Quick note: This Off the Cuff is being re-released to the public based on a number of requests to make this available for sharing with folks outside of the tribe.
Folks you are in for a real treat. Every so often an interview just hits on all cylinders and this was one of them.
Peter Boghossian, co-author of How To Have Impossible Conversations, and a former professor at Portland State University returns to our show to help us understand the mindset of those pushing the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DIE) agenda.
To help me, and hopefully you, Peter agreed to âsteelmanâ the argument, which means to address the strongest form of the other personâs (or sideâs) position or argument.
The first thing I learned is that I did not have the slightest clue what was meant by âequityâ as it is being used by some today. Iâm still not sure I get it, which is a wake-up call.
The second thing I learned from Peter is that thereâs a huge movement out there thatâs busy redefining words and stripping them of their former meaning, which is where the fight between the sides will need to be fought. When words lose their meaning, so does our ability to communicate and work together.
Of logic and sense.
Really appreciated how you both walked through that & Iâm pretty sure I learned a lot I didnât previously know.
Wow, deep - but not over my head.
90 minutes well spent.
Thank you!
âŠand I do not say that lightly by any means!!
The frightening reality in my mind is knowing just how few people out there truly grasp what this ideology is - let alone be able to recognize when they are being hustled into agreement (thus becoming victimized). I believe that this OTC is precisely what everyone in the world needs to see in order to expose this disgusting and manipulative scam thatâs been thrusted upon society!
This ideology is actually quite brilliant and well thought out from so many angles. It merits a great deal of respect for being as contagious and powerful as it has to have bent reality in such a drastic way, for so many people. Certainly given its impact in such a relatively condensed timeframe.
The aspect that I find to be most intriguing is its execution. There is no question in my mind that the fingerprints of state-level actors all over it, from the corrupt politicians to the intelligence community to the military. Itâs no coincidence to me that it coalesces with BLM, ANTIFA, and arguably the scamdemic and its death cult followers. You cannot cultivate anything like this without the government being a major stakeholder.
I also agree that itâs communist by nature, and it begs the question of which governments were involved? Sure, it has the CCP written all over it, but the degree of collusion amongst foreign powers is really fundamental to identify in order to deduce the hidden hand(s) behind the curtain of the big shit show.
Regretfully, Iâll admit that I have not read any books whatsoever on this subject (I donât make nearly enough time to read everything that interests me). However, I have enjoyed listening to various interviews given by Peter, Douglas Murray, and James Lindsay, and I genuinely appreciate the both of you going long on this one! Youâve encapsulated the pertinent details of this insurgent ideology in 3D Technicolor with Dolby surround sound. Iâll also note that Peterâs âsteelmanâ perspective is a very powerful mechanism for educating the people who may very well not be able to process this mentality for what it is.
Bravo!!
-Gino
Listening to this whole conversation; it kept going through my head. What if I identify as a dark skinned trans gender atheist? If the goal is to erase all immutable characteristics so there is no absolute truth; then I canât be canceled, because I am in the category of oppressed!
Anti-woke Can Get You CancelledâŠso Can Anti-israel
Hey Chris. Jewâs are amazing. They have all the resilience you espouse such as strong family and societal bonds, strong emphasis on education and special skills, leaders in culture, the arts, science and technology, innovators in agriculture, excellent understanding of finance, etc etc. However the irony of starting a war in their own created concentration camp of Gaza needs to be tackled head on. Iâm surprised at your silence on this issue.
We need a Dr. Seuss book for adults on this word! Just put out a word salad describing, essentially absurdities, and end with ⊠âand thatâs equity!â This is 1984, where everyone has to believe absurdities. Itâs 1984 in the sense of Big Brother is watching and you will be erased (cancelled) if you believe and say the wrong thing.
If I were a conspiracy theorist, I would theorize Acadamia and a great many other institutions have been covertly taken over by an enemy to educate the American public in useless absurdities, that not just divides the country, but fractures it. And that also creates a mentally handicapped, âeducated,â public.
The âequityâ argument cannot be won because any argument against it is racist.
Bravo! The argument using professional sports, music, entertainment against this âsystemic racismâ theory is a good one.
OMG, one of my neighbors is all into the ânon-violentâ communication stuff. There are words she refuses to speak! In the same vein, her notion of âsafeâ is vague and broad. I kept trying to understand how a recent blip on the harmony wavelength translated into a psychological state of ânot feeling safe.â I could not understand how her safety was threatened by the situation. I witnessed this social over sensitivity in another incident involving another young woman. My take away about the incident was that even polite young men, if they have testosterone, are the âbad guys.â
âCognitive Libertyâ What a great phrase. Iâm going to use that.
The notion that we are these bodies was described by A.C. Bhaktivedanta as the âSkin Disease.â If you think you are your body, you are in gross ignorance. The body is a biological machine temporarily inhabited by the Soul, life force, or Consciousness. Spirit moves matter. Matter does not move Spirit. You cannot destroy Consciousness, nor can you destroy Spirit or the Soul. Moreover, the body is a pretty gross, albeit attractive bag, filled with blood, pus, mucus, stool, urine, and gas. As soon as the life force leaves the body, the body immediately becomes useless and begins to decompose.
As for Peterâs lack of God Consciousness, I would argue doesnât complexity denote an intelligent designer? Just examining the complexity of the human body defies random chance and evolution. For instance a single nutrient, Vitamin D, has something like 100,000 different functions in the human body that we know of. Do you really believe that level of complexity evolved? Where is the evidence of such evolutions? I would argue if there is evolution, nature evolves into simplicity and redundancy, not complexity and vulnerability.
Another great conversation. Our guest has aged a bit and looks worried about the future. Sorry to hear heâs been alienated by his peers and former friends. Welcome to the Matrix circa 1984.
It was great to hear Peter explain their rationale and give examples. One thing I had on top of mind this whole time was the meaning of words, how theyâve been changing them. We are reaching a point where words donât mean anything anymore. We become free for all societies with massive chaos as the logical result. Now that Iâm typing also the imagery of the tower of babel comes forth. Even though we speak the same language, we donât speak the same language. This will fuel the confusion, feed the chaos etc. which will lead to the downfall of the system. The question is, how long will it take and how many casualties. It will be left to a select few to build new systems and societies. Some of us will live to see that day and (un)fortunately some of us wonât.
The mob really prey on the white guilt. They weasel word their way out of things by dismissing a person on this basis. When itâs a darker skinned person thinks similarly or say the say things, they stand accused of internalizing the white oppression. Basically invalidating that persons experience while saying they advocate for them and their progress and liberation from the oppression. It doesnât matter who says what. So long itâs different from the ideology, you are in the wrong.
My senses tell me that the only way this group is going to wake up is through some serious pain, definitely not through mimicry and education (in the real sense of the word).
I recently realized something that could be important to this topic. I have a long time close friend who I would put into the leftest camp. Sheâs religious about getting all her news from NPR and has done that for decades. I recently, a few years ago, started reading a lot more of conservative type ideas. Well recently she started treating me in a more suspicious manner. Iâve tried to have conversations with her many times and she will not talk at all on any kind of political, social, or interpersonal topic. I saw a couple days ago on the Dan Bongino show how the broad Demo media has been amplifying Hilaryâs suggestion that maga people or anyone related to them, needs to be âdeprogrammedâ from their cult brainwashing. The non-covid masses have for several years now commented how the covid class appears to have a mindâvirus and other such terms suggesting that they have been somewhat brainwashed. It appears the Demo masters have again taken this âconservativeâ or non-covid observation and turned it on itâs head to say itâs the other side that is brainwashed. And they have the advantage of being able to use their massive media-controlled broadcast propaganda network to spread this idea of the other side as brainwashed and needing deprogramming. I think my friend must be affected by this and now suspects that I need to be deprogrammed from the conservative mind-virus!
From what Iâve seen, the language always changes before there is any big cultural change. So when there are language changes, especially in regard to commonly held cultural values, it is a red flag.
For example, there is a push to fuzzy up clear language around child sexual abuse. You see this with the term âunderage-girls.â Pretty much every time Epstein was mentioned, the term âunder-age girlsâ appeared in the article. This is a benign-sounding term and doesnât capture the nature of the crime, which is child molestation and rape. Those words carry cultural value and condemnation. Even creepier is âminor-attracted personâ replacing pedophile and child molester.
If you go back in the research into trans sexuality, you can see the heavy hand of censorship smashing down over the years and the change in language. Transvestitism has changed to the much-more benign sounding âcross-dressing.â The psychological comorbidities associated with transvestitism, and the high incidence of unhappy outcome associated with cosmetic âsex-changeâ surgery can now no longer be discussed scientifically. Genital mutilation is repackaged as gender affirming care, and in Canada you canât practice as a therapist unless you agree a priori that is a positive thing, and if you live in California, your children can be removed from your care if you disagree with itâŠ
Fascinating discussion.
Mind control on a societal level. Isnât that the essence of what all these would be technocrats have been salivating about? Isnât that the end-game of 5th generational warfare? The conquest of the mind?
What are the most important mechanism of mind control?
Severing the victim's connection to reality.
Manufacturing the appearance of social consensus
Demoralization
The best way to sever someone's connection to reality is to make them believe absurdities, often done via nudging or grooming them toward madness in various dimensions. Their line looses parallelity with the line of reality and as their views continue to depart from reality, it becomes harder and harder to cross that ever widening gulf in order to return to what's true, especially when everyone else around them seems to be reinforcing the positions they hold and when there's a high perceived social (and potentially, financial) cost to changing. Not only is retuning to the truth psychologically difficult, but the implications are increasingly demoralizing and disturbing. The truth becomes repulsive, hopeless, insane even. It would mean facing things that simply too large to be faced. Defeat appears inevitable. The lie is a position of relative stability and safety, even if something feels off deep down.
The purpose is to maximize the psychological activation energy that must be overcome in order to return to reality.
Without a psychological anchor, the mind or society is adrift and can be taken anywhere. The 5th generational battlefield conquered.
And best (most effective) set of lies is one that attacks and corrodes any sort of psychological anchors. They destroy truth, family, societal bonds, self sufficiency and a connection to the land, common history and religion. They destroy empiricism and replace it with the word of the party so that the only remaining anchor is to them. Then they can take you into any sort of "new world" that they want to build.
Wokeness Is Immune From Reason, And The Goal Is Not An Improved World
Chris, I could see you having the exact same struggle as I do trying to understand what is happening in the world. My view is that we are dealing with somewhat amateur () Orwellians.
The goal of those leading the woke movement is not to improve justice or, for that matter, any other aspect of society. Their goal is, simply, power, just as for the Orwellian Inner Party. Not money, fame, or societal advancement, but just power. And that doesnât just mean power over you, but power over the universe. Thus, for example, they claim to have the power to define gender which we know actually belongs to science/nature or to God, depending on your beliefs. There is, for example, that famous video of Patrice Collors (co-founder of BLM) telling the enraptured audience that she and Alicia Garza, in particular, are highly trained Marxists.
The problem with the followers of wokeism is a bit different, as almost all of them actually believe in this stuff, either not realizing or willfully ignoring the cognitive dissonance of who their leaders actually are, and what they are doing. Here, the disconnect with your (and my) worldview is that they fervently believe that the level of accomplishment of any society is irrelevant; it is not even a minor goal of theirs. They donât much care if American Airlines jets are raining from the skies or if virus treatments are scientifically sound; they only care that the justice they have been told is of paramount moral importance is present.
() The reason I call them âsomewhat amateurâ is that they have made at least two mistakes:
they have forgotten that they cannot martyr their opponents, which they have done in spades with, especially, Trump, as well as others and 2) they have forgotten that it is very important that both Eurasia and Eastasia are in on the same game; if both of these are for real going to come after you, then it quickly becomes apparent that our version of societal advancement was pretty important after all.
Yes Elina, NPR (National Propaganda Radio) does that to many of my friends. They will go after you if you purchase anything from My Pillow, you are hopelessly a cult member. I bought two pairs of slippers from them so Iâm in deep. Slippers are great!
I was spell-bound at the âsteel-manâ performance in real time. I literally had to remind myself constantly that Peter was only role playing and not a true believer. But done in a way that provided massively helpful insights. Bravo!
Thank you Chris, Peter and the PP team for a wonderful interview! Frances and I really appreciated the depth of your discussion. Weâre going to watch again tomorrow!!
Coop
Isnât This All A Consequence Of Societies (relatively) High Nett Energy?
Firstly, Peter really needs a holiday.
Second, Isnât this all a consequence of the (relatively) high nett energy that is flowing through society? Am I wrong that most of the mind-virus-affected are catching a free ride in some respect? Iâm talking about university academics, schools, government bureaucrats, government agency employees, hospital staff, those who work in big companies like Budweiser. They all have their snouts in the government / corporate troughs - and most will do or say anything to keep the largesse flowing.
These attitudes donât seem to take hold in small businesses and farms where owners and employees need to deliver value to their customers on a daily basis.
I guess Iâm just speculating that this current wave of woke extremism, is an emergent response to western societies recent development. (Iâm not saying it hasnât also been cultivated and encouraged by parties who perceive that itâs in their interests to do so).
The good news for those that are prepared , is that wokeism will fade out pretty quickly when nett energy drops away and we all have to deliver real value for our days work. Weâll be back to a much more honest and sustainable way of life. But hard work and fewer creature comforts.