Thread by @caitoz

It Takes A Lot Of Education To Keep Us This Stupid

"The fact that the propagandists have to work so hard to keep our society this insane means the natural gravitational pull is toward sanity."
caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/it-takes-a-l…

It Takes A Lot Of Education To Keep Us This Stupid (Audio)

"You think you're struggling? You should see the people trying to manufacture consent for a status quo that is both plainly insane and self-evidently unsustainable."
soundcloud.com/going_rogue/it…

The oligarchic empire is working harder and harder to bolt down our minds in service of its agendas.

Silicon Valley is working more and more openly in conjunction with the US government,
caitlinjohnstone.com/2021/07/16/bid…

...and its algorithms elevate empire-authorized narratives while hiding unapproved ones with increasing brazenness.
caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/silicon-vall…

The mass media have become so blatantly propagandistic that US intelligence operatives are now openly employed by news outlets they used to have to infiltrate covertly.
caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/the-cia-used…

NATO and military institutions are studying and testing new forms of mass-scale psychological manipulation to advance the still developing science of propaganda.
caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/the-science-…

A transparently fake "whistleblower" is being promoted by the US political/media class to manufacture support for more internet censorship and shore up monopolistic control for institutions like Facebook who are willing to enforce it.
greenwald.substack.com/p/democrats-an…

Wikipedia is an imperial narrative control operation.
thegrayzone.com/2020/06/10/wik…

They've imprisoned a journalist for exposing US war crimes after the CIA plotted to kidnap and assassinate him.
caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/pompeo-effec…

The powerful work so hard at such endeavors because they understand something that most ordinary people do not: whoever controls the dominant narratives about the world controls the world itself.

Power is controlling what happens; absolute power is controlling what people think about what happens.

This status quo of exploitation, ecocide, oppression and war benefits our rulers immensely, bringing them more wealth and power than the kings of old could ever dream of.

And they're only getting more and more aggressive about it. More and more forceful, less and less sly and subtle in their campaign to control the thoughts that are in our heads.

Many who have this realization see it as cause for despair. I personally see it as cause for hope.

They work so hard to manufacture our consent for the status quo because they absolutely require that consent; history shows us that rulers do not fare well after a critical mass of the population has turned against them.

And they're working harder and harder to manufacture that consent, even as extremely influential people begin questioning whether we're being deliberately deceived about everything.

https://twitter.com/caitoz/status/1448783912168091670?s=20

They used to look like someone using a bucket to bail out water from a leaky boat. Now they look like someone treading water, barely managing to get their mouth and nose high enough to take gasps of air.

They're working harder and harder because they need to.

You think you're struggling? You should see the people trying to manufacture consent for a status quo that is both plainly insane and self-evidently unsustainable. They're the ones doing all the heavy lifting in this struggle. They're the ones fighting gravity.

Hope is not a popular position to take in a world that is being abused, exploited and being driven mad by manipulative sociopaths. Which is understandable.

But I just can't help it.

I look how hard they are struggling to keep the light from bursting in and driving out the darkness, and I can't help but think, "Those poor bastards can't keep that up much longer."