Listen to a reading of this article: ❖ President Biden used the phrase "Putin's price hike" again in a reaction to Friday's Consumer Price Index report revealing continued high inflation, showing once again that the US government believes Americans are idiots.
"President Biden used the phrase "Putin's price hike" again in a reaction to Friday's Consumer Price Index report revealing continued high inflation, showing once again that the US government believes Americans are idiots."
One thing the US government does happen to get right: quite a few Americans are ignorant.
"To be ignorant of one's ignorance is the malady of the ignorant." ~Amos Alcott
People still believe that Putin had kopromat pee pee tapes on trump, Biden got 81 million votes and is not senile, and masks and jabs slow the spread so at this point they will believe anything.
Thanks for your ongoing work and pointing out the elephant in the room Caitlin, or world stage ...
I’m so over the spin doctors 👿😏 if I want the truth I listen to truth tellers not those western leaders and EU leaders who’ve had their own agenda all along ... 🥱.
Caitlin Johnstone nails it once again. Mass propaganda is pernicious, pervasive, and pluripotent. Writers like Caitlin are essential, not just for calling out state-sponsored bullshit but because she mercilessly breaks the plutocracy's complicated misdirections into simple base elements everyone can understand.
Would propaganda be enough, on its own, to sustain the rapacious global empire? Is it simply a case of show the truth, expose the sociopath elite, watch the revolution? I suspect not. I'm thinking there's two further obstacles to fomenting widespread resistance, two factors the ruling class bet their very existence on being able to exploit: path of least resistance and insensible imperative conceit.
It would be very interesting to read CJ's insight - and ideas for solution - on these twin evils.
Path of least resistance handicaps us all. It's another piece of our evolutionary toolkit that probably helped our ancestors survive but has been completely subverted by the modern world. Path of least resistance covers fear of change, aversion to expressing real freedom, preference for the sham security of demagogues, nationalism, and the reductio ad wanker of binaries like right/wrong, good/bad, ingroup/untermensch. Path of least resistance is the perpetual crude oil state power (and corporate consumer capitalism) uses in its propaganda refineries to manufacture consent (and sell us shiny crap).
Insensible imperative conceit is harder to describe - at least for a non-writer like me. Insensible means not seeing or hearing or allowing yourself to be exposed to truth/facts reality or some other person is trying to present. Imperative because time is short and we're driven by perceived urgency of getting from A to B without risk wasting time on possible distractions. Conceit because we think we know what's best and we see unfamiliar or uncredentialed sources of new information as a personal affront. "Who do you think you are to try to educate me?" and "I don't have time to listen to your quibbles, let alone debate them." The perceived toxicity of social media is caused more by our own insensibility than any outrage algorithm or trolling. We complain to avoid having to question ourselves, because conceit wants us blameless and urgency leaves us brainless.
So, in short, it'd be fascinating to see an exploration of these propaganda facilitating aspects of empire mass control. It feels like we need to deal with both path of least resistance and insensible imperative conceit, as well as laying bare the lies of the elite, if we're going to push back on the neocon-neoliberal cartel of doom.
The 2nd Iraq war was about putting that countries resources under control of Western firms. The current Ukraine war is about removing Russian resources from competing in the markets of those firms.
To understand propaganda, I go to the early master of propaganda, Adolf Hitler. Hitler said he learned about propaganda from the Western business advertising techniques who were the OG masters of propaganda. In discussing the efficacy of soap ads, he says, "What, for example, would we say about a poster that was supposed to advertise a new soap and that described other soaps as 'good'? We would only shake our heads. Exactly the same applies to political advertising."
Hitler's tips for effective propaganda from Volume 1, Chapter 6, of the book Mein Kampf:
~ take a one-sided attitude toward every question.
~ repeat only the simplest ideas and repeat them thousands of times so that in the end you must always say the same thing.
~ an audience can only comprehend a slogan, and the slogan must be presented from different angles, but the end of all remarks must always and immutably be the slogan itself.
~ don’t make half statements that might give rise to doubts.
~ don’t weigh and ponder the rights of different people, but exclusively emphasize the one view which you have set out to argue for.
~ don’t make an objective study of the truth, as it may favor the opposition by its fairness, therefore only serve your own view, always and unflinchingly.
~ load every bit of blame on the shoulders of the opposition, even if this does not correspond to the true facts.
~ limit your presentation to a few points, devised exclusively for the general audience and carried on with indefatigable persistence.
[lastly]
~ EVEN THE MOST OUTLANDISH CLAIMS WILL EVENTUALLY BE BELIEVED THROUGH THE CONTINUITY AND SUSTAINED UNIFORMITY OF THEIR APPLICATION.
Hitler quotes:
"But the most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly and with unflagging attention. It must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over. Here, as so often in this world, persistence is the first and most important requirement for success."
"All advertising, whether in the field of business or politics, achieves success through the continuity and sustained uniformity of its application."
"At first the claims of the propaganda were so impudent that people thought it insane; later, it got on people's nerves; and in the end, it was believed."
"The purpose of propaganda is not to provide interesting distraction for blasé young gentlemen, but to convince, and what I mean is to convince the masses. But the masses are slow-moving, and they always require a certain time before they are ready even to notice a thing, and only after the simplest ideas are repeated thousands of times will the masses finally remember them."
Mind control, plain and simple, and they do understand how to wield that tool. A way to tell truth from lies is to use your body like a pendulum: when you hear truth, your body will feel expansive, tingly, open, etc. When you hear lies, your body will feel contracted, constricted, closed, etc. I know it sounds weird, but try it out by saying your name and seeing how you feel in your body. Then say "my name is _____, with a blatant lie, and see how your body feels in response. It works. This is how you bypass the mind, which can be easily manipulated.
Biden is the greatest charlatan in the history of American charlatans. It seems as though it is a requirement to be a lying warmonger and charlatan to hold that position in Washington. Clinton, Nixon, Bush, Obama, Trump and now the feeble-minded Biden. What a bunch.
Well Biden takes the cake and before he is through, he may have started a war from which there may not be a recovery.
By way of a example of how the US slide downhill is well under way we see the US located "Summit of the Americas", another Biden initiative, where he and Blinken decided not to invite three of the South American countries involved and as a result, we saw another four countries decide not to attend. That’s 7 down. Something of an anti-climax, eh?
Just who does Biden think he is that he can dismiss out of hand three countries that are part of South America? Well we all know why Cuba missed out. They have been part of a hateful US campaign for over 6 decades, previously a stronghold of American criminals running gambling organisations in a country that chose to be independent from US dictates. Then there is Nicaragua who have little in common with the USA and choose to remain that way. The US has given them hell for decades. It refuses to toe the US line, hence no invitation.
Then there is Venezuela, with over 1500 years of oil reserves, and the USA with just 11 years. Think on that one….just for a minute…. and then relate that to most of the troubles in the world. Now can't have that can we, says Biden. We want that oil and are doing all we can to get it by sanctioning Venezuelans to death just as in the Middle East we are stealing Syrian oil every day.
Next Summit, for the countries in South America, find your own venue and give the USA a miss. Change the name also to "Summit of the South American Continent".
So "Putin's price hike" means what exactly. It means the ruble has firmed as a currency, whereas the US dollar, backed as it is with a 30 trillion dollar debt, is fast becoming a currency losing value, which will continue. Throw into the mix the next US war target, China (keep your eyes on the Pacific), and with the value of China's trade, they can do nothing but increase through manufacturing alone. But then, when you add trade to that mix, a country hard to toss who will demand and get the world’s respect. Now if China and others decide to replace the dollar as the major international trading currency, it is goodnight to US dominance and hello to China's new place as #1 in the world. I think that nothing can change that from happening. Right now, it could be a cooperative venture but not when one party is the”exceptional” USA, and we all have seen what that means since 1945.
Support for such a dramatic move as a new international trading currency is strong. So many countries remember US sanctions, arrogantly installed to benefit the US in matters of commercial advantage. You don't need a long memory as they are still in place today in so many countries around the world. Russia currently being US target #1. But if the Russian ruble is having a substantial move up and the US dollar has nowhere to go but down, down, down (with increasing debt), who is winning that battle?
The naivety (or should that be “arrogance”) of Biden and his bunch is astounding.
There is no country that will feel "Putin's price hike” (another Bidenism), as much as the US itself and when their unemployment rate hits 10 %, (all it will take is time), perhaps the citizens walking the streets of America looking for work, may decide to show their lack of appreciation for corrupted and warmongering US presidents and a corrupted-by-Israel Congress and storm the Congress again, seriously this time.
What else can you do when you are hungry and unemployed with no prospects for improvement.
A once highly respected country now in the fist stage of its death rattles
Yes, Biden certainly is an embarrassment, along with our entire government and all those who go along with this insanity of hating Putin, hating Russia, hating China, and shouting "USA! USA!" like a bunch of effing brain-dead parrots on ecstasy... But it's NOT Biden. It's not even the US government. Who is actually pulling the strings? It's the Globalist Oligarchs, folks. Biden is a tool, the US govt. is a tool, all for people like Boil Fucking Grates, and Klown Fucking Schwab. Look at it this way: If the people behind the globalist agenda are willing to commit GENOCIDE with a fake vaccine, even of CHILDREN, why would causing a vast food shortage (yes, it's deliberate, hello!), painful (and rising) inflation, a climate hoax, and all the rest of their pure bullshit-- why would they hesitate to pinch us, physically or in the wallet? The answer is, they won't hesitate... This is a planned demolition of our country, all because they are INSANE, delusional parasites wanting to RULE over us, and the entire world, and be worshiped like GODS, and who have caused ALL this economic hell we're going through because of fiat currency, ie pathological GREED. Okay, got it? Now let's put an END TO THIS INSANITY. Do Not Comply. Let's take down the 5G towers, stop doing as we're told, like idiot monkeys, and reconfigure the power structure locally. Grow your own food, start NOW. Get back into our communities, and make connections IN REAL LIFE. Stop being manipulated! WE OWE THESE PARASITES NOTHING.
Thank you Caitlin, always educating. I like to think I am informed, intelligent and open minded. How this all evolves feels more and more like a 50 yr. old Sci-Fi novel. Working in dark matter science I can believe the truth can be found. Humans make me crazy, but I have you : )
Good explanation of The Illusory Truth Effect, and well-spotted! We are all the subjects of a very sophisticated military grade propaganda operation - but this one is so simple (and so obvious once you start seeing it!)
There are a whole lot of ways to explain what has happened to people's brains over the past 2+ years: guilt/shaming, the weaponisation of caring, social conformity, etc etc.
But looking back, sheer repetition probably played the biggest role.
Even intelligent and well-educated people - people who I used to have intelligent discussions with - seem to have been brain-washed. In fact, especially the intelligent and well-educated ones.
It still puzzles me, and from time to time, when I get some new idea about it, I ponder on it some more.
The other thing to ponder, is why some people are able to resist this sort of brainwashing.
I think, besides being innately prone to contrarianism, a big factor is finding a like-minded community.
Because like the days of the Grand Inquisition, when heresy was aggressively sought out and punished, it is very hard for even the most independent thinker to hold their views and stay sane when they feel totally alone.
Biden is an embarrassment.
The more the hair sniffing public pedophile and father of a repeat pederast keeps blaming Putin, the bigger a loser he's painting himself to be.
"President Biden used the phrase "Putin's price hike" again in a reaction to Friday's Consumer Price Index report revealing continued high inflation, showing once again that the US government believes Americans are idiots."
One thing the US government does happen to get right: quite a few Americans are ignorant.
"To be ignorant of one's ignorance is the malady of the ignorant." ~Amos Alcott
People still believe that Putin had kopromat pee pee tapes on trump, Biden got 81 million votes and is not senile, and masks and jabs slow the spread so at this point they will believe anything.
No one is buying that shit anymore ...
Thanks for your ongoing work and pointing out the elephant in the room Caitlin, or world stage ...
I’m so over the spin doctors 👿😏 if I want the truth I listen to truth tellers not those western leaders and EU leaders who’ve had their own agenda all along ... 🥱.
I noticed prices going up on things I buy early last year. Anyone that swallows the shit he is shoveling deserves to choke on it.
Caitlin Johnstone nails it once again. Mass propaganda is pernicious, pervasive, and pluripotent. Writers like Caitlin are essential, not just for calling out state-sponsored bullshit but because she mercilessly breaks the plutocracy's complicated misdirections into simple base elements everyone can understand.
Would propaganda be enough, on its own, to sustain the rapacious global empire? Is it simply a case of show the truth, expose the sociopath elite, watch the revolution? I suspect not. I'm thinking there's two further obstacles to fomenting widespread resistance, two factors the ruling class bet their very existence on being able to exploit: path of least resistance and insensible imperative conceit.
It would be very interesting to read CJ's insight - and ideas for solution - on these twin evils.
Path of least resistance handicaps us all. It's another piece of our evolutionary toolkit that probably helped our ancestors survive but has been completely subverted by the modern world. Path of least resistance covers fear of change, aversion to expressing real freedom, preference for the sham security of demagogues, nationalism, and the reductio ad wanker of binaries like right/wrong, good/bad, ingroup/untermensch. Path of least resistance is the perpetual crude oil state power (and corporate consumer capitalism) uses in its propaganda refineries to manufacture consent (and sell us shiny crap).
Insensible imperative conceit is harder to describe - at least for a non-writer like me. Insensible means not seeing or hearing or allowing yourself to be exposed to truth/facts reality or some other person is trying to present. Imperative because time is short and we're driven by perceived urgency of getting from A to B without risk wasting time on possible distractions. Conceit because we think we know what's best and we see unfamiliar or uncredentialed sources of new information as a personal affront. "Who do you think you are to try to educate me?" and "I don't have time to listen to your quibbles, let alone debate them." The perceived toxicity of social media is caused more by our own insensibility than any outrage algorithm or trolling. We complain to avoid having to question ourselves, because conceit wants us blameless and urgency leaves us brainless.
So, in short, it'd be fascinating to see an exploration of these propaganda facilitating aspects of empire mass control. It feels like we need to deal with both path of least resistance and insensible imperative conceit, as well as laying bare the lies of the elite, if we're going to push back on the neocon-neoliberal cartel of doom.
The 2nd Iraq war was about putting that countries resources under control of Western firms. The current Ukraine war is about removing Russian resources from competing in the markets of those firms.
To understand propaganda, I go to the early master of propaganda, Adolf Hitler. Hitler said he learned about propaganda from the Western business advertising techniques who were the OG masters of propaganda. In discussing the efficacy of soap ads, he says, "What, for example, would we say about a poster that was supposed to advertise a new soap and that described other soaps as 'good'? We would only shake our heads. Exactly the same applies to political advertising."
Hitler's tips for effective propaganda from Volume 1, Chapter 6, of the book Mein Kampf:
~ take a one-sided attitude toward every question.
~ repeat only the simplest ideas and repeat them thousands of times so that in the end you must always say the same thing.
~ an audience can only comprehend a slogan, and the slogan must be presented from different angles, but the end of all remarks must always and immutably be the slogan itself.
~ don’t make half statements that might give rise to doubts.
~ don’t weigh and ponder the rights of different people, but exclusively emphasize the one view which you have set out to argue for.
~ don’t make an objective study of the truth, as it may favor the opposition by its fairness, therefore only serve your own view, always and unflinchingly.
~ load every bit of blame on the shoulders of the opposition, even if this does not correspond to the true facts.
~ limit your presentation to a few points, devised exclusively for the general audience and carried on with indefatigable persistence.
[lastly]
~ EVEN THE MOST OUTLANDISH CLAIMS WILL EVENTUALLY BE BELIEVED THROUGH THE CONTINUITY AND SUSTAINED UNIFORMITY OF THEIR APPLICATION.
Hitler quotes:
"But the most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly and with unflagging attention. It must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over. Here, as so often in this world, persistence is the first and most important requirement for success."
"All advertising, whether in the field of business or politics, achieves success through the continuity and sustained uniformity of its application."
"At first the claims of the propaganda were so impudent that people thought it insane; later, it got on people's nerves; and in the end, it was believed."
"The purpose of propaganda is not to provide interesting distraction for blasé young gentlemen, but to convince, and what I mean is to convince the masses. But the masses are slow-moving, and they always require a certain time before they are ready even to notice a thing, and only after the simplest ideas are repeated thousands of times will the masses finally remember them."
http://www.mondopolitico.com/library/meinkampf/v1c6.htm
Mind control, plain and simple, and they do understand how to wield that tool. A way to tell truth from lies is to use your body like a pendulum: when you hear truth, your body will feel expansive, tingly, open, etc. When you hear lies, your body will feel contracted, constricted, closed, etc. I know it sounds weird, but try it out by saying your name and seeing how you feel in your body. Then say "my name is _____, with a blatant lie, and see how your body feels in response. It works. This is how you bypass the mind, which can be easily manipulated.
Who said it? If you repeat a lie often enough and loudly enough, people will start to believe it.
Biden is the greatest charlatan in the history of American charlatans. It seems as though it is a requirement to be a lying warmonger and charlatan to hold that position in Washington. Clinton, Nixon, Bush, Obama, Trump and now the feeble-minded Biden. What a bunch.
Well Biden takes the cake and before he is through, he may have started a war from which there may not be a recovery.
By way of a example of how the US slide downhill is well under way we see the US located "Summit of the Americas", another Biden initiative, where he and Blinken decided not to invite three of the South American countries involved and as a result, we saw another four countries decide not to attend. That’s 7 down. Something of an anti-climax, eh?
Just who does Biden think he is that he can dismiss out of hand three countries that are part of South America? Well we all know why Cuba missed out. They have been part of a hateful US campaign for over 6 decades, previously a stronghold of American criminals running gambling organisations in a country that chose to be independent from US dictates. Then there is Nicaragua who have little in common with the USA and choose to remain that way. The US has given them hell for decades. It refuses to toe the US line, hence no invitation.
Then there is Venezuela, with over 1500 years of oil reserves, and the USA with just 11 years. Think on that one….just for a minute…. and then relate that to most of the troubles in the world. Now can't have that can we, says Biden. We want that oil and are doing all we can to get it by sanctioning Venezuelans to death just as in the Middle East we are stealing Syrian oil every day.
Next Summit, for the countries in South America, find your own venue and give the USA a miss. Change the name also to "Summit of the South American Continent".
So "Putin's price hike" means what exactly. It means the ruble has firmed as a currency, whereas the US dollar, backed as it is with a 30 trillion dollar debt, is fast becoming a currency losing value, which will continue. Throw into the mix the next US war target, China (keep your eyes on the Pacific), and with the value of China's trade, they can do nothing but increase through manufacturing alone. But then, when you add trade to that mix, a country hard to toss who will demand and get the world’s respect. Now if China and others decide to replace the dollar as the major international trading currency, it is goodnight to US dominance and hello to China's new place as #1 in the world. I think that nothing can change that from happening. Right now, it could be a cooperative venture but not when one party is the”exceptional” USA, and we all have seen what that means since 1945.
Support for such a dramatic move as a new international trading currency is strong. So many countries remember US sanctions, arrogantly installed to benefit the US in matters of commercial advantage. You don't need a long memory as they are still in place today in so many countries around the world. Russia currently being US target #1. But if the Russian ruble is having a substantial move up and the US dollar has nowhere to go but down, down, down (with increasing debt), who is winning that battle?
The naivety (or should that be “arrogance”) of Biden and his bunch is astounding.
There is no country that will feel "Putin's price hike” (another Bidenism), as much as the US itself and when their unemployment rate hits 10 %, (all it will take is time), perhaps the citizens walking the streets of America looking for work, may decide to show their lack of appreciation for corrupted and warmongering US presidents and a corrupted-by-Israel Congress and storm the Congress again, seriously this time.
What else can you do when you are hungry and unemployed with no prospects for improvement.
A once highly respected country now in the fist stage of its death rattles
Yes, Biden certainly is an embarrassment, along with our entire government and all those who go along with this insanity of hating Putin, hating Russia, hating China, and shouting "USA! USA!" like a bunch of effing brain-dead parrots on ecstasy... But it's NOT Biden. It's not even the US government. Who is actually pulling the strings? It's the Globalist Oligarchs, folks. Biden is a tool, the US govt. is a tool, all for people like Boil Fucking Grates, and Klown Fucking Schwab. Look at it this way: If the people behind the globalist agenda are willing to commit GENOCIDE with a fake vaccine, even of CHILDREN, why would causing a vast food shortage (yes, it's deliberate, hello!), painful (and rising) inflation, a climate hoax, and all the rest of their pure bullshit-- why would they hesitate to pinch us, physically or in the wallet? The answer is, they won't hesitate... This is a planned demolition of our country, all because they are INSANE, delusional parasites wanting to RULE over us, and the entire world, and be worshiped like GODS, and who have caused ALL this economic hell we're going through because of fiat currency, ie pathological GREED. Okay, got it? Now let's put an END TO THIS INSANITY. Do Not Comply. Let's take down the 5G towers, stop doing as we're told, like idiot monkeys, and reconfigure the power structure locally. Grow your own food, start NOW. Get back into our communities, and make connections IN REAL LIFE. Stop being manipulated! WE OWE THESE PARASITES NOTHING.
Thank you Caitlin, always educating. I like to think I am informed, intelligent and open minded. How this all evolves feels more and more like a 50 yr. old Sci-Fi novel. Working in dark matter science I can believe the truth can be found. Humans make me crazy, but I have you : )
Good explanation of The Illusory Truth Effect, and well-spotted! We are all the subjects of a very sophisticated military grade propaganda operation - but this one is so simple (and so obvious once you start seeing it!)
There are a whole lot of ways to explain what has happened to people's brains over the past 2+ years: guilt/shaming, the weaponisation of caring, social conformity, etc etc.
But looking back, sheer repetition probably played the biggest role.
Even intelligent and well-educated people - people who I used to have intelligent discussions with - seem to have been brain-washed. In fact, especially the intelligent and well-educated ones.
It still puzzles me, and from time to time, when I get some new idea about it, I ponder on it some more.
The other thing to ponder, is why some people are able to resist this sort of brainwashing.
I think, besides being innately prone to contrarianism, a big factor is finding a like-minded community.
Because like the days of the Grand Inquisition, when heresy was aggressively sought out and punished, it is very hard for even the most independent thinker to hold their views and stay sane when they feel totally alone.