Your friend can’t admit it was a scam because then he would have to admit he was suckered, and that is far too great a blow to the ego. He’d rather live in denial than accept that he was duped by a globally coordinated propaganda campaign designed to coerce people into compliance with ever-escalating tyranny while simultaneously achieving long-term depopulation goals (https://margaretannaalice.substack.com/p/a-mostly-peaceful-depopulation). Evicting Trump from the White House was the reason they accelerated (and thus fumbled) their plans so mail-in voting could be in place by November 2020, but it was merely a side perk and not the overarching goal.
True, and on top of that, your friend will have to admit they took something that may cause them to get ill or die. That’s pretty scary. I’m guessing there’s a lot of people in that boat, and they’re scared shitless.
Yet, there are people still lining up to get this new "bi-valent" covid injection PLUS the quadrivalent flu shot together. I saw that people were searching out where they could get the "new and improved" covid jab and there were lines waiting for them at some locations. So many are still all in for the illusion. Many still scared shitless that they will die if they don't get the newest jab.
Most are but not all. In mid September I attended a Saturday knitting group at a local community center I found in attempt to meet some so locals. It was a very pleasant time and the 6 other ladies where very southern and welcoming. I was very much planning on going back, but will sit out for a couple of months as they had all indicated that in the next week or two they where ALL going for their booster shots.
While I've managed to escape from the blue hell that is NJ, I seem to have landed in the bluest of counties in SC. Going shopping here, there is still a goodly number (not as high as in Bergen Cty mind you) of folks still wearing masks. Hell even my newest neighbor who moved into his now completed house last month was outside doing yardwork (another crazy story) with a blue surgical mask on over his mouth and chin. Alone. Outside.
We might all see the crazy and scam in this as we tend to seek out alternative news sources or dig for information independently. Those who only watch the complicit media for their news, if at all, have not gotten any indicator of the scam that it is. Hell the Best Buy a few miles away still has a mask suggested window sign and a local restaurant still looks like Bergen County did at the height. They built a plywood/plexiglass wall between the public and the staff. All transactions are done over microphone and through a clear plexi "airlock".
haha. red Georgia here and a new neighbor had his mask around his neck and pulled it up when he saw me LOL. I looked in the mirror but don't think I look that scary and certainly not ill!
We left Bergen county 10 years ago. Politics wasn't the motivation. We were used to the corrupt union state going blue. Maybe it was purple, as Chris Christy was governor and he was certainly better than what followed. Moved to Florida and found many like minded people. Spent 3 years in North Coast California, with a good supply of duct tape required due to the uber lefty culture. Back in Florida, low taxes, culturally congruent and spent the virus years outside and mostly unmasked. I will NEVER wear a mask again, and have avoided my doctor, preferring to treat myself rather than be subjected to vax pressure or specious treatment. Stay the course, avoid recently jabbed, and don’t remain silent when you can.
(I only wore genuine 3M "Dust Masks" ("other uses may impair health" printed on the front!). These red state reports are pretty depressing - FL, I know is real mix - but SC?! ... I had been assuming Rural, Conservative, Red State - were shrugging it off with a laugh mostly... but no?! I guess everyone watches TV - and that wins in the end.
Fmr Bergen County deplorable- Your town sounds like mine! Although I have lived in Florida for over 40 years, I recently moved to a new neighborhood, but not that far from my former one. I unfortunately discovered the same thing here, that most of my neighbors are full fledged Covidiots! There are still a ton of maskers around here, and stores with masks suggested signs. Our Nextdoor app has tons of thread asking where to get the jabs. I also know that most are recent transplants from blue states, but it's clear that they brought their political views here, (unfortunately).
Heaven forbid that our red states turn blue because of the idiots who moved here to escape theirs and then vote the same as they did. On the other hand that would set DeSantis free to run for president. I will certainly vote for him!
Ugh. The blue virus is the actual pandemic! My subdivision is brandy new, and my masked neighbor is the last newly completed house. I'm relieved to say that by and large, no one other than this guy is wearing a mask. From the license plates on the cars, folks are from all over the country. Could be we're really close to Ft. Jackson. Hoping that one of the reasons I moved to SC was to be in a red state isn't purpled by others fleeing awful blue places. The nearest "large" city is a college town and state capital so I'm not completely surprised that the pandemic still reigns supreme there. I've had contractors and others in and out of my house for the last 3 months and no one wore a mask and we all shook hands, old skool. But yes, Nextdoor and FB are still chock full of the covidiots.
Just a note about masks and yard work. I suffer terrible allergies here in the south, and find use for those insufferable face diapers when I’m weeding the garden or mowing the lawn. Don’t judge your neighbor too harshly. Could just be allergies.
Have you ever asked the masked yard working homeowner if he masks indoors in his home? Because after all, he has to open the front door and windows now and then.
I was at my pharmacy the other day to pick up a prescription and there was a mother with 3 young girls (I assume her daughters). They were waiting to get a shot of something, I assume the flu shot. All were very eager to get jabbed. I don't know what type of flu shot the pharmacy has, regular or hi-test (bi-valent). Sad.
Also, there a still a handful of people who go around with masks. And some who are alone in a car. I'd like to go over and slap them upside the head, but I hear that's frowned upon in polite society.
"I know genocide—in this case, democide—isn’t a topic you bring up in polite conversation. But I’m not polite. Because being 'polite' when you know people are being medically liquidated makes you an accomplice to murder, and I will not go gentle into that bad night."
Well, from where I'm sitting, it appears as though the other-than-liberals pretend that we still live in a polite society and the liberals claim that a polite society is the systemic patriarchy white supremacy and therefore they must burn it down.
The people I "saw" searching for locations were people on the internet, not in my state. There were discussions as to where to find them and photos of people in line to get them. I should have been clearer. Most likely CA and NY. Where I am now is 1000% better than NY. But there is a university about 20 mins from me. The students there tend to be masked but probably because they were so conditioned by the school to always wear one. Once you get out of that area, few are masked except old folks who still want to believe that the paper mask is keeping them safe.
Working in a public library with the vast majority being identical to OP's friend, their behavior, exactly as you say, has been an incredible (and maddening) thing to witness. What was once discussed incessantly and maniacally for two years has now been effectively flushed down the memory hole.
Also agree. I work in circ, so not a librarian but of the "pros" I work with across three large branches, there is exactly one who has kept her marbles over the past couple years. One. 🥴
seems like our library is quite normal folks. I went there 2 weeks ago, only one masked person behind the counter, and all the rest behaving totally as if nothing happened. BTW Napoleon I love your clock!
I look at the new books to see where the political inclinations are. Even in my small town library, its mostly leftists books....no books written by Trump or any of his team, no books like the Real Anthony Fauci....most of the censorship now is in the books that libraries purchase or lease.
Really ! I have to look at that. Haven't noticed, but haven't visited libary regularly in years. I used to go every week, but since I have the computer I read Freebooksy. In the meantime there is a new head librarian. I partly stopped going too, because the former one bought books I thought inappropriate (lots of drugs, crime, riding under the influence, cussing etc in the new books)
Maybe I should go more ! No mask required or even advized at ours anymore!
This is true. I live in a small town of 30,000 and by far the biggest control freak witch is the town librarian. She won't allow Halloween candy in the library because, get this, palm oil is harvested unethically by exploiting indigenous people. They never give it a rest.
It does seem like libraries have become the personal fiefdoms of their librarians. I rarely spend more than a couple of minutes in them anymore because of their mask requirements. Could that even be legal when the general state rule is that masks are recommended but not required. I could understand a private library requiring a mask but a public one? What next, having to wear the librarian's preferred religious symbol?
Which somehow fits perfectly with what's become of information management and retrieval in general: everything is siloed and decontextualized and all is given value by consensus. Libraries have been googlefied and flattened into 1s and 0s submission. I imagine some future AI hologram of a librarian will be geneated from the photos of today's most obedient, who seem to ooze a "heaven forbid we cross-pollinate IDEAS with other IDEAS! Why, we might get CRITICAL THINKING instead of search engine optimization of Right Thought" vibe. We soon won't even need the Firemen to burn the books because no one will be able to find or read the challenging ones for lack of attention span and the skill to hold conflicting thoughts long enough to test and evaluate them against gathered evidence and experience. I weep.
This is funny as this is the case at my small town commie library complete with it's tattooed lesbian librarian and promos featuring diversity (there are some minorities around here but I've never seen a one in the library) and starring the mask natzy who would jump you if your mask went below your nose.
I shouldn't but I'm gonna anyway because who doesn't need a chuckle. So the tattooed lesbian librarian is kinda attractive and this guy we know got kinda friendly with she/her/hers, she even went to see his band play and he'd visit her in the periodicals. So one day he's moaning to this other guy how he can't seem to be getting any where and the other guy goes, 'dude, she plays for the other team'. Well, he was all shook up over that for a spell. Hope this doesn't make me a bad person.
Like all things, mental disorders are frequently confined to certain geographic areas. The Salem Witch Trials are a good example. Paranoid overuse of Plexiglass barriers and useless masking is another. In east Tennessee, only bank managers hide behind Plexiglass and no one wears masks anymore.
I am generalizing here, but I have to agree with you. Iḿ about the only I know who is an extrovert.....Librarians tend to be introverted, risk adverse, and pre-occupied with minutiae...Of course cataloguers have to be, but my word!! They are really terrible at conserving great series, well loved books, etc....They are viscious weeders. I believe in keeping important or books that have not been altered to conform to todayś standards (like Nancy Drew and the Little House in the Big Woods series).
They are some of the most censoring people I know....And the bulk of them are rabid leftists now.
Could not agree more. Lord forgive me for how much I detest these people. Recently it was decided that Matt Walsh's toddler board book, Johnny the walrus is to be relegated to adult 800's obscurity. Meanwhile "I'm not a girl, a transgender story" remains on display in the children's area. I want so badly to chuck those two books at their heads and demand an explanation as to how they're different. Other than the obvious. 🙄
Good night rose, librarians are some of the libtard worst, & I can say that because I’m married to (a very conservative) one who was virtually always a minority of 1 at state or local librarian meetings, etc.
Cindi- you are so right! One of my friends is a librarian and she is a hardcore libtard. I think teachers may fall into that category too, obviously not all of them, but many.
I knew immediately my coworkers and I were as ideologically opposed as it gets but Covid forced it to the forefront so unbearably I almost quit. If it weren't for our governor putting a stop to the mask mandate in public spaces I absolutely would have then. Now that everyone but a select few cultists wishes to pretend the Covid insanity never happened, the DEI committee that runs this shit hole has moved on to drag shows for 11 year olds, so my days are numbered anyhow.
Very true but I always have to wonder why so many people can't come to terms with the fact that they we're suckered/played/conned. I know there is the urge to resist facing that we got tricked because of our egos but doesn't part of our own integrity demand introspection?
I like to think that I'm a relatively smart guy, do smart things for a living, yadda, yadda.
But let me tell you, from time to time in the course of my life, I have been straight out JACKED!! It's humiliating. It makes you angry and part of that is having to get angry at ourselves for not seeing it coming! But if we don't face up to it, we're never gonna learn!
We need something like "AA" for the covid sheep. Step One (repeat after me): "My name is <...> and I got JACKED!"
For Covidians, group conformity takes precedence over integrity. Integrity isn't even on their radar. Anyone who exhibits it by refusing to comply is viewed as selfish. They value compliance over independent thought, which is painted as a threat to the public health.
Never mind that they were complying with edicts that turned out to be ineffective and even harmful. They're caught in an obedience loop and are just waiting for their next command.
Margaret Anna Alice, just even a guesstimate...I am pretty sure most people are group conformers,....but what percentage of the population do you think they are???
If you go by the figures in “Ordinary Men” (https://margaretannaalice.substack.com/p/letter-to-a-colluder-stop-enabling), only 12 out of 500 took the opportunity to excuse themselves from the Józefów massacre, so that’s 2.4% who exhibited the moral courage to be nonconformists—pretty dang small, in other words.
Very funny, great comment. At first I thought you meant you were robbed of money, then I realized your true meaning, and those who are still "jacked" are far worse: people continuing to fall for the series of dark sweaty lies, clutching their tiny strips of cloth made in some sweatshop over their odd little faces, their eyes darting and wide with fear, waiting, hoping, needing an authority figure - a librarian will do, a doctor is better, a CDC person magnificent - to please, oh god, please tell me where to go, how to behave, what to wear, how to think, for I will!! I'm obedient, I promise! I'm a good pliant sheep who puts the lie to "virtuous for others", I fear only for myself! Yes I am selfish, there I said it! I'm selfish as fuck! I revel at the sight of others who are still masked, because I know I am increasingly anachronistic, and increasingly mocked, and I am now even pitied by some good hearted folks, which does not include Fred, who cannot stand the sight of me, who can't stop himself from exuding contempt for those still masked because he knows my weakness makes me complicit with the sociopaths who couldn't care less about the damage they've done to children and their families; the Greatest Generation we are not. OH NO, what's that noise????? Oh it's a bird... Or is it a Tyrannosaurus Rex with wings and teeth, come to devour me?!!?? Nah, Im not even nutritious. I'm a waste.
Much as agree with Mark that Trump became a "vaccine salesman" and I resent he did that, I am not convinced he wasn't tricked into by evil forces around him. The swamp is far deeper than anyone knows.
This article about the US lockdowns is fascinating to review the "lockdown decision and order" that Birx and Fauci pulled off when Trump was possibly distracted!
In addition to being unable to admit they were suckered &/or the fear that they have compromised their health, I hope there are some w/ a conscience to feel guilt & shame for any cruelty, disdain & coercion they displayed in coercing others to take the shot, or in ostracizing family & friends who chose differently.
I started a blog last fall specifically to communicate with friends/colleagues and “show” all these lies. I was in nyc, where I had a massage therapy business with hyper liberal clients and biz partner. I am also am a therapist and worked on a dozen clients a week. Although everyone masked at all times (they still are, which is insane) and most were vaxxed I was still considered “dangerous” to some. I tested weekly for a year to soothe fears although some people (when they found out I was unvaccinated) literally turned on their heel and walked away from me like I was Typhoid Mary. Did I mention that for the past 3 years I have had barely a sniffle and never once tested positive? Mandates came for me eventually and my partner would not defy them but I had seen the writing on the wall by the end of 2021 had sold my half of the biz, moved someplace lovely in January and started a small practice, just me in my new hometown. I now see clients unmasked, unvaxxed and No client asks or cares or even seems to be thinking about Covid (many are middle aged or older btw). Nobody masks either. Meanwhile literally the day after I stepped down as partner, my prior biz REQUIRES all clients be vaxxed although this was NOT mandated in nyc (workers yes, customers no). I had openly vowed never to allow this but as soon as my partner had a new partner this new policy was the first thing they implemented. Did I mention I spent 14 years as her partner building this biz and now I cannot even go there myself as a client now to get a massage?
So why am I spilling my guts here? Because I need to know how others are dealing with similar realities. I stopped updating my blog regularly because frankly there are a lot of great writers like mark and so many on substack covering all the lies inconsistencies and manipulations. If you REALLY perceive there was something colossally “off” about this whole Covid “thing” the truth is out there. You just need to look. Also NOBODY IN MY REAL LIFE WANTS TO HEAR IT. Many have distanced themselves from me after I started trying to “show” people directly what is happening. I actually have a great husband who is 100% on the same page but he will only listen to me for so long before he asks me to stop. I feel a great sense of obligation to “act” but I’m not sure what is the right course plus I feel obsessive. Can anyone relate?
Thanks, Erica. My approach--perhaps not the best, but characteristically me--is to not stop talking about this. Ever. We can't just let it fade as a topic though others would like to slink away quietly from their prior foolish, destructive and often vicious conduct.
Thank you Mark. Perhaps what I am considering an obsessive focus on this is not “unhealthy” as some have implied, but actually the opposite. Who you are comes through loud and clear and I’m grateful for you. Great writing too.
Erica, you have a Conscience. It’s so strong it rightfully refuses to be stymied.
There’s that thing some of us have internally which forces us to try to save those who’re perishing. It’s not a good thing—it’s a great thing.
Imagine those who were horrified and relentlessly objected to the Crime Against Humanity of their day: Slavery, the Holocaust, etc. Then imagine those who said their era’s equivalent of, “Get over it.”
The difference now is the go along to get along types are putting their own shackles on and waltzing themselves straight into the showers.
Thank you, Bridget. You are exactly right, the difference is the go-alongs who are putting on their own shackles. he censorship, the groupthink, the lies, the abuse of power, the bills being passed...the hands are closing around all of our necks. It's hard to even cover it all, there is so much going on right under our noses. There is a flood of actual data even making into the mainstream that should alarm people. it doesn't. Or maybe it does. I wonder how many people "know" but don't know what to do. Clearly, I'm more aware than many but I'm hitting a wall, internally. Thank you for sharing your insight.
I struggle with what to do with all the information I have also. I am wanting to help a friend who is vaccine-injured and not clear on the best path forward on how to advise her. I worked hard to keep our college-aged son (younger son) out of the cult and helped him to get a vaxx exemption to his college. Looking for ways to help others but not clear on the path forward for this. . .
I feel like that as well. Live in a pretty rural area, self-employed, daughter is now in an online Charter school and I am not on Social media, (other than Substack). I was at my daughter's soccer practice the other day when the news was coming in about the first day of CDC panel voting and I just sat there with tears in my eyes watching the kids play and wanted to run from car to car asking if the parents know what is happening. I informed the very few moms that I still have on my phone and now just feel at a loss. My only sister hasn't listened to everything I have learned in the past 3 years. Her kids are already jabbed. We have all this knowledge, concern and compassion and now what?
Hi Erica! I just wanted to reply to your survey: Same experience. Everyone in my life (friends / family / colleagues / neighbors / acquaintances) swallow down smoothly in blind faith to the established institutions whatever narrative is put out by the cartel, muzzled up, lined up to get their mad scientist Russian Roulette guinea pig DoD-Pharma injections despite my warnings w/ documentation, and continue to cling to remaining in Disneyland reality / their lifelong concept of baseline reality, and all these relationships have fallen away. My longtime buddy and mentor at work, we were also friends outside of workworld, she stopped talking to me after I sent her the safety signals portion of the Oct 2020 VRBAC meeting with the pharmacovigilance expected adverse events data in an attempt to warn her about taking the injections. Unfortunately i dont have any special coping advice. I remain in a struggle to push thru the isolation and getting my affairs in as agile order as possible so I can relocate away from the city and live as simple and prepared a life as possible. I wanna become a minimalist, agile ninja, so to speak. Like Bruce Lee's martial arts philosophy, to be able to instantly adapt and maneuver thru whatever comes at you at anytime. And I need to work on my relationship with God. Hope you find a good tribe pocket in your locale, and wish you the best. And thanks for sharing what you're going thru.
Thank you Rabbitgurl. Where you are at and trying to go, is where my husband is at, basically. Growing food, trying to be more independent. He is looking ahead and says to hell with people who just won't listen. I get that. He might be right. But I'm not sure if it is the right thing for me to stop discussing this or open eyes. All the best to you, and Thanks again!
Erica, Hi ! Oh Erica, just to clarify, I'm all for continuing to attempt sharing info and trying to redpill. Agreed, we have to persist in trying, always. I will respect peoples' wishes though, meaning, for example, my brother and my father both explicitly requested that I no longer send them information having anything to do with Covid or holistic/alternative protocols and therapies. So I abide by their request, and stopped sending them info that has to do with those topics. But for sure, same as you, I won't stop attempting to share / to redpill. So thumbs up to you, Erica! regarding that indomitable spirit.
I am in agreement with your husband, at least as I understand from your description.
If they want it -- the shots -- let them have it. These are often the same ones who shunned me over the past two years. And some are still virtue signalling around it all. Requiring the death shots to participate in their artsy groups. Fug em. Although I feel for their kids.
The ones still masking are akin to superstitious types during the middle-ages who wore crosses around their necks to ward off vampires.
I waited them out. While I am cordial to everyone I meet, their choices will create their destinies.
There is enough information out there if they want it.
I am grateful at least for my invisible allies out there in cyberspace!
Yes, most certainly. I often feel like I'm spitting into the wind. I would encourage you to keep writing. Write about your experiences with being in ground zero for COVID madness, write about your decision to pick up and move, write about your struggles. Put it out there and people with find you. This moment is too important to not document it.
You make several great points in sharing this personal anecdote. One point that resonates with me is that "the truth" is out there (at hundreds of Substack sites) ... if people would just look for it. But, while many are doing this, most are not. And will not. They don't want to know the truth .... because it's too tough to handle. I do think the mainstream media has to be exposed as the most important actor in keeping the truth from the public. Alas, The NY Times is never going to purge its own staff and do any kind of mea culpa ... so the only other alternative to getting around these "gatekeepers of the news" is to expose far more people to real journalism like is found at Substack sites. If half the population discovers even 20 great Substack sites (like Mark's), we might have a fighting chance to change some of these harmful and bogus "narratives."
Thanks Bill. The truth is "too tough to handle." Yes, that is a big part of the problem. My 75 year old mother reacted so badly (emotionally) to truth that I can't bear to keep on "showing it" to her. I "let" her dwell in ignorance. Maybe this makes me a wimp but I can't push on people who psychologically can't handle this. And I get it because the implications are frightening and overwhelming. I content myself with the fact that my parents/family never, ever excluded me or challenged my personal decision not to vaccinate. They totally accepted me and my decision. They did however think mandates were OK (did not question them) which really sucks but we "don't talk about it." However there are people who "can" handle it and perhaps sharing substacks with those I think can, is the answer. I'm trying to walk a line, alienating people with too much "truth" ultimately may be counter-productive but perhaps I am wrong.
I have found that the "we don't talk about it" solution can be a tolerable (although unsatisfying) one for any relationship other than marriage. There are very few elephants that can be swept under that rug without doing serious damage to the house.
Erica, I'm in the same boat. I've stopped pointing out the truth to my parents (78 and 80) now. They didn't handle it well either. I hate letting them dwell in ignorance and fear but know no way around it. They accepted my decision for me and my children to not take the jab, but my father subtly pressured us to do so to avoid the difficulties we would potentially face. I used to send my father the posts from Mark and Gato about the real facts but the response was either a tl;dr or "muh you're confusing me with all these facts". He cannot accept that this whole thing was propaganda and/or a scam. If I was speaking the truth, why wasn't his news shows (you guessed it CNN or NBC) saying anything remotely like I was saying, so I had to be wrong. He refused to internalize the "Sponsored by Pfizer" logo on the shows he was watching no matter how many times I pointed out the vast amount of pharma money the networks were paid. I too walk the line between alienating with too much truth and letting others endanger themselves.
I know there are some, like my husband, who have found other substacks and blogs that report exactly the opposite of our truth and they are people in the 'indusstry' (chemists in the case of my husband) and so, since his group is full of scientists who he thinks would never ever consider doing anything wrong or evil, he believed them over the ones that I sent his way...
It is heartbreaking to know that he believes the words of his best friend over me but there you have it. I have to give him credit for not talking to the kids about the shots or trying to get them to take them though...that would have ended the marriage...
You have found yourself in a situation familiar to anyone that responds to mass hysteria with a close examination of the threat that induced the panic, Erica.
If you constantly wonder if you're being obsessive, you would be well-advised to consider yourself healthy. Such self-examination is a necessary component of efforts required to preserve one's emotional equilibrium. It is also essential to maintaining intellectual rigor.
There's nothing wrong with you, nor are the responses of those around you in any way unusual or atypical. You have a role to play in what is unfolding, a role determined by your own learned and innate characteristics.
As difficult as it may be, accept that role and be content with yourself for being who you are and doing what you must. Keep sorting yourself out with an open heart and mind, and you will not go far astray.
"Trust, but verify" is always the best course of action. Trust yourself, and continue to verify such information as is presented to you in an effort by others to control your thoughts and emotions.
Ted, your advice is so deeply appreciated. I am grappling with my "role", I don't want it, but my conscience won't let me stop thinking about it. I'm going to meditate on your words, thank you.
I invite you to consider how your innate compassion and understanding has led you to avoid imposing information on those too fragile to accept it.
You have exhibited a trait that reinforces your humanity. This is a very good thing.
you'll know that you're losing your balance when you find yourself unable to self-medicate with brief respites from the grim realities you're facing and grappling with. As long as you can observe yourself taking short, regular breaks from ruminating on the situation, you can be assured that you haven't lost your perspective.
The old saw that "laughter is the best medicine" is trite, but eternal wisdom. Take time, every day if possible, to engage with whatever makes you laugh. It should be clean laughter, the type that is uplifting, not sneering or derisive. This is the best form of self-medication, one with no adverse side-effects.
The messaging with which we are bombarded every day, is specifically oriented toward behavioral modification. Pavlov and Skinner detailed the effects and affects of their research, and that body of research was expanded upon by other behavioral scientists such as J.E.R Staddon. In his seminal work "Adaptive Behavior and Learning," Staddon outlines the efficacy of repetition, and reveals the antidote; interruption.
When relentless messaging is plainly crafted to inculcate self-doubt, rather than self-exploration, we know that we are being manipulated according to the self-interest of others.
Stepping far outside of your "comfort zone," you have embarked on a journey of discovery. Discovery of verifiable facts and discovery of self.
That you would prefer to have taken a different path, is evidence of sanity. Who, in their right mind, would take pleasure in such grim discovery as the wickedness of others compels?
I want to thank you for sharing your situation, for I, too, must labor to regain and retain my perspective. You have put a breath of wind in MY sails, and it's much appreciated.
Great advice for all of us Ted. Thank you. I especially like "accept that role and be content with yourself for being who you are and doing what you must."
I tend to think I should be louder and more strident, but I'm naturally an introvert. My messaging has been gentle and slow. I take what opportunities I can to introduce questions and leave it up to the other person to think about it. But sometimes I feel like I should be yelling, you know?
And your messaging is, Vernon, so very effective BECAUSE of its slow and gentle delivery. This is how hearts and minds are won in a durable fashion.
Consider, for a moment, those around us who tend to be universally trusted. They, too, patiently and consistently, urge self-discovery rather than coercion.
As the years have passed, who do we remember as being most endurably influential? It is those whose wise and kindly administrations have provided an anchoring point amidst the storms and travails of daily life. They are consistent in their outlook,over time, but not with the foolish consistency widely regarded as the "hobgoblin of small minds."
Introversion and introspection correlate. The madness of crowds forms amidst those who constitute those crowds, and that is why the first to awaken are usually those who abjure taking their opinion from others. It's the curse and blessing associated with that trait. Sometimes lonely, always thoughtful, seeking light amidst darkness.
I've found myself revisiting Emerson's essay on "Self Reliance" whenever I begin to perceive myself surrounded by the incoherent and self-contradictory consensus of others.
The only caution I have for those of an introverted disposition is to mingle with others as individuals, interacting during life's myriad micro-transactions. In this fashion, we connect with our brethren without the specter of groupthink inevitably overshadowing our discourse. Such honesty as we are capable of, is thus revealed in the absence of fearfulness over the opprobrium of "Society."
When we do so, we discover that we are not as isolated as we initially considered ourselves to have been.
Pro tip about Emerson's essays; always keep a second, inexpensive edition on hand for donation purposes. I've given away so many copies to those who browsed it from my book shelves and were drawn to the simple wisdom therein, that it became overly costly to only buy finely-bound, more expensive editions.
Thank you for your eloquent reply. I'll be reading it again and thinking about it. Also, I'm going to read that Emerson essay. Sounds perfect for right now.
"A day which will live in infamy..." FDR 12/8/41 This feels similar, yet SO MUCH worse, as it was Americans convinced or asked to consider to trash/harm/imprison unvaxxed Americans...and many of them did not blink (or I was unable to measure any perceptible outrage with a captured media)....like, "hey, I'm ok w/ that or that might be ok." So, I think, this makes it a particularly 'weird' time in our USA history. So, THEY NEED TO HEAR IT for forever and be reminded.....be more tactful than me if needed.... shout out to Canadian truckers and their bank accounts....
I have decided I am going to move on, mostly. I will certainly make a mock or wisecrack when I get a chance, but since the Cult has lost power and most people are back to normal, the cult members can live on in their weird subculture forever. They will abandon it at some point.
We'll never get satisfaction after a ludicrous period like this.
But I take ENORMOUS satisfaction and pride in having never succumbed to the injection or the mask or the hysteria. It's very powerful to know fear has no place in my heart.
I knkow! I DO NOT get that either! But where I was, a lot of alternative healers are also "liberals" which doesn't mean the same thing as it used to mean. Now it just means "I'm a nice caring person according to however the Democrats define it." Being a liberal, used to mean challenging government and authority and questioning and discussing....ugh. These same people only eat organic but take this vax....so weird. Thank you for replying!
All my friends when I was a kid were anti-government rebellious liberals. They were punk rock. or they were hippies. I admired them, because I felt a lot more timid.
Fast forward to 2022 and they're all vaccinated, boosted, and yelling at people for not being such. I guess they were posers? One of my friends who is into new age spirituality says that there's a flip happening. It is just so strange.
I miss them. But I've found that I'm strong and principled. That's something!
Indeed it is! I feel similarly. I was at a medical freedom rally and some older guy was wearing a tee shirt that said “The 70s called. They want their Question Authority t-shirt back”
Erica, I live in Oregon so that explains a lot but Whole Foods was one of the worst places for Mask Nazis. I had to fire my naturopath (whom I really liked) because she followed the CDC guidelines. It was in reference to ivermectin, maybe she thought she could loose her license, but I still couldn’t tolerate her thinking. My best friend, a retired art teacher thinks that Kate Brown did a good job with the pandemic. Recently I brought up vax injuries because it related to a SADS story she was telling, and she wouldn’t let me finish. I said I could show her facts, she said, ‘no don’t, I’ll just get mad (at you, basically).
Most of my oldest friends are blind, makes me wonder why I still try 🥲
I'm in Oregon, too Karen! It's crazy here isn't it? Still so many people wearing masks. New Seasons in Concordia where I live is the WORST. Little babies in masks! It's insane.
That is so sad for the babies. I'm in Bend and it's starting to loosen up. My gyno and my new naturopath are not requiring masks anymore, but other docs still are even though they are not 'high risk doctors offices' as per the CDC. Yay! it's progress.
>> Also, what’s up with alternative healers being into the vax? It’s so weird
My experience has been largely the opposite, but I suppose if I were to try to explain it, it would be rooted in the weirdly bullying element of "caring" that seems to be going around these days.
Can totally relate. I'm still experiencing shock at how gullible and Lemming like most people are. It's like living in some strange zombie movie.
Unlike others, I have given up on waking others. The Matrix programming goes deep and I just don['t have the energy anymore. The birds still sing and the sun still rises. Life is just too damn short.
Thank you for "spilling your guts" here. It helps us feel less isolated. And reinforces my conviction that there is a giant knife edge between people who can be vaxxed/masked and still demand that of others, and everyone who saw through this little exercise in tyranny.
More than relate, sadly only the 'people dropping like flies' seems to be the convincer....so, OK. Focusing on that, and trying to get a handle on whatever graphene and spikes that have been transfected to me by the jabbed. (life extension d dimer test about 80 bucks, I am morbidly curious of my amounts..i live with the vaxxed). best from ORegon Erica you and we shall prevail...
I have to point out again (hopefully not repeating myself here but...) this is the return of the doctrine of "blundering benevolence." This is a quite old play from the establishment playbook. The earliest incarnation of which I'm aware is that of the Vietnam War. Look it up!
Oh sorry, we only had the best intentions when we carpet bombed Vietnam with more ordnance than was used in the entirety of WW2 -- it was only to stop the "contagion" of communism! We did what we thought was right! Oops, sorry!
No they fucken didn't! Pardon my French. It's all lies. It's all backstory, cover their asses, historic revisionism with the explicit intent to get away with unspeakable crimes and to leave the door open for the return of such.
Then and now, for covid, they all knew exactly what they were doing. Especially when they did everything in their power to DESTROY any dissenting voices. If these people were remotely interested in "doing the right thing" then discussion, questioning, dissent, and alternative opinions would be readily accepted.
Look at the extent to what they have done and are continuing to do with silencing and destroying people that dare speak against the narrative. Every thinking person must aggressively reject the whitewash doctrine of "blundering benevolence"!
Just as was said back in the Vietnam era, it was clearly CALCULATED MALEVOLENCE!
Your friend can’t admit it was a scam because then he would have to admit he was suckered, and that is far too great a blow to the ego. He’d rather live in denial than accept that he was duped by a globally coordinated propaganda campaign designed to coerce people into compliance with ever-escalating tyranny while simultaneously achieving long-term depopulation goals (https://margaretannaalice.substack.com/p/a-mostly-peaceful-depopulation). Evicting Trump from the White House was the reason they accelerated (and thus fumbled) their plans so mail-in voting could be in place by November 2020, but it was merely a side perk and not the overarching goal.
True, and on top of that, your friend will have to admit they took something that may cause them to get ill or die. That’s pretty scary. I’m guessing there’s a lot of people in that boat, and they’re scared shitless.
Yet, there are people still lining up to get this new "bi-valent" covid injection PLUS the quadrivalent flu shot together. I saw that people were searching out where they could get the "new and improved" covid jab and there were lines waiting for them at some locations. So many are still all in for the illusion. Many still scared shitless that they will die if they don't get the newest jab.
I think most are done jabbing,
Most are but not all. In mid September I attended a Saturday knitting group at a local community center I found in attempt to meet some so locals. It was a very pleasant time and the 6 other ladies where very southern and welcoming. I was very much planning on going back, but will sit out for a couple of months as they had all indicated that in the next week or two they where ALL going for their booster shots.
While I've managed to escape from the blue hell that is NJ, I seem to have landed in the bluest of counties in SC. Going shopping here, there is still a goodly number (not as high as in Bergen Cty mind you) of folks still wearing masks. Hell even my newest neighbor who moved into his now completed house last month was outside doing yardwork (another crazy story) with a blue surgical mask on over his mouth and chin. Alone. Outside.
We might all see the crazy and scam in this as we tend to seek out alternative news sources or dig for information independently. Those who only watch the complicit media for their news, if at all, have not gotten any indicator of the scam that it is. Hell the Best Buy a few miles away still has a mask suggested window sign and a local restaurant still looks like Bergen County did at the height. They built a plywood/plexiglass wall between the public and the staff. All transactions are done over microphone and through a clear plexi "airlock".
haha. red Georgia here and a new neighbor had his mask around his neck and pulled it up when he saw me LOL. I looked in the mirror but don't think I look that scary and certainly not ill!
We left Bergen county 10 years ago. Politics wasn't the motivation. We were used to the corrupt union state going blue. Maybe it was purple, as Chris Christy was governor and he was certainly better than what followed. Moved to Florida and found many like minded people. Spent 3 years in North Coast California, with a good supply of duct tape required due to the uber lefty culture. Back in Florida, low taxes, culturally congruent and spent the virus years outside and mostly unmasked. I will NEVER wear a mask again, and have avoided my doctor, preferring to treat myself rather than be subjected to vax pressure or specious treatment. Stay the course, avoid recently jabbed, and don’t remain silent when you can.
Lead in at aggregator (Revolver) was: Face Masks Contain a Known Carcinogen - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-06605-w
(I only wore genuine 3M "Dust Masks" ("other uses may impair health" printed on the front!). These red state reports are pretty depressing - FL, I know is real mix - but SC?! ... I had been assuming Rural, Conservative, Red State - were shrugging it off with a laugh mostly... but no?! I guess everyone watches TV - and that wins in the end.
Fmr Bergen County deplorable- Your town sounds like mine! Although I have lived in Florida for over 40 years, I recently moved to a new neighborhood, but not that far from my former one. I unfortunately discovered the same thing here, that most of my neighbors are full fledged Covidiots! There are still a ton of maskers around here, and stores with masks suggested signs. Our Nextdoor app has tons of thread asking where to get the jabs. I also know that most are recent transplants from blue states, but it's clear that they brought their political views here, (unfortunately).
Heaven forbid that our red states turn blue because of the idiots who moved here to escape theirs and then vote the same as they did. On the other hand that would set DeSantis free to run for president. I will certainly vote for him!
Ugh. The blue virus is the actual pandemic! My subdivision is brandy new, and my masked neighbor is the last newly completed house. I'm relieved to say that by and large, no one other than this guy is wearing a mask. From the license plates on the cars, folks are from all over the country. Could be we're really close to Ft. Jackson. Hoping that one of the reasons I moved to SC was to be in a red state isn't purpled by others fleeing awful blue places. The nearest "large" city is a college town and state capital so I'm not completely surprised that the pandemic still reigns supreme there. I've had contractors and others in and out of my house for the last 3 months and no one wore a mask and we all shook hands, old skool. But yes, Nextdoor and FB are still chock full of the covidiots.
Just a note about masks and yard work. I suffer terrible allergies here in the south, and find use for those insufferable face diapers when I’m weeding the garden or mowing the lawn. Don’t judge your neighbor too harshly. Could just be allergies.
Fair enough. It could very well be. But then he also wears one in the car. Alone :/
Aren;t these somewhat different? I have dust masks for when I do paint work, but they are green cups, totally different from the diaper like thingies
Have you ever asked the masked yard working homeowner if he masks indoors in his home? Because after all, he has to open the front door and windows now and then.
I'll bet his teeth and complexion are atrocious.
I haven't. Unfortunately we don't speak the same language. I have seen him alone in his car with his mask on too.
I was at my pharmacy the other day to pick up a prescription and there was a mother with 3 young girls (I assume her daughters). They were waiting to get a shot of something, I assume the flu shot. All were very eager to get jabbed. I don't know what type of flu shot the pharmacy has, regular or hi-test (bi-valent). Sad.
Also, there a still a handful of people who go around with masks. And some who are alone in a car. I'd like to go over and slap them upside the head, but I hear that's frowned upon in polite society.
We ARE in a polite society, aren't we?
Truly sad, indeed.
I'm well-past politeness. Politeness is a tool to keep people from speaking the truth. As I wrote in "Letter to an Agree-to-Disagree Relative" (https://margaretannaalice.substack.com/p/letter-to-an-agree-to-disagree-relative):
"I know genocide—in this case, democide—isn’t a topic you bring up in polite conversation. But I’m not polite. Because being 'polite' when you know people are being medically liquidated makes you an accomplice to murder, and I will not go gentle into that bad night."
Tess Lawrie was just suggesting handing out flyers at pharmacies (https://drtesslawrie.substack.com/p/the-tide-is-turning). World Council for Health has created some you can print up and share as the opportunity arises:
• https://worldcouncilforhealth.org/get-involved/
Well, from where I'm sitting, it appears as though the other-than-liberals pretend that we still live in a polite society and the liberals claim that a polite society is the systemic patriarchy white supremacy and therefore they must burn it down.
Help Needed in KS- maybe it would slap some sense into them! 😂
🤦♀️
You must be in a particularly compliant state. According to Sharyl Attkinson, uptake has been extremely low:
• https://palexander.substack.com/p/sharyl-attkisson-projections-in-us
The people I "saw" searching for locations were people on the internet, not in my state. There were discussions as to where to find them and photos of people in line to get them. I should have been clearer. Most likely CA and NY. Where I am now is 1000% better than NY. But there is a university about 20 mins from me. The students there tend to be masked but probably because they were so conditioned by the school to always wear one. Once you get out of that area, few are masked except old folks who still want to believe that the paper mask is keeping them safe.
😣😢
We all have to die. A truth we all have to come to terms with.
🎯
Working in a public library with the vast majority being identical to OP's friend, their behavior, exactly as you say, has been an incredible (and maddening) thing to witness. What was once discussed incessantly and maniacally for two years has now been effectively flushed down the memory hole.
I will forget, nor forgive that easily.
Librarians are a weird subculture. They still have their Plexiglass barriers up, and wear masks behind them. Gotta be 4x injected, too.
Most librarians are pompous idiots. I can say this after getting my MLS and working in many libraries.
Also agree. I work in circ, so not a librarian but of the "pros" I work with across three large branches, there is exactly one who has kept her marbles over the past couple years. One. 🥴
And you of course, right?
seems like our library is quite normal folks. I went there 2 weeks ago, only one masked person behind the counter, and all the rest behaving totally as if nothing happened. BTW Napoleon I love your clock!
I look at the new books to see where the political inclinations are. Even in my small town library, its mostly leftists books....no books written by Trump or any of his team, no books like the Real Anthony Fauci....most of the censorship now is in the books that libraries purchase or lease.
Really ! I have to look at that. Haven't noticed, but haven't visited libary regularly in years. I used to go every week, but since I have the computer I read Freebooksy. In the meantime there is a new head librarian. I partly stopped going too, because the former one bought books I thought inappropriate (lots of drugs, crime, riding under the influence, cussing etc in the new books)
Maybe I should go more ! No mask required or even advized at ours anymore!
This is true. I live in a small town of 30,000 and by far the biggest control freak witch is the town librarian. She won't allow Halloween candy in the library because, get this, palm oil is harvested unethically by exploiting indigenous people. They never give it a rest.
It does seem like libraries have become the personal fiefdoms of their librarians. I rarely spend more than a couple of minutes in them anymore because of their mask requirements. Could that even be legal when the general state rule is that masks are recommended but not required. I could understand a private library requiring a mask but a public one? What next, having to wear the librarian's preferred religious symbol?
Agree. Im a librarian also.
Which somehow fits perfectly with what's become of information management and retrieval in general: everything is siloed and decontextualized and all is given value by consensus. Libraries have been googlefied and flattened into 1s and 0s submission. I imagine some future AI hologram of a librarian will be geneated from the photos of today's most obedient, who seem to ooze a "heaven forbid we cross-pollinate IDEAS with other IDEAS! Why, we might get CRITICAL THINKING instead of search engine optimization of Right Thought" vibe. We soon won't even need the Firemen to burn the books because no one will be able to find or read the challenging ones for lack of attention span and the skill to hold conflicting thoughts long enough to test and evaluate them against gathered evidence and experience. I weep.
Consider this a LIKE, as the webpage won't let me use the Like icon.
This is funny as this is the case at my small town commie library complete with it's tattooed lesbian librarian and promos featuring diversity (there are some minorities around here but I've never seen a one in the library) and starring the mask natzy who would jump you if your mask went below your nose.
I shouldn't but I'm gonna anyway because who doesn't need a chuckle. So the tattooed lesbian librarian is kinda attractive and this guy we know got kinda friendly with she/her/hers, she even went to see his band play and he'd visit her in the periodicals. So one day he's moaning to this other guy how he can't seem to be getting any where and the other guy goes, 'dude, she plays for the other team'. Well, he was all shook up over that for a spell. Hope this doesn't make me a bad person.
Too funny Poor guy!
Like all things, mental disorders are frequently confined to certain geographic areas. The Salem Witch Trials are a good example. Paranoid overuse of Plexiglass barriers and useless masking is another. In east Tennessee, only bank managers hide behind Plexiglass and no one wears masks anymore.
Remember when wearing a mask into a bank was enough to set off alarm bells?
Ain’t that the truth! I rarely stomach bringing my small children to the local library. It’s all gay/trans propaganda and hyper masking
One of the most predictable dimensions for how groups cluster into professions is risk perception/aversion.
I'd be willing to bet "librarian" has a pretty strong valence for risk-aversion.
I am generalizing here, but I have to agree with you. Iḿ about the only I know who is an extrovert.....Librarians tend to be introverted, risk adverse, and pre-occupied with minutiae...Of course cataloguers have to be, but my word!! They are really terrible at conserving great series, well loved books, etc....They are viscious weeders. I believe in keeping important or books that have not been altered to conform to todayś standards (like Nancy Drew and the Little House in the Big Woods series).
They are some of the most censoring people I know....And the bulk of them are rabid leftists now.
Could not agree more. Lord forgive me for how much I detest these people. Recently it was decided that Matt Walsh's toddler board book, Johnny the walrus is to be relegated to adult 800's obscurity. Meanwhile "I'm not a girl, a transgender story" remains on display in the children's area. I want so badly to chuck those two books at their heads and demand an explanation as to how they're different. Other than the obvious. 🙄
Me and librarians never seemed to hit it off. I'm too loud.
Good night rose, librarians are some of the libtard worst, & I can say that because I’m married to (a very conservative) one who was virtually always a minority of 1 at state or local librarian meetings, etc.
Cindi- you are so right! One of my friends is a librarian and she is a hardcore libtard. I think teachers may fall into that category too, obviously not all of them, but many.
Agreed, Genevieve!
I knew immediately my coworkers and I were as ideologically opposed as it gets but Covid forced it to the forefront so unbearably I almost quit. If it weren't for our governor putting a stop to the mask mandate in public spaces I absolutely would have then. Now that everyone but a select few cultists wishes to pretend the Covid insanity never happened, the DEI committee that runs this shit hole has moved on to drag shows for 11 year olds, so my days are numbered anyhow.
How does your husband cope?
Very true but I always have to wonder why so many people can't come to terms with the fact that they we're suckered/played/conned. I know there is the urge to resist facing that we got tricked because of our egos but doesn't part of our own integrity demand introspection?
I like to think that I'm a relatively smart guy, do smart things for a living, yadda, yadda.
But let me tell you, from time to time in the course of my life, I have been straight out JACKED!! It's humiliating. It makes you angry and part of that is having to get angry at ourselves for not seeing it coming! But if we don't face up to it, we're never gonna learn!
We need something like "AA" for the covid sheep. Step One (repeat after me): "My name is <...> and I got JACKED!"
For Covidians, group conformity takes precedence over integrity. Integrity isn't even on their radar. Anyone who exhibits it by refusing to comply is viewed as selfish. They value compliance over independent thought, which is painted as a threat to the public health.
Never mind that they were complying with edicts that turned out to be ineffective and even harmful. They're caught in an obedience loop and are just waiting for their next command.
Margaret Anna Alice, just even a guesstimate...I am pretty sure most people are group conformers,....but what percentage of the population do you think they are???
If you go by the figures in “Ordinary Men” (https://margaretannaalice.substack.com/p/letter-to-a-colluder-stop-enabling), only 12 out of 500 took the opportunity to excuse themselves from the Józefów massacre, so that’s 2.4% who exhibited the moral courage to be nonconformists—pretty dang small, in other words.
Like. Good idea
Very funny, great comment. At first I thought you meant you were robbed of money, then I realized your true meaning, and those who are still "jacked" are far worse: people continuing to fall for the series of dark sweaty lies, clutching their tiny strips of cloth made in some sweatshop over their odd little faces, their eyes darting and wide with fear, waiting, hoping, needing an authority figure - a librarian will do, a doctor is better, a CDC person magnificent - to please, oh god, please tell me where to go, how to behave, what to wear, how to think, for I will!! I'm obedient, I promise! I'm a good pliant sheep who puts the lie to "virtuous for others", I fear only for myself! Yes I am selfish, there I said it! I'm selfish as fuck! I revel at the sight of others who are still masked, because I know I am increasingly anachronistic, and increasingly mocked, and I am now even pitied by some good hearted folks, which does not include Fred, who cannot stand the sight of me, who can't stop himself from exuding contempt for those still masked because he knows my weakness makes me complicit with the sociopaths who couldn't care less about the damage they've done to children and their families; the Greatest Generation we are not. OH NO, what's that noise????? Oh it's a bird... Or is it a Tyrannosaurus Rex with wings and teeth, come to devour me?!!?? Nah, Im not even nutritious. I'm a waste.
I like this idea, because you know the Global Government waiting in the wings is NOT going to deprogram anyone in the Anglosphere.
Fear and guilt ( "your non-compliance endangers others! "). Fear and guilt - the hallmarks of religion.
Much as agree with Mark that Trump became a "vaccine salesman" and I resent he did that, I am not convinced he wasn't tricked into by evil forces around him. The swamp is far deeper than anyone knows.
This article about the US lockdowns is fascinating to review the "lockdown decision and order" that Birx and Fauci pulled off when Trump was possibly distracted!
https://brownstone.org/articles/the-70-seconds-that-shook-the-world/
In addition to being unable to admit they were suckered &/or the fear that they have compromised their health, I hope there are some w/ a conscience to feel guilt & shame for any cruelty, disdain & coercion they displayed in coercing others to take the shot, or in ostracizing family & friends who chose differently.
I started a blog last fall specifically to communicate with friends/colleagues and “show” all these lies. I was in nyc, where I had a massage therapy business with hyper liberal clients and biz partner. I am also am a therapist and worked on a dozen clients a week. Although everyone masked at all times (they still are, which is insane) and most were vaxxed I was still considered “dangerous” to some. I tested weekly for a year to soothe fears although some people (when they found out I was unvaccinated) literally turned on their heel and walked away from me like I was Typhoid Mary. Did I mention that for the past 3 years I have had barely a sniffle and never once tested positive? Mandates came for me eventually and my partner would not defy them but I had seen the writing on the wall by the end of 2021 had sold my half of the biz, moved someplace lovely in January and started a small practice, just me in my new hometown. I now see clients unmasked, unvaxxed and No client asks or cares or even seems to be thinking about Covid (many are middle aged or older btw). Nobody masks either. Meanwhile literally the day after I stepped down as partner, my prior biz REQUIRES all clients be vaxxed although this was NOT mandated in nyc (workers yes, customers no). I had openly vowed never to allow this but as soon as my partner had a new partner this new policy was the first thing they implemented. Did I mention I spent 14 years as her partner building this biz and now I cannot even go there myself as a client now to get a massage?
So why am I spilling my guts here? Because I need to know how others are dealing with similar realities. I stopped updating my blog regularly because frankly there are a lot of great writers like mark and so many on substack covering all the lies inconsistencies and manipulations. If you REALLY perceive there was something colossally “off” about this whole Covid “thing” the truth is out there. You just need to look. Also NOBODY IN MY REAL LIFE WANTS TO HEAR IT. Many have distanced themselves from me after I started trying to “show” people directly what is happening. I actually have a great husband who is 100% on the same page but he will only listen to me for so long before he asks me to stop. I feel a great sense of obligation to “act” but I’m not sure what is the right course plus I feel obsessive. Can anyone relate?
Thanks, Erica. My approach--perhaps not the best, but characteristically me--is to not stop talking about this. Ever. We can't just let it fade as a topic though others would like to slink away quietly from their prior foolish, destructive and often vicious conduct.
Thank you Mark. Perhaps what I am considering an obsessive focus on this is not “unhealthy” as some have implied, but actually the opposite. Who you are comes through loud and clear and I’m grateful for you. Great writing too.
Erica, you have a Conscience. It’s so strong it rightfully refuses to be stymied.
There’s that thing some of us have internally which forces us to try to save those who’re perishing. It’s not a good thing—it’s a great thing.
Imagine those who were horrified and relentlessly objected to the Crime Against Humanity of their day: Slavery, the Holocaust, etc. Then imagine those who said their era’s equivalent of, “Get over it.”
The difference now is the go along to get along types are putting their own shackles on and waltzing themselves straight into the showers.
Thank you, Bridget. You are exactly right, the difference is the go-alongs who are putting on their own shackles. he censorship, the groupthink, the lies, the abuse of power, the bills being passed...the hands are closing around all of our necks. It's hard to even cover it all, there is so much going on right under our noses. There is a flood of actual data even making into the mainstream that should alarm people. it doesn't. Or maybe it does. I wonder how many people "know" but don't know what to do. Clearly, I'm more aware than many but I'm hitting a wall, internally. Thank you for sharing your insight.
I struggle with what to do with all the information I have also. I am wanting to help a friend who is vaccine-injured and not clear on the best path forward on how to advise her. I worked hard to keep our college-aged son (younger son) out of the cult and helped him to get a vaxx exemption to his college. Looking for ways to help others but not clear on the path forward for this. . .
I feel like that as well. Live in a pretty rural area, self-employed, daughter is now in an online Charter school and I am not on Social media, (other than Substack). I was at my daughter's soccer practice the other day when the news was coming in about the first day of CDC panel voting and I just sat there with tears in my eyes watching the kids play and wanted to run from car to car asking if the parents know what is happening. I informed the very few moms that I still have on my phone and now just feel at a loss. My only sister hasn't listened to everything I have learned in the past 3 years. Her kids are already jabbed. We have all this knowledge, concern and compassion and now what?
Hi Erica! I just wanted to reply to your survey: Same experience. Everyone in my life (friends / family / colleagues / neighbors / acquaintances) swallow down smoothly in blind faith to the established institutions whatever narrative is put out by the cartel, muzzled up, lined up to get their mad scientist Russian Roulette guinea pig DoD-Pharma injections despite my warnings w/ documentation, and continue to cling to remaining in Disneyland reality / their lifelong concept of baseline reality, and all these relationships have fallen away. My longtime buddy and mentor at work, we were also friends outside of workworld, she stopped talking to me after I sent her the safety signals portion of the Oct 2020 VRBAC meeting with the pharmacovigilance expected adverse events data in an attempt to warn her about taking the injections. Unfortunately i dont have any special coping advice. I remain in a struggle to push thru the isolation and getting my affairs in as agile order as possible so I can relocate away from the city and live as simple and prepared a life as possible. I wanna become a minimalist, agile ninja, so to speak. Like Bruce Lee's martial arts philosophy, to be able to instantly adapt and maneuver thru whatever comes at you at anytime. And I need to work on my relationship with God. Hope you find a good tribe pocket in your locale, and wish you the best. And thanks for sharing what you're going thru.
Thank you Rabbitgurl. Where you are at and trying to go, is where my husband is at, basically. Growing food, trying to be more independent. He is looking ahead and says to hell with people who just won't listen. I get that. He might be right. But I'm not sure if it is the right thing for me to stop discussing this or open eyes. All the best to you, and Thanks again!
Erica, Hi ! Oh Erica, just to clarify, I'm all for continuing to attempt sharing info and trying to redpill. Agreed, we have to persist in trying, always. I will respect peoples' wishes though, meaning, for example, my brother and my father both explicitly requested that I no longer send them information having anything to do with Covid or holistic/alternative protocols and therapies. So I abide by their request, and stopped sending them info that has to do with those topics. But for sure, same as you, I won't stop attempting to share / to redpill. So thumbs up to you, Erica! regarding that indomitable spirit.
I am in agreement with your husband, at least as I understand from your description.
If they want it -- the shots -- let them have it. These are often the same ones who shunned me over the past two years. And some are still virtue signalling around it all. Requiring the death shots to participate in their artsy groups. Fug em. Although I feel for their kids.
The ones still masking are akin to superstitious types during the middle-ages who wore crosses around their necks to ward off vampires.
I waited them out. While I am cordial to everyone I meet, their choices will create their destinies.
There is enough information out there if they want it.
I am grateful at least for my invisible allies out there in cyberspace!
Yes, most certainly. I often feel like I'm spitting into the wind. I would encourage you to keep writing. Write about your experiences with being in ground zero for COVID madness, write about your decision to pick up and move, write about your struggles. Put it out there and people with find you. This moment is too important to not document it.
You make several great points in sharing this personal anecdote. One point that resonates with me is that "the truth" is out there (at hundreds of Substack sites) ... if people would just look for it. But, while many are doing this, most are not. And will not. They don't want to know the truth .... because it's too tough to handle. I do think the mainstream media has to be exposed as the most important actor in keeping the truth from the public. Alas, The NY Times is never going to purge its own staff and do any kind of mea culpa ... so the only other alternative to getting around these "gatekeepers of the news" is to expose far more people to real journalism like is found at Substack sites. If half the population discovers even 20 great Substack sites (like Mark's), we might have a fighting chance to change some of these harmful and bogus "narratives."
Thanks Bill. The truth is "too tough to handle." Yes, that is a big part of the problem. My 75 year old mother reacted so badly (emotionally) to truth that I can't bear to keep on "showing it" to her. I "let" her dwell in ignorance. Maybe this makes me a wimp but I can't push on people who psychologically can't handle this. And I get it because the implications are frightening and overwhelming. I content myself with the fact that my parents/family never, ever excluded me or challenged my personal decision not to vaccinate. They totally accepted me and my decision. They did however think mandates were OK (did not question them) which really sucks but we "don't talk about it." However there are people who "can" handle it and perhaps sharing substacks with those I think can, is the answer. I'm trying to walk a line, alienating people with too much "truth" ultimately may be counter-productive but perhaps I am wrong.
I have found that the "we don't talk about it" solution can be a tolerable (although unsatisfying) one for any relationship other than marriage. There are very few elephants that can be swept under that rug without doing serious damage to the house.
Erica, I'm in the same boat. I've stopped pointing out the truth to my parents (78 and 80) now. They didn't handle it well either. I hate letting them dwell in ignorance and fear but know no way around it. They accepted my decision for me and my children to not take the jab, but my father subtly pressured us to do so to avoid the difficulties we would potentially face. I used to send my father the posts from Mark and Gato about the real facts but the response was either a tl;dr or "muh you're confusing me with all these facts". He cannot accept that this whole thing was propaganda and/or a scam. If I was speaking the truth, why wasn't his news shows (you guessed it CNN or NBC) saying anything remotely like I was saying, so I had to be wrong. He refused to internalize the "Sponsored by Pfizer" logo on the shows he was watching no matter how many times I pointed out the vast amount of pharma money the networks were paid. I too walk the line between alienating with too much truth and letting others endanger themselves.
I know there are some, like my husband, who have found other substacks and blogs that report exactly the opposite of our truth and they are people in the 'indusstry' (chemists in the case of my husband) and so, since his group is full of scientists who he thinks would never ever consider doing anything wrong or evil, he believed them over the ones that I sent his way...
It is heartbreaking to know that he believes the words of his best friend over me but there you have it. I have to give him credit for not talking to the kids about the shots or trying to get them to take them though...that would have ended the marriage...
You have found yourself in a situation familiar to anyone that responds to mass hysteria with a close examination of the threat that induced the panic, Erica.
If you constantly wonder if you're being obsessive, you would be well-advised to consider yourself healthy. Such self-examination is a necessary component of efforts required to preserve one's emotional equilibrium. It is also essential to maintaining intellectual rigor.
There's nothing wrong with you, nor are the responses of those around you in any way unusual or atypical. You have a role to play in what is unfolding, a role determined by your own learned and innate characteristics.
As difficult as it may be, accept that role and be content with yourself for being who you are and doing what you must. Keep sorting yourself out with an open heart and mind, and you will not go far astray.
"Trust, but verify" is always the best course of action. Trust yourself, and continue to verify such information as is presented to you in an effort by others to control your thoughts and emotions.
You are very far from alone.
Ted, your advice is so deeply appreciated. I am grappling with my "role", I don't want it, but my conscience won't let me stop thinking about it. I'm going to meditate on your words, thank you.
You're most welcome.
I invite you to consider how your innate compassion and understanding has led you to avoid imposing information on those too fragile to accept it.
You have exhibited a trait that reinforces your humanity. This is a very good thing.
you'll know that you're losing your balance when you find yourself unable to self-medicate with brief respites from the grim realities you're facing and grappling with. As long as you can observe yourself taking short, regular breaks from ruminating on the situation, you can be assured that you haven't lost your perspective.
The old saw that "laughter is the best medicine" is trite, but eternal wisdom. Take time, every day if possible, to engage with whatever makes you laugh. It should be clean laughter, the type that is uplifting, not sneering or derisive. This is the best form of self-medication, one with no adverse side-effects.
The messaging with which we are bombarded every day, is specifically oriented toward behavioral modification. Pavlov and Skinner detailed the effects and affects of their research, and that body of research was expanded upon by other behavioral scientists such as J.E.R Staddon. In his seminal work "Adaptive Behavior and Learning," Staddon outlines the efficacy of repetition, and reveals the antidote; interruption.
When relentless messaging is plainly crafted to inculcate self-doubt, rather than self-exploration, we know that we are being manipulated according to the self-interest of others.
Stepping far outside of your "comfort zone," you have embarked on a journey of discovery. Discovery of verifiable facts and discovery of self.
That you would prefer to have taken a different path, is evidence of sanity. Who, in their right mind, would take pleasure in such grim discovery as the wickedness of others compels?
I want to thank you for sharing your situation, for I, too, must labor to regain and retain my perspective. You have put a breath of wind in MY sails, and it's much appreciated.
Thanks for being you.
💖! I wish there were an emergency way to quickly clone multitudes of Teds and Ericas in such trying times as these 🙂
Weird synchronicity at mysterious play: the bad cat today explicates on singular powers of hearty laughter 😵
boriquagato.substack.com/p/why-the-world-has-become-unfun
Great advice for all of us Ted. Thank you. I especially like "accept that role and be content with yourself for being who you are and doing what you must."
I tend to think I should be louder and more strident, but I'm naturally an introvert. My messaging has been gentle and slow. I take what opportunities I can to introduce questions and leave it up to the other person to think about it. But sometimes I feel like I should be yelling, you know?
And your messaging is, Vernon, so very effective BECAUSE of its slow and gentle delivery. This is how hearts and minds are won in a durable fashion.
Consider, for a moment, those around us who tend to be universally trusted. They, too, patiently and consistently, urge self-discovery rather than coercion.
As the years have passed, who do we remember as being most endurably influential? It is those whose wise and kindly administrations have provided an anchoring point amidst the storms and travails of daily life. They are consistent in their outlook,over time, but not with the foolish consistency widely regarded as the "hobgoblin of small minds."
Introversion and introspection correlate. The madness of crowds forms amidst those who constitute those crowds, and that is why the first to awaken are usually those who abjure taking their opinion from others. It's the curse and blessing associated with that trait. Sometimes lonely, always thoughtful, seeking light amidst darkness.
I've found myself revisiting Emerson's essay on "Self Reliance" whenever I begin to perceive myself surrounded by the incoherent and self-contradictory consensus of others.
The only caution I have for those of an introverted disposition is to mingle with others as individuals, interacting during life's myriad micro-transactions. In this fashion, we connect with our brethren without the specter of groupthink inevitably overshadowing our discourse. Such honesty as we are capable of, is thus revealed in the absence of fearfulness over the opprobrium of "Society."
When we do so, we discover that we are not as isolated as we initially considered ourselves to have been.
Pro tip about Emerson's essays; always keep a second, inexpensive edition on hand for donation purposes. I've given away so many copies to those who browsed it from my book shelves and were drawn to the simple wisdom therein, that it became overly costly to only buy finely-bound, more expensive editions.
Thank you for your eloquent reply. I'll be reading it again and thinking about it. Also, I'm going to read that Emerson essay. Sounds perfect for right now.
So very helpful, thank you. Suggest reading the poem "If" by Rudyard Kipling.
thanks but I think you meant to reply to Erica, but it hit my inbox instead....well said, tho...
"A day which will live in infamy..." FDR 12/8/41 This feels similar, yet SO MUCH worse, as it was Americans convinced or asked to consider to trash/harm/imprison unvaxxed Americans...and many of them did not blink (or I was unable to measure any perceptible outrage with a captured media)....like, "hey, I'm ok w/ that or that might be ok." So, I think, this makes it a particularly 'weird' time in our USA history. So, THEY NEED TO HEAR IT for forever and be reminded.....be more tactful than me if needed.... shout out to Canadian truckers and their bank accounts....
I have decided I am going to move on, mostly. I will certainly make a mock or wisecrack when I get a chance, but since the Cult has lost power and most people are back to normal, the cult members can live on in their weird subculture forever. They will abandon it at some point.
We'll never get satisfaction after a ludicrous period like this.
But I take ENORMOUS satisfaction and pride in having never succumbed to the injection or the mask or the hysteria. It's very powerful to know fear has no place in my heart.
Ditto
I can relate! So much. Your story is much more extreme, but we’ve lost friends over this.
I’m so sorry you went through that. Good that you got out! I hope your business thrives!
As for your partner … I don’t see how a massage business can survive when the owner is so uptight. Those places should be sanctuaries.
Also, what’s up with alternative healers being into the vax? It’s so weird.
I knkow! I DO NOT get that either! But where I was, a lot of alternative healers are also "liberals" which doesn't mean the same thing as it used to mean. Now it just means "I'm a nice caring person according to however the Democrats define it." Being a liberal, used to mean challenging government and authority and questioning and discussing....ugh. These same people only eat organic but take this vax....so weird. Thank you for replying!
All my friends when I was a kid were anti-government rebellious liberals. They were punk rock. or they were hippies. I admired them, because I felt a lot more timid.
Fast forward to 2022 and they're all vaccinated, boosted, and yelling at people for not being such. I guess they were posers? One of my friends who is into new age spirituality says that there's a flip happening. It is just so strange.
I miss them. But I've found that I'm strong and principled. That's something!
Indeed it is! I feel similarly. I was at a medical freedom rally and some older guy was wearing a tee shirt that said “The 70s called. They want their Question Authority t-shirt back”
Erica, I live in Oregon so that explains a lot but Whole Foods was one of the worst places for Mask Nazis. I had to fire my naturopath (whom I really liked) because she followed the CDC guidelines. It was in reference to ivermectin, maybe she thought she could loose her license, but I still couldn’t tolerate her thinking. My best friend, a retired art teacher thinks that Kate Brown did a good job with the pandemic. Recently I brought up vax injuries because it related to a SADS story she was telling, and she wouldn’t let me finish. I said I could show her facts, she said, ‘no don’t, I’ll just get mad (at you, basically).
Most of my oldest friends are blind, makes me wonder why I still try 🥲
I'm in Oregon, too Karen! It's crazy here isn't it? Still so many people wearing masks. New Seasons in Concordia where I live is the WORST. Little babies in masks! It's insane.
BTW, where is Concordia? Outside Portland?
It's a neighborhood in NE Portland. On the West side people barely mask. For some reason the East side is crazy with maskers ....
That is so sad for the babies. I'm in Bend and it's starting to loosen up. My gyno and my new naturopath are not requiring masks anymore, but other docs still are even though they are not 'high risk doctors offices' as per the CDC. Yay! it's progress.
Oh right! We've connected before. I remember you're from Bend. Great that your doctors aren't requiring masks! That's awesome.
>> Also, what’s up with alternative healers being into the vax? It’s so weird
My experience has been largely the opposite, but I suppose if I were to try to explain it, it would be rooted in the weirdly bullying element of "caring" that seems to be going around these days.
Can totally relate. I'm still experiencing shock at how gullible and Lemming like most people are. It's like living in some strange zombie movie.
Unlike others, I have given up on waking others. The Matrix programming goes deep and I just don['t have the energy anymore. The birds still sing and the sun still rises. Life is just too damn short.
Oh dear lord yes we can relate
Ty, Erica! 😍 I for one treasure personal experiences, unique by definition. Each & every authentic story matters 🙂
Thank you for "spilling your guts" here. It helps us feel less isolated. And reinforces my conviction that there is a giant knife edge between people who can be vaxxed/masked and still demand that of others, and everyone who saw through this little exercise in tyranny.
I thank you, we all thank you.
More than relate, sadly only the 'people dropping like flies' seems to be the convincer....so, OK. Focusing on that, and trying to get a handle on whatever graphene and spikes that have been transfected to me by the jabbed. (life extension d dimer test about 80 bucks, I am morbidly curious of my amounts..i live with the vaxxed). best from ORegon Erica you and we shall prevail...
I have to point out again (hopefully not repeating myself here but...) this is the return of the doctrine of "blundering benevolence." This is a quite old play from the establishment playbook. The earliest incarnation of which I'm aware is that of the Vietnam War. Look it up!
Oh sorry, we only had the best intentions when we carpet bombed Vietnam with more ordnance than was used in the entirety of WW2 -- it was only to stop the "contagion" of communism! We did what we thought was right! Oops, sorry!
No they fucken didn't! Pardon my French. It's all lies. It's all backstory, cover their asses, historic revisionism with the explicit intent to get away with unspeakable crimes and to leave the door open for the return of such.
Then and now, for covid, they all knew exactly what they were doing. Especially when they did everything in their power to DESTROY any dissenting voices. If these people were remotely interested in "doing the right thing" then discussion, questioning, dissent, and alternative opinions would be readily accepted.
Look at the extent to what they have done and are continuing to do with silencing and destroying people that dare speak against the narrative. Every thinking person must aggressively reject the whitewash doctrine of "blundering benevolence"!
Just as was said back in the Vietnam era, it was clearly CALCULATED MALEVOLENCE!