"The fact that they can kill millions of people and get away with it proves that they are God."
They are also aware that a big chunk of population views them with almost reverence even as they are aware of their own power to "save" millions or kill millions and that they have no oversight, they are the ultimate oversight. I can see why a small man like Fauci may think he is god after spending 50 years in this exalted state.
These are great as usual, Toby. The narcissism section can be explained in one 3 letter word: sin, but it's good to flesh it out. Unfortunately, we all have this desire to be God. I believe it was Larry Crabb (or Dan Allender?) who said we all hate God and therefore want to BE God.
We've been on vacation in the Great State of Texas and are now returning to the frozen north. 😞 So I'm not keeping up with emails. I've seen the cat video before, which is a crack-up.
One of your tweets was in my husband's feed so I went to X to like it and saw your Eph 6:12 verse at the top. YES, YES, YES. It becomes more obvious every day. Jeff Childers' post today - which my husband reads out loud to me (but skipped a great deal of graphic material today) is more evidence of that with the New Mexico attorney general's lawsuit filed against Meta. Jonathan Cahn's "Return of the Gods" outlines Eph 6:12 and once you see it, you can't un-see it. Our country is under judgment and it's just a matter of time until God says, "enough." That millstone verse comes to mind a lot.
Regarding why the totalitarian impulse seems to be a human thing (or if there is some trace among animals, why it has a unique range of manifestations in humans):
I think it's best explained as a twisted form of our original mandate from the Creator, to dominate the planet:
"Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Gen. 1)
Presumably in a sin-free world, that was to be a caring, nurturing rule, and it would be necessary to subdue only what mistakenly gets out of balance.
But from the day that mankind was no longer content with our mandate as Man, and instead decided to also "become like GOD" (Gen. 3), man turned that capacity into a destructive, self-serving kind of domination as a mutated Man-God wannabe... A lust for total control over something/someone else, whether it was needed or not, whether it was "Good" or not. And already in the world's first brother relationship, that total-control impulse took over and led to violence and the death of an innocent brother.
Whether you choose to read Genesis as allegory, or (like me) as a literal historical account, the common inheritance that was passed down (if not from Adam, then from some other ancestor) is real and inescapable. Every generation in every culture deals with the perverted kind of dominion, while the rare appearance of the original version never lasts long.
The humanists of course keep believing, without any evidence, that some magic discovery will turn us all into our true nurturing selves, banishing the wrong kind of domination from human behavior. And the totalitarians of course keep exploiting that naivete for their own ends.
Regarding "the funnel"... I would argue that the offspring of the wealthy are not necessarily "those with the most advantage and promise". And therefore siphoning them into woke education and criminal enterprises is not necessarily going to cause a "brain drain".
Just as biological inbreeding lowers the stamina and the IQ of a family line, the moral-spiritual equivalent will kill off the creativity and resilience of a society. We're already seeing that decay in key industries, from news networks to entertainment to Ivy League schools, and their wealth and past prestige are not keeping them from dumbing down.
The few talented individuals they have are leaving those high-paying jobs (or are kicked out for nonconformity), and far from being shut down, they are setting up their own free-wheeling enterprises -- taking big chunks of public support with them. Some of those indie competitors are already leaving the big-name corporations in the dust. Free Press. Tucker Carlson. Angel Studios.
Eventually the smart investments will follow the creative quality and the crowd-funding. The dumb investments will go down with the sinking ship out of loyalty to the 'brand' or the 'narrative'. We're already seeing an unintended wealth transfer as big donors and investors decide they don't really want to sink.
So maybe the alternative we need is embedded in human nature, and the "funnel" will collapse naturally.
We have to hope that the immoral wealthy don't succeed in buying up and taking over the alternatives before losing their wealth... because then the cycle will repeat itself.
Toby, is there a book you recommend that discusses your comments under the Black Book of Vaccination? Id really like to read it.
Regarding your comment on libertarianism, I want to mention something related. I believe Peter Thiel had an insight about capitalists and free markets. Specifically, many capitalists don’t believe in free markets and they actually engage in anti-competitive practices in their efforts to consolidate as much capital as possible. It’s so obvious, I’m not sure there’s a need to point it out even but funny I didn’t see that before Covid.
There's a Black Book of Communism and a Black Book of Capitalism that record their various atrocities. I thought it would be interesting to create a Black Book of Vaccination. This was my initial contributions but of course the horrors go well beyond that.
I think the totalitarian impulse, when it arises in ordinary people, is a reaction to unmitigated fear and personal loss of control. It’s an attempt to control something when one feels unmoored
Yes narcissism. Like when Fauci proclaimed “I AM the science” and Ardern announced that she and her government were the SOLE source of info. In a normally functioning society this should have raised alarms. In a profoundly abused society, this seems ok. Society needs a revamp in all levels.
"But what explains the totalitarian impulse itself? Other animals don’t behave this way."
Chimpanzees and dolphins can be quite ruthless. Maybe the collective behavior of humanity is just
easier for us to see.
Schopenhauer tried to answer this question with his view of the will to power as the deepest impulse to humanity. But like many philosophers, he may have been trying to find a one-size-fits-all formula for all humanity rather than looking at particular psychological types such as those high in cluster B (dark-triad) traits.
Perhaps a few variables that could be added to his assessment include the high functioning intelligence (defined as creation and manipulation of information) of cluster Bs, the provisional limits of logic and language in general (from Gödel and Wittgenstein to zen koans), and the limits of empathy when populations exceed Dunbar's number. Just a few of the variables I've been toying with.
All of the Covidian demons may indeed believe themselves to be gods, but they will all eventually face the one true God and in that split second face the eternal reality of their godlessness.
I can't advise except to say, each individual may need something a little different. I know Hyperbaric Oxygen has helped many person with Lyme's along with other protocols.
But he says, "come let us reason together." If he's the creator revealing himself through the old and new testaments, then he has law and he wants us to obey. It is our choice. We're to 'work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.' Or don't and suffer the consequences. It's not a free-for-all.
the first point is so true. it reminded me I need to get my hands on a copy of Christopher Lasch's " The Revolt of the Elites" - where I gather he looked at this particularly the focus on zero sum game. from good reads:
"[A] passionate, compelling, and disturbing argument that the ills of democracy in the United States today arise from the default of its elites." ―John Gray, New York Times Book Review (front-page review) In a front-page review in the Washington Post Book World , John Judis wrote: "Political analysts have been poring over exit polls and precinct-level votes to gauge the meaning of last November's election, but they would probably better employ their time reading the late Christopher Lasch's book." And in the National Review , Robert Bork says The Revolt of the Elites "ranges provocatively [and] insightfully."
Controversy has raged around Lasch's targeted attack on the elites, their loss of moral values, and their abandonment of the middle class and poor, for he sets up the media and educational institutions as a large source of the problem. In this spirited work, Lasch calls out for a return to community, schools that teach history not self-esteem, and a return to morality and even the teachings of religion. He does this in a nonpartisan manner, looking to the lessons of American history, and castigating those in power for the ever-widening gap between the economic classes, which has created a crisis in American society. The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy is riveting social commentary.
First published January 1, 1995
Christopher "Kit" Lasch (June 1, 1932 – February 14, 1994) was an American historian, moralist, and social critic who was a history professor at the University of Rochester.
Lasch sought to use history as a tool to awaken American society to the pervasiveness with which major institutions, public and private, were eroding the competence and independence of families and communities. He strove to create a historically informed social criticism that could teach Americans how to deal with rampant consumerism, proletarianization, and what he famously labeled the 'culture of narcissism.'
His books, including The New Radicalism in America (1965), Haven in a Heartless World (1977), The Culture of Narcissism (1979), and The True and Only Heaven (1991), and The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy published posthumously in 1996 were widely discussed and reviewed. The Culture of Narcissism became a surprise best-seller and won the National Book Award in the category Current Interest (paperback).
Lasch was always a critic of liberalism, and a historian of liberalism's discontents, but over time his political perspective evolved dramatically. In the 1960s, he was a neo-Marxist and acerbic critic of Cold War liberalism. During the 1970s, he began to become a far more iconoclastic figure, fusing cultural conservatism with a Marxian critique of capitalism, and drawing on Freud-influenced critical theory to diagnose the ongoing deterioration that he perceived in American culture and politics. His writings during this period are considered contradictory. They are sometimes denounced by feminists and hailed by conservatives for his apparent defense of the traditional family. But as he explained in one of his books The Minimal Self, "it goes without saying that sexual equality in itself remains an eminently desirable objective...". Moreover, in Women and the Common Life, Lasch clarified that urging women to abandon the household and forcing them into a position of economic dependence, in the workplace, pointing out the importance of professional careers does not entail liberation, as long as these careers are governed by the requirements of corporate economy.
He eventually concluded that an often unspoken but pervasive faith in "Progress" tended to make Americans resistant to many of his arguments. In his last major works he explored this theme in depth, suggesting that Americans had much to learn from the suppressed and misunderstood Populist and artisan movements of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
"The fact that they can kill millions of people and get away with it proves that they are God."
They are also aware that a big chunk of population views them with almost reverence even as they are aware of their own power to "save" millions or kill millions and that they have no oversight, they are the ultimate oversight. I can see why a small man like Fauci may think he is god after spending 50 years in this exalted state.
Thanks for the insights.
These are great as usual, Toby. The narcissism section can be explained in one 3 letter word: sin, but it's good to flesh it out. Unfortunately, we all have this desire to be God. I believe it was Larry Crabb (or Dan Allender?) who said we all hate God and therefore want to BE God.
We've been on vacation in the Great State of Texas and are now returning to the frozen north. 😞 So I'm not keeping up with emails. I've seen the cat video before, which is a crack-up.
One of your tweets was in my husband's feed so I went to X to like it and saw your Eph 6:12 verse at the top. YES, YES, YES. It becomes more obvious every day. Jeff Childers' post today - which my husband reads out loud to me (but skipped a great deal of graphic material today) is more evidence of that with the New Mexico attorney general's lawsuit filed against Meta. Jonathan Cahn's "Return of the Gods" outlines Eph 6:12 and once you see it, you can't un-see it. Our country is under judgment and it's just a matter of time until God says, "enough." That millstone verse comes to mind a lot.
Gotta reevaluate the virus thing.
"Vaaanity. It's 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 my favorite sin." Says the Devil played by Al Pacino in the "Devil's Advocate," screenplay by Tony Gilroy.
Regarding why the totalitarian impulse seems to be a human thing (or if there is some trace among animals, why it has a unique range of manifestations in humans):
I think it's best explained as a twisted form of our original mandate from the Creator, to dominate the planet:
"Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Gen. 1)
Presumably in a sin-free world, that was to be a caring, nurturing rule, and it would be necessary to subdue only what mistakenly gets out of balance.
But from the day that mankind was no longer content with our mandate as Man, and instead decided to also "become like GOD" (Gen. 3), man turned that capacity into a destructive, self-serving kind of domination as a mutated Man-God wannabe... A lust for total control over something/someone else, whether it was needed or not, whether it was "Good" or not. And already in the world's first brother relationship, that total-control impulse took over and led to violence and the death of an innocent brother.
Whether you choose to read Genesis as allegory, or (like me) as a literal historical account, the common inheritance that was passed down (if not from Adam, then from some other ancestor) is real and inescapable. Every generation in every culture deals with the perverted kind of dominion, while the rare appearance of the original version never lasts long.
The humanists of course keep believing, without any evidence, that some magic discovery will turn us all into our true nurturing selves, banishing the wrong kind of domination from human behavior. And the totalitarians of course keep exploiting that naivete for their own ends.
Regarding "the funnel"... I would argue that the offspring of the wealthy are not necessarily "those with the most advantage and promise". And therefore siphoning them into woke education and criminal enterprises is not necessarily going to cause a "brain drain".
Just as biological inbreeding lowers the stamina and the IQ of a family line, the moral-spiritual equivalent will kill off the creativity and resilience of a society. We're already seeing that decay in key industries, from news networks to entertainment to Ivy League schools, and their wealth and past prestige are not keeping them from dumbing down.
The few talented individuals they have are leaving those high-paying jobs (or are kicked out for nonconformity), and far from being shut down, they are setting up their own free-wheeling enterprises -- taking big chunks of public support with them. Some of those indie competitors are already leaving the big-name corporations in the dust. Free Press. Tucker Carlson. Angel Studios.
Eventually the smart investments will follow the creative quality and the crowd-funding. The dumb investments will go down with the sinking ship out of loyalty to the 'brand' or the 'narrative'. We're already seeing an unintended wealth transfer as big donors and investors decide they don't really want to sink.
So maybe the alternative we need is embedded in human nature, and the "funnel" will collapse naturally.
We have to hope that the immoral wealthy don't succeed in buying up and taking over the alternatives before losing their wealth... because then the cycle will repeat itself.
Yup. SV40 and Lyme almost killed me. My RSV and Covid experiences were mild.
Toby, is there a book you recommend that discusses your comments under the Black Book of Vaccination? Id really like to read it.
Regarding your comment on libertarianism, I want to mention something related. I believe Peter Thiel had an insight about capitalists and free markets. Specifically, many capitalists don’t believe in free markets and they actually engage in anti-competitive practices in their efforts to consolidate as much capital as possible. It’s so obvious, I’m not sure there’s a need to point it out even but funny I didn’t see that before Covid.
There's a Black Book of Communism and a Black Book of Capitalism that record their various atrocities. I thought it would be interesting to create a Black Book of Vaccination. This was my initial contributions but of course the horrors go well beyond that.
A blues cat. too awesome. I tell ya, my cats are such slackers. I guess it must be me!
Thanks, Toby. Your Thinking Points are always so interesting.
I think the totalitarian impulse, when it arises in ordinary people, is a reaction to unmitigated fear and personal loss of control. It’s an attempt to control something when one feels unmoored
Yes narcissism. Like when Fauci proclaimed “I AM the science” and Ardern announced that she and her government were the SOLE source of info. In a normally functioning society this should have raised alarms. In a profoundly abused society, this seems ok. Society needs a revamp in all levels.
"But what explains the totalitarian impulse itself? Other animals don’t behave this way."
Chimpanzees and dolphins can be quite ruthless. Maybe the collective behavior of humanity is just
easier for us to see.
Schopenhauer tried to answer this question with his view of the will to power as the deepest impulse to humanity. But like many philosophers, he may have been trying to find a one-size-fits-all formula for all humanity rather than looking at particular psychological types such as those high in cluster B (dark-triad) traits.
Perhaps a few variables that could be added to his assessment include the high functioning intelligence (defined as creation and manipulation of information) of cluster Bs, the provisional limits of logic and language in general (from Gödel and Wittgenstein to zen koans), and the limits of empathy when populations exceed Dunbar's number. Just a few of the variables I've been toying with.
All of the Covidian demons may indeed believe themselves to be gods, but they will all eventually face the one true God and in that split second face the eternal reality of their godlessness.
I can't advise except to say, each individual may need something a little different. I know Hyperbaric Oxygen has helped many person with Lyme's along with other protocols.
But he says, "come let us reason together." If he's the creator revealing himself through the old and new testaments, then he has law and he wants us to obey. It is our choice. We're to 'work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.' Or don't and suffer the consequences. It's not a free-for-all.
the first point is so true. it reminded me I need to get my hands on a copy of Christopher Lasch's " The Revolt of the Elites" - where I gather he looked at this particularly the focus on zero sum game. from good reads:
"[A] passionate, compelling, and disturbing argument that the ills of democracy in the United States today arise from the default of its elites." ―John Gray, New York Times Book Review (front-page review) In a front-page review in the Washington Post Book World , John Judis wrote: "Political analysts have been poring over exit polls and precinct-level votes to gauge the meaning of last November's election, but they would probably better employ their time reading the late Christopher Lasch's book." And in the National Review , Robert Bork says The Revolt of the Elites "ranges provocatively [and] insightfully."
Controversy has raged around Lasch's targeted attack on the elites, their loss of moral values, and their abandonment of the middle class and poor, for he sets up the media and educational institutions as a large source of the problem. In this spirited work, Lasch calls out for a return to community, schools that teach history not self-esteem, and a return to morality and even the teachings of religion. He does this in a nonpartisan manner, looking to the lessons of American history, and castigating those in power for the ever-widening gap between the economic classes, which has created a crisis in American society. The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy is riveting social commentary.
First published January 1, 1995
Christopher "Kit" Lasch (June 1, 1932 – February 14, 1994) was an American historian, moralist, and social critic who was a history professor at the University of Rochester.
Lasch sought to use history as a tool to awaken American society to the pervasiveness with which major institutions, public and private, were eroding the competence and independence of families and communities. He strove to create a historically informed social criticism that could teach Americans how to deal with rampant consumerism, proletarianization, and what he famously labeled the 'culture of narcissism.'
His books, including The New Radicalism in America (1965), Haven in a Heartless World (1977), The Culture of Narcissism (1979), and The True and Only Heaven (1991), and The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy published posthumously in 1996 were widely discussed and reviewed. The Culture of Narcissism became a surprise best-seller and won the National Book Award in the category Current Interest (paperback).
Lasch was always a critic of liberalism, and a historian of liberalism's discontents, but over time his political perspective evolved dramatically. In the 1960s, he was a neo-Marxist and acerbic critic of Cold War liberalism. During the 1970s, he began to become a far more iconoclastic figure, fusing cultural conservatism with a Marxian critique of capitalism, and drawing on Freud-influenced critical theory to diagnose the ongoing deterioration that he perceived in American culture and politics. His writings during this period are considered contradictory. They are sometimes denounced by feminists and hailed by conservatives for his apparent defense of the traditional family. But as he explained in one of his books The Minimal Self, "it goes without saying that sexual equality in itself remains an eminently desirable objective...". Moreover, in Women and the Common Life, Lasch clarified that urging women to abandon the household and forcing them into a position of economic dependence, in the workplace, pointing out the importance of professional careers does not entail liberation, as long as these careers are governed by the requirements of corporate economy.
He eventually concluded that an often unspoken but pervasive faith in "Progress" tended to make Americans resistant to many of his arguments. In his last major works he explored this theme in depth, suggesting that Americans had much to learn from the suppressed and misunderstood Populist and artisan movements of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.