The same generation of Americans that grew up convinced by the prevailing literature that book burning was evil incarnate, seems to have done a 180. What happened?
Good question. Reading “Ponerology: the Science of Evil...” by Lobaczewski helps follow the psychopathy of tyranny from its roots psychologically, socially and politically. He faced a communist professor who gobbledygooked his way to the lectern at his university in 1950s Poland. Sneaky and sinister are words that encapsulate the process of groupthink. So much of woke-type social demonization of free thought helps pave the road to totalitarianism. We walk that road today in the west. Blindfolded, backward, misguided, devoid of our founding principles, lost in equity-based, CRT-based drivel, we step backward onto the icy slope off the cliff to the left.
Excellent post ! It seems to me that “fashion” should remain on the clothing designers’ runways. When it enters mainstream life, we end up with radical college professor/Castro/Che/Marxism - worship. Oh, and disco. None of it is aging well.
Ahistorical analysis..............post WW2 the academy was conservative as it always was, and censored liberal/progressive just as hard. It wasn't until the end of the 1960s that the academy started to hire more progressive individuals doing contemporary research. But, even then it was well balanced until the mid 1980s when much of the thrust to hire women above all, created the current academic environment. That first generation of women scholars were really good, unfortunately their progeny are more propagandist than scholars.
Well, to be fair, they are trying their hardest to make sure soft core pedophilia books are placed in school libraries. So there is that. They haven't lost all their zeal for 1A.
Bravery is in short supply these days. Audie Murphy was greatly needed in Uvalde, Texas, and WE are needed to stop this bullshit. I wrote for a community newspaper for 11 years. When I started voicing questions about Covid, the left circled me like a group of hounds and I let them silence me (for fear of lawsuit). I am ready to pull on my boots and get back in the arena.
Our small local newspaper totally followed the narrative, even stating no letters would be published which they deemed to be misinformation. After several months of cartoons and editorials which were insulting to those of us who know what is happening, I cancelled my subscription. One source of stress gone!
After the last few decades, I'd put nothing past the agencies of our federal gov't. It's the American people I worry about. A significant portion of the populace seem to approve of this crap.
I'm not a prophet. It's a huge struggle, but I know which side I must support for now -- until they start using the established mechanism for their own narrow purposes. I still believe in 3rd parties and will vote for 3rd parties when possible and strategically advisable. I will vote for no Democrats.
Quality speech is defamed, denounced, marginalized and dangerous. Speech that takes us down a path of cultural suicide is perfectly acceptable and is pushed daily onto the most innocent and naive, our children.
Fascism is alive and well and growing in the US and Europe. Fascism is most evident when it restricts freedom of speech. Censorship, suppression of communication, cancel culture, "disinformation boards," social media account suspensions, falsely labeling opposing views as mis- or disinformation, are all forms of fascism. Those who practice these forms of fascism - governments, Pharma, NWO "elites," Gates are examples - justify them with "We want to protect people from harmful mis- and disinformation." This is a vicious lie. Their ONLY purpose is to silence independent thought and voices, and suppress opposition to corrupt or criminal operations and agendas.
With each passing day, I must continue to remind myself to resist becoming cavalier or glib to what is truly transforming in some dark cult-ish form in the shadows, if I exist here to think/learn/grow.
The building blocks of freedoms were set on bedrock. Not shifting sands. Commit to Liberty!
All of the rights enumerated in the Constitution and Bill of Rights must be defended. When we lose one, this sets the precedent to remove/alter those remaining.
When critical thinking was slowly replaced with 'feeling' and then true empathy and compassion were replaced with Self Righteousness that led to excellence being diluted -everyone gets a trophy - so as not to hurt feelings of those who are mediocre at best, it was inevitable that speaking anything that disturbed or hurt someone's feelings would have to be stamped down. I have watched this play out for decades and when they created 'hate speech' as a crime, as vague and open to interpretation as it is, I knew we had reached the point of no return. The only way to fix this will require not a small amount of unpleasantness.
The road to ruin is always paved with good sounding intentions.
Proud to say the state of Texas has thrown down a gauntlet in opposition to media suppression of expression and was upheld recently by a (gasp!) federal judge. Almost certain to reach SCOTUS. May be a worm turner.
And his statement, “the right to read whatever we choose.” This right extends to the right to write whatever we choose. This includes even the most vile or caustic of the written or spoken word. Because there is the human choice not to read or listen as well. With every human right comes a human responsibility. Words written or words spoken are not to blame for ensuing violent acts executed by humans. They are mere words. To limit the freedom of expression in any way is the fast march to tyranny. We have laws to address the actions exercised by humans who may choose to ignore the responsibility of their actions, after reading or listening to words, but we must never allow another human or humans the power to decide when it is believed justifiable to extinguish freedom of expression no matter how it affects a reader or listener. Who, among us, should be given that power? To give any human that power over the rest of humanity is to imperil us all. Freedom of expression and the freedom to choose to read or listen, or not, is our most precious freedom.
Freedom of speech has always been provisional at best. You just don't find out until you cross a line.
Utah Phillips said it nicely. "Freedom is something you assume, then you wait for someone to try to take it away. The degree to which you resist is the degree to which you are free...”
This story from The Atlantic might fall into the “we’re moving the needle” category on the bogus Covid narratives. A doctor who is an avid vaccine supporter had just been diagnosed with cancer and decided to get his Covid shots. His cancer then “exploded,” which caused him to re-assess everything he’s been telling people. This story was even linked on The Drudge Report which, as far as I am aware, hasn’t run any stories skeptical of the jab.
"How few there are who have courage enough to own their faults, or resolution enough to mend them." BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (on todays Epic times site this AM)
Well we are seeing this everywhere - "Hate speech" is now illegal in France and the UK. A French person said to me one day "Well you Americans have a special relationship with free speech, it's different over here". He left me, well, speechless. The US will have to lead on this, if you haven't heard the 5th circuit just came down with a GREAT decision outlawing opinion censorship on the social networks in Texas.
Taking offense is a choice the offended make. Offense is in the mind of the offended. My daughter recently admonished my granddaughter not to use "midget," but to use "little person" instead. But there's a difference between a "midget" and a "dwarf," and there should be nothing offensive about making that distinction. When I was younger, a dwarf was a small person whose limbs were disproportionately smaller than the torso; a midget was a small person whose body parts were proportionate to the overall size. Thus, the pejoration of "midget" has resulted in an impoverishment of our language and the application of "dwarf" to an extended range of people. We've seen a similar phenomena with the terms "colored" and "black," where originally no offense was intended by the application of the term "colored."
Beautifully put. Even my own family and friends frequently look at me as if I should see a psychiatrist for trying to express my difference to the main stream narrative. Never the less may we press on with our peaceful perseverance to express the facts. Blessings to all that do.
The same generation of Americans that grew up convinced by the prevailing literature that book burning was evil incarnate, seems to have done a 180. What happened?
Good question. Reading “Ponerology: the Science of Evil...” by Lobaczewski helps follow the psychopathy of tyranny from its roots psychologically, socially and politically. He faced a communist professor who gobbledygooked his way to the lectern at his university in 1950s Poland. Sneaky and sinister are words that encapsulate the process of groupthink. So much of woke-type social demonization of free thought helps pave the road to totalitarianism. We walk that road today in the west. Blindfolded, backward, misguided, devoid of our founding principles, lost in equity-based, CRT-based drivel, we step backward onto the icy slope off the cliff to the left.
Excellent post ! It seems to me that “fashion” should remain on the clothing designers’ runways. When it enters mainstream life, we end up with radical college professor/Castro/Che/Marxism - worship. Oh, and disco. None of it is aging well.
Ahistorical analysis..............post WW2 the academy was conservative as it always was, and censored liberal/progressive just as hard. It wasn't until the end of the 1960s that the academy started to hire more progressive individuals doing contemporary research. But, even then it was well balanced until the mid 1980s when much of the thrust to hire women above all, created the current academic environment. That first generation of women scholars were really good, unfortunately their progeny are more propagandist than scholars.
They fail to account for the definitions of their language.
Well, to be fair, they are trying their hardest to make sure soft core pedophilia books are placed in school libraries. So there is that. They haven't lost all their zeal for 1A.
Authoritative brainwashing.
Agreed. 100%. But why did we abandon our principles? What’s our excuse?
Bravery is in short supply these days. Audie Murphy was greatly needed in Uvalde, Texas, and WE are needed to stop this bullshit. I wrote for a community newspaper for 11 years. When I started voicing questions about Covid, the left circled me like a group of hounds and I let them silence me (for fear of lawsuit). I am ready to pull on my boots and get back in the arena.
Our small local newspaper totally followed the narrative, even stating no letters would be published which they deemed to be misinformation. After several months of cartoons and editorials which were insulting to those of us who know what is happening, I cancelled my subscription. One source of stress gone!
Vote with your wallet!
Too many to list...
Now it's the time to fix ...
VOTE.
HOA
PTA
Midterms
presidential
Make our voices heard.
GET INVOLVED or get run over
They got woke
They really only objected to THEIR books being burned.
I disagree ( respectfully). I think the only real “book burning “ dealt with pornography, prurient interest - type stuff.
The works of the physician and scientist Wilhelm Reich were confiscated and burned by the US government in the 1950's
After the last few decades, I'd put nothing past the agencies of our federal gov't. It's the American people I worry about. A significant portion of the populace seem to approve of this crap.
You don't think there was any censorship during the McCarthy era? No blacklists?
Touché. Just like the pendulum swinging away after the heights of the red scare, do you think it will swing back from this? And jf so, how?
I'm not a prophet. It's a huge struggle, but I know which side I must support for now -- until they start using the established mechanism for their own narrow purposes. I still believe in 3rd parties and will vote for 3rd parties when possible and strategically advisable. I will vote for no Democrats.
That generation was understandably cowed by three political assassinations and, most importantly, by the Kent State massacre.
So we accepted their “hate speech” BS and surrendered, utterly, to the ultimate oxymoron: “Political Correctness”
Oh that is why they have become old, intolerant jerks! They would do well to review the writings, speeches and sermons of the assassinated.
To summarize, the steps in the pseudo-liberal/communist’s political agenda for the infiltration and takeover of American society are
as follows.
• Have contact with the victims; be “interested” in them and pretend
to care for them.
• Pretend to be one of them. Identify with them seemingly as a true
American.
• Generate confusion by questioning their pre-existing, traditional
moral beliefs to undermine their core contact.
• In place of core contact insert the moral relativism of political
correctness.
• Inject a sense of urgency for social change. For example, he or she
is the only one who can “unify” America and get her out of the
current mess.
from "Clueless: The Great Human Disconnect" by Charles Konia, M.D.
Excellent! Thank you.
Scary times.
Quality speech is defamed, denounced, marginalized and dangerous. Speech that takes us down a path of cultural suicide is perfectly acceptable and is pushed daily onto the most innocent and naive, our children.
What is happening to us?
Fascism is alive and well and growing in the US and Europe. Fascism is most evident when it restricts freedom of speech. Censorship, suppression of communication, cancel culture, "disinformation boards," social media account suspensions, falsely labeling opposing views as mis- or disinformation, are all forms of fascism. Those who practice these forms of fascism - governments, Pharma, NWO "elites," Gates are examples - justify them with "We want to protect people from harmful mis- and disinformation." This is a vicious lie. Their ONLY purpose is to silence independent thought and voices, and suppress opposition to corrupt or criminal operations and agendas.
With each passing day, I must continue to remind myself to resist becoming cavalier or glib to what is truly transforming in some dark cult-ish form in the shadows, if I exist here to think/learn/grow.
The building blocks of freedoms were set on bedrock. Not shifting sands. Commit to Liberty!
All of the rights enumerated in the Constitution and Bill of Rights must be defended. When we lose one, this sets the precedent to remove/alter those remaining.
When critical thinking was slowly replaced with 'feeling' and then true empathy and compassion were replaced with Self Righteousness that led to excellence being diluted -everyone gets a trophy - so as not to hurt feelings of those who are mediocre at best, it was inevitable that speaking anything that disturbed or hurt someone's feelings would have to be stamped down. I have watched this play out for decades and when they created 'hate speech' as a crime, as vague and open to interpretation as it is, I knew we had reached the point of no return. The only way to fix this will require not a small amount of unpleasantness.
The road to ruin is always paved with good sounding intentions.
Someone once said that Satan would arrive glowing and generous and loveable-looking. Hmmm Trudeau the Tyrant fits that description quite well.
A Hollywood Lie in a Suit and Tie.
🚚🚜🇨🇦🇺🇸🇳🇱🌎🙏🏽
Along the same lines, from a video interview with Norman Mailer :
"What's the use of being a writer if you can't annoy a great many people?"
“Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed: everything else is public relations.”
Proud to say the state of Texas has thrown down a gauntlet in opposition to media suppression of expression and was upheld recently by a (gasp!) federal judge. Almost certain to reach SCOTUS. May be a worm turner.
And his statement, “the right to read whatever we choose.” This right extends to the right to write whatever we choose. This includes even the most vile or caustic of the written or spoken word. Because there is the human choice not to read or listen as well. With every human right comes a human responsibility. Words written or words spoken are not to blame for ensuing violent acts executed by humans. They are mere words. To limit the freedom of expression in any way is the fast march to tyranny. We have laws to address the actions exercised by humans who may choose to ignore the responsibility of their actions, after reading or listening to words, but we must never allow another human or humans the power to decide when it is believed justifiable to extinguish freedom of expression no matter how it affects a reader or listener. Who, among us, should be given that power? To give any human that power over the rest of humanity is to imperil us all. Freedom of expression and the freedom to choose to read or listen, or not, is our most precious freedom.
I exercise my freedom not to listen to mainstream programming all the time. In fact, I opted out of regular TV altogether. It's much better.
Same here.
Freedom of speech has always been provisional at best. You just don't find out until you cross a line.
Utah Phillips said it nicely. "Freedom is something you assume, then you wait for someone to try to take it away. The degree to which you resist is the degree to which you are free...”
This story from The Atlantic might fall into the “we’re moving the needle” category on the bogus Covid narratives. A doctor who is an avid vaccine supporter had just been diagnosed with cancer and decided to get his Covid shots. His cancer then “exploded,” which caused him to re-assess everything he’s been telling people. This story was even linked on The Drudge Report which, as far as I am aware, hasn’t run any stories skeptical of the jab.
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2022/09/mrna-covid-vaccine-booster-lymphoma-cancer/671308/
…. FWIW, I also just started my own Substack site. It seemed like a good time to join the fight. The Underground resistance is growing.
https://billricejr.substack.com/p/who-is-bill-rice-jr-and-why-should
I just saw that Atlantic article! Wow! This seems like a significant breakthrough to me.
"How few there are who have courage enough to own their faults, or resolution enough to mend them." BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (on todays Epic times site this AM)
Lesson to remember is history repeats itself. Great article and reminder of where we are today.
Well we are seeing this everywhere - "Hate speech" is now illegal in France and the UK. A French person said to me one day "Well you Americans have a special relationship with free speech, it's different over here". He left me, well, speechless. The US will have to lead on this, if you haven't heard the 5th circuit just came down with a GREAT decision outlawing opinion censorship on the social networks in Texas.
Taking offense is a choice the offended make. Offense is in the mind of the offended. My daughter recently admonished my granddaughter not to use "midget," but to use "little person" instead. But there's a difference between a "midget" and a "dwarf," and there should be nothing offensive about making that distinction. When I was younger, a dwarf was a small person whose limbs were disproportionately smaller than the torso; a midget was a small person whose body parts were proportionate to the overall size. Thus, the pejoration of "midget" has resulted in an impoverishment of our language and the application of "dwarf" to an extended range of people. We've seen a similar phenomena with the terms "colored" and "black," where originally no offense was intended by the application of the term "colored."
Right on!!
Beautifully put. Even my own family and friends frequently look at me as if I should see a psychiatrist for trying to express my difference to the main stream narrative. Never the less may we press on with our peaceful perseverance to express the facts. Blessings to all that do.