“Yet when one is trapped inside a system of a complete consensus upheld by a ceaseless wave of reinforcing propaganda, and when any questioning or dissent at all is tantamount to treason or ‘siding with the enemy,’ there is no space for such discussions to occur, especially within our minds. When one is coerced — through emotional tactics and societal inventive — to adhere only to one script, nothing that is outside of that script can be entertained. And that is all by design.” - Glenn Greenwald in “War Propaganda About Ukraine Becoming More Militaristic, Authoritarian, and Reckless” (Feb. 27, 2022)
When I was a girl, I was taught that America had an honest government and truthful media - that we were the good guys. I was taught obedience. When I was a young woman, I learned that there aren’t always two sides to a story and that truthfulness is often missing in action. I learned skepticism. As a mature woman, I know that the complex systems in which we live are game-boards where biased players use every trick to manipulate people into supporting their preferred narrative, cheating and harming them in the process. Because I learned to recognize these deceptions, I recognized truth.
I know that in the face of virtuous posturing and deceitful rhetoric, it is the rare individual who fearlessly speaks the truth, who exhibits curiosity, integrity, and courage. I also know this is because our innate faith in the dualistic nature of life and our desire to trust some paternalistic authority make it easier for us to not think about things too deeply, but instead to defend a position that provides us some measure of comfort. I know this makes us vulnerable to the logical fallacy arguments that narcissists, psychopaths, and machiavellians are all too eager to feed us in order to lull us into a hypnotic state of obedience.
LOGICAL FALLACIES
The easiest logical fallacy arguments have to do with convincing people to not pay attention to facts and opinions that do not support the sanctioned narrative. Slander, straw-man misrepresentations, and trust in authority encourage ignorance and arrogance - which in turn encourages virtuous posturing that turns people into flying monkey enablers of narcissistic leaders.
The emotional and social pressures are intense. We’ve seen families and friendships destroyed during the pandemic when someone had the audacity to question masking, lock-downs, or vaccine mandates. When fear has been weaponized with manipulative stories, people become convinced that complete compliance by everyone is the only path to safety for anyone. Faulty analogies and mindless tropes substitute for dialogue. Consequently, the person who questions that belief system is branded a dangerous heretic - a threat to survival. When that truth-teller has a high profile like Bobby Kennedy, Joe Mercola or Steve Kirsch, it’s not just individuals who launch attacks on them. Media outlets and politicians jump into the fray in order to discredit credible sources.
This is easiest to do when there is no sense of history or foundational knowledge of the issue at hand. It is so much easier to assume an opinion is right or wrong without doing the homework to understand the nuances. It is so much easier to assume taglines are true and the group with which we identify are the good guys than to have intellectually demanding conversations that require us to acknowledge we didn’t know it all, and much of what we believed was a lie. It is easier to assume people who don’t agree with us are bad people than to do our own due diligence. Assuming ‘our tribe’ is superior in every way is the description of agnotology which promotes cultural ignorance. Media is supposed to be the Fourth Estate which protects us from that type of manipulation, but media has learned that it is more profitable to promote the ‘consensus’ opinion.
“Historically, the claim of consensus has been the first refuge of scoundrels; it is a way to avoid debate by claiming that the matter is already settled. Whenever you hear the consensus of scientists agrees on something or other, reach for your wallet, because you're being had. Let's be clear: the work of science has nothing whatever to do with consensus. Consensus is the business of politics…. In science consensus is irrelevant. …. If it's consensus, it isn't science. If it's science, it isn't consensus. Period.” - Michael Crichton, physician and author (2003)
This isn’t about intellect or good intentions. When Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for the first time ever assumed Emergency Act powers in order to break up the Freedom Convey of Canadian truckers who were peacefully protesting vaccine mandates, he may have truly believed these people were his enemy and therefore deserved to have their money and property confiscated, accounts frozen, and their driver’s licenses, registrations, and insurance revoked. Nevertheless, none of these actions were necessary to clear the blockade on the American-Canadian bridge between Windsor and Detroit, which was his only reasonable action. None of his claims against the demonstrators justifying his actions were true.
Trudeau, like American president Joe Biden and French president Emmanuel Macron, are no different than former American president Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin. They all want what they want that is consistent with their beliefs and agendas. They are happy to promote propaganda that supports those beliefs in order to achieve their ends of power and control. If that means disenfranchising millions, causing misery to millions, and brainwashing the rest of us, they are ready, willing, and able to do it.
The only requirement is that the rest of us don’t think too much and lack the courage to say anything.
None of these heads of state are any different than the abusive husband who tells his wife and children that it was their fault he hit them - that they just need to keep their mouths shut and do as they are told. None of this is fair. None of it.
Battered women can put up with abuse for a long time before acting. But they eventually admit that their spouse is a monster who is skilled in psychological abuse which includes gaslighting and perspecticide. Eventually, abused women can no longer tolerate sleeping with the enemy. They learn they can’t reason with the abuser, and they become increasingly skeptical that there is any good to be had from the relationship. So many dig deep to find the courage to take their children and leave. The rest of us need to do the same.
ADDENDUM: A skit aired on SNL on Feb 26, 2022, two years since the start of the pandemic, tentatively suggested that maybe we have been deceived. It had some propaganda embedded in it, but it may be the first mainstream acknowledgment of problems with the government sanctioned Covid narrative that suggests organizational brainwashing since The Atlantic published two articles by Derek Thompson on the topic of ‘hygiene theater’ on July 27, 2020 and February 8, 2021.
So glad to have found your newsletter! Yes - the dynamics of narcissistic abuse / gaslighting / refusing to EVER admit wrong / deflection / alternate realities / blame shifting, are so obvious everywhere we look. From the same people who were all about Trump being an evil narcissist. (I'm no Trump fan, just noting the hypocrisy). HG Tudor has an interesting concept of layers of narcissistic personalities beyond the usual descriptions. "Lesser", "mid range", and "greater" /"ultra" (as he, admitted sociopath, describes himself). These may be concepts designed so Tudor can sell more stuff (much of his info is free, but not all). But they also make sense.
Lessers have no self control, they have toddler tantrums, they are obvious. Tudor describes Trump as lesser and Biden as mid range narcissists. People look at Trump's way of communicating and make all sorts of psychological / abuse triggers analysis, and they're probably right.
But those same people fall for more skillful narcissists / and psychopaths spinning narrative after narrative of complete bullshit (bullshit sometimes has grains of truth but no dedication to truth), and don't see the gaslighting / how they're being manipulated. Maddening. Tragic. And spaces that discuss narcissistic abuse are often only about the personal, and don't want to bridge with what's happening in the bigger picture.
Thank you for your weavings and writings.
Members of the European Parliament criticize Canadian PM Justin Trudeau after his speech to the European Union for his dictatorial behavior. Canadian & American media ignore the snub on a global stage while European media broadcasts it. Tell me again, who has the free press and who is a propaganda arm of government? https://tnc.news/2022/03/24/media-ignores-scolding-of-trudeau/