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| Silverfiddle Rant! |
“In a world of propaganda, the truth is always a conspiracy”
- Herbert Hildebrandt
In a world becoming increasingly unhinged, I place my faith in God and thank Him for family and good friends.
Still, I have had my doubts. I see it. Others see it. Why are so many supposed experts and elites spewing such nonsense, and why do they appear to be obfuscating and propagandizing instead of providing clear facts and sometimes telling us simply that they don't know?
CDC Director Rachel Walensky tearfully wailing about "impending doom" (that ended up not happening).
Why are good, smart and rational people acting so irrationally? Covid kills, it is real, but we understand it now, how it is transmitted, what it does to people based upon their health and age, and we have drugs to help those who get sick from it. Those fanning the flames of hysteria fail to put covid in context.
Child Abuse
We know Covid is less dangerous to those 18 and under than the seasonal flu, yet the government allowed the teachers unions to mau mau them into mandating vaccines for children, forcing them to wear masks, and conducting performative school shutdowns. This is government-sanctioned child abuse on a mass scale, propelled by the largest collective case of Munchausen by Proxy in human history.
As I've already said, The Lord is my consolation, but I am human, and finding other people--good, smart, highly-educated people--who are also alarmed by this societal mass hysteria comforts me.
Disproportionate Response
Prof. Mattias Desmet is a professor of clinical psychology at Ghent University in Belgium, and he also has a degree in math and statistics. He noticed early on that the covid data did not match the out-of-all-proportions response by governments around the world.
Here in the US, 75% of Covid deaths are in people above 65 years old, yet government destroyed jobs, livelihoods and academic careers of students and working age people. And governments today continue hounding this cohort and fomenting pogrom-like frenzies against them while refusing to publish clear statistical information on just how few people with no comorbidities are in danger of death.
Desmet posits this is a Mass Formation, aka Mass Hypnosis. He lists four conditions that make a society ripe for this:
1. Lack of Social Bonds.2. Lack of meaning in life3. Free-Floating, Inchoate Anxiety4. Free-Floating Frustration and Anger
All that is left is the spark. In this case, covid:
This has now happened. The anxiety and lonely isolation many felt before the pandemic and during the pandemic found their perfect “object of anxiety” and is solidly locked on to the pandemic and vaccine narrative…they cannot be tolerant or allow dissent or different voices and don’t want to even hear any questioning. (Quoted in Dr Herd)
All the free-floating anxiety and anger, now turning into panic, becomes attached to the Object. Sudden connection through this heroic struggle together against the Object creates a new solidarity, a social bond that has been lacking, which in turn, creates meaning. People then feel that they can control their psychological discontent by participating in the strategy, even if it’s utterly absurd.. (Paraphrased by Barbara With)
So, those who succumb to this find a comforting solidarity with other like-minded souls and a new purpose in life. They also collectively focus their bile and anger at those who refuse to join the collective.
Dr Desmet estimates that in a mass formation...
30% of people are deeply hypnotized40% are not but go along with the crowd — if this 40% stop hearing dissenting voices of reason they will unite with the hypnotized to go along30% that cannot be hypnotized; we must keep speaking out
I haven't done his explanation justice here. Please go listen to the fascinating interview with him at Peak Prosperity. You can also watch the video there, or you can read the transcript. If you are a podcast listener, you can search for the podcast by entering 'peak prosperity podcast'
* - Final Note: Mass Formation is a concept that can be applied to many phenomena including political movements. Some will be tempted to cite 'MAGA' or 'Trumpism,' and its manifestations in 'Stop the Steal,' and the Jan 6th Capitol incident and I would not disagree. However, this is pale deflection.
The Covid Mass Formation is orders of magnitude more dangerous because it is impacting billions of lives across the globe and threatens to reorder western societies along a more totalitarian model. MAGA enjoys the support of no major media outlets, no governments and no major institutions. Covid Hysteria is stoked daily by governments, press and institutions across the globe.
I will delete off-topic comments. If you want to fit this model to any phenomena you deplore, do it on your own platform.
Related: Unherd: Inside Australia's Covid Camps
More Links
Why Most Published Research Findings Are False - John P. A. Ioannidis
Philosopher's Stone - A little out there, but I reject nothing out of hand anymore
