The sad thing about all this is that this technology could have been very useful.
Before I retired I used my cell phone as a telephone, a watch, a camera and a pocket calculator. I also used it for some more advanced calculations which could not be performed on a simple pocket calculator. I was happy that I did not have to wear a watch, carry a camera or carry multiple calculators. My smart phone performed all these functions.
In and of themselves, these advances in technology were very useful.
The problem is not technology itself but the political climate which sees human beings as commodities or pawns. That political climate utilizes technology - not to enhance life - but to subjugate and exploit. The problem is a system that simply does not value human beings per se.
Because of that political climate I have gone from an increasing reliance on tech to where I am now - trying to rid myself of multiple technologies put to evil purposes.
In the game of chess there is a common phenomena that occurs quite often for beginning and intermediate chess players, and that’s referred to as “bishop blindness.” Bishops are second tier pieces that have the ability to move on a diagonal, and as long as there are no other pieces obstructing their path, they can move back and forth across the entire board. Occasionally a bishop will find a safe square to occupy deep in enemy territory. “Bishop blindness” then occurs when the other player is so focused on the activity out in front where the struggle is happening, that they mentally “lose sight” that the bishop can angle backwards, passing through the fray, and lethally strike “from behind.”
I often use this chess phenomena as a metaphor in speaking with my friends, commenting that perhaps their rigid ideological positions has them “focusing on just one corner of the chess board.” I say “you are now playing a game with the globalist elites, and they are out to crush you completely!” I say, “start looking at the big picture! You might then deduce that they’ve unleashed Covid-19 out onto the world stage in order to keep you cowering at home in fear, to destroy the working middle class, and to usher in their globalist agenda, unopposed. They will be bringing you a mandatory vaccine in order to cull the herd, and to “proactively” send a lot of elderly folks to meet their maker well before their time. They will be bringing you a carbon tax to make it impossible for you to drive your car, even if you somehow developed the courage to venture out into public. They want to indoctrinate your children’s minds in their “public schools”, they want to destroy your church and your faith. They want to crush your spirit. They want the lion’s share of what’s left of the earth’s dwindling natural resources, all for themselves.”
What if, we’re all suckers either way?
Some egos will reply
with thoughts out of their minds
with dreams of “property” and wealth.
Capital is as Capitol does
digging holes
some to extract
some to fill.
Either way
the last man will have neither.
-file under Peak Prosperity Prose (the three P’s)
I'm saying that we, as users, want this. We want our fears legitimized by group think. We want to compete for who has the most terrifying conspiracy theory (aka fear).Sure, some will frequent here for that reason. But many do not. As for myself, I come here to test my ideas in an environment that is willing to challenge the public narrative using reason and evidence. So I come to find challenges to my ideas, which seems the opposite of fear. But I'm open to correction. But I don't buy into the term "conspiracy theory". It's like saying when an attractive girl comes into the bar, all the men have a "conspiracy" to hook up with her. Or when I go to the store they have a "conspiracy" to get the best price for their goods. These are just people trying to get their way in the world. Of course there are "conspiracies". What Adam & Chris are doing it trying to pinpoint the reality.
We want our fears legitimized by group think. We want to compete for who has the most terrifying conspiracy theory (aka fear).“Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you.”― Joseph Heller A Catch-22 is any paradoxical, circular reasoning that catches its victim in its illogic and serves those who define the terms/rules...as in, "if one earnestly endeavors to make sense of what's happening on the chessboard, then, they will become permanently entangled by every conceivable wrong move!" Well, Life definitely begs to differ with such an assumption. “Almost all of history is an unbroken trail of one conspiracy after another. Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception.” --G. Edward Griffin One proactive step we can all take is to disconnect completely from MSM, cable, and stop helping to finance our own demise. Hit those who seek to enslave you where it hurts! Encourage your family and friends to go and do likewise. The battle lines have been drawn.
You wrote:
We want our fears legitimized by group think. We want to compete for who has the most terrifying conspiracy theory (aka fear).I know that is not true for myself. To the extent that I believe in conspiracies, it has only happened after things got to the point where I could not deny it anymore. For instance, I was an anti-Vietnam War protestor and counterculture proponent in the 1960's. But if you asked me - at that time - if I thought that the media was "rigged," I would have said "no." I would have explained away "news" that looked like "deliberate disinformation" by referring to "incompetence," "unconscious prejudices," "a misplaced sense of patriotism" and so on. But after decades of denying the obvious, I can no longer deny the obvious. The media is a rigged game. I think that a lot of the people who come here are like me. They simply are not prone to believing "conspiracies." They just wanted accurate information. But the more that they tried to dispassionately evaluate evidence, the more they concluded that they were being lied to and they were being systematically lied to on many, many levels. And the lying is not just incompetence or stupidity (although there is that also), it is deliberate dishonesty designed to manipulate the public for the benefit of someone or some group or groups who are behind it.
I would add that just plain laziness is a big one. Many (if not most) Doctors are prone to only looking at abstracts and not delving into the methodology, or statistics (and actually reading the papers they reference). Many will take the word of some confident (usually good looking) spokesperson (pick your news anchor), rather than trying to source the origin of the information (and what is left out). Conspiracy theorist labels are meant to shut off any examination and justify the opinions of the labeller.
Well veganisim certainly attracts cult like behaviors
Adherents can take any random subject like on a Multidisciplinary web forum for example and use some tangential aspect of that topic to tie into their issue and proselytize about the virtues of veganisim or conversely the sins of non veganisim
On every single topic and post no less, no engagement is complete without the requisite homage to the the big V.
mm
On every single topic and post no less, no engagement is complete without the requisite homage to the the big VAnd why would that be?...to simply take up space and to become a distraction? The "big V" has now escalated to become a serious "weapon of mass deception?" Was it an attempt at humor? Well, okay! Sorry, I'm completely confused as to why this is being discussed in this thread. Carry on! Oh no, wait! "big V" is a "weapon of mass distraction!" lol
If you’re buying ethical meat it doesn’t take a great deal of research to ensure it is just that. Grass fed, out door reared, preferably organic and small producers. Hell, you can taste good meat. No, suggesting you can’t find good meat to buy is just another way of saying you don’t like the death bit.
Yeah, I found it amusing for a few years. Now I just read all his posts in the hope of proving myself wrong. Alas, it normally ends with a sigh…
The couch potato.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/german-ads-hail-couch-potatoes-as-heroes-of-the-covid-19-pandemic-1.5189737
This would be hysterical if it weren’t so pathetic.
I wish people who don’t want to hear from my kind would just hit ignore.
The vegan movement is an activist movement. What elements of this are cult-like other than a single minded devotion to avoiding the abuse of animals? There are extreme elements in any social justice movement. I don’t think these comments are relevant to the thread.
@ Sand_puppy. Back in the early nineties Steven Covey (7 Habits fame) wrote of the same thing - Circle of Concern vs Circle of Influence. Work on your Circle of influence and you’ll find that your influence grows.
The vegan movement is an activist movement. There are extreme elements in any social justice movement.So then, you as an activist see being disruptive in the name of your cause, as always being justified? Is it an ends justify the means sort of thing? How disruptive then, how far do you go in the name of your your chosen cause? I've seen the videos this weekends of "activists" doing great violence and bodily harm to other people who have their backs turned, striking them down with concealed weapons while they were walking away. In my mind that is an act of pure evil, it goes beyond any claim to activism, and it is simply terrorism. Do you recognize any distinction or need for moderation here? Thank you for any clarification.
Many comments being made on many threads regarding veganism that aren’t relevant is the point. Veganism isn’t cult like, some vegans are.
If you’re buying ethical meat it doesn’t take a great deal of research to ensure it is just that. Grass fed, out door reared, preferably organic and small producers. Hell, you can taste good meat. No, suggesting you can’t find good meat to buy is just another way of saying you don’t like the death bit.When did I say that? I didn't say that. I said, "Many meat purchasers will try to address some of their guilt by buying supposedly natural meat which it turns out probably isn't much better." Just because it says "natural" on the styrofoam package doesn't necessarily mean it's much more ethical. I'd bet 99% of the people that buy the "natural" meat don't do as you say and investigate whether it actually is what they think it is. Much like buying carbon offsets was a big thing a few years ago. It was a way of shifting guilt off yourself to justify continuing the carbon emissions under the belief that the money you gave to this supposedly ethical business was somehow offsetting your emissions, which pretty much turned out to be totally false. If you want to investigate the true origins of your natural meat, fantastic! What I am saying is that few people actually do.
Thanks Pipyman!
The thesis of “The Book of Humanitarian Hoaxes: Killing America with ‘Kindness’,” is a further example of “weapons of mass deception,” including the advance of a the “common core” curriculum in our public schools.
The Humanitarian Hoax is a deliberate and deceitful tactic of presenting a destructive policy as altruistic. The humanitarian huckster presents himself as a compassionate advocate when in fact he is the disguised enemy. --Linda GoudsmitIn the late 80's I went back school to get a single subject teaching credential and at that time I witnessed the first salvo of a globalist indoctrination agenda which was introduced with "goals 2000." I was less affected than student teachers in other fields, because I was teaching art, but the big push for a more "humanist" approach was front and center. Of course "humanist" was just a code word for "collective," and the UC education department where I was enrolled was already advancing/advocating, a collectivist ideology. One anecdotal example that stands out in my mind, was when the exceptionally bright son of a woman I was dating at the time, became extremely discouraged while attending public school. He was in 3rd or 4th grade and would complete his in class assignment far in advance of his classmates, and instead of being allowed to continue he was stifled so that it didn't hurt the feelings of his slower classmates. He was told that it was his responsivity, as an 11 year old, to go and teach the other students until they caught up. This was back at the beginning of the ever increasing Marxist indoctrination of our public school system (where everyone gets a trophy), and we can all see where it has led (trigger warnings, cry rooms, and now onto acts of extreme violence). I would so posit that these education departments throughout America's university system were the access point, the trojan horse if you will, to extinguish the spirit of individualism and self-reliance which had made our country so exceptional. I'll wager that the children of the elites were not being taught this Marxist blather by their private instructors.
Priority 3: Foster Global Citizenship It is Priority #3 that is most problematic and the basis for the humanitarian hoax of Common Core. Obama's Common Core is not teaching American children about the world and how to be effective and competitive in a global marketplace. Obama's deceitful Common Core initiative is propagandizing American children toward collectivism, globalism, and one-world government with its anti-American, anti-Judeo-Christian, pro-Islamic bias. American public/private education no longer advocates American patriotism, the meritocracy, American exceptionalism, or American sovereignty. America is no longer in control of American education. This is how it happened."A wolf in sheep's clothing."
Sounds like the Dicotomy of Control from Stoic philosophy was repackaged.