98 Comments

Great piece Robert! Thank you.

Yet, in regards to your statement "seems to be winding down as one of the greatest global policy failures in human history." ...please realize that framing it as a "failure" assumes that it was not something planned and executed. It also assumes that great benefits have not been achieved by those who executed it.

From the standpoint of some, a great success may have just been achieved:

1. The 1% got much richer,

2. Greater domination and subjugation has been achieved by government authorities,

3. Censorship has been added to the arsenal of government,

4. The MSM and the medical system has come under greater control by cash payments from government to promote the government narrative

5. Billions of people were successfully coerced to get injections of god-knows-what.

In short, success or failure depends on perspective.

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How about when all you have clearly and correctly illustrated here,

has been accomplished via Confiscations?

The very basis for your human rights are being confiscated by others human compliance?

No one should need accept that as their a destiny.

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Great paper 👍. So bottom line is, through indoctrination and not teaching people to critically think, grow a spine and speak your peace, we now have a society of sheep.

The DEMONcRAT party is a perfect example and can be seen in the absurd, anti-American Bills such as “Inflation Reduction Act” they unanimously pass.

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"So bottom line is, through indoctrination and not teaching people to critically think, grow a spine and speak your peace, we now have a society of sheep."

I grew up in Canada, and moved to the US in 1988 at the age of 25 to attend law school. A few years into living in the US, I noticed a dramatic difference between Canada and US, even though we share food, TV, sports, etc etc.

In Canada, the society is more important than the individual. Can you say "sheep"?

In the US, the individual is more important than the society. Can you say the first 10 amendments to the Constitution?

I suspect that the immigrants to America are over-represented by people like me who barfed at the groupthink in our birth countries.

Which might explain why there are (relatively) so many of us in America in the resistance to Covidland, compared to Canada, Australia, almost all of Europe, etc.

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An excellent point. However, hasn't the educational system here been striving to produce clones of groupthink and not encouraged individual questioning?

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You betcha. Which is why, even though I'm really looking forward to voting for DeSantis in a couple of years, I generally lean pro-immigration. Without the steady flow of immigrant "trouble makers", I suspect that this country would slide into permanent totalitarianism within a couple of generations.

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Pro legal immigration, I hope. Although, what about family unification? It never stops, and although early immigrants may be in favor of American values, those who ride the coattails may not be.

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Two generations are required to assimilate into any given culture for most people, families, groups or whole villages as immigrated here form Germany at the turn of the 20th Century and other groups earlier in U.S. history.

After roughly 1.8 million last year and over 2 million mostly uneducated, illiterate, unskilled people invading this year and surging into this country ILLEGALLY and living off the generosity of the American Taxpayer when work has been relocated off-shore and the 'Powers that Be'; whomever they might be, are diminishing and removing traditional means of living and INTENTIONALLY perpetrating (Yes, perpetrating), regulations and laws causing inflation as an opportunity for the top .05% to continue to suck off the udders of the working, middle-class Cash Cow to TRANSFER the Capital and assets to China...That's a pretty powerful and some would define it an egregious statement.

Mr. Savich, your point is well taken and understood; however, there are real issues most certainly INTENTIONALLY CREATED MAKING LIFE HELL FOR A TREMENDOUS NUMBER OF OUR CITIZENS who did NOTHING to deserve it. The wise and prudent leader ALWAYS covers and protects one's own BEFORE addressing the needs of others.

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Nice points. I guess being an immigrant myself, I've noted and probably remembered some American history I've read about the waves of European immigration to America in the 1800s and early 1900s.

Seems all of them were considered "uneducated, illiterate, unskilled people" at the time and sure enough, their kids were the criminal gangs back then -- Irish, Jewish, Polish, etc etc. See, e.g. JFK's grandfather.

So I would expect that two to three generations down from the "uneducated, illiterate, unskilled people" crossing illegally these days, and we'll see educated and admirable people, just like the Irish, Jewish, Polish, etc grandchildren of the criminal immigrants of the century ago.

I think the Viet Minh experience shows this. Refugees in the 1970s, dangerous gangs in the 1980s and 90s, and now entrepreneurs, doctors, professors, etc.

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The difference in Amercia has always been in its founding principles which are rooted in the idea of the individual is more important than the state and has kept us to this point from going down the atrocious path of those who value and practice Stateism where the state is the highest value and the individual must conform so as to not adversely affect the state. Hitler's Germany is a classic example of Stateism and yet they still practice this today as evidenced by many things but in particular to the outlaw of homeschooling.

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I know it’s long, but you have got to read my discussion with CJ as it ties into exactly this question of how regular people can be made to participate in corruption and commit atrocities:

• “Dissident Dialogues: CJ Hopkins” (https://margaretannaalice.substack.com/p/dissident-dialogues-cj-hopkins)

Specifically, Question #7 (https://margaretannaalice.substack.com/i/52392876/q-and-a-) includes this revelatory passage from “Ordinary Men”:

“Crucial to understanding the behavior of the ordinary Germans in uniform, [Thomas Kühne] argued, were the ‘myths’ of Kameradschaft and Volksgemeinschaft (comradeship and community). These powerful ‘myths’ must be understood as the Germans knew them, for they were the lenses through which Germans saw the world, constructed their reality, and derived the moral framework that in turn shaped their behavior.

“The myth of the Volksgemeinschaft derived from Germany’s euphoric sense and collective memory of unity transcending class, party, and confession.… Not only were Jews and other racial aliens excluded, but so were those whose behavior constituted an internal threat or potential treason against the German race. In short, conformity was an essential component of belonging.… The emotional power and need for belonging embodied in these two myths enabled the Nazis to preside over a ‘moral revolution,’ in which the western tradition of universalism, humanity, and individual responsibility based on a guilt culture was replaced by a shame culture that elevated loyalty to and standing within the group to be the new moral fulcrum of German society. Whether it be the Volksgemeinschaft as a whole, or the small unit within which a German fought, ‘the group claimed moral sovereignty.’

“The shame culture, making conformity a prime virtue, impelled ordinary Germans in uniform to commit terrible crimes rather than suffer the stigma of cowardice and weakness and the ‘social death’ of isolation and alienation vis-à-vis their comrades. This dynamic was intensified by several other factors. The first was that the ‘pleasures’ of comradeship and the ‘joy of togetherness’ derived from a heightened sense of belonging could be enhanced even further through transgression against the norms of members outside the group. ‘Nothing makes people stick together better than committing a crime together,’ Kühne noted. And second was the pernicious Nazi invention that Kühne dubbed the ‘morality of immorality.’ Both Hitler and various military commanders made the coercive zero-sum moral argument that pity and lenience toward the enemy and failure to overcome one’s personal scruples was a ‘sin’ against one’s comrades and future generations. The combination of all these factors created a ‘competition for mercilessness’ and a ‘culture of brutality’ within units. For Germans at large, the ‘outcome was the national brotherhood of mass murder—Hitler’s community.’”

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TLDR: groupthink feels good. How to counter what, after all, is a component of human nature? How to create culture where dissent feels safe?

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I would argue that we need to create a culture where “safety” is a lesser value than courage. Cowardice should (and used to) feel shameful, and lying should (and used to) be considered dishonorable.

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Advocacy for homeschooling is based upon individualism, not herd thinking. Some of the best private schools adhere to the credo of developing the person, not the crowd. NYS Teacher of the Year, John Taylor Gatto, rocked the education industry when he announced his resignation on the editorial pages of the WSJ. “Dumbing down” was the phrase he coined to describe what was being done to kids. Schools were factories, more so now than ever. Debate was stifled, now it is censored. Law school used to build independent thinkers, not so anymore. Same with grad schools. The herd mind is created & it manifests in government, business, medicine. Look at what has happened to you, Kory, McCullough, Marik—the list is long. The mind that challenges group think & their authoritariaism is ostracized. It is truly evil.Mediocrity rules, not brilliance. And. Long-live taxi cab drivers—some of the smartest people driving the masses to their cubicles. Can group think be changed? Not via evolution but a revolution of those persecuted by daring to rise above mediocrity. It’s happening via brains like you.

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What the frack! How do you find time to sleep, Dr. Malone?

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I like this analysis alot. The bible being the ultimate source of truth certainly has much to say to prevent this type of behaviour and certainly if heeded this type of "group think" would never occur. Think of Paul's commendation of the Bereans for their efforts to constantly evaluate what Paul was telling them by comparing it to the Scriptures. We should always evaluate everything we hear in that way, comparing it to the Scripture to see if it is true.

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Yes, the Bereans didn't unquestioningly swallow the teachings of authority figures such as Saint Paul. Principled authority figures claiming to base their pronouncements on science, should especially welcome questioning and independent verification of their claims, as did St. Paul.

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Similarly, we can also compare the advice found in Scripture to common sense, and the stories to historical evidence.

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What occurs often in organizations is training on what personality types exist in humans and which personality type you are. After personality identification, the next step in establishing groupthink is to show each personality type what they must do to modify their behavior to adapt to the groupthink. More compliant personality types are encouraged to convince less compliant personality types to conform. The process of identification of personality types is a weaponizable construct to establish groupthink but most people just think it his fun.

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"The process of identification of personality types is a weaponizable construct to establish groupthink but most people just think it his fun."

. . . exactly what is / was done in my large corp. At the time I did not recognize it for what it was. Somehow, I never caught on and was never a "team" leader. Likely, I gravitated here as many others subscribing to substack-- those who refuse to follow the herd.

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I've been part of many groups, and see a flaw in this analysis. Every group effort needs to have clear objectives, and working toward those objectives must continually consider the progress in relation to those objectives. In industry, project developments always begin with a detailed statement of those objectives. That's the basis of constructive groupthink. Failure to do that inevitably leads to the wrong outcome. Teams need to agree that any specific action of the group supports the objective.

Disagreements are analyzed and agreement is reestablished based on specific facts of the progress toward the objective. Teams that don't agree, and don't work together, inevitably fail.

The failure in the covid disaster seems to be a failure of objectives. A competent team would have established early on that the objective was health of the population. Instead, they chose to define a solution and fit their objectives to that solution. In that case the group didn't matter, only obedience to the wrong solution mattered. That no one spoke out (present company excepted) indicates a clear psychosis.

So many people who were trained to know better, and took an oath to do better, didn't. We can't write off these errors as simple herd instincts to follow the crowd, even over the cliff. These people followed destructive demands because they agreed with the defined objective of selling vax and ICU beds. That's the worst form of crime -- murder for personal gain because they thought they would be covered. If we allow them to escape penalties for these crimes, our society is done for.

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I spent years as a goverment consultant working with program management groups whose main mode of behavioor was leaping to the conclusion offered by the strongest personality who was quickest off the mark voicing an opinion. Those who wanted time to think more deeply or offer alternate approaches were usually ignored as group consensus quickly formed, and people with different views were clearly afraid to buck the group. A lot of half-baked ideas influenced millions of wasted dollars for doomed programs because of this groupthink. I imagine a lot of Covid policy developed this way. (I think there was a negative purpose behind a lot of it, but a lot must have come from groups of bureaucrats who were afraid to look stupid by questioning the idiocy behind some decisions or failing to reach a quick solution). At one time, I worked on an electronic meeting application that allowed in-person participants to simultaneously type responses to set agenda questions and then review all responses as a group. An amazing array of ideas and suggestions would surface for further discussion. The tool helped stop the groupthink, although I don't think the tool was ever widely used in the gov't. Perhaps they prefer the groupthink.

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That last paragraph says it all. We owe these people a fair trial but no more than that.

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I don't think we owe them anything. But fair trials are less about protecting rights of criminals than for reassuring the others they live in a fair system, so we'll probably try to be fair with these criminals. But it will be a big problem to even define the crimes. The last holocaust was all legal, in accordance with national laws, and the international tribunals at Nuremberg had to create new laws to fit. We'll see creative jurisprudence around the world to achieve justice. Some jurisdictions will be more thorough than others.

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Agreed. I am thinking that the biggest problem, however, will be sheer numbers. When you have a single criminal; or even a large gang of criminals; justice mechanisms function well. But what do you do when you have literally hundreds of directly culpable criminals along with tens of thousands of willing accomplices and accessories? I guess you do what they did at Nuremberg; you hang the most prominent leaders; imprison a few of the middle-management (for awhile) but let tens of thousands of accomplices go free. And then wait for the next psychopath to start the process all over again.

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Especially difficult when the criminals are valuable for a functional society. We'll probably end up accepting contrition to forgive all but the worst. "Just following orders" has often been basis for redemption. I don't have much sympathy for them. Others will. As long as we punish the worst offenders, society will survive.

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"clusterfrack" 🤣🤣🤣

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Dissent and tolerance for dissent is necessary. Yet respectful disagreement needs to be modeled from the top, otherwise people will just go along to get along. But those at the top may not view a questioning culture as in their self interest.

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https://youtu.be/dIpLwiaQRRk

Very interesting Video - worth the time. Dr. B

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Neil Oliver has a superb ability to connect all the dots and is one of the very few outspoken voices in the British media to dare to do so and so far, get away with it. Mark Steyn is another and he's already being "investigated" by Ofcom (UK Communications "regulator") for raising issues the State would rather the media remained silent about.

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The uncommon common-sense approach is too easy. Let's muck it all up into chaos. Yippee!

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Robert, In my view it is a stacked function of problems:

1) at the top, epistomological confusion, malformed theologies.

2) failure to train in the full measure of logic, including fallacies.

3) failure to have learned the necessity of principles to guide behavior.

4) gnostic misunderstanding in the position of words and imbuing powers to them they do not possess.

5). misunderstanding of the dangers of financialization of operations.

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Concise, reasoned, logical essays You are a gentleman + a scholar, as my dad used to say. One thing tho: the demise of our society has been carefully planned for centuries by the enemy of our souls. The intention is to con the human race into welcoming the coming “Antichrist.” All our enemy has ever wanted is to “be like God.” That means he wants to be worshipped + obeyed like God. All these crises, wars, WWI + WW2 are intentional, so the Antichrist can step in, “save us all,” + 3 and 1/2 yrs later, demand to be worshipped as God or be killed. Book of Daniel, Ezekiel 38, + Revelation are NOW. I hope Jesus raptures the believers first. Jesus wins for sure… After a total of 7 yrs., Jesus returns in power + defeats the enemy…This is all theater. Look at all the info on Xtremerealitycheck (rumble) + A Time for Judgement… Celeste Solum, David Icke- Jesus is the only way out of this. It’s free. It’s pure goodness + love. Run to Jesus. Cling to Jesus… and live. Eternally.

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Thanks for making us think Dr. Malone. I feel the groupthink we have today started in the halls of academia. Where professors of decades ago liked it when their students respectfully challenged age old held dogmas. As apposed to now, where one is ridiculed and marginalized for it. That, coupled with our societal obsession with ease and comfort makes it so much easier to “go along to get along”. With tragic consequences to our western world.

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Interesting but doesn’t account for the intentional global advancement of WHO agenda 2030 & the enormous financial gains realized.

Groupthink does occur. It also serves to relieve the ppl who committed the atrocities from personal responsibility. I just don’t buy it.

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multifaceted, with many interactions yielding emergent behavior

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Agreed. I struggle with this. I suppose we all do. The phenomena of groupthink is a useful tool for the oligarchs trying to bend the world to their purpose. Adopting the strategy you set out will be key, should we be blessed with better government & better leaders.

I am an ICU RN. Unvaccinated ( religious exemption) & working at a large teaching/research hospital. My unit has many young ppl hospitalized & multiple codes per shift… simply unheard of two years ago. Very few of my colleagues voice concern or curiosity.

Of Interest, perhaps: Interviews of Father Malachi Martin by Bernard Janzen. They’re from the 1990s and still available on YouTube. Art Bell also interviewed Fr Martin & those are excellent as well. Fr Martin spoke at length of the New World Order. With Woke Pope Francis joining the Globalists, it’s hard for me not to see this as a battle between good & evil.

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