unless they legislate these federal Marxists judges out of their power trips and or impeach them and put them through the “process“ as Steve Bannon has correctly opined ---we’re gonna lose our country to these corrupt leftist f***ers. They infiltrated the entire government in the last 30 years I wonder what our so-called conservative politicians were doing? I suspect the scum bags (Paul Ryan’s McConnell's Romney McCain etc) were profiting from it all. Sold us out… a nice place for them in hell for letting us all down and abusing /profiting from their positions.
I do not think it was fully planned by the Central Committee (semi-communist terms), but... While informal, there was a long and continuous wave of leftists going into key institutions.
I think education is the most fundamental. "They" corrupted the youth.
And so, cleaning up this mess will take a long time.
To be fair, some on the left have "good values" (although often missing other countervailing "good values) and are quite sincere.
But others are cynical.
So, the problem of these people with zombie ideas is just about everywhere. The Bud Lite marketers, in the health care business, in law, in the universities, in schools, in lots and lots of "non-profits" and NGOs. Even in many important private companies (Big Tech is (still) famous for being dominated by leftists).
In terms of long-term improvement, we are at the beginning.
But man, in terms of "immediate" improvement we are going real fast.
Part of it is PR. If the polls favor our positions, that gives us more political power.
I noticed the Corruption of Education when I was in First Grade, at five years old. That was 1959. My 1st Grade Teacher was teaching us Phonics, the more in-depth way to learn to read. But she also was required to teach us the Look-Say Method: Dick & Jane & their Dog Spot. Although I did not really understand it at the time, I could see that Phonics was a MUCH better way to learn reading. I learned later it was foundational to Critical Thinking Skills and such. I also learned the New Math, and to this day I still have trouble with Long Division!
I was then in Military School for 8th Grade, where I had a more thorough introduction to Communism. Then, at 16, I was back in public school, and knew enough to write an Essay for a Communication Class I "spontaneously" came up with titled "Dick & Jane Is A Communist Plot"! The teacher gave me an A+ and asked if she could show the paper to future classes. I said YES, of course.
By 1981, at 27, I was writing articles and teaching self-promoted seminars on the New World Order, the Rockefeller takeover of Medicine & Healthcare, Communo-Fascism, and such.
Let me encourage you not to be SO angry at people on our side.
I do encourage you to explain to people, again and again, how they have misunderstood, and how their ideas (at least in your opinion) are NOT helping the country, and commonly the absolute opposite.
But don't blame people so much.
Why?
First, if you attack people (and some people identify with Ryan (as one example) and feel attacked themselves if you attack Ryan)...then you turn them off too quickly. At least get them to talk to you and maybe they will change.
Second, everyone has good and bad qualities and actions. It is more the left that wants to divide people into saints and devils.
Third, we all are tempted. By thinking things (eg, illogical arguments) and more tangible things (money, lust, power, position, prestige, etc) -- pretty much everyone is imperfect notably.
A key thing we want to say: Reduce the power of central govt BECAUSE humans can be weak and make mistakes. Hence, the checks and balance thing.
Also: All the people you mention got a start in politics a long time ago. And were deeply influenced by events back then.
Anyway, calling them RINOs is one thing (I think also too mean). Calling them scum bags is too too mean. They each did some good things.
Still, if may be that they "sold out." I very much doubt that the sold out in the very bad way of Biden. But in other ways they did. One Ex: Without McConnell I do not think we have the Scotus we have today. And that is huge.
But remember how Reagan thought about it: If someone agrees with me on 80% of things, they are definitely on my side.
And you know of the 11th Commandment (which we must chuckle about): Say nothing bad about a fellow Republican.
Joseph, you clearly don’t understand that reason doesn’t apply to madness, or to corrupt politicians like Paul Ryan, McCain, and their ilk. Only political and legal force can bring the change we need today. The Founders understood this principle.
I have given Mcconnel credit in the past for at least keeping Garland from Scotus, however, when people pretending/masquerading to be on our own side have done so much harm
It is difficult to ignore it and their betrayal. Paul RYAN in particular really betrayed us so did McCain now we are stuck with the complete rot of our healthcare system because they capitulated on Obamacare. They also capitulated on immigration.
Also let me encourage you not to criticize someone just for asserting their opinion as being “angry“
I think calling me angry is mean.
I’m not angry. I am just stating the truth. The people that are angry. Those are my children straight white millennials, and Gen Xers saddled with student loans and no jobs. (the DEI hires that they were working with did not get laid off by the way ) They are the ones who are angry.
My heart hurts for them
And yes, I do hold the rhinos like Liz Cheney, Paul, Ryan, and the rest of them as directly responsible because they betrayed Republican conservative principles
And you can call me mean or angry, but I think it’s mean of you to label me as “angry“for simply pointing out the facts.
Joseph, I thank you for cooling down a little bit in your criticism I have often quoted Reagan’s 80% statement and I have met him a few times. He was a very dynamic fellow and a good man true to his principles. he was also once a Democrat, and in fact, the reason I switched from a Democrat to a Republican back, then as he stated, we did not leave the Democrat party. It left us sadly, even more sadly the Democrat party is now the communist party the rhinos resemble Democrats and simply having conservative principles and values is now labeled “right wing extremist“.
And that is the result of “PR” perpetrated by the compromised, fake news.
Just to add to your point of view, Thomas Jefferson warned us of all this in the late 1700s & early 1800s. He could see it ALREADY happening way back then, and warned us that the U.S. Federal Courts were ALREADY beginning the undoing of our *Original American Paradigm* ( my term ). But it was pretty covert back then, and Americans were doing so well they did not notice what was happening in the Background of their Country.
One big key for Jefferson was maintaining the original DE-Centralized Social Culture, Economics, Education, & Politics in America. DE-Centralization keeps too much power — and VERY Bad Ideas — from getting into the hands of too few people with money, influence, & power.
The Overt Marxist infiltration of America started by the time *Good Old Abe Lincoln* became President. The Communist Manifesto was published in 1848, and was backed by the "covertly" anti-free enterprise, anti-free-market, pro-centralization, crony corporatists who were making a lot of money on the back of TRUE, Original, American Free Enterprise under Common Law. Lincoln was probably NOT a full-on Marxist, but he was supporting some of their ideas, and Mark wrote favorably about Lincoln from his journalist's job in England.
The power-driven industrialists in America, wanting the return of European Mercantilism (big business [and even doctors!] getting Special Favors from the King), started taking over United States Politics. One result of the completely unnecessary Civil War was the 14th Amendment. Masquerading as "freeing the slaves," the 14th gave Natural, Human Rights to Corporations, opening the door to crony-corporatism. A few other legislative tricks and, by 1913, the Statist Slate was set.
The Civil War, despite its Fully Fake Pretension to be about "freeing the slaves, was really the near-end of the Original American Constitutional Republic and the start of the Centralized, Crony-Corporate Kakistocracy [Rule by the Worst of Us]. Please SEE Thomas Dilorenzo and his book or videos on: *The Real Lincoln*.
The passage (almost all at the same time) of the Federal Reserve Act and 16th Amendment in 1913 (two of the Ten Planks of the Communist Manifesto), plus the 17th Amendment, disempowering State Legislatures (removing a major check & balance on Federal Powers by weakening State's Powers) and giving tax-free status to the "Charitable" Foundations of the pro-centralization Industrialists, set us on the nearly irreversible path toward a fully Communo-Fascist State. It was only the tireless work of a handful of True Conservatives (Conserving the Principles of the American Revolution), AND the belief in Biblical Principles, that held back the political Tidal Wave.
And, if the plan of Obama for 8 years, and Hillary for 8 years, had survived, we would probably have been overwhelmed by that Tidal Wave. ... (It should be noted that Communism is only a "front" that was cynically engineered by the Centralized & Corrupt Crony-Corporatists of the last few centuries.)
Like him or Hate him, Trump came around in the Nick Of Time, unexpectedly breaking the Obama/Clinton Chain of Anti-Freedom Destiny. I Predict that History will look favorably upon Donald J. Trump. ... Thank You for Reading!
I voted for Trump this last round, I support most of what he's been doing lately, and I absolutely love the team he's assembled. I empathize very closely to what Kevin wrote. Your comments are taking Kevin's experience somewhere else. The guy Gil's comment above, about "Steve Bannon (and his ilk)" is lazy and shallow. I've said elsewhere, IMHO Steve Bannon is an attention sucking parasite on Trump's rear end. Bannon does not have an official role in the current administration. His ongoing rhetoric is not helpful. Your response dismissing Gil's comment implying he's a communist and America hater from DOWN UNDER, doesn't help encourage rational thinking. We need to keep paths open, listening to and trying to understand of each other's viewpoints, even if they're unable to reciprocate. Hurt outbursts in retaliation keep everyone huddled in their defensive pillboxes.
I disagree. I have been following Bannon since he was with Breitbart.
Yes, I agree. There are quite a few attention suckers riding the Trump coattails, but I was reading Bannon and following Breitbart long before Trump came along.
Personally, I think Steve Bannon is RIGHT about most things. He might be a bit "rough" for some people. But in my mind, not enough people are "rough enough." People like Bannon and Alex Jones have a strong persona, and a lot of people don't like that.
And ANGER is a Perfectly Legitimate & USEFUL Emotion, as long as it is channeled constructively.
Deborah - your hate persona is (I believe) typical of YOUR ilk! And as 'shallow' as you may find it, you refuse to understand how the rest of the world views what is happening in America. You have no shame and no global outlook - typical! Americans represent the lowest proportion of passport holders in the developed world and 80% of those have only visited Canada or Mexico. Why is that?
We "conservatives" (or maybe to say "we on the right" now)...well, you might now know this if you have read Thomas Sowell (I cannot too strongly recommend).
1. The Left: The Vision of the Anointed. Somewhat religious. The idea there are no constraints. And mankind can be perfected.
2. The Right: No one is "anointed." Political ideas are most practical, not religious. Especially about policies, we judge them by whether they work.
Humans have many many motivations. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. So, of course, some criticism is normal and also is needed.
One of the nice things about being "conservative" is that I learned these things from thinkers you won't be likely to find on reading lists from the Left these days:
"The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either -- but right through every human heart -- and through all human hearts." Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago
"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is a government big enough to take away everything that you have." Unattributed
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." C. S. Lewis
"It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong." Thomas Sowell
"He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them. But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion... Nor is it enough that he should hear the opinions of adversaries from his own teachers, presented as they state them, and accompanied by what they offer as refutations. He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them...he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form."
The Perplexity AI Tools says the quote: "A government big enough to give you everything you want, is a government big enough to take away everything that you have." was first used in 1952, in a book called "Remember These Things" by Paul Harvey.
"One thing I know is that whatever this thing is that is driving people crazy needs to be destroyed."
I hate to break it to you, Kevin, but I fear it is Satanic. I know you may not find that very "scientific." The mental illness we see all around us has a deep spiritual root, exacerbated by grotesque ideologies.
If by Satanic you mean that we are all potentially Satanic if we end up going down that wrong path, I agree. People are behaving as if they are in a profound rebellion against God. They are prioritizing power and ego over what is true and good. There is nothing more Satanic than that. But the rebellion is so profound, systematic, and relentless that it really does seem as if people are possessed with demons.
I think your current feelings (disbelief, feeling disturbed, etc) are somewhat akin to the stereotype of an ex-smoker who opposes smoking even more vehemently than someone who's been a nonsmoker their entire life.
As someone who's always leaned more conservative, I view most people on the left who hold the views you describe as being regularly blinded to reality, but otherwise mostly well-meaning people.
Of course, almost all of us are capable of great evil (consider Reserve Police Battalion 101 in Jozefow). And some of the players on the left are downright evil in their intentions, designs, or actions. The way you were treated and maliciously lied about was completely unacceptable - I'm not excusing that. And it's only reasonable to conclude that there are evil forces out there (whether you attribute them to the devil or to human caprice, they're there); after all, as you observed, there are now so many people who seem hostile to civilisation and humanity.
I guess what I'm saying is that I don't think that most of the people you described are beyond reaching. It's just one hell of a long slog to get them to even consider a different point of view. But if you weren't beyond reach, why would we presume they are? I think your journey is ultimately a message of hope.
Curious, Kevin. Did you have and/or do you now have any level of belief in God? Jesus? Asking because it has been my observation that those who are most “militant” do not believe in God.
Just a strong familiarity with history and literature, plus basic pattern recognition ability, plus basic humility. That allows people to spot the signs of mass hysteria, cultishness, groupthink, etc.
Which of those three didn’t you have? They can all be taught.
When I was 4, I read the story “The Emperor’s New Clothes”. That was ENOUGH for me to understand the idea that grownups could be collectively wrong about something.
When I was 6, I learned about the existence of wars and religious and political conflicts that became violent. I drew the very straightforward conclusion that if grownups disagree with EACH OTHER so much, at all times some of them are wrong, even if the wrong notion is held by almost all of a particular group of them.
When I was 8, I read “Animal Farm”, I learned about witch burnings and show trials, and I thought “this keeps happening throughout history, I should try to notice if it does.”
Only a poisoned education system can prevent this immunization from taking place.
This is so true. I think of the New Clothes all the time listening to these useful idiots and liars. What a valuable insight. I knew about how Hitler and his henchmen took over the mind of Germany and the Bolsheviks took over Russia by the time I was 11 or 12.
And my mother told me that Lyndon Johnson killed JFK when I was sent home from school that day.
So I’ve never included trust as part of any government function.
And I am slightly encouraged to see some leftwing actual thinkers waking up.
There’s an even SIMPLER principle that suffices: make it a HABIT OF MIND to “listen to the other side”.
There was NO SHORTAGE at any time of people who were criticizing your ingroup correctly, who were right for the right reasons, and whom you eventually came to agree with. If you were in a bubble and never heard them, that’s your fault but it’s very easily remedied. Just insist that no one gets to filter your information and tell you what you shouldn’t read or listen to!
Thank you for writing what it was like to lose your tribe, to collapse your identity, and to rebuild your life. I went through the same process, including losing my job. No regrets though. I learned how to farm me and met a community of people who understand that Food Sovereignty is where we find our freedom.
I hope we all can grow some food, buy local products and build local community. It's the only way out of the global system.
I applaud your intellectual honesty & willingness to admit you were wrong. It takes cahones & integrity to do so. I was exactly the same as you describe, making blanket assumptions about those on the right & casually disregarded their perspectives or beliefs with a haughty superiority & hubris that often comes from too much education & a career in academia. I wish I could say I’m surprised by the way your enlightenment was received by the medical establishment, but you were a heretic & had to be destroyed in order to maintain the illusion & prevent others breaking ranks.
My “awakening” came in 2016, & I predicted much of what happened during covid as so many in the medical freedom movement did. We watched as the decades of policy corruption & PublicHealth™️ lies tested & refined in the context of the childhood vaxx schedule was rolled out across the entire population. It is unfortunate that we so often have to experience a personal trauma to open our eyes.
I found your post to be thoughtful and well-written, Dr. Bass, and I appreciated finding it in my Substack feed. Thank you. In the final paragraph you reference "whatever this thing is" and, for many of us, it is obvious what "this thing is." It is evil incarnate: "the accuser," "the adversary," also known as Satan. Read your Bible. Old or New Testament, it matters not. "This thing" has influenced (possessed???) folks throughout the ages, and is an especially potent influencer of the proud and the intellectually-superior, but also the bitter and resentful. It is the evil that grabs hold of the mob, and the evil that you have seen face-to-face. You can't unsee it now. You can help others see it though, and this you are doing. Well done.
Thank you for writing again. Your insights are very helpful to me. You have come a long way and have grown. Even though so much was taken from you unjustly, you have been purified and illuminated by the whole brutal ordeal. I respect and admire the maturity you have attained through this Purgatory you have experienced.
unless they legislate these federal Marxists judges out of their power trips and or impeach them and put them through the “process“ as Steve Bannon has correctly opined ---we’re gonna lose our country to these corrupt leftist f***ers. They infiltrated the entire government in the last 30 years I wonder what our so-called conservative politicians were doing? I suspect the scum bags (Paul Ryan’s McConnell's Romney McCain etc) were profiting from it all. Sold us out… a nice place for them in hell for letting us all down and abusing /profiting from their positions.
Hi Deborah,
Yes, infiltrate is a good word.
I do not think it was fully planned by the Central Committee (semi-communist terms), but... While informal, there was a long and continuous wave of leftists going into key institutions.
I think education is the most fundamental. "They" corrupted the youth.
And so, cleaning up this mess will take a long time.
To be fair, some on the left have "good values" (although often missing other countervailing "good values) and are quite sincere.
But others are cynical.
So, the problem of these people with zombie ideas is just about everywhere. The Bud Lite marketers, in the health care business, in law, in the universities, in schools, in lots and lots of "non-profits" and NGOs. Even in many important private companies (Big Tech is (still) famous for being dominated by leftists).
In terms of long-term improvement, we are at the beginning.
But man, in terms of "immediate" improvement we are going real fast.
Part of it is PR. If the polls favor our positions, that gives us more political power.
Keep going!
I noticed the Corruption of Education when I was in First Grade, at five years old. That was 1959. My 1st Grade Teacher was teaching us Phonics, the more in-depth way to learn to read. But she also was required to teach us the Look-Say Method: Dick & Jane & their Dog Spot. Although I did not really understand it at the time, I could see that Phonics was a MUCH better way to learn reading. I learned later it was foundational to Critical Thinking Skills and such. I also learned the New Math, and to this day I still have trouble with Long Division!
I was then in Military School for 8th Grade, where I had a more thorough introduction to Communism. Then, at 16, I was back in public school, and knew enough to write an Essay for a Communication Class I "spontaneously" came up with titled "Dick & Jane Is A Communist Plot"! The teacher gave me an A+ and asked if she could show the paper to future classes. I said YES, of course.
By 1981, at 27, I was writing articles and teaching self-promoted seminars on the New World Order, the Rockefeller takeover of Medicine & Healthcare, Communo-Fascism, and such.
I guess that makes me a Conservative!
Good grief. So many typos!! I fixed mine now, I think all of them.
Hi Deborah,
Let me encourage you not to be SO angry at people on our side.
I do encourage you to explain to people, again and again, how they have misunderstood, and how their ideas (at least in your opinion) are NOT helping the country, and commonly the absolute opposite.
But don't blame people so much.
Why?
First, if you attack people (and some people identify with Ryan (as one example) and feel attacked themselves if you attack Ryan)...then you turn them off too quickly. At least get them to talk to you and maybe they will change.
Second, everyone has good and bad qualities and actions. It is more the left that wants to divide people into saints and devils.
Third, we all are tempted. By thinking things (eg, illogical arguments) and more tangible things (money, lust, power, position, prestige, etc) -- pretty much everyone is imperfect notably.
A key thing we want to say: Reduce the power of central govt BECAUSE humans can be weak and make mistakes. Hence, the checks and balance thing.
Also: All the people you mention got a start in politics a long time ago. And were deeply influenced by events back then.
Anyway, calling them RINOs is one thing (I think also too mean). Calling them scum bags is too too mean. They each did some good things.
Still, if may be that they "sold out." I very much doubt that the sold out in the very bad way of Biden. But in other ways they did. One Ex: Without McConnell I do not think we have the Scotus we have today. And that is huge.
But remember how Reagan thought about it: If someone agrees with me on 80% of things, they are definitely on my side.
And you know of the 11th Commandment (which we must chuckle about): Say nothing bad about a fellow Republican.
Maybe that's too far, but you get an idea.
Best regards!
Joseph, you clearly don’t understand that reason doesn’t apply to madness, or to corrupt politicians like Paul Ryan, McCain, and their ilk. Only political and legal force can bring the change we need today. The Founders understood this principle.
I have given Mcconnel credit in the past for at least keeping Garland from Scotus, however, when people pretending/masquerading to be on our own side have done so much harm
It is difficult to ignore it and their betrayal. Paul RYAN in particular really betrayed us so did McCain now we are stuck with the complete rot of our healthcare system because they capitulated on Obamacare. They also capitulated on immigration.
Also let me encourage you not to criticize someone just for asserting their opinion as being “angry“
I think calling me angry is mean.
I’m not angry. I am just stating the truth. The people that are angry. Those are my children straight white millennials, and Gen Xers saddled with student loans and no jobs. (the DEI hires that they were working with did not get laid off by the way ) They are the ones who are angry.
My heart hurts for them
And yes, I do hold the rhinos like Liz Cheney, Paul, Ryan, and the rest of them as directly responsible because they betrayed Republican conservative principles
And you can call me mean or angry, but I think it’s mean of you to label me as “angry“for simply pointing out the facts.
Joseph, I thank you for cooling down a little bit in your criticism I have often quoted Reagan’s 80% statement and I have met him a few times. He was a very dynamic fellow and a good man true to his principles. he was also once a Democrat, and in fact, the reason I switched from a Democrat to a Republican back, then as he stated, we did not leave the Democrat party. It left us sadly, even more sadly the Democrat party is now the communist party the rhinos resemble Democrats and simply having conservative principles and values is now labeled “right wing extremist“.
And that is the result of “PR” perpetrated by the compromised, fake news.
And yes, also left-wing indoctrination.
Hello Deborah! Great Comment!
Just to add to your point of view, Thomas Jefferson warned us of all this in the late 1700s & early 1800s. He could see it ALREADY happening way back then, and warned us that the U.S. Federal Courts were ALREADY beginning the undoing of our *Original American Paradigm* ( my term ). But it was pretty covert back then, and Americans were doing so well they did not notice what was happening in the Background of their Country.
One big key for Jefferson was maintaining the original DE-Centralized Social Culture, Economics, Education, & Politics in America. DE-Centralization keeps too much power — and VERY Bad Ideas — from getting into the hands of too few people with money, influence, & power.
The Overt Marxist infiltration of America started by the time *Good Old Abe Lincoln* became President. The Communist Manifesto was published in 1848, and was backed by the "covertly" anti-free enterprise, anti-free-market, pro-centralization, crony corporatists who were making a lot of money on the back of TRUE, Original, American Free Enterprise under Common Law. Lincoln was probably NOT a full-on Marxist, but he was supporting some of their ideas, and Mark wrote favorably about Lincoln from his journalist's job in England.
The power-driven industrialists in America, wanting the return of European Mercantilism (big business [and even doctors!] getting Special Favors from the King), started taking over United States Politics. One result of the completely unnecessary Civil War was the 14th Amendment. Masquerading as "freeing the slaves," the 14th gave Natural, Human Rights to Corporations, opening the door to crony-corporatism. A few other legislative tricks and, by 1913, the Statist Slate was set.
The Civil War, despite its Fully Fake Pretension to be about "freeing the slaves, was really the near-end of the Original American Constitutional Republic and the start of the Centralized, Crony-Corporate Kakistocracy [Rule by the Worst of Us]. Please SEE Thomas Dilorenzo and his book or videos on: *The Real Lincoln*.
The passage (almost all at the same time) of the Federal Reserve Act and 16th Amendment in 1913 (two of the Ten Planks of the Communist Manifesto), plus the 17th Amendment, disempowering State Legislatures (removing a major check & balance on Federal Powers by weakening State's Powers) and giving tax-free status to the "Charitable" Foundations of the pro-centralization Industrialists, set us on the nearly irreversible path toward a fully Communo-Fascist State. It was only the tireless work of a handful of True Conservatives (Conserving the Principles of the American Revolution), AND the belief in Biblical Principles, that held back the political Tidal Wave.
And, if the plan of Obama for 8 years, and Hillary for 8 years, had survived, we would probably have been overwhelmed by that Tidal Wave. ... (It should be noted that Communism is only a "front" that was cynically engineered by the Centralized & Corrupt Crony-Corporatists of the last few centuries.)
Like him or Hate him, Trump came around in the Nick Of Time, unexpectedly breaking the Obama/Clinton Chain of Anti-Freedom Destiny. I Predict that History will look favorably upon Donald J. Trump. ... Thank You for Reading!
Ahhhh... sorry! You have just lost your country AS A RESULT of the Steve Bannon's (and his ilk) of America.
your view from DOWN UNDER... pssshhh. Bannon is despised by communists and America haters.
I voted for Trump this last round, I support most of what he's been doing lately, and I absolutely love the team he's assembled. I empathize very closely to what Kevin wrote. Your comments are taking Kevin's experience somewhere else. The guy Gil's comment above, about "Steve Bannon (and his ilk)" is lazy and shallow. I've said elsewhere, IMHO Steve Bannon is an attention sucking parasite on Trump's rear end. Bannon does not have an official role in the current administration. His ongoing rhetoric is not helpful. Your response dismissing Gil's comment implying he's a communist and America hater from DOWN UNDER, doesn't help encourage rational thinking. We need to keep paths open, listening to and trying to understand of each other's viewpoints, even if they're unable to reciprocate. Hurt outbursts in retaliation keep everyone huddled in their defensive pillboxes.
I disagree. I have been following Bannon since he was with Breitbart.
Yes, I agree. There are quite a few attention suckers riding the Trump coattails, but I was reading Bannon and following Breitbart long before Trump came along.
Personally, I think Steve Bannon is RIGHT about most things. He might be a bit "rough" for some people. But in my mind, not enough people are "rough enough." People like Bannon and Alex Jones have a strong persona, and a lot of people don't like that.
And ANGER is a Perfectly Legitimate & USEFUL Emotion, as long as it is channeled constructively.
Deborah - your hate persona is (I believe) typical of YOUR ilk! And as 'shallow' as you may find it, you refuse to understand how the rest of the world views what is happening in America. You have no shame and no global outlook - typical! Americans represent the lowest proportion of passport holders in the developed world and 80% of those have only visited Canada or Mexico. Why is that?
Kudos to you for having the integrity to admit your past errors. It is why you will progress. I wish you well on the journey.
Thank you for being so honest.
We "conservatives" (or maybe to say "we on the right" now)...well, you might now know this if you have read Thomas Sowell (I cannot too strongly recommend).
1. The Left: The Vision of the Anointed. Somewhat religious. The idea there are no constraints. And mankind can be perfected.
2. The Right: No one is "anointed." Political ideas are most practical, not religious. Especially about policies, we judge them by whether they work.
Humans have many many motivations. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. So, of course, some criticism is normal and also is needed.
I'll say more later.
Great to see you come up for air! Welcome to the real world.
One of the nice things about being "conservative" is that I learned these things from thinkers you won't be likely to find on reading lists from the Left these days:
"The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either -- but right through every human heart -- and through all human hearts." Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago
"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is a government big enough to take away everything that you have." Unattributed
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." C. S. Lewis
"It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong." Thomas Sowell
"He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them. But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion... Nor is it enough that he should hear the opinions of adversaries from his own teachers, presented as they state them, and accompanied by what they offer as refutations. He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them...he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form."
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty
The Perplexity AI Tools says the quote: "A government big enough to give you everything you want, is a government big enough to take away everything that you have." was first used in 1952, in a book called "Remember These Things" by Paul Harvey.
"One thing I know is that whatever this thing is that is driving people crazy needs to be destroyed."
I hate to break it to you, Kevin, but I fear it is Satanic. I know you may not find that very "scientific." The mental illness we see all around us has a deep spiritual root, exacerbated by grotesque ideologies.
If by Satanic you mean that we are all potentially Satanic if we end up going down that wrong path, I agree. People are behaving as if they are in a profound rebellion against God. They are prioritizing power and ego over what is true and good. There is nothing more Satanic than that. But the rebellion is so profound, systematic, and relentless that it really does seem as if people are possessed with demons.
I think your current feelings (disbelief, feeling disturbed, etc) are somewhat akin to the stereotype of an ex-smoker who opposes smoking even more vehemently than someone who's been a nonsmoker their entire life.
As someone who's always leaned more conservative, I view most people on the left who hold the views you describe as being regularly blinded to reality, but otherwise mostly well-meaning people.
Of course, almost all of us are capable of great evil (consider Reserve Police Battalion 101 in Jozefow). And some of the players on the left are downright evil in their intentions, designs, or actions. The way you were treated and maliciously lied about was completely unacceptable - I'm not excusing that. And it's only reasonable to conclude that there are evil forces out there (whether you attribute them to the devil or to human caprice, they're there); after all, as you observed, there are now so many people who seem hostile to civilisation and humanity.
I guess what I'm saying is that I don't think that most of the people you described are beyond reaching. It's just one hell of a long slog to get them to even consider a different point of view. But if you weren't beyond reach, why would we presume they are? I think your journey is ultimately a message of hope.
Interesting article. Thank you for sharing this.
Curious, Kevin. Did you have and/or do you now have any level of belief in God? Jesus? Asking because it has been my observation that those who are most “militant” do not believe in God.
Thank you for sharing your struggles. There may not be as many of us, but among us I am sure you have found some amazing heroes. Keep fighting!
The answer is simple and suggests the solution.
What IMMUNIZES people against this kind of error?
Just a strong familiarity with history and literature, plus basic pattern recognition ability, plus basic humility. That allows people to spot the signs of mass hysteria, cultishness, groupthink, etc.
Which of those three didn’t you have? They can all be taught.
When I was 4, I read the story “The Emperor’s New Clothes”. That was ENOUGH for me to understand the idea that grownups could be collectively wrong about something.
When I was 6, I learned about the existence of wars and religious and political conflicts that became violent. I drew the very straightforward conclusion that if grownups disagree with EACH OTHER so much, at all times some of them are wrong, even if the wrong notion is held by almost all of a particular group of them.
When I was 8, I read “Animal Farm”, I learned about witch burnings and show trials, and I thought “this keeps happening throughout history, I should try to notice if it does.”
Only a poisoned education system can prevent this immunization from taking place.
This is so true. I think of the New Clothes all the time listening to these useful idiots and liars. What a valuable insight. I knew about how Hitler and his henchmen took over the mind of Germany and the Bolsheviks took over Russia by the time I was 11 or 12.
And my mother told me that Lyndon Johnson killed JFK when I was sent home from school that day.
So I’ve never included trust as part of any government function.
And I am slightly encouraged to see some leftwing actual thinkers waking up.
There’s an even SIMPLER principle that suffices: make it a HABIT OF MIND to “listen to the other side”.
There was NO SHORTAGE at any time of people who were criticizing your ingroup correctly, who were right for the right reasons, and whom you eventually came to agree with. If you were in a bubble and never heard them, that’s your fault but it’s very easily remedied. Just insist that no one gets to filter your information and tell you what you shouldn’t read or listen to!
Thank you for this, Kevin! It serves as the narrative for so many of us, and for what so serious ails Western "civilization" in these egregious times.
Thank you for writing what it was like to lose your tribe, to collapse your identity, and to rebuild your life. I went through the same process, including losing my job. No regrets though. I learned how to farm me and met a community of people who understand that Food Sovereignty is where we find our freedom.
I hope we all can grow some food, buy local products and build local community. It's the only way out of the global system.
I applaud your intellectual honesty & willingness to admit you were wrong. It takes cahones & integrity to do so. I was exactly the same as you describe, making blanket assumptions about those on the right & casually disregarded their perspectives or beliefs with a haughty superiority & hubris that often comes from too much education & a career in academia. I wish I could say I’m surprised by the way your enlightenment was received by the medical establishment, but you were a heretic & had to be destroyed in order to maintain the illusion & prevent others breaking ranks.
My “awakening” came in 2016, & I predicted much of what happened during covid as so many in the medical freedom movement did. We watched as the decades of policy corruption & PublicHealth™️ lies tested & refined in the context of the childhood vaxx schedule was rolled out across the entire population. It is unfortunate that we so often have to experience a personal trauma to open our eyes.
I found your post to be thoughtful and well-written, Dr. Bass, and I appreciated finding it in my Substack feed. Thank you. In the final paragraph you reference "whatever this thing is" and, for many of us, it is obvious what "this thing is." It is evil incarnate: "the accuser," "the adversary," also known as Satan. Read your Bible. Old or New Testament, it matters not. "This thing" has influenced (possessed???) folks throughout the ages, and is an especially potent influencer of the proud and the intellectually-superior, but also the bitter and resentful. It is the evil that grabs hold of the mob, and the evil that you have seen face-to-face. You can't unsee it now. You can help others see it though, and this you are doing. Well done.
Thank you for writing again. Your insights are very helpful to me. You have come a long way and have grown. Even though so much was taken from you unjustly, you have been purified and illuminated by the whole brutal ordeal. I respect and admire the maturity you have attained through this Purgatory you have experienced.