Apart from our natural attachment to the untroubled pastures of a happily blinkered existence coupled with our instinctive resistance to take in views that would only induce the disquiet of cognitive dissonance and omitting for the moment our verging-on-phobic reluctance to notice our mostly-cloaked inborn capacity for staggering evil and casual depravity atop the list of reasons for refusing the red pill sits the following cluster of fears: a keenly repressed almost existential dread of discovering we've been suckered for years decades — a lifetime even — of fealty to specious narratives armies of establishment liars spend their lives plying as true the fear of losing our soothing carefully cultured worldview our cherished illusions our treasured myths should our sanctified paradigms suffer the catastrophic shocks of seismic psychic shifts the fear of losing faith in our beliefs belief in authority trust in our chiefs; of losing the approval pride and prestige we derive from our tribe; of losing the luxury of blindly relying on the autopilot of our hive-mind bias and the facile validation it implicitly provides; of losing the ability to guiltlessly choose authorized lies over unsanctioned truths and with it the potential to revel in less-than-ethical careers; of losing the herd-conferred comfort of groupthink-bolstered safety in numbers the fear of being torn from the norm should our so-far-assuasively-dormant intellectual curiosity and honesty be shaken awake and accorded the sudden unimpeded freedom to rove wherever the facts may lead regardless of what fellow humans and our feckless debased institutions expect us to meekly believe the dread of not fitting in of standing out by simple dint of nothing more glaring than daring to doubt the searing fear of becoming victims of shunning cast out for simply succumbing to the stunning confusion that sure as the turning of tides would ensue from learning the disturbing unsavoury truth a visceral fear of being forced to accept that in fact we've been thoroughly duped; of finding ourselves compelled to somehow muster the gumption to acknowledge our folly in having embraced misplaced loyalties and false assumptions the primal fear of being stripped of so much we identify with and to which our senses of self self-worth and purpose are inextricably linked; of having to face the plain fact that we're far from as sharp or smart as our stellar creds would have us think and lastly the ghastly dread of being swallowed whole by the excruciating pain of shame that racks our souls when our egos get utterly crushed the grisly instant we end up having to admit we've been radically wrong about so bloody much we've been oh-so-learnedly babbling as our smugly-unexamined self-satisfied lives implode on inspection their deceptions exposed now naked as babes to our unshuttered eyes. Just as you can always lead horses to water but can't make them drink you can lead people to sources of knowledge but you can't make them see or listen or read and you
In reference to my comment “but for some quirk of fate, I too might still be none the wiser” (below), a reader on another stack asked “...wondering, if it’s not too forward, what quirk you attribute your perspective to, (accident of birth, learned experience, influence?)”
I thought my response was worthy of re-posting and pinning here...
“I don't think I can put it down to “one” thing. The quirk of fate is me being me; which is to say a combination of (in no particular order) an insatiable curiosity, a strong dislike of falseness/deception/mendacity, an addiction to the truth, a willingness to stand alone and a disgust/distrust of both groupthink and crowds/mobs/cults. Also, I suspect a contributing factor might have been having a father who, occasionally, questioned certain things in a way that others didn't and wouldn't dare. And last but not least and perhaps most importantly, is my having not just the inclination, but the time to research some of the endless topics we're not supposed to look into ... or put differently, to indulge in thoughtcrime.
Around the summer of 2016, sensing a shift of gears in the media cartel's mendacity — especially surrounding russiagate-type russophobic demonization — I made a point of sending (once a week) truthlinks to the parent in all of my siblings' families who I thought had the most free time and/or might be most receptive. Subjects I tried to enlighten them on apart from russiagate and the usual political insanity, were some of the other prime narrative suspects, including Ukraine, Syria, 9/11 and climate. What I had hoped to foster was both a sense that most (if not all) of the “news” they were consuming was unadulterated hornswogglery of the most nefarious sort, and a realization that our rulers were part of a criminal operation whose reach was almost limitless and whose depravity was virtually fathomless.
Ideally, my efforts would have resulted in the redpilling of those families, which needless to say, some four years later would have paid real-world dividends in their being wise to, or at least suspicious of, Operation Covid as it unfolded. It is perhaps the great heartbreak of my life that these efforts proved fruitless. Despite a mass e-mail to all my siblings, nieces and nephews, etc.. shortly before the quacksine roll-out in December 2020, warning them that this magic jab was not remotely what they were being told it was — imploring them to think long and hard before doing their sleeve-roll-up duty — every last one of them took the juice.
It's tragic. All my relatives live in a world of floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall propaganda. While they and I live on the same planet, our “realities” are as chalk and cheese. But what's far more tragic is that I'm but one of untold millions who are in the same surreal situation.”
I'm in the UK, am 66, and am in exactly the same situation. I've been 'awake' (re. many big subjects in life) for 40-45 years.
Everyone else in my family (and all bar two also 'awake' friends) blindly believe what they hear on their beloved MSM TV. Many of them have subjected me to vile verbal abuse for having 'dared' to tell them that they're being lied to, duped, in so many ways.
They all gullibly complied with the injections, and several of them now have quite major health issues. I'd provided them with information from HONEST doctors and scientists around the world some months before the injections were 'rolled out'... those doctors were issuing dire warnings to not go anywhere near the 'jabs'. My family members simply ridiculed those warnings... I've also provided them with mountain-loads of evidences from around the world re. what's being caused by those injections... and yet they also ridicule those evidences, and STILL they 'blindly believe' what their precious TVs tell them.
Yes, they're all living in a world of mere propaganda/lies. But they don't understand that. Or maybe they don't WANT to realise it...
“Or maybe they don't WANT to realise it...” — No maybe about it, they DON'T! Which is essentially what the poem is about: the reasons they “don't WANT to realise it...”.
We think of ourselves as rational creatures, but we're nowhere near so much that as we're herd animals.
It would appear that, as a species, we're addicted to illusion; an addiction few of us are both willing and able to break. Here are a few relevant lines from one of my poems:
Yes, you are so right, RPP! That's exactly what most people are doing.
I'm so frustrated at my family members for being so closed-minded, refusing to acquire the actual facts/truths. They are most definitely deceiving themselves.
“I'm so frustrated...” — That makes two of us, and the boat we're in is a boat we share with millions.
What I said above bears repeating: “It's tragic. All my relatives live in a world of floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall propaganda. While they and I live on the same planet, our “realities” are as chalk and cheese. But what's far more tragic is that I'm but one of untold millions who are in the same surreal situation.”
I suspect that your loss of respect for them, whether noticed or not, is nowhere near as important to them as their fitting in, going along to get along or simply not being canceled.
Truth. I admire that by using "we" you do not hold yourself above that very human yet herd-like, tempting choice to take the "safe" path over the scary "road less traveled." You dissect the fears very well indeed. We can and do avoid the truth along the way, until we can't anymore. It is a step in growth to acknowledge the error. (And another to apologize for it.) Many people are still stuck in sheepish-ness. While others are waking up. ..
"I admire that by using "we" you do not hold yourself above that very human yet herd-like, tempting choice to take the "safe" path over the scary "road less traveled.""
Actually, it was an easy choice. How could I hold myself above or apart? After all, but for some quirk of fate, I too might still be none the wiser; I too might have lacked the courage to push the blue pill aside.
So good. You have looked at all the angles. Some people have to learn the hard way, and some will never learn. Taking their "faith" to the grave. Others have to dig for the truth because the lie smells bad. And in the process, much more is excavated, and the rabbit hole gets deeper and deeper. All we can do is plant thought-seeds...and perhaps one day they will sprout. And if not, so be it, we tried. We can save ourselves, and hope to find others of like mind, and perhaps form a community of support.
In reference to my comment “but for some quirk of fate, I too might still be none the wiser” (below), a reader on another stack asked “...wondering, if it’s not too forward, what quirk you attribute your perspective to, (accident of birth, learned experience, influence?)”
I thought my response was worthy of re-posting and pinning here...
“I don't think I can put it down to “one” thing. The quirk of fate is me being me; which is to say a combination of (in no particular order) an insatiable curiosity, a strong dislike of falseness/deception/mendacity, an addiction to the truth, a willingness to stand alone and a disgust/distrust of both groupthink and crowds/mobs/cults. Also, I suspect a contributing factor might have been having a father who, occasionally, questioned certain things in a way that others didn't and wouldn't dare. And last but not least and perhaps most importantly, is my having not just the inclination, but the time to research some of the endless topics we're not supposed to look into ... or put differently, to indulge in thoughtcrime.
Around the summer of 2016, sensing a shift of gears in the media cartel's mendacity — especially surrounding russiagate-type russophobic demonization — I made a point of sending (once a week) truthlinks to the parent in all of my siblings' families who I thought had the most free time and/or might be most receptive. Subjects I tried to enlighten them on apart from russiagate and the usual political insanity, were some of the other prime narrative suspects, including Ukraine, Syria, 9/11 and climate. What I had hoped to foster was both a sense that most (if not all) of the “news” they were consuming was unadulterated hornswogglery of the most nefarious sort, and a realization that our rulers were part of a criminal operation whose reach was almost limitless and whose depravity was virtually fathomless.
Ideally, my efforts would have resulted in the redpilling of those families, which needless to say, some four years later would have paid real-world dividends in their being wise to, or at least suspicious of, Operation Covid as it unfolded. It is perhaps the great heartbreak of my life that these efforts proved fruitless. Despite a mass e-mail to all my siblings, nieces and nephews, etc.. shortly before the quacksine roll-out in December 2020, warning them that this magic jab was not remotely what they were being told it was — imploring them to think long and hard before doing their sleeve-roll-up duty — every last one of them took the juice.
It's tragic. All my relatives live in a world of floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall propaganda. While they and I live on the same planet, our “realities” are as chalk and cheese. But what's far more tragic is that I'm but one of untold millions who are in the same surreal situation.”
I'm in the UK, am 66, and am in exactly the same situation. I've been 'awake' (re. many big subjects in life) for 40-45 years.
Everyone else in my family (and all bar two also 'awake' friends) blindly believe what they hear on their beloved MSM TV. Many of them have subjected me to vile verbal abuse for having 'dared' to tell them that they're being lied to, duped, in so many ways.
They all gullibly complied with the injections, and several of them now have quite major health issues. I'd provided them with information from HONEST doctors and scientists around the world some months before the injections were 'rolled out'... those doctors were issuing dire warnings to not go anywhere near the 'jabs'. My family members simply ridiculed those warnings... I've also provided them with mountain-loads of evidences from around the world re. what's being caused by those injections... and yet they also ridicule those evidences, and STILL they 'blindly believe' what their precious TVs tell them.
Yes, they're all living in a world of mere propaganda/lies. But they don't understand that. Or maybe they don't WANT to realise it...
Thanks for sharing!
“Or maybe they don't WANT to realise it...” — No maybe about it, they DON'T! Which is essentially what the poem is about: the reasons they “don't WANT to realise it...”.
We think of ourselves as rational creatures, but we're nowhere near so much that as we're herd animals.
It would appear that, as a species, we're addicted to illusion; an addiction few of us are both willing and able to break. Here are a few relevant lines from one of my poems:
“and so deep is our need for illusion
our need for myths to believe in
to give our lives meaning
that while we're in a league of our own
at both deceiving and being deceived
there is nothing at which we excel
so much as deceiving ourselves.”
Yes, you are so right, RPP! That's exactly what most people are doing.
I'm so frustrated at my family members for being so closed-minded, refusing to acquire the actual facts/truths. They are most definitely deceiving themselves.
“I'm so frustrated...” — That makes two of us, and the boat we're in is a boat we share with millions.
What I said above bears repeating: “It's tragic. All my relatives live in a world of floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall propaganda. While they and I live on the same planet, our “realities” are as chalk and cheese. But what's far more tragic is that I'm but one of untold millions who are in the same surreal situation.”
This poem was revised on DEC 16, 2024.
Indeed, can't make them drink and can't make them think.
It's a tragic fun discovering all the suckering.
I wonder if they can tell that I have lost respect for them and their credentials.
I suspect that your loss of respect for them, whether noticed or not, is nowhere near as important to them as their fitting in, going along to get along or simply not being canceled.
Truth. I admire that by using "we" you do not hold yourself above that very human yet herd-like, tempting choice to take the "safe" path over the scary "road less traveled." You dissect the fears very well indeed. We can and do avoid the truth along the way, until we can't anymore. It is a step in growth to acknowledge the error. (And another to apologize for it.) Many people are still stuck in sheepish-ness. While others are waking up. ..
I love this: the fear of losing
our soothing carefully cultured worldview
our cherished illusions our treasured myths
should our sanctified paradigms
suffer the catastrophic shocks
of seismic psychic shifts.
It IS that dramatic to drop our illusions.
"I admire that by using "we" you do not hold yourself above that very human yet herd-like, tempting choice to take the "safe" path over the scary "road less traveled.""
Actually, it was an easy choice. How could I hold myself above or apart? After all, but for some quirk of fate, I too might still be none the wiser; I too might have lacked the courage to push the blue pill aside.
So good. You have looked at all the angles. Some people have to learn the hard way, and some will never learn. Taking their "faith" to the grave. Others have to dig for the truth because the lie smells bad. And in the process, much more is excavated, and the rabbit hole gets deeper and deeper. All we can do is plant thought-seeds...and perhaps one day they will sprout. And if not, so be it, we tried. We can save ourselves, and hope to find others of like mind, and perhaps form a community of support.
Thanks, and well said!
We do what we can, by leading the horse to water. Whether the horse drinks or not is beyond our control.