We need a word for this new illness, which exclusively affects members of Team Reality:
It is a low- to medium-grade anxiety disorder caused by the realization that the bureaucrats and politicians who are nominally in charge do not really know what they’re doing, cannot read or understand data, and will not course correct in response to new information.
It is not a conspiratorial or paranoid, it’s not exactly being red-pilled, but rather a grinding disillusionment and realization that the people in charge (including the people writing about the people in charge) are, if not quite idiots, not nearly as smart as they think they are and everyone is going to have to fight like mad to keep things from getting worse.
The early leader is Scranton Syndrome, which works both as a reference to The Office and Biden and sounds vaguely like a real medical condition - "He's got Scranton Syndrome, I'm prescribing rest and a complete block of all Eric Topol tweets!"
The problem with all of this is that it make us, the "sufferers" who are the ones who at least are appropriately skeptical, if not seeing things clearly, it makes us look like we're the ones with the problem. The last thing you want to do is make "Team Reality" look like the crazy ones. That's exactly what the covidiots are doing; don't add fuel to their fire.
I went to Harvard, and it was a depressing existence. I think any city where winter is tough is pretty un-fun if you're a broke college kid. Steamtown is a great place to bring a kid, though, and the Radisson has an amazing brunch if you're a working adult. And I can't think of a place I've been (including Buffalo in December for a funeral) that is as depressing as anything about the last two years of federal BS.
It was partly the weather but also being in one of the first classes after admitting women. I could write a book... No support, no recourse for blatant misogyny. Ugh! And yes, the last two years have been hellish. The repercussions for those bucking the narrative are not over yet.
I didn't mean to make light of it... and I can only imagine how obnoxious some (most?) of the people around you were. Perhaps there is quite a bit that that atmosphere shares with the otherwordly hell of much of the US over the past two years. No recourse, no rules... Like Korematsu, but for far more people, and in an age that pretends to know better.
I have a soft spot for that part of PA, though, and it irks me no end that the jackwagon-in-chief associates himself with it.
We have a name for this, it's called "default to truth" and it was coined by Daniel Kahneman during his incredible work on heuristics. People naturally believe what they hear. So, if you want to influence opinion, you just give the largest microphone to the people most willing to say the thing you most desire for them to say. Default to truth, especially in the Big Media era, is probably our most detrimental bias. Add to it the sunk cost fallacy which leads people to double down on their beliefs even when they know they're wrong for fear of the "cost" of admitting they were wrong, and, well, you get exactly what we have today...
I think those who define this entrapment of thought as a cult are probably most accurate. It's nudge theory implemented on steroids - it mixes "default to truth" with the "authority bias" (Dr. Fauci - who hasn't practiced medicine in decades but is an "expert" and therefore must be trusted) with "anchoring" (how everyone was suddenly SURE that 6 feet just had to be the answer when it was literally based on nothing other than being the first number anyone heard) with "availability bias" (the case and death tracker on CNN), and then use social media manipulation to make it appear (through bots and paid actors) that EVERYONE agrees with this to play on people's "group think" bias and all of a sudden you have the perfect implementation of Nudge Theory.
It's the same reason SOOOO many people want Donald Trump in jail but have no idea why when pressed.
Twitter, and I've said this before, is the manifestation of Obama's obsession with Nudge Theory (and good on him, it's a very powerful tool to be used against unwhitting individuals, especially when you come across as endearing as he does - no matter how full of sh*t he might be) and he, and his team, proved how well it can work during COVID.
You omitted the key motivation: the people who repeat the lies are rewarded through government benefit programs, permanent jobs, and special “rights”, to repeat the lies.
oh, but you are wrong. They know EXACTLY what they are doing and just following the agenda laid out well before 2020.This is what people have to wake up too. You give them credit by saying they are simply dumb or incompetent. Just sayin
It is disconcerting, to say the least. The older I get the more I realize how much BS there is in everything. The most dangerous people are the ones who believe their own BS, or the BS of others.
I have a question—- How many of us had a pit in our stomach the minute we thought (we knew) we were being lied to? I kept silent, seeing the way people were maligning those speaking out. Every day lately, I’ve been yelling, “ I KNEW IT!” & I’m so mad at myself for cowering.
Funny, just speaking about this last night with husband. We own a restaurant and have a side catering gig at a small high end medical facility associated with a ginormous hospital bureaucracy. On day 1 of statewide mask requirement, I sharpied "I protest this mask" (with a smiley face, I'm a nice lady after all) and went to work in the facility kitchen and dining room. Nobody said boo to me, although I did get a lecture from my husband about endangering our contract after he heard about it from someone at the facility the following day.
Move forward 9 months and I wrote an essay about what was going on on Capitol steps on Jan 6 (because maybe I was there) and posted it on the mobhub previously known as FB. I got social-media-mobbed (then the mob moved the conversation over to Yelp and to Google) to the tune of losing half our dine-in customer base in one month - a population which has still not returned. People from thousands of miles away chimed in to tell the world about their terrible meals and my callous disregard for their health during their imaginary visits. The medical contract pivoted on a knife's edge of other people's choices. It was a REALLY unpleasant time.
Prior to that day, our entire customer base viewed me as a tree-hugging, granola eating, free speech loving liberal, which I pretty much am.
I am as mad as KFH, but totally understand that the price of speaking out against the mob is large. My business still drags, I went through a period of real depression, I decided to leave my church (many members were on the front lines of the pitchfork-weilders, I tried to turn the other cheek, but it just kept going on and on in that group), I have to work harder now, I am more socially delicate than I used to be, but stronger in other ways.
Would I do it again if I knew what the results would be? Hard to give a yes to that. Am I glad that I did? Not glad, exactly, but pleased to be able to look my kids in the eye when I tell them to be brave and do the right thing in all situations.
Across the fullness of time and with a lot of reflection, I do strongly suspect that this is a hill worth dying on.
(Curious to only be able to say such a scary phrase here among my faceless Team Sanity friends! See how changed I am?)
What I do think with certainty is that if everyone stepped up on day one of their rights being assaulted and said "STOP THIS!", they wouldn't have gotten so far, and my personal pain wouldn't have been near so bad.
Good question Shirley, but no. But feel free to re-label me if you wish. I haven't changed. Other people have (and I think they haven't noticed/discovered the change yet, because at least half of the people who mobbed me think exactly like me on at least 85% of my positions). Another detail that cranks me out is that They also commit daily assaults on our use of language. I still have very similar positions and values that I have held for thirty plus years. Socially liberal, fiscally conservative, governmentally tiny, and oh yeah, critically-thinking-strong for all children. The bright side is that I no longer care what anyone calls me!
You should be proud of what you did! People like you who stood up and paid the cost (like me).. are the reasons unvaccinated didn’t get sent to gulags.
Well, thrina, you’re my hero! I was let go from my job after I finally DID start speaking out and my husband’s job in healthcare was threatened by me. I felt every word you wrote & wish I could support your business!!
thrina you nailed it with 'What I do think with certainty is that if everyone stepped up on day one of their rights being assaulted and said "STOP THIS!", they wouldn't have gotten so far, and my personal pain wouldn't have been near so bad.'
You were braver than me showing what you thought in public. I got pummeled if I said anything last year so I built up a backlog of anger and only recently tried pushing back publicly. As you found out, on those few occasions it did not go well for me so I'm back inside my own head and only expressing myself in this safe forum.
You are a principled person and if I lived nearby I'd be dining often at your restaurant. God bless.
And not principled. Just a regular person like you. To describe my own behavior across all of this I would say naive and foolhardy. I honestly thought that it was safe to post in my own space because my 1500 fb followers were almost all personally known to me (as long time customers) so surely, as they had always expressed enthusiasm for my thoughts before, they wanted to know what I had to say in this situation.
Maybe I was just an idiot. I always like to keep that possibility in mind. :-)
Maybe bravery is just butching up and dealing with the mess you create?
That would certainly apply to our larger problems - if we all had not gone along with the "politically correct" thing when it first appeared during the Bill Clinton era, we wouldn't have such a mess today. Oh, how naive we all were....
Nope. You are not naive or foolhardy, not an idiot and not the one causing the mess.
and
Nope. Drs McCullough, Kory, Batycharia, Kuldorf, Malone, Yeardon, etc. are not fringe scientists.
We both had to retreat to protect ourselves but that doesn't mean we should turn on ourselves.
It was totally logical for you to communicate with people you thought you knew who had previously embraced what you had to say.
Looking back we were right and the evidence supports that. The lemmings continue to cling to each other in all their virtue signaling cognitive dissonance. They got played and they can't/won't admit it. Now they are all on board with the CDC rearranging the furniture and declaring victory.
I expect this to get much, much worse so I am preparing to increase my interior resolve. This substack community has been helpful to me even when I just read what others are writing.
So moved by your story. I still am reeling that we are faced with this. Would never have believed it. I want to let you know how much I admire you. And I completely agree. Had so many of us just said a resounding NO, we would not be here. For some who were more in the know about what had been brewing for years, they may have not been surprised. But for me, and many others, truly shocked. Feel like everything I’ve known and trusted has been upended. But I’m awake now. And I wish I knew you personally. You are someone I would want for company. And someone who has inspired me to stay in my voice and be hopeful.
Super sweet of you to say, Shari. I wish you and the bulk of all the people in these substack conversations were in my physical life also. Here where I live we have been working to quietly unite all sane people in conversation and community so that when whatever the next local freedom assault happens we are better able to support each other and voice an organized NO if it is necessary. It is a slow process because people are scared and busy and tired and weird and crazy (each of us in our own special way!) but it has brought me the same kind of comfort that these digital conversations do. Just breathe, speak truth, don't speak lies, love your neighbor. All the rest is pretty much out of my paygrade!
so true, I work in health care and I am very glad that I am nearing retirement as I will never look at it the same way. So much BS and virtue signaling and paternalism. Medicine is a joke
So well said as I also worked in healthcare. I recently retired from my Infection Preventionist job and will never look at CDC, healthcare practices, health providers the same. I am thankful that I learned so much and now feel Woke, however most of what I learned has jaded me. How sad, inept, and corrupt most government employees are. Am glad I tapped into Alex and appreciate his truthful reporting.
I'm sorry for what you've been through! You laid it out very well. I'm standing up too, but I do it for my Dad who was a naval aviator in WWII. He fought for our freedom and I'm carrying on in his honor.
A business and family in our area (bay area) was called out for a photo near the capital on J6. Not in, near. The lonnnng-time business(es) shut and as far as I can tell, they moved to another state. I often wonder about the 18-yo kid who posted the photo (taken from FB and posted on ND if I recall). Does he feel bad for being the leader with the pitchfork?
If you could get your story and the name of your business out to other like minded people, mainly conservatives, I do believe you could develop a new following and reinvigorate your business. I’ve seen this happen for others.
Thank you! I'm actually semi-retired from my small business. I'm involved with my county GOP and together we're getting things done at the grassroots level. (We put up a "Trump 2024" billboard - it's great!)
God Bless You! I was touched reading that and I applaud you. I do not know where your business is, but I certainly would come be a proud customer if I did! Thank you for standing up for the truth!
It may not be a consolation yet, but it has been amazing to see people and friends I once considered smart and loyal to be neither. And see others who proved to be real friends!
What made me realize one small benefit was soon after I was yelling at school about a mask mandate for my asthmatic daughter, we had plans to attend a summer camp. Long story short, they demanded masks outside and my eldest daughter asked if I would again stand up and embarrass them. As much as they hated it, it was a real-life teaching lesson! "Of course, I was going to stand up and as much as we are in the minority and it is embarrassing to a 12-year-old, you must stand up for the truth and what is right!" So, I did!
After that I have continued to harp on standing up for the truth and rights. All I can say is I hope it helps them not fear in the future and maybe the younger generation will learn something?!
Again, Thank you for your courage. This space has been a God-sent and we do appreciate people like you!
Sorry. This is not acceptable. You kept silent while you watched people like me being maligned? I'm at least as mad at you as you are, probably more....
Most that believed the BS were and are in most cases, not willing to hear a differing opinion. I still see it every day! Met up with a friend, they’re all vaxed and boosted including the kids. Still insist on masks. The most heartbreaking of it all is the kids are scared to death they’ll die from Covid. I tried to tell her that there are supplements she can take to help, mentioned Dr Malone…. She wanted nothing to do with hearing it. So what’s the point?
This is so true. I was getting a service last week and I try not to talk this subject but it came up and we argued and argued and I said just stop talking. She had on her mask and was doubled jabbed and said she had Covid and came to work with her mask on and made no one sick and I said your mask does nothing but harm you and unfortunately it was a pedicure and I was unable to get up and leave or I would have just stopped and left. She refused to believe any science and said everything on MSM is fact. Needless to say I will not go back there. My sister in law has a son that won't leave his house without a mask. They had an anniversary party last week and he left the party to go somewhere else to eat the food because he won't take off his mask around other people. The mental issues caused by the BS will last a lifetime. My doctor predicted the mask psychosis when this all started. He said if it is worn too long, certain individuals will be afraid to live without it. He was spot on.
Thank you for this reply which has given me the opportunity to say that I am very sorry I lashed out in such and unkind way. Please accept my sincere apology.
I accept your apology and understand why you answered the way you did. This subject is so difficult to navigate & I have found myself lashing out at times as well. Thank you for being strong, and standing up when it wasn’t easy to do so.
I've had that feeling since the first of the trillions went out the gate. I've spoken up and got side-eyed plenty. So stopped but have been at it again. Don't care about side-eyes.
The anxiety is really caused by the realization that those that are in charge do know how to read data and that they do know what they are doing. It is the realization that they are trying to harm us on purpose. The so called conspiracy theorists are right and were always right. The cat is out of the bag and has been out of the bag for many. Please wake up. They know what they are doing. The goal of depopulation is real. They get away with it because we are in denial. The rabbit hole is deep and wide. And it shows you the truth. Listen to the people you are told you should not like. That is how they get away with it. They divide us so we will not hear the truth from those they say are bad. Bad is Good. Good is bad. Up is down and down is up. They trick us through confusing us, so you have to dig deep, even deeper than Alex, if you really want to know the truth. And the truth is quite disheartening. But things will never change unless more of us wake up and know the truth.
They know how to READ data for certain. This is intentional to deny it and create a false narrative to fit the agenda. You are correct the anxiety it creates in fully knowing this and NOT seeing anyone held accountable in the least. Just ongoing shifting of goal posts to fit narrative.
And to add to what you’ve accurately described, that realization that those in charge don’t care about anything except 1) stopping Trump and 2) lining their own pockets with our hard earned money through taxing us exorbitantly. People are indeed waking up and speaking about it. But not enough are doing anything. It’s so difficult to raise those that have awakened and get riled by what’s happening to do something, like call their representatives or senators, become a poll worker or observer, or meet with their local state assembly person to discuss what they can do to turn this radicalized ship around. Mobilizing is so difficult and I believe it’s because many of us boomers have been complacent for most of our adult lives. I keep speaking out that the 2020 election results have turned us into Venezuela and there’s the nod of agreement but no action except rhetoric.
Unfortunately, we are no where near the PAIN and suffering needed to wake up those who are still not aware. Its's coming though and to a theater near you
Spot on! I keep wondering when Alex will wake up to this fact. Can’t understand why he can’t see it. Maybe I have an exceptionally good BS meter, but I said to my dr in April of 2020 that the whole Covid scare was so they could force a vaccine on us. He chuckled and said not to worry, it takes many years to develop a vaccine.
Try Libertarian. A tremendously weakened bureaucracy and drastically reduced government apparatus is our greatest protection from incompetence or worse.
"...The belief that order must be intentionally generated and imposed upon society by institutional authorities continues to prevail. This centrally-directed model is premised upon what F.A. Hayek called “the fatal conceit,” namely, the proposition “that man is able to shape the world according to his wishes,” or what David Ehrenfeld labeled “the arrogance of humanism.” That such practices have usually failed to produce their anticipated results has generally led not to a questioning of the model itself, but to the conclusion that failed policies have suffered only from inadequate leadership, or a lack of sufficient information, or a failure to better articulate rules. Once such deficiencies have been remedied, it has been supposed, new programs can be implemented which, reflective of this mechanistic outlook, will permit government officials to “fine tune” or “jump start” the economy, or “grow” jobs, or produce a “quick fix” for the ailing government school system. Even as modern society manifests its collapse in the form of violent crime, economic dislocation, seemingly endless warfare, inter-group hostilities, the decay of cities, a growing disaffection with institutions, and a general sense that nothing “works right” anymore, faith in the traditional model continues to drive the pyramidal systems. Most people still cling to the belief that there is something that can be done by political institutions to change such conditions: a new piece of legislation can be enacted, a judicial ruling can be ordered, or a new agency regulation can be promulgated. When a government-run program ends in disaster, the mechanistic mantra is invariably invoked: “we will find out what went wrong and fix it so that this doesn’t happen again.” That the traditional model itself, which is grounded in the state’s power to control the lives and property of individuals to desired ends, may be the principal contributor to such social disorder goes largely unexplored..."
While I was intrigued by the title when it 1st came out, I never got around to it because I felt like everything you were going to learn was in the title. Did I miss out?
Got it. I feel like I've seen other really good comments from you on other threads. lmk if you'd like to connect. Either way, thanks for this one, and cheers!
Mr. Trump advocates building a wall along our Southern border and has said disparaging things about immigrants. Libertarians believe that people should be able to travel peacefully across borders to work, trade, or live."
Libertarians would not give out free housing, food, education, medical care, etc to immigrants. They would allow those who want to work and pay their own way to enter. Not exactly the same as what we now call immigration.
When they invite all manner of street people into their OWN homes and house, feed, clothe, doctor, and teach them, I will congratulate them for their internal consistency and decide to take another path.
Yes! I love this one because it is just so true. You can’t explain to people, it’s just once you see how obvious it is you cannot unsee it and it is all right in fucking front of our noses
I've only read the gradeschool part about the clock, and it made me angry as I began remembering similar instances in my childhood. I truly believe the "adults are always right" brainwashing is why today so many adults of all ages are reluctant to speak up or even ask questions. I never noticed this until my own child grew up afraid of talking to her teachers.
Lots and lots of people had similar stories in the comments, as well. Almost always from a young age when an 'authority figure' was quite obviously wrong.
Lol you nailed it. I feel like I live with a pit in my stomach knowing that the very experts and leaders we are supposed to trust are driving fast on the wrong side of the highway or are ignoring massive elephants in the room. I would go with the "The emperor has no clothes" syndrome or "awake" anxiety or something along those lines....or "get me off this bus" anxiety....
Susan—bingo! This is not a “new psychiatric disorder.” It’s disillusionment, a form of pride. It’s as old as man, and the first two known cases were Adam and Eve after they ate the apple from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The anxiety they suffer is two-fold—having faith in false gods and lacking the humility to admit they were wrong.
A person told me during crazy time with Wuflu he'd tell people that scolded him about not wearing a mask that he couldn't because he has CS. Nobody ever asked him what it was. He told me it meant "Common Sense".
As in the Emperor's new clothes. Everyone pretends to acknowledge the "rightness" of the "experts" (including them; see: Fauci), while seeing with their own eyes the nakedness (see: quad-jabbed catching Covid)
Now imagine you watched your child suffer because of it. That it wrecked your family. That you spent a year of your life recovering from it. That it altered the course of your life in some way profoundly. That you werell seriously victimized by the same inept bureaucracy. This IS red-pilling. It’s not an event, it’s a process.
"Nous, or Greek νοῦς (UK: /naʊs/,[1] US: /nuːs/), sometimes equated to intellect or intelligence, is a concept from classical philosophy for the faculty of the human mind necessary for understanding what is true or real."
I havn't heard this word used since growing up in England. Having lived more than half my life now in the US, sadly one's daily vocabulary has shrunk only to be revived on trips home or reading something (such as your definition) that sparks a memory:
I can clearly recall my mother chastising me in her very plummy voice, to "use your nous," or "use your bloody nous," when I had done or said something particularly stupid!
That so many people fell for this covid Non Sense merely proves that most people suffered from overwhelming fear and gross naiveté, suspending all use of their nouses (pl?)-- maleureusement.
For me, it's a lot more than just anxiety and it's realizing EVERYTHING I thought to be true, probably isn't. It includes that a huge number of my fellow Americans wanted to take everything from me because I didn't want to take an experimental vaccine. Worse, in late 2021 I took the foul shot because my employer decided to mandate it. I should have lied to get a religious exemption. Even my own husband is a Vax enthusiast and now we cannot talk about anything related to Covid. I'm lonely and depressed
Just an anecdote for you: an east coast friend of mine who is slowly redpilling herself had a split from her husband over covid (he was unhappy with her seeming lack of protective measures). He left and went home to his family out in the midwest. Apparently he caught covid on the plane because shortly after he arrived, that whole midwest household got it. But then his fear went away, I guess because they all survived and realized it was kind of the flu, he went back to his wife (who still loves him), and they look pretty happy together whenever I have seen them. My friend, the wife, reports that they are doing much better.
I am actually relieved there is a subset of the population in this category. Too many people continue to blindly obey and rationalize oppressive and deceitful conduct by government and state actors because, in my view, it is unbearable for them to recognize they have been had in the worst way.
Just got off a cruise to Alaska. One passenger was very vocal about how the CDC saved his life. Vaccinated and double boosted. Covid x2. When I pointed out the current Covid is mild and the vaccine has a very short window of efficacy he went ballistic. Started insisting it was false information unless released by the CDC. Another kool-aide drinker.
I struggle with this because if they are just evil then they have a plan to stop ,correct and move forward.If they are just stupid,nobody is in control and we heading for complete disaster.So I would hope for evil over stupid,it the end it doesn’t matter but lately I lean more and more to they are just total idiots.
I think the ones on the top doing the planning are evil and the ones in the middle doing (even presidents of countries, directors of health organizations) are operating out of fear and make stupid decisions, based on the fear and the "leadership" that they follow.
Yes that is my belief,it’s like hiring someone below you that can’t take your job on purpose,it’s called The Peter Principal.So the evil rises to the top ,but I think whatever they planned in the beginning is gone so wrong and they had no Plan B.So now even the evil are the top are clueless about what to do.
I don’t know, I feel like the ones on top are still making great headway. Judging by some of my friends and family they still follow the narrative. Canada is introducing a digital passport in conjunction with the WEF, the CDC wants to “learn from their mistakes “ and act quicker next time (I read that as consolidate into even more power), etc. I’m not sure sanity is winning quite yet, though we have a lot mor skeptics than we did a year ago and definitely a lot more people who have stopped buying what they are selling.
Ver(itas)tigo- a sensation of whirling and loss of balance, associated particularly with listening to officialdom's circular logic and truthiness, or caused by exposure to a pathological need of the expert class to cover their own backsides
I haven't read deep into the comments, so this may have been proposed quite early (if so, I apologize), but "Berenson's Syndrome" has a nice "professional medical" ring to it. Rare diseases are usually named for those who identify them.
Ah Alex, nothing is new under the sun. This is the mental disease that millions of people have suffered under dictatorships including communism, fascism and all the others.
When you see that irrationality is loudly condoned and vigorously pushed by seemingly normal people regardless of horrible consequences, you have no choice but go crazy to some degree. You can only choose your mental illness. A few stick to rational thinking in exchange for the anxiety you describe. The vast majority choose to embrace the prevailing irrationaility and descend into outright insanity.
Someone once compared communism to a neutron bomb that leaves the external shell of a person intact but pulverizes everything inside. People who lived through that may look normal but their feelings and thoughts are forever altered.
COVID did not last as long and was not as murderous as communism or fascism, but it's an expression of the same disease of human society. If you want a name, look at Orwell and others that described it many times before
The early leader is Scranton Syndrome, which works both as a reference to The Office and Biden and sounds vaguely like a real medical condition - "He's got Scranton Syndrome, I'm prescribing rest and a complete block of all Eric Topol tweets!"
Two more winners:
CDCD
Donkeypox
TDS
Topol Dinger Syndrome
The problem with all of this is that it make us, the "sufferers" who are the ones who at least are appropriately skeptical, if not seeing things clearly, it makes us look like we're the ones with the problem. The last thing you want to do is make "Team Reality" look like the crazy ones. That's exactly what the covidiots are doing; don't add fuel to their fire.
I think "Team Reality" is just fine.
Really like CDCD but like CDCF better
Slong covid
Biden seems too clueless to deserve naming rights. Why not name it after the diminutive narcissist who is the icon of Pandemia: The Fauci Effect
I would love to see his recent pathetic effort to brand himself backfire spectacularly.
I've been to Scranton. It doesn't deserve the association with idiocy (or with the Big Guy).
I went to U. of S. It was a depressing existence.
I went to Harvard, and it was a depressing existence. I think any city where winter is tough is pretty un-fun if you're a broke college kid. Steamtown is a great place to bring a kid, though, and the Radisson has an amazing brunch if you're a working adult. And I can't think of a place I've been (including Buffalo in December for a funeral) that is as depressing as anything about the last two years of federal BS.
It was partly the weather but also being in one of the first classes after admitting women. I could write a book... No support, no recourse for blatant misogyny. Ugh! And yes, the last two years have been hellish. The repercussions for those bucking the narrative are not over yet.
I didn't mean to make light of it... and I can only imagine how obnoxious some (most?) of the people around you were. Perhaps there is quite a bit that that atmosphere shares with the otherwordly hell of much of the US over the past two years. No recourse, no rules... Like Korematsu, but for far more people, and in an age that pretends to know better.
I have a soft spot for that part of PA, though, and it irks me no end that the jackwagon-in-chief associates himself with it.
So I've trained for this! All of my family is from that region going back generations... Coal miners of yore...
I really enjoyed this comment
“Media Mania”
Long skepticism
That’s my favorite so far.
This one is a winner!!!!
Hee hee love this one.
Long CO-OPT?
We have a name for this, it's called "default to truth" and it was coined by Daniel Kahneman during his incredible work on heuristics. People naturally believe what they hear. So, if you want to influence opinion, you just give the largest microphone to the people most willing to say the thing you most desire for them to say. Default to truth, especially in the Big Media era, is probably our most detrimental bias. Add to it the sunk cost fallacy which leads people to double down on their beliefs even when they know they're wrong for fear of the "cost" of admitting they were wrong, and, well, you get exactly what we have today...
In other words.... persistent dumb sheeple syndrome
hahaha, that's one way to put it.
I think those who define this entrapment of thought as a cult are probably most accurate. It's nudge theory implemented on steroids - it mixes "default to truth" with the "authority bias" (Dr. Fauci - who hasn't practiced medicine in decades but is an "expert" and therefore must be trusted) with "anchoring" (how everyone was suddenly SURE that 6 feet just had to be the answer when it was literally based on nothing other than being the first number anyone heard) with "availability bias" (the case and death tracker on CNN), and then use social media manipulation to make it appear (through bots and paid actors) that EVERYONE agrees with this to play on people's "group think" bias and all of a sudden you have the perfect implementation of Nudge Theory.
It's the same reason SOOOO many people want Donald Trump in jail but have no idea why when pressed.
Twitter, and I've said this before, is the manifestation of Obama's obsession with Nudge Theory (and good on him, it's a very powerful tool to be used against unwhitting individuals, especially when you come across as endearing as he does - no matter how full of sh*t he might be) and he, and his team, proved how well it can work during COVID.
They sure did!! AMEN to all that!
I wonder how long it will take for the CDC apology tour to catch on....
There’s no apology tour. They are very quietly saying they were wrong. Or like Bill Gates recent interview, simply rewriting history.
You omitted the key motivation: the people who repeat the lies are rewarded through government benefit programs, permanent jobs, and special “rights”, to repeat the lies.
Competency Deficiency Realization Syndrome
Like it :)
oh, but you are wrong. They know EXACTLY what they are doing and just following the agenda laid out well before 2020.This is what people have to wake up too. You give them credit by saying they are simply dumb or incompetent. Just sayin
It is disconcerting, to say the least. The older I get the more I realize how much BS there is in everything. The most dangerous people are the ones who believe their own BS, or the BS of others.
Known as true believers illusionist.
Sudden Awareness Disorder... It even has a great acronym that describes our general mood due to this knowledge - SAD.
That acronym hasn't been used recently, has it? oh, i dunno, for something like unexplained deaths in adults?
SAD = Standard American Diet as well as Seasonal Affective Disorder
Yes. They've hijacked it as the adult version of SIDS. No curiosity as to why we now need a name for this; it's just accepted as fact.
I'm no doctor, but it sounds like you have SAD... Could be worse though, you could have had SADS and that has a 100% mortality rate!
From Diagnostic Manual: “Seasonal Affective Disorder = SAD” … (depression due to the season)— but come to think of it, this might be true!
Diagnostic Manuals??? LOL! How old school of you. We now just make stuff up as we go. More fun (and flexible) that way!
I have a question—- How many of us had a pit in our stomach the minute we thought (we knew) we were being lied to? I kept silent, seeing the way people were maligning those speaking out. Every day lately, I’ve been yelling, “ I KNEW IT!” & I’m so mad at myself for cowering.
Funny, just speaking about this last night with husband. We own a restaurant and have a side catering gig at a small high end medical facility associated with a ginormous hospital bureaucracy. On day 1 of statewide mask requirement, I sharpied "I protest this mask" (with a smiley face, I'm a nice lady after all) and went to work in the facility kitchen and dining room. Nobody said boo to me, although I did get a lecture from my husband about endangering our contract after he heard about it from someone at the facility the following day.
Move forward 9 months and I wrote an essay about what was going on on Capitol steps on Jan 6 (because maybe I was there) and posted it on the mobhub previously known as FB. I got social-media-mobbed (then the mob moved the conversation over to Yelp and to Google) to the tune of losing half our dine-in customer base in one month - a population which has still not returned. People from thousands of miles away chimed in to tell the world about their terrible meals and my callous disregard for their health during their imaginary visits. The medical contract pivoted on a knife's edge of other people's choices. It was a REALLY unpleasant time.
Prior to that day, our entire customer base viewed me as a tree-hugging, granola eating, free speech loving liberal, which I pretty much am.
I am as mad as KFH, but totally understand that the price of speaking out against the mob is large. My business still drags, I went through a period of real depression, I decided to leave my church (many members were on the front lines of the pitchfork-weilders, I tried to turn the other cheek, but it just kept going on and on in that group), I have to work harder now, I am more socially delicate than I used to be, but stronger in other ways.
Would I do it again if I knew what the results would be? Hard to give a yes to that. Am I glad that I did? Not glad, exactly, but pleased to be able to look my kids in the eye when I tell them to be brave and do the right thing in all situations.
Across the fullness of time and with a lot of reflection, I do strongly suspect that this is a hill worth dying on.
(Curious to only be able to say such a scary phrase here among my faceless Team Sanity friends! See how changed I am?)
What I do think with certainty is that if everyone stepped up on day one of their rights being assaulted and said "STOP THIS!", they wouldn't have gotten so far, and my personal pain wouldn't have been near so bad.
Are you ready to rethink that “liberal” thing? It’s not conservatives who bailed on your business.
Conservatives are the bastion of classical liberalism at this point.
Good question Shirley, but no. But feel free to re-label me if you wish. I haven't changed. Other people have (and I think they haven't noticed/discovered the change yet, because at least half of the people who mobbed me think exactly like me on at least 85% of my positions). Another detail that cranks me out is that They also commit daily assaults on our use of language. I still have very similar positions and values that I have held for thirty plus years. Socially liberal, fiscally conservative, governmentally tiny, and oh yeah, critically-thinking-strong for all children. The bright side is that I no longer care what anyone calls me!
Here is what a lot of now officially ex-liberals feel--that their position has not changed, but the party's has.
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1519735033950470144?s=20&t=gtdv_D02JzCdOGJjrQ81ug
Thank-you for your story and for standing up for what you believe in.
Socially liberal, fiscally conservative=classic (big-L)Liberal=libertarian
Amverican liberal=socialist=communist=facist.
You've been mislabeling yourself. Classic Liberals have been left behind by the American left.
You should be proud of what you did! People like you who stood up and paid the cost (like me).. are the reasons unvaccinated didn’t get sent to gulags.
Well, thrina, you’re my hero! I was let go from my job after I finally DID start speaking out and my husband’s job in healthcare was threatened by me. I felt every word you wrote & wish I could support your business!!
thrina you nailed it with 'What I do think with certainty is that if everyone stepped up on day one of their rights being assaulted and said "STOP THIS!", they wouldn't have gotten so far, and my personal pain wouldn't have been near so bad.'
You were braver than me showing what you thought in public. I got pummeled if I said anything last year so I built up a backlog of anger and only recently tried pushing back publicly. As you found out, on those few occasions it did not go well for me so I'm back inside my own head and only expressing myself in this safe forum.
You are a principled person and if I lived nearby I'd be dining often at your restaurant. God bless.
And not principled. Just a regular person like you. To describe my own behavior across all of this I would say naive and foolhardy. I honestly thought that it was safe to post in my own space because my 1500 fb followers were almost all personally known to me (as long time customers) so surely, as they had always expressed enthusiasm for my thoughts before, they wanted to know what I had to say in this situation.
Maybe I was just an idiot. I always like to keep that possibility in mind. :-)
Maybe bravery is just butching up and dealing with the mess you create?
That would certainly apply to our larger problems - if we all had not gone along with the "politically correct" thing when it first appeared during the Bill Clinton era, we wouldn't have such a mess today. Oh, how naive we all were....
Nope. You are not naive or foolhardy, not an idiot and not the one causing the mess.
and
Nope. Drs McCullough, Kory, Batycharia, Kuldorf, Malone, Yeardon, etc. are not fringe scientists.
We both had to retreat to protect ourselves but that doesn't mean we should turn on ourselves.
It was totally logical for you to communicate with people you thought you knew who had previously embraced what you had to say.
Looking back we were right and the evidence supports that. The lemmings continue to cling to each other in all their virtue signaling cognitive dissonance. They got played and they can't/won't admit it. Now they are all on board with the CDC rearranging the furniture and declaring victory.
I expect this to get much, much worse so I am preparing to increase my interior resolve. This substack community has been helpful to me even when I just read what others are writing.
True that!
So moved by your story. I still am reeling that we are faced with this. Would never have believed it. I want to let you know how much I admire you. And I completely agree. Had so many of us just said a resounding NO, we would not be here. For some who were more in the know about what had been brewing for years, they may have not been surprised. But for me, and many others, truly shocked. Feel like everything I’ve known and trusted has been upended. But I’m awake now. And I wish I knew you personally. You are someone I would want for company. And someone who has inspired me to stay in my voice and be hopeful.
Super sweet of you to say, Shari. I wish you and the bulk of all the people in these substack conversations were in my physical life also. Here where I live we have been working to quietly unite all sane people in conversation and community so that when whatever the next local freedom assault happens we are better able to support each other and voice an organized NO if it is necessary. It is a slow process because people are scared and busy and tired and weird and crazy (each of us in our own special way!) but it has brought me the same kind of comfort that these digital conversations do. Just breathe, speak truth, don't speak lies, love your neighbor. All the rest is pretty much out of my paygrade!
so true, I work in health care and I am very glad that I am nearing retirement as I will never look at it the same way. So much BS and virtue signaling and paternalism. Medicine is a joke
So well said as I also worked in healthcare. I recently retired from my Infection Preventionist job and will never look at CDC, healthcare practices, health providers the same. I am thankful that I learned so much and now feel Woke, however most of what I learned has jaded me. How sad, inept, and corrupt most government employees are. Am glad I tapped into Alex and appreciate his truthful reporting.
And drink your water. Everyone needs to drink more water :-}
I'm sorry for what you've been through! You laid it out very well. I'm standing up too, but I do it for my Dad who was a naval aviator in WWII. He fought for our freedom and I'm carrying on in his honor.
A business and family in our area (bay area) was called out for a photo near the capital on J6. Not in, near. The lonnnng-time business(es) shut and as far as I can tell, they moved to another state. I often wonder about the 18-yo kid who posted the photo (taken from FB and posted on ND if I recall). Does he feel bad for being the leader with the pitchfork?
No. That kid is probably one who tortures animals too. I’m sure his parents aren’t any better.
If you could get your story and the name of your business out to other like minded people, mainly conservatives, I do believe you could develop a new following and reinvigorate your business. I’ve seen this happen for others.
Thank you! I'm actually semi-retired from my small business. I'm involved with my county GOP and together we're getting things done at the grassroots level. (We put up a "Trump 2024" billboard - it's great!)
sorry that this happened to you!
God Bless You! I was touched reading that and I applaud you. I do not know where your business is, but I certainly would come be a proud customer if I did! Thank you for standing up for the truth!
It may not be a consolation yet, but it has been amazing to see people and friends I once considered smart and loyal to be neither. And see others who proved to be real friends!
What made me realize one small benefit was soon after I was yelling at school about a mask mandate for my asthmatic daughter, we had plans to attend a summer camp. Long story short, they demanded masks outside and my eldest daughter asked if I would again stand up and embarrass them. As much as they hated it, it was a real-life teaching lesson! "Of course, I was going to stand up and as much as we are in the minority and it is embarrassing to a 12-year-old, you must stand up for the truth and what is right!" So, I did!
After that I have continued to harp on standing up for the truth and rights. All I can say is I hope it helps them not fear in the future and maybe the younger generation will learn something?!
Again, Thank you for your courage. This space has been a God-sent and we do appreciate people like you!
And right back at you. Modelling how to be brave for your children is our best and strongest action.
Sorry. This is not acceptable. You kept silent while you watched people like me being maligned? I'm at least as mad at you as you are, probably more....
Most that believed the BS were and are in most cases, not willing to hear a differing opinion. I still see it every day! Met up with a friend, they’re all vaxed and boosted including the kids. Still insist on masks. The most heartbreaking of it all is the kids are scared to death they’ll die from Covid. I tried to tell her that there are supplements she can take to help, mentioned Dr Malone…. She wanted nothing to do with hearing it. So what’s the point?
This is so true. I was getting a service last week and I try not to talk this subject but it came up and we argued and argued and I said just stop talking. She had on her mask and was doubled jabbed and said she had Covid and came to work with her mask on and made no one sick and I said your mask does nothing but harm you and unfortunately it was a pedicure and I was unable to get up and leave or I would have just stopped and left. She refused to believe any science and said everything on MSM is fact. Needless to say I will not go back there. My sister in law has a son that won't leave his house without a mask. They had an anniversary party last week and he left the party to go somewhere else to eat the food because he won't take off his mask around other people. The mental issues caused by the BS will last a lifetime. My doctor predicted the mask psychosis when this all started. He said if it is worn too long, certain individuals will be afraid to live without it. He was spot on.
That’s heartbreaking. Lots of people out there with the mask psychosis!
I watched my father through a window die of Covid in the ICU. So, excuse me for not being able to carry the weight of exposing the Covid lie.
Thank you for this reply which has given me the opportunity to say that I am very sorry I lashed out in such and unkind way. Please accept my sincere apology.
I accept your apology and understand why you answered the way you did. This subject is so difficult to navigate & I have found myself lashing out at times as well. Thank you for being strong, and standing up when it wasn’t easy to do so.
Thank you for accepting my apology. I am hoping that in some way this honest exchange we have shared publicly will help others.
I've had that feeling since the first of the trillions went out the gate. I've spoken up and got side-eyed plenty. So stopped but have been at it again. Don't care about side-eyes.
That sounds like my story. I have lost "friends." I call them my Covid casualties.
i spoke out, and my brother and his family are still shunning me... and our parents, as they and i am not vaxxed :/
yeah, i knew i was beinl lied to the minute those two public health docs from Bakersfield were labeled "dangerous", and thrown off of youtube :(
Didn't keep silent though. Lost friends...
sorry to hear that. and, you are not alone.
Don't give it a name! If there's a name then we can code it for billing. Next they'll be handing out pills to shut us up ;)
Ok, I'll play along. Awake-itis?
No. I liked your first two sentences.
The anxiety is really caused by the realization that those that are in charge do know how to read data and that they do know what they are doing. It is the realization that they are trying to harm us on purpose. The so called conspiracy theorists are right and were always right. The cat is out of the bag and has been out of the bag for many. Please wake up. They know what they are doing. The goal of depopulation is real. They get away with it because we are in denial. The rabbit hole is deep and wide. And it shows you the truth. Listen to the people you are told you should not like. That is how they get away with it. They divide us so we will not hear the truth from those they say are bad. Bad is Good. Good is bad. Up is down and down is up. They trick us through confusing us, so you have to dig deep, even deeper than Alex, if you really want to know the truth. And the truth is quite disheartening. But things will never change unless more of us wake up and know the truth.
They know how to READ data for certain. This is intentional to deny it and create a false narrative to fit the agenda. You are correct the anxiety it creates in fully knowing this and NOT seeing anyone held accountable in the least. Just ongoing shifting of goal posts to fit narrative.
And to add to what you’ve accurately described, that realization that those in charge don’t care about anything except 1) stopping Trump and 2) lining their own pockets with our hard earned money through taxing us exorbitantly. People are indeed waking up and speaking about it. But not enough are doing anything. It’s so difficult to raise those that have awakened and get riled by what’s happening to do something, like call their representatives or senators, become a poll worker or observer, or meet with their local state assembly person to discuss what they can do to turn this radicalized ship around. Mobilizing is so difficult and I believe it’s because many of us boomers have been complacent for most of our adult lives. I keep speaking out that the 2020 election results have turned us into Venezuela and there’s the nod of agreement but no action except rhetoric.
Unfortunately, we are no where near the PAIN and suffering needed to wake up those who are still not aware. Its's coming though and to a theater near you
The most pithy comment yet TRUTH! Thank you.
ooooh I love the word PITHY :)
I guess it really does take pain to get people motivated. Sad but true.
many times it's the only TRUE motivator. Similar to holding people accountable. Where has the tough love and REAL holding people to account gone...
I think so too....
Don't leave out "lining their pockets by passing bills that benefit those elected."
yeah, assuming everyone is nice like you is a childhood notion that some people cling to throughout life like a security blanket.
I could not agree more. I WISH they were merely incompetent boobs.
Spot on! I keep wondering when Alex will wake up to this fact. Can’t understand why he can’t see it. Maybe I have an exceptionally good BS meter, but I said to my dr in April of 2020 that the whole Covid scare was so they could force a vaccine on us. He chuckled and said not to worry, it takes many years to develop a vaccine.
some say the injection was not made for the whu-flu, but the whu-flu for the injection
I believe that is the truth.
See: stopworldcontrol.com/cabal
Sheep in Search of Wolf Syndrome (SISOWS)
Try Libertarian. A tremendously weakened bureaucracy and drastically reduced government apparatus is our greatest protection from incompetence or worse.
Is this too much for you?:
"...The belief that order must be intentionally generated and imposed upon society by institutional authorities continues to prevail. This centrally-directed model is premised upon what F.A. Hayek called “the fatal conceit,” namely, the proposition “that man is able to shape the world according to his wishes,” or what David Ehrenfeld labeled “the arrogance of humanism.” That such practices have usually failed to produce their anticipated results has generally led not to a questioning of the model itself, but to the conclusion that failed policies have suffered only from inadequate leadership, or a lack of sufficient information, or a failure to better articulate rules. Once such deficiencies have been remedied, it has been supposed, new programs can be implemented which, reflective of this mechanistic outlook, will permit government officials to “fine tune” or “jump start” the economy, or “grow” jobs, or produce a “quick fix” for the ailing government school system. Even as modern society manifests its collapse in the form of violent crime, economic dislocation, seemingly endless warfare, inter-group hostilities, the decay of cities, a growing disaffection with institutions, and a general sense that nothing “works right” anymore, faith in the traditional model continues to drive the pyramidal systems. Most people still cling to the belief that there is something that can be done by political institutions to change such conditions: a new piece of legislation can be enacted, a judicial ruling can be ordered, or a new agency regulation can be promulgated. When a government-run program ends in disaster, the mechanistic mantra is invariably invoked: “we will find out what went wrong and fix it so that this doesn’t happen again.” That the traditional model itself, which is grounded in the state’s power to control the lives and property of individuals to desired ends, may be the principal contributor to such social disorder goes largely unexplored..."
-Butler Shaffer
This is SO in line with Vision of the Anointed
Exactly. Love Sowell!
Have you read "Mistakes Were Made (but not by me)?
I highly recommend it.
While I was intrigued by the title when it 1st came out, I never got around to it because I felt like everything you were going to learn was in the title. Did I miss out?
They abridged it from the initial version (2007) about 3 years ago and it had some biased analysis of Trump imo.
I thought it was gratuitous and didn't add anything to the overall message.
Got it. I feel like I've seen other really good comments from you on other threads. lmk if you'd like to connect. Either way, thanks for this one, and cheers!
Yes! Thank you for bringing up Sowell. He should be required reading right about now.
To late educational system would call him racist or for- information
Which proves oh-so-many of his well argued points about sloppy thinking and drawing conclusions without data. Sad
Yup, he was on. the point when the wrote book. Not manny paid attention so here we are!
This gets to the heart of it for me. Thank you!
biden is running libertarian border security
"Immigration
Mr. Trump advocates building a wall along our Southern border and has said disparaging things about immigrants. Libertarians believe that people should be able to travel peacefully across borders to work, trade, or live."
https://www.lp.org/news-press-releases-libertarians-versus-donald-trump/
True. Libertarians are REALLY wrong on that subject. Though I’d lean toward a LOT easier process for guest workers.
My main point is a smaller government is less dangerous and less corrupt. In all areas. Disagreements become much less important.
Libertarians would not give out free housing, food, education, medical care, etc to immigrants. They would allow those who want to work and pay their own way to enter. Not exactly the same as what we now call immigration.
i def agree with your main point!
If you listened closely he only disparaged the drug smugglers, murderers and child/slave traders.
Do you want them to “peacefully” and illegally cross our borders?
Libertarians may mean well but they generally have no real understanding of human nature.
In principle I'm a libertarian that's fairly liberal (old school style). Both philosophies can coexist.
If I could start a political party it would probably be equal parts.
Good for Libertarians.
When they invite all manner of street people into their OWN homes and house, feed, clothe, doctor, and teach them, I will congratulate them for their internal consistency and decide to take another path.
Yes, but we also believe that we shouldn't give them handouts when they arrive. To have an open borders policy, we have to first remove the handouts.
Libertarians are pretty clear about this in general.
Without the government assistance
Can'tUnseeThisItis
Yes! I love this one because it is just so true. You can’t explain to people, it’s just once you see how obvious it is you cannot unsee it and it is all right in fucking front of our noses
i thought grownups knew what they were doing until i became a grownup
That realization is the worst part about becoming a grown-up
I wrote an article about my own initial distrust in authority, and it turns out a lot of people had similar stories:
https://simulationcommander.substack.com/p/why-are-you-like-this
I've only read the gradeschool part about the clock, and it made me angry as I began remembering similar instances in my childhood. I truly believe the "adults are always right" brainwashing is why today so many adults of all ages are reluctant to speak up or even ask questions. I never noticed this until my own child grew up afraid of talking to her teachers.
Lots and lots of people had similar stories in the comments, as well. Almost always from a young age when an 'authority figure' was quite obviously wrong.
Lol you nailed it. I feel like I live with a pit in my stomach knowing that the very experts and leaders we are supposed to trust are driving fast on the wrong side of the highway or are ignoring massive elephants in the room. I would go with the "The emperor has no clothes" syndrome or "awake" anxiety or something along those lines....or "get me off this bus" anxiety....
Its like a weird weird feeling of impending doom.
Disillusionment Syndrome Disorder. (DSD) Its real and spreading throughout the land.
Susan—bingo! This is not a “new psychiatric disorder.” It’s disillusionment, a form of pride. It’s as old as man, and the first two known cases were Adam and Eve after they ate the apple from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The anxiety they suffer is two-fold—having faith in false gods and lacking the humility to admit they were wrong.
Conspiracy realist
conspiracy analyst*...maybe
TTES. Trust The Experts Syndrome
It's called being a small government conservative, Alex.
We've been here all along. It's just that smarty pants liberals assumed our opinions were because we were stupid or ignorant or misanthropic.
Fiduciaphrenia - trust disorder. Seriously this is real and while I was a healthy skeptic pre-covid now I question EVERYTHING. It hurts a little
Another one - Elite Psychosis.
I think this is a good one
Sanity
A person told me during crazy time with Wuflu he'd tell people that scolded him about not wearing a mask that he couldn't because he has CS. Nobody ever asked him what it was. He told me it meant "Common Sense".
LOVE THIS!!
Definitely using this one 😄
yes, a new life skill! learned right here on substack! Thanks Andy!
Acute reality fatigue.
My fave so far.
Rosie…….Real quick………..how is Dad today?
Dad's good. Thanks for asking!
Lying dog face pony soldier syndrome
"Emperor Syndrome"?
As in the Emperor's new clothes. Everyone pretends to acknowledge the "rightness" of the "experts" (including them; see: Fauci), while seeing with their own eyes the nakedness (see: quad-jabbed catching Covid)
EDD - Expert Disillusionment Disorder
Now imagine you watched your child suffer because of it. That it wrecked your family. That you spent a year of your life recovering from it. That it altered the course of your life in some way profoundly. That you werell seriously victimized by the same inept bureaucracy. This IS red-pilling. It’s not an event, it’s a process.
Wooloveritis.
Kakistocracy fatigue
Sudden Heightened Ineptocracy Trauma
(S. H. I. T. )
Nousophobia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nous
"Nous, or Greek νοῦς (UK: /naʊs/,[1] US: /nuːs/), sometimes equated to intellect or intelligence, is a concept from classical philosophy for the faculty of the human mind necessary for understanding what is true or real."
I havn't heard this word used since growing up in England. Having lived more than half my life now in the US, sadly one's daily vocabulary has shrunk only to be revived on trips home or reading something (such as your definition) that sparks a memory:
I can clearly recall my mother chastising me in her very plummy voice, to "use your nous," or "use your bloody nous," when I had done or said something particularly stupid!
That so many people fell for this covid Non Sense merely proves that most people suffered from overwhelming fear and gross naiveté, suspending all use of their nouses (pl?)-- maleureusement.
For me, it's a lot more than just anxiety and it's realizing EVERYTHING I thought to be true, probably isn't. It includes that a huge number of my fellow Americans wanted to take everything from me because I didn't want to take an experimental vaccine. Worse, in late 2021 I took the foul shot because my employer decided to mandate it. I should have lied to get a religious exemption. Even my own husband is a Vax enthusiast and now we cannot talk about anything related to Covid. I'm lonely and depressed
we all love you, Levidog.
Just an anecdote for you: an east coast friend of mine who is slowly redpilling herself had a split from her husband over covid (he was unhappy with her seeming lack of protective measures). He left and went home to his family out in the midwest. Apparently he caught covid on the plane because shortly after he arrived, that whole midwest household got it. But then his fear went away, I guess because they all survived and realized it was kind of the flu, he went back to his wife (who still loves him), and they look pretty happy together whenever I have seen them. My friend, the wife, reports that they are doing much better.
I am so sorry how you feel 😞
Thank you :)
I am actually relieved there is a subset of the population in this category. Too many people continue to blindly obey and rationalize oppressive and deceitful conduct by government and state actors because, in my view, it is unbearable for them to recognize they have been had in the worst way.
Just got off a cruise to Alaska. One passenger was very vocal about how the CDC saved his life. Vaccinated and double boosted. Covid x2. When I pointed out the current Covid is mild and the vaccine has a very short window of efficacy he went ballistic. Started insisting it was false information unless released by the CDC. Another kool-aide drinker.
expertia nervosa
Trust misplacement disorder
Emperor’s Syndrome
Delusion Deniers
Simple but… halfpilled??
Oslo Syndrome? Simposter Syndrome? Kruger-Dunning (see what I did there?).
I hope they’re just stupid.
I struggle with this because if they are just evil then they have a plan to stop ,correct and move forward.If they are just stupid,nobody is in control and we heading for complete disaster.So I would hope for evil over stupid,it the end it doesn’t matter but lately I lean more and more to they are just total idiots.
I think the ones on the top doing the planning are evil and the ones in the middle doing (even presidents of countries, directors of health organizations) are operating out of fear and make stupid decisions, based on the fear and the "leadership" that they follow.
Yes that is my belief,it’s like hiring someone below you that can’t take your job on purpose,it’s called The Peter Principal.So the evil rises to the top ,but I think whatever they planned in the beginning is gone so wrong and they had no Plan B.So now even the evil are the top are clueless about what to do.
I don’t know, I feel like the ones on top are still making great headway. Judging by some of my friends and family they still follow the narrative. Canada is introducing a digital passport in conjunction with the WEF, the CDC wants to “learn from their mistakes “ and act quicker next time (I read that as consolidate into even more power), etc. I’m not sure sanity is winning quite yet, though we have a lot mor skeptics than we did a year ago and definitely a lot more people who have stopped buying what they are selling.
My thoughts exactly on the CDC wanting to “act quicker”
LOL - a sad state of affairs.
Yea...some seem evil, some just stupid.
PRDO
Post Reality Distress Order
Narcissistic authoritarianism. Always wrong, but never in doubt.
Ver(itas)tigo- a sensation of whirling and loss of balance, associated particularly with listening to officialdom's circular logic and truthiness, or caused by exposure to a pathological need of the expert class to cover their own backsides
realization hesitancy or RH
Elite Fogism.
I haven't read deep into the comments, so this may have been proposed quite early (if so, I apologize), but "Berenson's Syndrome" has a nice "professional medical" ring to it. Rare diseases are usually named for those who identify them.
Malaise. This is real, not a joke, and very discouraging.
Ah Alex, nothing is new under the sun. This is the mental disease that millions of people have suffered under dictatorships including communism, fascism and all the others.
When you see that irrationality is loudly condoned and vigorously pushed by seemingly normal people regardless of horrible consequences, you have no choice but go crazy to some degree. You can only choose your mental illness. A few stick to rational thinking in exchange for the anxiety you describe. The vast majority choose to embrace the prevailing irrationaility and descend into outright insanity.
Someone once compared communism to a neutron bomb that leaves the external shell of a person intact but pulverizes everything inside. People who lived through that may look normal but their feelings and thoughts are forever altered.
COVID did not last as long and was not as murderous as communism or fascism, but it's an expression of the same disease of human society. If you want a name, look at Orwell and others that described it many times before
F.A.U.C.I.
Fraudulent Authority Under Curated Information