I've had some interesting thoughts lately on this "One Way Only" notion, and that the properties of this phenomenon actually hold the seeds of destruction for meme-based oppression and tyranny (i.e., oppression relying on a large majority 'buying into' a false premise to work).
In the earliest stages of the covid psyop, there was a small portion of people like me (and some others in the substack community) that immediately disbelieved it; there were a portion of people that wholly bought into every single statement, even those that would later contradict themselves, because it parsed along their existing tribal affiliations or was compatible with their brand of pre-existing mental illness (anxiety, hypochondria, social deficits, etc.).
And there was a significant portion "in the middle" who went along to get along.
This all sounds like Malone and mass formation, but don't get bored, I'm going somewhere else with it.
Let's call these groups skeptics, cultists, and sheep.
I'm willing to bet money that nobody (at least in any measurable number) who started as a skeptic has since become a cultist. There are definitely skeptics that have given into coercive measures (my job, my kid's school, my property values, my vacation, my peaceful interactions with relatives, etc.) and become sheep- that were finally made sufficiently uncomfortable to "go along to get along." It's possible that cognitive dissonance could turn a small number of skeptic-turned-sheep into full-blown cultists, but I seriously doubt this- this is the kind of phenomenon that would be blasted all over social and legacy media ("I used to be an Anti-Vaxxer. Now I Wear Twelve Masks. Here's Why") and I just don't see it.
On the other hand, cultists have every single one of the premises upon which they base their allegiance assaulted by the steady flow of leaked truths every single day. There have been virtually NO major victories in the other direction in the court of public opinion: no massive revelation that skeptics have been wrong about ANYTHING besides the MSM saying things like "shut up, racist."
When a cultist becomes a skeptic, they absolutely don't go back. Like born-again religious followers, they are even more robust in their allegiance than originals. They've been burned.
The rather labored point I'm getting at is that, while it is happening at various speeds, the prevailing winds can only ever blow cultist -> skeptic, not skeptic -> cultist. The cultist population can only shrink, and the skeptic group can only grow, barring some major revelation that any serious skeptical argument is wholly wrong.
After a sufficient amount of time, the only people left in the "cultist" group will be the minority that are completely psychologically dependent on covid as an ideological identity. And as mandates and other oppressive measures tighten, "sheep" will reach their individual breaking points and become skeptics.
Making the far more interesting element the traffic passing through "sheep" in both directions.
OK, so that is seriously brilliant. I have an impression that you might have your own sub stack? I am new enough to the platform to not completely know my way around yet, and when I clicked on your name it looked like you have a bio. Do you have your own sub stack or not? And if you don’t, I would love it if you would be willing to share this as a guest writer here on my sub stack, because my audience is definitely going to be interested in this. I’ve heard it expressed casually before but I love your breakdown and I love how you worded it and now I can’t write about it because your thoughts are in my head and I would inevitably end up plagiarizing and I don’t do that! So, if you have your own sub stack, maybe you want to do a guest rider swap? And if you don’t, please let me know if you want to toss this thing out to my audience because it’s brilliant and really awesome.
Wow, that was quite a compliment. I don't have my own stack, though I've been thinking about it. So, if you find that content useful, you can certainly publish it. I'd be happy to frame it a little better as an article. Let me know.
I never cared much for politics until Trudeau was up. I've learned so much during this journey. I live in a little space with few financial goals since I've already achieved so much - more than I ever dreamed of. But the overcoming adversity during the struggles of achieving those goals have been what made my iron, my ability to stand up to tyranny. I don't believe God would want us to lose our freedoms - and he punished heavily the Egyptians for not letting His people go to serve him when Pharaoh refused. So I have to continue to believe that 430 years Israel was enslaved they learned to overcome the indoctrination even though the golden calf was created due to that 430 years of indoctrination. People will find it hard to not want to go back to what enslaves them bc it will take digging in deep and real soul searchiing alng with trusting God to carry us out of this. I believe in freedom so I can serve my God. The fact that they have cut us off from that made me aware where the source of all this is coming from. God always wins. Will I be here when he does? Only time will tell. But it is not up to me to determine the future of freedom, I will wait for that to be revealed. Great article. conditioning has been paramount. Children being told that parents couldn't discipline etc. Government has been too involved in our lives. tTime to keep focusing on gratitude for all he has given us and pray for His will to appear in his time. This COV did not make me turn away from God as they hoped. It made me turn to him even more
Hi Anne! Welcome to the stack & thanks so much for your thoughts. We all have our reactions to stressors, don’t we? And, I have noticed that many people are turning inward and seeking the strength that they need to overcome challenges that many of us did not expect or prepare for. I have heard people bringing up God or saying that they are spending more time exploring their personal philosophy and their spirituality, and it just reminds me of what has always been true. Times of ease and convenience are not bad, necessarily, but they provide us with less opportunity to learn the deep and powerful things that a moment of challenge calls us to explore. So nice to have you here. Thank you.
I've had some interesting thoughts lately on this "One Way Only" notion, and that the properties of this phenomenon actually hold the seeds of destruction for meme-based oppression and tyranny (i.e., oppression relying on a large majority 'buying into' a false premise to work).
In the earliest stages of the covid psyop, there was a small portion of people like me (and some others in the substack community) that immediately disbelieved it; there were a portion of people that wholly bought into every single statement, even those that would later contradict themselves, because it parsed along their existing tribal affiliations or was compatible with their brand of pre-existing mental illness (anxiety, hypochondria, social deficits, etc.).
And there was a significant portion "in the middle" who went along to get along.
This all sounds like Malone and mass formation, but don't get bored, I'm going somewhere else with it.
Let's call these groups skeptics, cultists, and sheep.
I'm willing to bet money that nobody (at least in any measurable number) who started as a skeptic has since become a cultist. There are definitely skeptics that have given into coercive measures (my job, my kid's school, my property values, my vacation, my peaceful interactions with relatives, etc.) and become sheep- that were finally made sufficiently uncomfortable to "go along to get along." It's possible that cognitive dissonance could turn a small number of skeptic-turned-sheep into full-blown cultists, but I seriously doubt this- this is the kind of phenomenon that would be blasted all over social and legacy media ("I used to be an Anti-Vaxxer. Now I Wear Twelve Masks. Here's Why") and I just don't see it.
On the other hand, cultists have every single one of the premises upon which they base their allegiance assaulted by the steady flow of leaked truths every single day. There have been virtually NO major victories in the other direction in the court of public opinion: no massive revelation that skeptics have been wrong about ANYTHING besides the MSM saying things like "shut up, racist."
When a cultist becomes a skeptic, they absolutely don't go back. Like born-again religious followers, they are even more robust in their allegiance than originals. They've been burned.
The rather labored point I'm getting at is that, while it is happening at various speeds, the prevailing winds can only ever blow cultist -> skeptic, not skeptic -> cultist. The cultist population can only shrink, and the skeptic group can only grow, barring some major revelation that any serious skeptical argument is wholly wrong.
After a sufficient amount of time, the only people left in the "cultist" group will be the minority that are completely psychologically dependent on covid as an ideological identity. And as mandates and other oppressive measures tighten, "sheep" will reach their individual breaking points and become skeptics.
Making the far more interesting element the traffic passing through "sheep" in both directions.
OK, so that is seriously brilliant. I have an impression that you might have your own sub stack? I am new enough to the platform to not completely know my way around yet, and when I clicked on your name it looked like you have a bio. Do you have your own sub stack or not? And if you don’t, I would love it if you would be willing to share this as a guest writer here on my sub stack, because my audience is definitely going to be interested in this. I’ve heard it expressed casually before but I love your breakdown and I love how you worded it and now I can’t write about it because your thoughts are in my head and I would inevitably end up plagiarizing and I don’t do that! So, if you have your own sub stack, maybe you want to do a guest rider swap? And if you don’t, please let me know if you want to toss this thing out to my audience because it’s brilliant and really awesome.
Wow, that was quite a compliment. I don't have my own stack, though I've been thinking about it. So, if you find that content useful, you can certainly publish it. I'd be happy to frame it a little better as an article. Let me know.
I never cared much for politics until Trudeau was up. I've learned so much during this journey. I live in a little space with few financial goals since I've already achieved so much - more than I ever dreamed of. But the overcoming adversity during the struggles of achieving those goals have been what made my iron, my ability to stand up to tyranny. I don't believe God would want us to lose our freedoms - and he punished heavily the Egyptians for not letting His people go to serve him when Pharaoh refused. So I have to continue to believe that 430 years Israel was enslaved they learned to overcome the indoctrination even though the golden calf was created due to that 430 years of indoctrination. People will find it hard to not want to go back to what enslaves them bc it will take digging in deep and real soul searchiing alng with trusting God to carry us out of this. I believe in freedom so I can serve my God. The fact that they have cut us off from that made me aware where the source of all this is coming from. God always wins. Will I be here when he does? Only time will tell. But it is not up to me to determine the future of freedom, I will wait for that to be revealed. Great article. conditioning has been paramount. Children being told that parents couldn't discipline etc. Government has been too involved in our lives. tTime to keep focusing on gratitude for all he has given us and pray for His will to appear in his time. This COV did not make me turn away from God as they hoped. It made me turn to him even more
Hi Anne! Welcome to the stack & thanks so much for your thoughts. We all have our reactions to stressors, don’t we? And, I have noticed that many people are turning inward and seeking the strength that they need to overcome challenges that many of us did not expect or prepare for. I have heard people bringing up God or saying that they are spending more time exploring their personal philosophy and their spirituality, and it just reminds me of what has always been true. Times of ease and convenience are not bad, necessarily, but they provide us with less opportunity to learn the deep and powerful things that a moment of challenge calls us to explore. So nice to have you here. Thank you.