Let's talk about power for a few minutes. Now of course there are all kinds of power. But here, I want to focus on a specific kind. Let's use an example.
I tell a lie. I know it is a lie. But perhaps it furthers my agenda. Or maybe my agenda is power itself. Either way, it is a lie and I know it.
You hear my lie, and you too know it is a lie. Perhaps it is a subtle lie, but you see through it. Or maybe the lie is quite ridiculous and obvious.
But in any case, we both know it is a lie. Yet there is nothing you can do about it. If you try to refute it, you will be gagged.
Note, this gagging need not be physical – I no longer have to disappear you in the middle of the night. In fact, with a compliant media and big tech, I may not have to do anything at all. Pinochet would have loved the police state quality of social media.
Now there is, I suppose, some power here. I have lied and gotten away with it, and there is nothing you can do about it. That's power, right?
But it is not enough.
No, what I really want is for you to not only hear the lie, but be compelled to repeat it yourself. Not because you have come to believe it. But rather as a demonstration of my complete and sovereign power over you.
So like it or not, you parrot my lie.
The Soviets were good at these power games. But the true masters have proven to be the North Koreans. Just look at how ordinary people publicly wept (often seemingly uncontrollably) at the death of their dear leader. He did so much for us; I am just devastated by our loss. It is a lie and everyone, in and out of the country, knows it is a lie. But it is a lie everyone dutifully repeats.
Well maybe not everyone knows it's a lie. Because after a while, some people, a good number of people, lose the ability to discern what's true from what is not true. That is to say, they lose the ability to think for themselves. Thinking requires effort and practice, a churning of the little gray cells, and many people would rather not put forth the effort. Thinking is hard. I find that even otherwise very hardworking people are susceptible to intellectual laziness. This is why listening to loud music and watching sports are so popular; there's no thinking involved. It also explains today's prominence of a partisan news media – Don't tax yourself, CNN will tell you what to think.
So in America, the lie might originate with the government. Or just as likely, and just as troubling, it might originate with some other supposedly elite source. The media or academia. But it makes no difference because they all serve the same god. And these three groups, government, media, and the academy, along with their courtiers in big tech, often serve their god by independently confirming what the others say. Or censoring or disparaging any differing view.
It matters not how it is done. The real problem is so many people are quite receptive to being told what to think. And fully prepared to repeat it as a signal of their virtue, but also as a signal of their allegiance. They may have never thought about it, but what difference does that make? Besides, they confuse indoctrination with independent thought. Actually, they lose the ability to distinguish between the two. Indoctrination is their thought process. So you see, they have thought about it. And through their thought process, they have discovered the truth. And obviously, you are intellectually inferior because you have not recognized the truth. Clearly, you are not a thinker. This is why, so often, they ooze condescension. The irony here is completely lost on them.
How should we describe the power wielded over these people? Power over the unthinking. It is truly god-like. The adherents accept indoctrination as articles of faith. Their thinking is a form of religious fervor and submission. They prostrate themselves to their gods. The gods of power.
Let's look at some uniquely American examples:
We call that one individual they or even something completely unrecognizable to the English language.We pretend that men can be women and women can be men.Even professors of medicine are parroting: Men can get pregnant.We allow men in women's dressing rooms; we allow men to compete in women's sports; where we also allow men to beat up women. Believe you me, Celine Provost knows all about this type of power.Here's a question: Why don't we see women, so-called trans-men, insisting on competing in men's sports? It's just part of the lie we all tell.We talk about inequality of outcomes rather than equality of opportunity and content of character.We parrot: Insistence on punctuality and proper grammar and test scores are evidence of oppression.
We tell ourselves that there is nothing particularly special about Western Civilization. And other cultures are equal or even superior to it.
We replace the Western canon and classical music with inferior alternatives. We dispense with blind auditions in favor of so-called diversity. We tell ourselves that excellence will not suffer.
The whole discussion around voter ID is a lie, and everyone knows it. Well everyone except for those who do not or cannot or can no longer think for themselves.
We wear masks even though we know the absurdity of it.And the worst of us force very young children to wear masks. I cannot decide if these people are power-hungry or obsequious to power. Either way, their intentions are NOT good.We get our vaccine and dutifully present our vaccination card to the restaurant hostess. We publicly condemn those who do not. We are not ashamed of this; it is a religious truth, an article of faith.
Oh, and Hunter Biden's laptop and the included emails? Clearly a Russian disinformation campaign.
The North Koreans and the Chinese must look on in amazement.