ever be. Totally blew me away. I have reached out over and over again....nothing. Totally vaxxed up.
I’m sorry you have that loss. Friends of 30 years are more like brothers and a breakup of family is heart-rending. My wish is that he comes around to being there again. Doesn’t matter if he agrees with you, I know you love him anyway.
Yeah...it still stings. Makes no sense to me. I was also sort of joking around...I was not trying to convince him of anything, I was just saying Fauci was a douchebag.
I had two other pretty close friends...knew in University, one was my first roommate...BOTH of them, independent of each other, told me on FB that they "hoped I got Covid and died"...REALLY intense!
It is funny to me that no matter how passionate I get about the truth in this situation I have never gotten red faced angry about people wearing masks, getting shots, etc. I have been more worried about them than being angry with them (that is changing a little bit these days). Now, I WAS and AM pretty angry with the perpetrators. And now I guess I am seeing the complying, arrogant, ill informed, belligerent public as perpetrators.
In the past no one has ever gotten this spittle spewing angry with close friends and family for not getting flu jabbed...it is as if a person not being vaccinated for Covid-flu GUARANTEES that they, or their kid, or their mother WILL DIE. Zero common sense in it.
I can see if you REALLY believed this narrative, that you might be "disappointed" in a friend or family member that chose to avoid the vax because they DIDN'T believe the narrative, but not angry enough to tell a decades old friend you hoped they died. That is crazy.
A great article, Todd. You touched on so many points! There is much to consider in trying to understand why people don't or won't see the truth. I had friend that would argue black and blue with me on any number of topics. Several times, when I had made it very clear to both of us that his position was misguided, his response was very juvenile. Instead of ceding that he'd been mistaken, there would be a long pause... then, he would burst into hysterical laughter. When I asked why he was laughing, he would completely ignore my question and just keep laughing. Talk about annoying.
His point was to imply he was "only kidding" and merely goading me. Clearly, he was not, as sometimes the discussion had been very heated. His dismissive attitude was to avoid acknowledging his mistakenness. In my estimation, he was too insecure to engage in meaningful discussion.
I guess I'm sharing this as an example of how certain people aren't worth the effort. I had to give up talking to him altogether because it became too infuriating. In essence, I believe there's a segment of the population who are simply incapable of critical thinking. And, sadly, I believe it may even be the majority. Then, there are those who see the truth, but just don't want to be 'wrong.' In the context of the Covid injections, there's also the inability to accept that they have been so horrifically duped, to the point that their very lives may be on the line. That must be a tough pill to swallow. (That's almost a pun!)
At the end of the day, I guess all we can do is to keep on trying to reach people. And, not let their response get to us. Some, we will reach. Some, not so much. Along the way, we must try to find peace, love, happiness... or whatever keeps us going.
Thank you for your thoughtful piece. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It reminded me I'm not alone.
Wow...how annoying that would be...someone laughing like that. As a therapist we often see people laughing off stuff that is way too serious to laugh at...it is usually a sign of denial...not wanting to face the truth so laughing is an escape, a distraction.
The Australian natives did not see the ships because the ships negated their world view. In the strictest sense, the ships negated them. It is the same with the I-do-not-care people. They have to be able to get up in the morning and look in the mirror. The last thing you want to meet in the morning is an idiot who poisoned their own kids staring back at you. It's the complicity. The regime made them accomplices in their crimes. Nobody short of a saint can admit/live with that.
This is absolutely normal. I grew up in a place where 90% of people were like that.
I've been told since that story is total fabrication (about the natives) but as a metaphor it is a perfectly fine story!! And yes, using that metaphor to make your point here I totally get. "The ships negated them"...good point...
Its indeed the complicity. Thats what the "bad" people are counting on, they force people into doing something against their own will, something bad. So these people will never start a fight against them, because they were on the same side. We have seen this in the dark times of germanys history a few centuries ago.
I tried to convince my rent tenant to stay unvaccinated but he ignored me and got his first 2 jabs and also got COVID twice as did his relatives that also took the jab.
He came up for coffee one day and said he was thinking of going to get his first booster. I told him that none of them worked and the boosters wouldn't either.
He said, "BUT they are giving a $200 Amazon card to take the booster!
I answered, " GREAT, if you croak, can I have the card?"
The whole thing with vaxxed people getting Covid over and over again is so weird. When asked, "why didn't your f**king vax work???" they invariably say, "it wasn't made to stop the virus (really???) we take it so we won't be hospitalized, or die when we do get covid"...Do these people not notice that only vaxxed people are getting covid over and over again? "Well, we really don't know that" they will say when confronted with the question, "why are the unvaxxed not getting covid??"
I've mentioned before that I am a recovering alcoholic (5 years sober last July!). One of the first things I was introduced to in rehab was the serenity prayer which is as follows:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change
The courage to change the things I can
And the wisdom to know the difference.
As someone who used to struggle with the weight of trying to solve every problem I encountered, you cannot imagine how freeing this was for me. I suddenly realized there were all kinds of things I could do little or nothing about. And so I cast them aside and focused on the rest.
So during all of this plan-demic crap, I realized it was best to just keep my mouth shut. I wasn't going to win any arguments, change any minds so why stir up things? And it's hard, especially when those close to me have been sucked into all this bullshit.
It's not all that different from seeing a friend who seems to have a drinking problem. I don't say anything. They know my story. If they want my advice they know they can ask me. But I know that when I was where they are now, there was nobody who could have convinced me to stop. I had to get there on my own and then get others to help.
So that's what I do. I am open and honest about my feelings about all of this crap if someone asks. But I don't go around telling anyone what to do. If they want advice, they know they can always ask.
Congrats to you!!! That is a HUGE accomplishment..."there but for the grace of God go I"...I have to say, knowing my lack of discipline, if I had a drinking problem I do believe it would kill me. Good for you...
The inability to break through the myopia of most reminds me of something that always irritates the bejeezus out of me. Which is when an otherwise brilliant substacker writes how they hope to God the jabs aren't as bad as we fear, and pray for no more harm. Well, sorry to bust that bubble, but can you imagine where we'd be if the jabs were safe and effective? There is one thing, one thing only, that will get through to these people. That's such extreme and undeniable jab damage they have to capitulate. Even then there will be a few holdouts. But extreme enough carnage would tip the scales. Classic catch-22. Of course we hate to see people suffer (except for the orchestrators and the worst of the zealots). OTOH, the worse the damage, the more hope for our future. So far it doesn't look like the jabs are bad enough. Until NFL, NBA, D1 stars, and members of congress start dropping, it's not enough. A few lesser-known soccer players, high-school athletes, and obscure entertainers falls way short.
You and I are of the same sentiment, and it makes me very sad to admit it. I see no other way to stop this tyranny than for it to get so bad that enough people become "mad as hell and won't stand for it anymore."
Whenever I hear of "successes" in the shrew movement I actually am a bit disappointed, because no sheep will ever notice such things, they will never know how close we came...unless we actually get there.
Many refuse to admit they feel that way, even to themselves. Which makes them not a shrew. It's not good for you to wish ill on others, good feelings towards others are conducive to happiness and mental health. But then, there's reality, and self-preservation. Which a shrew mustn't ignore IMO. That's a good point in your last sentence. It doesn't matter how right we are if we fade away unheard.
I believe there is a way to have what we would call "negative feelings" toward a group...and even to an individual if they commit heinous crimes. I do not think I have ever wished ill on others...I get angry and frustrated, but I don't wish someone to suffer. I do think "groups" should be "taught things"...but even that I try to restrain.
I believe we are watching ignorant, arrogant, belligerent "children" destroy our life and our world...that is difficult to watch without feeling badly toward the perpetrators.
No problem, I'm happy to wish people like Hillary, Fauci, Bourla ill for you! I find the idea of never wishing ill on others hard to fathom. If someone hurts me, I want to hurt them back. Can't help it, the feeling is immediately there. Or if they hurt someone I love. We're all different, thank goodness.
Most people are like you...and if I had to say, I think that is a healthier response. I have always been weird in this way. I remember as a little kid (around 10-12 years old) I could not fathom killing someone in a war, back then it was all about series like Combat, killing Germans/Nazis...and I remember getting all upset about killing someone, even if they had just killed my best friend, I kept thinking, "but they were a little kid once, just like me"...I was weird.
I DO wish suffering on Fauci et al...I wish them to be arrested, and put in jail. But I do not wish them to die or be executed, etc. Just weirdness in me...I DO think I would have no problem now, though, blowing someone away if they were hurting someone I love, or a child...I think I've gotten over my aversion to that...
In my past history as a person, I truly did not want to care if I heard bad news about something I had supported…that I believed in. Since the covid happening struck I am caring about everything and now am on overload. However, caring about everything makes me more open…I am more aware. And of course caring about everything does not mean I believe everything. Actually I believe less. I don’t know if I am making any sense!
https://unbekoming.substack.com/p/rhinoceros
This is a fascinating subject, and perhaps the most important issue we face today. The reason why most people can't engage with facts, truth or reality is that they have become completely demoralised (as per Yuri Bessmenov).
They are demoralised because they are constantly being bombarded with crisis after crisis (terror after terror) with absolutely no context to explain what might actually be happening. Anyone attempting to explain what might actually be going on is dismissed as a 'conspiracy theorist'. In this way nuance and detail are made taboo and only short, low resolution explanations are allowed.
After a lifetime of this most people have resigned themselves to passively watching endless crisis events and dramas being played out on TV without ever understanding the how, why, what, who or when.
This means when you talk to them there is no shared frame of reference. This is what creates the enormous chasm between normies and awake people.
Imagine trying to tell an anecdote about some funny thing which happened to you while on holiday. Maybe your baggage got put on the wrong plane. Or maybe you and your PA went to a work conference and they booked you a double room instead of two singles.
But the person you are talking to doesn't know what an aeroplane is, or a package holiday, or a hotel, or a work conference. So you have to explain all of these things in painstaking detail (over several hours) to give the correct context for your simple 2 minute anecdote. But by the time you've got half way through explaining they've become overwhelmed and lost interest in the conversation. And who can blame them.
People's attention spans are kept short for this reason. Every news story has an explanation which only takes a minute or two to explain. "A deadly virus passed from bats to humans, everyone got sick and the government helped us by locking down the world and making us a magic potion in record time" ...... "Some bad men in a cave attacked a building with some planes and the government helped us with more surveillance and some wars to whoop their asses".
As long as the REAL explanation (and the context which is necessary for it to make sense) takes 10x longer to explain than people's attention spans can cope with, then they will never be reachable and they will remain in their trance.
This is why ranting at these people with a long list of facts, arguments and evidence does not seem to work :)
The opposite approach would be to simplify, simplify, simplify. And make it fun and engaging. And keep things as familiar as possible.
https://odysee.com/@CoronaStudies:3/coronastudiestrailer1:5
SUCH great points.
This is rather odd...I was just at a breakfast date with fellow shrews in the area and the topic you present here is PRECISELY what we were talking about...so coincidental. And I have to say I have never really explored it from this perspective...simplicity vs the obvious complexity of most topics.
I think a well developed "common sense" is first required to be hit with the head scratching moment we all experience, "hmmm, this just doesn't make sense"...but in order to fully understand WHY it doesn't make sense one has to dive deep into a whole lot of detail.
I have often been confronted with this sort of conversation, this one regarding vaccines in general, Sheep: "yeah, yeah, I know about you people who think that the MMR childhood vaccine causes autism, but I read a scientific report that says all of that is bogus." Me: "What exactly did that report say?" Sheep: "I don't remember specifically WHAT it said, I just know it said vaccines don't cause autism, and it made sense to me. It said that all those reports that it DID cause autism was based on falsified reports, it was all a scam." Me, "but what was the science behind that claim?" Sheep: "I don't know, that isn't the point, the point is that the claim was bullshit. So, what about you, what is the science behind your claim the MMR DID cause autism??" Me: "Hundreds of pages of science I have read, listened to, evaluated, struggled to understand and eventually did..." Sheep: "So what was it?" Me: "It is way too detailed for me to convey, but I assure you it is there." Sheep: "No, what I read said all of that is not true, it is nonsense."
So goes the conversation...
Right... and this is where everyone's INVESTMENT in a particular narrative comes into play. That investment makes them extremely reluctant to even consider any opposing information, because the thought of having to dismantle and then rebuild your long held views on - say - vaccines is just too much to deal with.
It's so much easier to just find some supposed 'expert' who hand waves away the opposing information and just cite them. Then you can keep your world view intact (along with your friends, social status and career).
We are ALL loyal to the narratives that we've invested in, and none of us want to go through that 'dying ego' feeling when we are forced to change our long held views.
That's why stories about other people changing their views are so valuable..... "I used to be pro vax until X, Y and Z happened. Now I realise what a gullible idiot I was". ....."I used to think Trump was going to save us until X, Y and Z didn't happen. Now I realise what a gullible idiot I was"...... "I used to think feminism was about women's empowerment until ..... " etc etc
If this process of CONFESSING to being a gullible idiot can become socially acceptable - and even a bit of a trendy virtue! - then I think we may see A LOT of people switching sides on a lot of issues very fast.
The awakening process (realising just about everything is a lie, a scam and a fraud) is much harder when you have to do it on your own. Most people simply cannot do it (as you observe in your original blog post). Maybe on a subconscious level the sheeple are waiting to do it together, en masse, so that it will be a relatively painless process .... and cathartic and perhaps even quite enjoyable (as most group activities are).
Humans are social creatures, and sheeple-types are especially locked into the herd mentality. They love to conform. And following the crowd does make sense a lot of the time (floods, forest fires, elephants on the rampage etc).
The same herd mentality which keeps the sheeple going back for boosters today may very well - at some point - make the digital technocracy impossible to implement, if they do ever do decide to change direction.
I wonder if the concept of 'sheeple' is itself a term designed to demoralise us. What if we thought of them, not as sheep ... but as starlings?
How precarious does the official narrative appear now?
Honestly I don’t see the point on trying too hard to maintain friendships with sheep. If you can’t have an open conversation and be willing to disagree, listen and maybe change your mind without anger, what’s the point of the friendship? It’s just fluff. I’d rather read a good book or play with my dog.
Most of my friends are sheep (I do hate a label, but gosh it makes things easier to write about…and of course I LOVE my shrew label). I have in depth friendships with all of my sheep buddies…well not as deep as I would like…their lack of awareness of what is truly happening is startling. And they basically know my view and never ask a question or want to discuss. However, we do have intelligent conversations, share books and films. Fun. And of course their not being aware of the present situation is the biggest mystery of my life.
It depends on how one defines "friendship"...it seems that sheep for the most part do not want to have deeper engagement about anything. That may be too broad a statement. One of my sisters is of the sheep persuasion and she is lovely in conversation...books, art, nature, etc. But of course, politics, global issues, liberalism, are all taboo.
Anyway, if you keep it surface, much like the conversation on FB or other social media (about cats and food), and that is fine for a friendship, then I suppose it will work.
"Go out on the back porch, have a beer, and watch the squirrels."
Great idea, better than watching the news or talking to the sheep, the two legged ones.
Yep.
Jordan Peterson: "Nietzsche said a man's worth was determined by how much truth he could tolerate." (12 rules for life pg 223). Supports many people's instinct that the root problem is a lack of will or courage to face the truth - so the then the deflection to "don't care."
Although I do not have a problem blaming a lot of this on "lack of courage"...I tend to lean toward the "lack of will"...people these days are actually living in paradise. They honestly believe they are being cheated if they are not happy and satisfied 24/7. They refuse to believe they are supposed to suffer. When they are TOLD to be frightened, then they will be frightened. But if the big kahuna doesn't say there is anything to worry about, then they won't worry.
Yes this is the root of it.
People think the goal of their life is to have a nice time. Which doesn't make a resilient citizenry.
Perfectly said. It is all about entertainment. Work at a job is put up with as a means to pay for entertainment. If there is no entertainment, then people suffer, get depressed, take pills, drink. Consumerism and entertainment are synonymous.
It's lonely here in sane world.
Very, very, very lonely....
Imagine you are living in 18th Century Europe. In a middling life. Hearing rumblings from the English colonies in America about something called "freedom" and other silly imaginings of foolish people. Would you care about the cause of freedom? Rights you were endowed by your creator with?
That's where we are. Proponents of freedom, constitutional rights have not been teaching young minds for several generations now. Even older generations are far-removed from the telling of the virtues and value of constitutional freedom. Told that removing restrictions on vices and morals equals more freedom, and questions how could a society that decriminalized marijuana and passes out pornography in elementary school be less free?
That's where we are. If ever there was a time for a Thomas Paine "Common Sense" project that could take a 47-page pamphlet from pre-revolutionary times that inspired a revolution and communicate it in 21st Century terms and attention spans this would be it. We haven't made the case for freedom in compelling terms. Sad fact. And Pres. Reagan was right, it's not passed down in the bloodstream.
Along with other things we have been brainwashed to believe, or no longer believe, we have been brainwashed to think that most freedoms must be given up in order to have an orderly society. A functioning society, according to this nonsense, cannot do "anything we want" and have to learn to sacrifice, and learn that being "free" really is impossible.
All of this is hogwash of course. Having decent and fair laws is not an act of taking away freedom, censoring free speech is. And regarding free speech, we have been brainwashed to believe that "hurtful" things should not be spoken or written, or even things that are not "factual" (and what makes something "factual" is determined by the authoritative class.) This also is pure bull. But people believe it.
The rewriting of history goes along with this attitude. Those who think it’s okay to pretend things happened or didn’t happen according to what’s convenient, will have no problem pretending that reality is not important. I’m not saying it right, but you know what I mean
Funny you would say "rewriting of history"...my article coming out tomorrow is about just that...be on the lookout for it...
Will do
I have had that response and am thankful you are writing on this!
It seems to run parallel with the orchestra playing music on the Titanic while sinking and chaos everywhere. Basically a mode of self preservation to protect oneself from the horror of it all ?!
I don't think we are at the Titanic sinking point yet. But when we do get there, I am sure there will be a huge number of people who still will not look at what is truthfully happening.
I spent about two years trying to get through to sheep. I finally gave up when I realized that my success rate was 0%. Of course I have never thought of myself as a very persuasive person. I do know of one sheep that turned things around, but it wasn't because of anything I said. I would love to hear from one person who has had even one success. My educated guess is that almost everyone has a 0% sheep conversion rate. Anyone out have a success story to tell?
0%
I have one, I think. Skeptic, not Shrew, but my friend in Canada is now looking at things more carefully. She and her husband are now aware that some of the things they believed were not true, and most of the things they’re being told are not true. Funny thing is, her youngest sister has been trying to tell her this stuff for decades and couldn’t get anywhere. Then, little comments from me and a few questions from my friend (in response), and she began to realize that her baby sister might be right about a few things. That’s the way it is sometimes. You never know.
But most of the people I see? They’ll never see it. Cannot allow themselves to see it. Some are angry the minute you express any skepticism. I’ve given up for the most part
Granted I only tried to talk sense into 3 people, but I converted nobody. My daughter seems fine after 2 shots, my brother seems fine after 2 shots, but my best friend now has Type 1 diabetes that came out of nowhere and almost killed her because she ignored the symptoms. I stopped trying after striking out with the people who meant the most to me. None of them were the least bit Covidian but all three didn't want to pay the price for being unvaxxed.
Within my family and friends-tinnitus, sudden renal failure, cancer, sudden death, heart issues, stroke, impetigo, tremors, dementia. None see the connection
I tried very hard to convince my sister and her husband, and failed miserably. Got a lot of that "virtue" crap because he is a scientist and of course knows better. This "effort" literally went on for hours...last Christmas...I was astounded with how little actual information they knew...of course they would say it was information not worth having...
I got my brother in law, the scientist, to look at the Pfizer papers....six months later, my sister claimed he read them, and saw nothing at all odd about them. Which makes me realize you hit them with the most factual information out there, and they still won't budge.
I have also had 0% success at flipping sheep.
I have two friends that are kicking themselves for not listening to me at the beginning. They both got 2 shot but, after their adverse reactions, took no more. One is still dealing with multiple problems cropping up randomly after 2 years. The other seemed to skim free without a problem.
It’s the ones who have had many shots with no immediate problems that make our case hard to move.
Everyone one in my inner circle that is vaxxed is PERFECTLY fine. Some only had 3 or 4 shots. Some had the whole enchilada. Maybe some sore arms, sick shooting day, but that's it. Nothing. They think nothing of it.
My one friend had all 7 shots and was laid out for a month with “novovirus”. And yes, I made fun of him the whole time for it cuz he just doesn’t get it. (He still luvs me tho)
Wonderful that you still have a friendship!!
My best friend of 30 plus years completely dissed me, and I have not heard from him since I said, in a text, that I thought Fauci was an asshat. That's it. I said I thought he was evil, blah blah blah. My friend cut me off. Now, don't say he was never really a friend, he was as close a friend as a person could ever be. Totally blew me away. I have reached out over and over again....nothing. Totally vaxxed up.
I’m sorry you have that loss. Friends of 30 years are more like brothers and a breakup of family is heart-rending. My wish is that he comes around to being there again. Doesn’t matter if he agrees with you, I know you love him anyway.
Yeah...it still stings. Makes no sense to me. I was also sort of joking around...I was not trying to convince him of anything, I was just saying Fauci was a douchebag.
I had two other pretty close friends...knew in University, one was my first roommate...BOTH of them, independent of each other, told me on FB that they "hoped I got Covid and died"...REALLY intense!
It is funny to me that no matter how passionate I get about the truth in this situation I have never gotten red faced angry about people wearing masks, getting shots, etc. I have been more worried about them than being angry with them (that is changing a little bit these days). Now, I WAS and AM pretty angry with the perpetrators. And now I guess I am seeing the complying, arrogant, ill informed, belligerent public as perpetrators.
In the past no one has ever gotten this spittle spewing angry with close friends and family for not getting flu jabbed...it is as if a person not being vaccinated for Covid-flu GUARANTEES that they, or their kid, or their mother WILL DIE. Zero common sense in it.
I can see if you REALLY believed this narrative, that you might be "disappointed" in a friend or family member that chose to avoid the vax because they DIDN'T believe the narrative, but not angry enough to tell a decades old friend you hoped they died. That is crazy.
Which might be due to some percentage of the shots actually being no more than saline.
A great article, Todd. You touched on so many points! There is much to consider in trying to understand why people don't or won't see the truth. I had friend that would argue black and blue with me on any number of topics. Several times, when I had made it very clear to both of us that his position was misguided, his response was very juvenile. Instead of ceding that he'd been mistaken, there would be a long pause... then, he would burst into hysterical laughter. When I asked why he was laughing, he would completely ignore my question and just keep laughing. Talk about annoying.
His point was to imply he was "only kidding" and merely goading me. Clearly, he was not, as sometimes the discussion had been very heated. His dismissive attitude was to avoid acknowledging his mistakenness. In my estimation, he was too insecure to engage in meaningful discussion.
I guess I'm sharing this as an example of how certain people aren't worth the effort. I had to give up talking to him altogether because it became too infuriating. In essence, I believe there's a segment of the population who are simply incapable of critical thinking. And, sadly, I believe it may even be the majority. Then, there are those who see the truth, but just don't want to be 'wrong.' In the context of the Covid injections, there's also the inability to accept that they have been so horrifically duped, to the point that their very lives may be on the line. That must be a tough pill to swallow. (That's almost a pun!)
At the end of the day, I guess all we can do is to keep on trying to reach people. And, not let their response get to us. Some, we will reach. Some, not so much. Along the way, we must try to find peace, love, happiness... or whatever keeps us going.
Thank you for your thoughtful piece. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It reminded me I'm not alone.
Wow...how annoying that would be...someone laughing like that. As a therapist we often see people laughing off stuff that is way too serious to laugh at...it is usually a sign of denial...not wanting to face the truth so laughing is an escape, a distraction.
Good one as usual, Todd. Linked it previously @https://nothingnewunderthesun2016.com/
when it was posted on Off Guardian. The comment I made on my site was that some people just don't give a "Sh*t"!!!
Thanks!! Yep...just don't give a sh*t...that's how most I know take it.
The Australian natives did not see the ships because the ships negated their world view. In the strictest sense, the ships negated them. It is the same with the I-do-not-care people. They have to be able to get up in the morning and look in the mirror. The last thing you want to meet in the morning is an idiot who poisoned their own kids staring back at you. It's the complicity. The regime made them accomplices in their crimes. Nobody short of a saint can admit/live with that.
This is absolutely normal. I grew up in a place where 90% of people were like that.
I've been told since that story is total fabrication (about the natives) but as a metaphor it is a perfectly fine story!! And yes, using that metaphor to make your point here I totally get. "The ships negated them"...good point...
Its indeed the complicity. Thats what the "bad" people are counting on, they force people into doing something against their own will, something bad. So these people will never start a fight against them, because they were on the same side. We have seen this in the dark times of germanys history a few centuries ago.
A few centuries ago? Which period was that?
Well the centuries i was talking about were obviously just decades. Sorry for the confusion.
Whew...I was pretty sure there was some horror in German history I just was not aware of!!
I tried to convince my rent tenant to stay unvaccinated but he ignored me and got his first 2 jabs and also got COVID twice as did his relatives that also took the jab.
He came up for coffee one day and said he was thinking of going to get his first booster. I told him that none of them worked and the boosters wouldn't either.
He said, "BUT they are giving a $200 Amazon card to take the booster!
I answered, " GREAT, if you croak, can I have the card?"
He didn't take the booster!
Funny.
The whole thing with vaxxed people getting Covid over and over again is so weird. When asked, "why didn't your f**king vax work???" they invariably say, "it wasn't made to stop the virus (really???) we take it so we won't be hospitalized, or die when we do get covid"...Do these people not notice that only vaxxed people are getting covid over and over again? "Well, we really don't know that" they will say when confronted with the question, "why are the unvaxxed not getting covid??"
People have a hard time admitting they believed the bullshit and don’t want to look stupid so they keep on believing the bullshit
I think this is true for a huge number of them.
Love it! That was a great response.
I've mentioned before that I am a recovering alcoholic (5 years sober last July!). One of the first things I was introduced to in rehab was the serenity prayer which is as follows:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change
The courage to change the things I can
And the wisdom to know the difference.
As someone who used to struggle with the weight of trying to solve every problem I encountered, you cannot imagine how freeing this was for me. I suddenly realized there were all kinds of things I could do little or nothing about. And so I cast them aside and focused on the rest.
So during all of this plan-demic crap, I realized it was best to just keep my mouth shut. I wasn't going to win any arguments, change any minds so why stir up things? And it's hard, especially when those close to me have been sucked into all this bullshit.
It's not all that different from seeing a friend who seems to have a drinking problem. I don't say anything. They know my story. If they want my advice they know they can ask me. But I know that when I was where they are now, there was nobody who could have convinced me to stop. I had to get there on my own and then get others to help.
So that's what I do. I am open and honest about my feelings about all of this crap if someone asks. But I don't go around telling anyone what to do. If they want advice, they know they can always ask.
Congrats to you!!! That is a HUGE accomplishment..."there but for the grace of God go I"...I have to say, knowing my lack of discipline, if I had a drinking problem I do believe it would kill me. Good for you...
The inability to break through the myopia of most reminds me of something that always irritates the bejeezus out of me. Which is when an otherwise brilliant substacker writes how they hope to God the jabs aren't as bad as we fear, and pray for no more harm. Well, sorry to bust that bubble, but can you imagine where we'd be if the jabs were safe and effective? There is one thing, one thing only, that will get through to these people. That's such extreme and undeniable jab damage they have to capitulate. Even then there will be a few holdouts. But extreme enough carnage would tip the scales. Classic catch-22. Of course we hate to see people suffer (except for the orchestrators and the worst of the zealots). OTOH, the worse the damage, the more hope for our future. So far it doesn't look like the jabs are bad enough. Until NFL, NBA, D1 stars, and members of congress start dropping, it's not enough. A few lesser-known soccer players, high-school athletes, and obscure entertainers falls way short.
You and I are of the same sentiment, and it makes me very sad to admit it. I see no other way to stop this tyranny than for it to get so bad that enough people become "mad as hell and won't stand for it anymore."
Whenever I hear of "successes" in the shrew movement I actually am a bit disappointed, because no sheep will ever notice such things, they will never know how close we came...unless we actually get there.
Many refuse to admit they feel that way, even to themselves. Which makes them not a shrew. It's not good for you to wish ill on others, good feelings towards others are conducive to happiness and mental health. But then, there's reality, and self-preservation. Which a shrew mustn't ignore IMO. That's a good point in your last sentence. It doesn't matter how right we are if we fade away unheard.
I believe there is a way to have what we would call "negative feelings" toward a group...and even to an individual if they commit heinous crimes. I do not think I have ever wished ill on others...I get angry and frustrated, but I don't wish someone to suffer. I do think "groups" should be "taught things"...but even that I try to restrain.
I believe we are watching ignorant, arrogant, belligerent "children" destroy our life and our world...that is difficult to watch without feeling badly toward the perpetrators.
No problem, I'm happy to wish people like Hillary, Fauci, Bourla ill for you! I find the idea of never wishing ill on others hard to fathom. If someone hurts me, I want to hurt them back. Can't help it, the feeling is immediately there. Or if they hurt someone I love. We're all different, thank goodness.
Most people are like you...and if I had to say, I think that is a healthier response. I have always been weird in this way. I remember as a little kid (around 10-12 years old) I could not fathom killing someone in a war, back then it was all about series like Combat, killing Germans/Nazis...and I remember getting all upset about killing someone, even if they had just killed my best friend, I kept thinking, "but they were a little kid once, just like me"...I was weird.
I DO wish suffering on Fauci et al...I wish them to be arrested, and put in jail. But I do not wish them to die or be executed, etc. Just weirdness in me...I DO think I would have no problem now, though, blowing someone away if they were hurting someone I love, or a child...I think I've gotten over my aversion to that...