Disregard propaganda — identify the real enemy — serendipitous observations from Chris Hedges and Chris Martenson

© 2021 Peter Free

 

27 July 2021

 

 

Propaganda enslaves sleeping minds

 

Here is one result of that — in Chris Hedges' words:

 

 

The debacle in Afghanistan, which will unravel into chaos with lightning speed over the next few weeks and ensure the return of the Taliban to power, is one more signpost of the end of the American empire.

 

Like any empire in terminal decay, no one will be held accountable for the debacle or for the other debacles in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Yemen or anywhere else. Not the generals. Not the politicians. Not the CIA and intelligence agencies. Not the diplomats. Not the obsequious courtiers in the press who serve as cheerleaders for war. Not the compliant academics and area specialists. Not the defense industry.

 

Empires at the end are collective suicide machines.

 

The military becomes in late empire unmanageable, unaccountable, and endlessly self-perpetuating, no matter how many fiascos, blunders and defeats it visits upon the carcass of the nation, or how much money it plunders, impoverishing the citizenry and leaving governing institutions and the physical infrastructure decayed.

 

© 2021 Chris Hedges, The Collective Suicide Machine, ScheerPost (26 July 2021)

 

 

Is this — 'let the bastards skate' —result achieved on purpose?

 

Yes, says Dr. Chris Martenson. He recently pointed out that oligarchic control of the mass of humanity is imposed and maintained by dividing us against each other.

 

Divide and conquer is a societal control strategy that is based upon our innate physiological responses to 'shocks':

 

 

Peak Prosperity, Shocked people pick the wrong targets, YouTube (21 July 2021)

 

 

Martenson — who has a PhD in pathology — refers us to well-studied rat-shock experiments of earlier decades. When two rats are shocked in an electrically floored cage, they will attack each other. The rats evidently 'think' that other rat caused the unpleasantness. In contrast, when caged alone, individual rats resign themselves to the experimentally induced jolts.

 

In short — in my words:

 

 

When we are alone, randomly imposed unpleasantness becomes Fate's fault.

 

But when we are together, it is the Other Guy's fault.

 

 

Thus, jolts of bad news — like wars, economic uproar and magnified alleged threats — are intended (by the Oligarchy) to keep potentially identifiable segments of our society at each other's throats.

 

These deliberately induced 'shocks' split the public's sense of common purpose.

 

Potential commonality could include, for instance, achieving human solidarity about issues that actually matter. Such as institutionalizing more equitable economics and achieving genuine personal freedoms.

 

To prevent mass uprisings that would (presumably) be based upon a widely recognized, shared purpose — Oligarchs foster societal division. They induce and manipulate squabbles that allow the Plutocracy to stay in control.

 

Control keeps Oligarchs placidly feeding upon our mind-enslaved carcasses.

 

 

Think about how this works

 

Consider, for instance, that both US political parties are Arms of the Oligarchy.

 

Republican and Democratic leaderships only pretend to be at odds over a variety of divisive issues. They create and escalate comparatively trivial differences to divert the Public from realizing that fundamentally more basic and all-encompassing topics of societal concern exist.

 

By keeping people focused on lesser problems — via the intentional fostering of 'shocks' of divisiveness— Oligarchs prevent us from recognizing that they (and their activities) are the main problem.

 

Recall, for example, the deliberately fostered hysteria, overwhelming institutional incompetence and profitable Big Pharma manipulation that underlay the COVID-19 panic. Have we awakened enough (yet) to recognize that most of that was done on purpose?

 

And what do you think intentionally cultivated animosity for and against Black Lives Matter is all about?

 

We could easily go on with other examples.

 

 

Recap

 

Recall Chris Hedges' observation.  Why do Bad Guys repeatedly get off the hook for all the death and trouble they cause?

 

Drag in Dr. Martenson's explanation that 'bad news' — and its continual psychic uproar — trigger unexamined emotional reactions.

 

These unexamined emotional responses physiologically trick us into missing what should been the Main Point.

 

In the case of the skate-from-accountability war criminals, the main point would have been that what they did was both strategically unnecessary and completely immoral.

 

Exceptionally insightful person — Caitlin Johnstone — is therefore adamant that we recognize propaganda for what it is.

 

 

The moral? — Understand how we are being manipulated

 

By recognizing self-serving propaganda, we understand that the people who generate it are the real Enemies of Humankind.

 

In an ideal world, we would stop being easily tricked rats.

 

Is this possible? Or are we too inobservant to save ourselves?

 

Examine the next psychic news 'jolt' for its origin and purpose.