Thread by @SteB777

I want to create a thread about the most serious, problem in the thinking of our culture, which I haven't really seen anyone describe. It can best be described as a dynamic. I'm scrabbling for words to describe it. It facilitates climate crisis denial, genocide, and more.
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What I'm talking about, is where denial of something by a powerful group or clique, can send our whole society off in an entirely dangerous direction, creating a whole new, malignant reality.

I call the start of this denial, a hinge or pivot, around which the denial starts.
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I will illustrate it with climate change, denial, but it is the same with many other serious problems.

What is taken for granted, is how in everyday dialogue, we rely on people, to just honestly accept self-evident facts.
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So if someone holds their hand out with 4 coins of a certain denomination, normally, in everyday discourse, everyone would agree, that hand held 4 pound coins or whatever.

But say someone, with no regard for the truth, disputes that, and says there are actually 5 coins.
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Usually, that is not a problem, because if it is just a random ordinary person, everyone else would just say, don't be silly. But say this was a very powerful person, with a lot of loyal followers, who will close ranks, and agree with whatever they say.
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You would quickly find yourself, facing formidable opposition, of a powerful group, openly asserting that 2 + 2 = 5. Whilst it would be obvious this group is wrong, you are totally lost if they have power, and just insist as a group, that there are 5, not 4 coins.
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I've just described the dynamics of climate change denial, genocide denial or whatever. Where although the evidence, and the facts are clear, you cannot force this powerful group, and their belligerent leaders, influencing them, to back down.
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We take it for granted, that if the evidence is clear, that everyone will accept it.

No, not when a powerful group, led by malevolent barefaced liars of the psychopathic kind, with a strong motivation for wanting to deny the truth, entrench themselves.
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I've just described the Trump dynamic, but it isn't just him, our modern society is shot through with this.

Trump's climate change denial arguments, are of the stupid kind. But he has many tens of millions of sycophantic followers, who will take anything he says as fact.
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You are absolutely powerless to argue against it, when that group, led by powerful people, with influencers, who have strong psychopathic disregard for the truth, with power, decide to just deny the obvious truth, because it suits them.
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I see lots of fancy psychological explanations for climate change denial, which IMHO are all totally mistaken.

A very powerful group of individuals and entities, have got a very strong motivation, for not wanting to accept the reality of climate change. It's that simple
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Their motivation is crystal clear. If they were to accept the reality of anthropogenic climate change, it means that their successful business model, which has made them stupendously rich, would have to come to an end or change direction.
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As long as you have no regard for the truth, and no conscience, which those with strong psychopathic traits don't have, it is very simple to just refuse to accept reality. Those with psychopathic traits, do it all the time.

13/threadreaderapp.com/thread/1883586…

You will never win an argument with a psychopath, because they have no conscience, and no shame. They will just lie, and refuse to accept reality, and not be at all bothered by it. Anyone who has made a vast fortune, has to have strong psychopathic traits, in just not caring.
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Remember, there are a huge number of people, with serious illnesses, suffering, stuck in a dire situation, which someone with a lot of excess wealth, could help immediately, if they didn't consider that they mattered most, and it was none of their business or responsibility.
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Basically a psychopath, is indifferent to the suffering of others, and considers their needs and wants, as paramount.

I've basically just described a billionaire, who could stop lots of suffering immediately, but choses not to, because they want all that money themselves.
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So yes, to sit on stupendous wealth, and to keep it to yourself, when you could end so much suffering, and still be left, absurdly rich, requires pretty strong psychopathic traits, and a strong tendency to deny inconvenient reality.
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So it shouldn't be much of a surprise, to find stupendously rich people, dishonestly denying climate change, and sponsoring climate change denial, just so they don't have to give up any of their wealth, or forego their money making machine.
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This denial, a simple act of a few powerful individuals, refusing to accept the science, because it is inconvenient for them. Then taking lots of gullible people along with them, who they have influenced, with their fake politics.
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It's the same with genocide. "What genocide, I don't see that tens of thousands of innocent children, have been blown to pieces".

By denying it, these powerful people, take society off in a whole different direction, it wouldn't have otherwise gone.
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If the media, owned by powerful billionaires, and the heads of governments, had just said to Netanyahu, you've gone too far, you're perpetrating war crimes and genocide, does anyone really think it would have still carried on?
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At base, all these things require a few powerful and influential individuals, just refusing to accept some inconvenient to them, undeniable reality, and carrying on as if this reality doesn't exist, and taking our whole society with them.
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This is why I call this dynamic, a hinge or a pivot, because the whole direction of society, is taken off in an entirely different direction, a horrific new reality, just because a few powerful people, dishonestly keep on denying a self-evident reality.
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I know people will dispute this.

However, does anyone really think, if Rupert Murdoch, had spent his time informing people about the reality of climate science, instead of denying it, and a few other key individuals, that we'd be in this dire situation now?
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Instead, these very same few powerful individuals, invent the lie, that actually public opinion has stopped climate action.

How???

Until recently, polls consistently showed most people in favour of climate action, and still appear to accept this.

25/ox.ac.uk/news/2024-06-2…

In reality, this dynamic is enabled by multiple levels of dishonest denial, and lying, denying self-evident truths and facts. Which have taken our societies, our civilization hurtling off into a frightening new reality.

But it all "hinges", around a few simple truths.
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If just a relatively small group of powerful and influential individuals, who run our governments, the media, large corporations, control great wealth, just accepted the science, and admitted there was a climate and ecological emergency, everything would be different.
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They don't have to be actively and openly denying the science. If you are head of government, pursuing all out economic growth, and doing nothing to address the climate emergency, you are tacitly denying the science.

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https://x.com/SteB777/status/1884347792518177000

People like @KeirStarmer are totally ignoring what the former government chief scientist @Sir_David_King and the UN Secretary General @antonioguterres are saying. Keir Starmer is objectively a climate crisis denier.

29/theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

Rather than prioritizing economic growth, any responsible leader would instead by prioritizing addressing the climate crisis, which will eventually crush our economy, and make economic growth impossible.

30/theguardian.com/environment/20…

For reasons, I've repeatedly explained, I actually regard, the study I linked to above, to be totally underestimating the threat that the climate and ecological crisis, poses to our civilization.

31/threadreaderapp.com/thread/1883550…

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