The Truth Is Really Important in Our Lives

 

I grew up amid the major threat of Communism being part of American life. It was always only a threat until recent years when it has actually manifested its influence in our daily life. I’ve been trying to understand what we are seeing and how we have arrived here.

Until the last few years,  I had recognized Communism as an oppressive governmental approach to organizing society. I had thought the principal tool for regimes to get there was the use of police and military power. Communist propaganda techniques were always part of the discussions but I, not having any expertise in public media or communications, never really understood the important role that plays in capturing the people. The last nine years on Ricochet has been an education in this for me.

We are now in a decisive battle for the preservation of the republic that America’s Founders handed us, documented by the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution amended with the Bill of Rights.

The Democrats, Progressives, and Communists, many of whom fit all three of those descriptors, have been working for more than a century towards the end of making America collectivist and part of a venture to establish a global collectivist society. A very big element in this conquest venture is that propaganda activity I mentioned that I didn’t really understand in depth. I think I’m seeing that better now that we are right in the middle of the process.

The lies and deceptions are never-ending. Facts and Truth are absent. Public education, advanced academia, public media, and government all act in concert to spread the message of largely false propaganda. As we witnessed during the Covid pandemic for the medical profession, almost all traditional institutions have been corrupted and no longer present a truthful picture of their represented field. Among these are corporate business, education, banking, housing, energy, healthcare, and it goes on and on with little truthful information being presented.

There are many essays appearing regularly here on Ricochet revealing what is happening in America.

I hope and pray we are attentive and ready to go to work to save America.

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  1. Dr. Bastiat Member
    Dr. Bastiat
    @drbastiat

    Bob Thompson: A very big element in this conquest venture is that propaganda activity I mentioned that I didn’t really understand in depth. I think I’m seeing that better now that we are right in the middle of the process.

    I think the ‘middle’ of that process was some decades ago. 

    • #1
  2. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson: A very big element in this conquest venture is that propaganda activity I mentioned that I didn’t really understand in depth. I think I’m seeing that better now that we are right in the middle of the process.

    I think the ‘middle’ of that process was some decades ago.

    That’s more accurate than what I said. We are almost gone at this point.

    @drbastiat Where have you been?

    • #2
  3. MarciN Member
    MarciN
    @MarciN

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson: A very big element in this conquest venture is that propaganda activity I mentioned that I didn’t really understand in depth. I think I’m seeing that better now that we are right in the middle of the process.

    I think the ‘middle’ of that process was some decades ago.

    That’s more accurate than what I said. We are almost gone at this point.

    @ drbastiat Where have you been?

    I’m guessing wedding planning for his daughter. :-) 

    • #3
  4. MarciN Member
    MarciN
    @MarciN

    What has changed now is the 87,000 new IRS agents. That move tells me the Democrats have run out of money.

    • #4
  5. Dr. Bastiat Member
    Dr. Bastiat
    @drbastiat

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson: A very big element in this conquest venture is that propaganda activity I mentioned that I didn’t really understand in depth. I think I’m seeing that better now that we are right in the middle of the process.

    I think the ‘middle’ of that process was some decades ago.

    That’s more accurate than what I said. We are almost gone at this point.

    @ drbastiat Where have you been?

    I have COVID again. 

    I’m pretty sick. 

    • #5
  6. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson: A very big element in this conquest venture is that propaganda activity I mentioned that I didn’t really understand in depth. I think I’m seeing that better now that we are right in the middle of the process.

    I think the ‘middle’ of that process was some decades ago.

    That’s more accurate than what I said. We are almost gone at this point.

    @ drbastiat Where have you been?

    I have COVID again.

    I’m pretty sick.

    Man, I’m really sorry to hear that. Wish you a speedy recovery.

    • #6
  7. MarciN Member
    MarciN
    @MarciN

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson: A very big element in this conquest venture is that propaganda activity I mentioned that I didn’t really understand in depth. I think I’m seeing that better now that we are right in the middle of the process.

    I think the ‘middle’ of that process was some decades ago.

    That’s more accurate than what I said. We are almost gone at this point.

    @ drbastiat Where have you been?

    I have COVID again.

    I’m pretty sick.

    Man, I’m really sorry to hear that. Wish you a speedy recovery.

    I am sorry too. Get well soon. 

    • #7
  8. Flicker Coolidge
    Flicker
    @Flicker

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson: A very big element in this conquest venture is that propaganda activity I mentioned that I didn’t really understand in depth. I think I’m seeing that better now that we are right in the middle of the process.

    I think the ‘middle’ of that process was some decades ago.

    That’s more accurate than what I said. We are almost gone at this point.

    @ drbastiat Where have you been?

    I have COVID again.

    I’m pretty sick.

    May you return to perfect health.

    • #8
  9. Henry Castaigne Member
    Henry Castaigne
    @HenryCastaigne

    MarciN (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson: A very big element in this conquest venture is that propaganda activity I mentioned that I didn’t really understand in depth. I think I’m seeing that better now that we are right in the middle of the process.

    I think the ‘middle’ of that process was some decades ago.

    That’s more accurate than what I said. We are almost gone at this point.

    @ drbastiat Where have you been?

    I’m guessing wedding planning for his daughter. :-)

    The groom better have some impressive DNA. After we go through a  Venezuelan style collapse, expect your clan to step up and become our really class. The genetic engineering thing is taking too long.

    • #9
  10. Dr. Bastiat Member
    Dr. Bastiat
    @drbastiat

    MarciN (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson: A very big element in this conquest venture is that propaganda activity I mentioned that I didn’t really understand in depth. I think I’m seeing that better now that we are right in the middle of the process.

    I think the ‘middle’ of that process was some decades ago.

    That’s more accurate than what I said. We are almost gone at this point.

    @ drbastiat Where have you been?

    I’m guessing wedding planning for his daughter. :-)

    I’m no fool.

    I’m just trying to keep my head down, while my wife progressively loses her mind… 

    • #10
  11. Henry Castaigne Member
    Henry Castaigne
    @HenryCastaigne

    Until the last few years,  I had recognized Communism as an oppressive governmental approach to organizing society. I had thought the principal tool for regimes to get there was the use of police and military power. Communist propaganda techniques were always part of the discussions but I, not having any expertise in public media or communications, never really understood the important role that plays in capturing the people. The last nine years on Ricochet has been an education in this for me. 

    The three books that help explain this are in order of Chronology,

    Fools, Frauds and Firebrands by Roger Scruton.

    The Devil’s Pleasure Palace by Michael Walsh 

    The War on the West by Douglass Murray.

    I am not a big fan of The Devil’s Pleasure Palace because Matt Walsh talks about Catholicism like everyone should automatically relate to it. It’s like how I talk about genetic engineering. Also, I don’t think he is as good a writer as the other two.

    However, I must say that The Devil’s Pleasure Palace is the most relevant to Mr. Thompson’s question as it involves American culture as well as the American Academia. 

    To summarize over five hundred pages, when ideas don’t work and make people miserable they go to the Academia to slowly fester until they can infect the body politic.

     

    • #11
  12. Henry Castaigne Member
    Henry Castaigne
    @HenryCastaigne

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):

    MarciN (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson: A very big element in this conquest venture is that propaganda activity I mentioned that I didn’t really understand in depth. I think I’m seeing that better now that we are right in the middle of the process.

    I think the ‘middle’ of that process was some decades ago.

    That’s more accurate than what I said. We are almost gone at this point.

    @ drbastiat Where have you been?

    I’m guessing wedding planning for his daughter. :-)

    I’m no fool.

    I’m just trying to keep my head down, while my wife progressively loses her mind…

    According to French philosophers, you can educate her to be sensible and moderate because we don’t have a definite human nature.

    • #12
  13. Dr. Bastiat Member
    Dr. Bastiat
    @drbastiat

    Henry Castaigne (View Comment):

    MarciN (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson: A very big element in this conquest venture is that propaganda activity I mentioned that I didn’t really understand in depth. I think I’m seeing that better now that we are right in the middle of the process.

    I think the ‘middle’ of that process was some decades ago.

    That’s more accurate than what I said. We are almost gone at this point.

    @ drbastiat Where have you been?

    I’m guessing wedding planning for his daughter. :-)

    The groom better have some impressive DNA. After we go through a Venezuelan style collapse, expect your clan to step up and become our really class. The genetic engineering thing is taking too long.

    I’m not sure about his DNA.

    But I am sure that he’s a good human being, and that he loves my daughter.  And that’s enough. 

    • #13
  14. Henry Castaigne Member
    Henry Castaigne
    @HenryCastaigne

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):

    Henry Castaigne (View Comment):

    MarciN (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson: A very big element in this conquest venture is that propaganda activity I mentioned that I didn’t really understand in depth. I think I’m seeing that better now that we are right in the middle of the process.

    I think the ‘middle’ of that process was some decades ago.

    That’s more accurate than what I said. We are almost gone at this point.

    @ drbastiat Where have you been?

    I’m guessing wedding planning for his daughter. :-)

    The groom better have some impressive DNA. After we go through a Venezuelan style collapse, expect your clan to step up and become our really class. The genetic engineering thing is taking too long.

    I’m not sure about his DNA.

    But I am sure that he’s a good human being, and that he loves my daughter. And that’s enough.

    Well for marriage that’s OK. But your grandkids might not be one of the benign class of rulers. So you know… realize that might happen.

    • #14
  15. Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patriot) Member
    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patriot)
    @ArizonaPatriot

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):

    Henry Castaigne (View Comment):

    MarciN (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson: A very big element in this conquest venture is that propaganda activity I mentioned that I didn’t really understand in depth. I think I’m seeing that better now that we are right in the middle of the process.

    I think the ‘middle’ of that process was some decades ago.

    That’s more accurate than what I said. We are almost gone at this point.

    @ drbastiat Where have you been?

    I’m guessing wedding planning for his daughter. :-)

    The groom better have some impressive DNA. After we go through a Venezuelan style collapse, expect your clan to step up and become our really class. The genetic engineering thing is taking too long.

    I’m not sure about his DNA.

    But I am sure that he’s a good human being, and that he loves my daughter. And that’s enough.

    Well, he has tall genes, right?  ;)

    Get well soon.

    • #15
  16. Phil Turmel Inactive
    Phil Turmel
    @PhilTurmel

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):

    MarciN (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson: A very big element in this conquest venture is that propaganda activity I mentioned that I didn’t really understand in depth. I think I’m seeing that better now that we are right in the middle of the process.

    I think the ‘middle’ of that process was some decades ago.

    That’s more accurate than what I said. We are almost gone at this point.

    @ drbastiat Where have you been?

    I’m guessing wedding planning for his daughter. :-)

    I’m no fool.

    I’m just trying to keep my head down, while my wife progressively loses her mind…

    Wise man.

    • #16
  17. Gazpacho Grande' Coolidge
    Gazpacho Grande'
    @ChrisCampion

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson: A very big element in this conquest venture is that propaganda activity I mentioned that I didn’t really understand in depth. I think I’m seeing that better now that we are right in the middle of the process.

    I think the ‘middle’ of that process was some decades ago.

    That’s more accurate than what I said. We are almost gone at this point.

    @ drbastiat Where have you been?

    I have COVID again.

    I’m pretty sick.

    Ah crap.  Sorry Doc.  Feel better soon.  

    • #17
  18. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    I guess I’m a really slow learner or perhaps I just needed to get motivated to look at some things besides Marxism that have destroyed much of our religiously-oriented culture. Sigmund Freud  had some big impacts on mental health issues in the first half of the 20th Century. He believed that uninhibited sex or total sexual gratification is required for sound mental health. So there was that already in place when I reached adulthood. 

    Then, in the fifties and early sixties, Alfred Kinsey showed up with the Kinsey Report, that said people should view themselves as “animals” with natural urges that needed to be released by whatever means necessary. Kinsey was viewed as the “expert” on these matters very much as Dr. Fauci has been viewed with respect to Covid. I would not be surprised if the same mass formation syndrome applied and we got the feminist movement and the sexual revolution.

    At the same time the Atheist movement arrived using the “secular humanism” moniker and even publishing manifestos listing atheism fundamental beliefs starting with “there is no God”.

    I was in the middle of this period of destruction when my future wife rescued me.

    • #18
  19. MarciN Member
    MarciN
    @MarciN

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):

    MarciN (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson: A very big element in this conquest venture is that propaganda activity I mentioned that I didn’t really understand in depth. I think I’m seeing that better now that we are right in the middle of the process.

    I think the ‘middle’ of that process was some decades ago.

    That’s more accurate than what I said. We are almost gone at this point.

    @ drbastiat Where have you been?

    I’m guessing wedding planning for his daughter. :-)

    I’m no fool.

    I’m just trying to keep my head down, while my wife progressively loses her mind…

    I’ve done two weddings. You might want to keep some extra Bourbon around so you can share. :-) 

    • #19
  20. Skyler Coolidge
    Skyler
    @Skyler

    MarciN (View Comment):

    What has changed now is the 87,000 new IRS agents. That move tells me the Democrats have run out of money.

    @marcin, those 87,000 will be made up of Antifa, who will not be interested in money as much as they will be with control.

    • #20
  21. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Bob Thompson: Public education, advanced academia, public media, and government all act in concert to spread the message of largely false propaganda.

    The Constitution cannot function as intended when four tech companies control the public square.

    The New York Times is a subscription model and they are not going to report the news or create opinion pieces that will jeopardize that. It goes one way all the time.

    The Washington Post is owned by Amazon that needs the government and the government needs Amazon. All statism all the time. Corporatism. I’m also thinking of another word that’s popular now. lol

    Zillions of Democrats swallow NPR whole every day.

    Thirty million people listen to the four network newscasts.

    Public education actually means “government schools”. The Education Edifice add no value except to the communists, anymore. Cut a check to the parents instead. The accreditation system in higher education is the same thing as trade licensing as far as being constructive.

    • #21
  22. GlennAmurgis Coolidge
    GlennAmurgis
    @GlennAmurgis

    There was a book by Virginia Postel ( a former editor at Reason mag) called “The future and it’s enemy”. Her theory was the political continuum isn’t left/right but statist vs non-statist (why she called dynamist or decentralized). 

     

    • #22
  23. Skyler Coolidge
    Skyler
    @Skyler

    GlennAmurgis (View Comment):

    There was a book by Virginia Postel ( a former editor at Reason mag) called “The future and it’s enemy”. Her theory was the political continuum isn’t left/right but statist vs non-statist (why she called dynamist or decentralized).

     

    I met Virginia when I went to a book presentation (is that the word?) for that book at the local Barnes & Noble in Austin when it first came out.  I noticed a few things:  She was smoking hot and I loved her tight boots, she spoke well, and she had a young assistant as though she were a General or something.  Around that same time she quit Reason magazine, which became nearly unreadable under Nick Gillespie (who is some kind of libertarian populist) and his ego.  Then she donated a kidney to an anonymous person.  I found that to be spectacularly unwise and my admiration for her ceased.

    But she was right about a lot of other things not involving kidneys.

    • #23
  24. Gazpacho Grande' Coolidge
    Gazpacho Grande'
    @ChrisCampion

    Skyler (View Comment):

    GlennAmurgis (View Comment):

    There was a book by Virginia Postel ( a former editor at Reason mag) called “The future and it’s enemy”. Her theory was the political continuum isn’t left/right but statist vs non-statist (why she called dynamist or decentralized).

     

    I met Virginia when I went to a book presentation (is that the word?) for that book at the local Barnes & Noble in Austin when it first came out. I noticed a few things: She was smoking hot and I loved her tight boots, she spoke well, and she had a young assistant as though she were a General or something. Around that same time she quit Reason magazine, which became nearly unreadable under Nick Gillespie (who is some kind of libertarian populist) and his ego. Then she donated a kidney to an anonymous person. I found that to be spectacularly unwise and my admiration for her ceased.

    But she was right about a lot of other things not involving kidneys.

    The kidney thing is a tell.

    • #24
  25. MarciN Member
    MarciN
    @MarciN

    Bob Thompson: The lies and deceptions are never-ending. Facts and Truth are absent. Public education, advanced academia, public media, and government all act in concert to spread the message of largely false propaganda. As we witnessed during the Covid pandemic for the medical profession, almost all traditional institutions have been corrupted and no longer present a truthful picture of their represented field. Among these are corporate business, education, banking, housing, energy, healthcare, and it goes on and on with little truthful information being presented.

    My husband and I watched an extremely sad movie last night: Mr. Jones. It was released in 2019, and it is on Amazon Prime.

    It’s about the Holodomor and Walter Duranty and the New York Times.

    But it’s really about big government everywhere.

    • #25
  26. Dr. Bastiat Member
    Dr. Bastiat
    @drbastiat

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):
    Then, in the fifties and early sixties, Alfred Kinsey showed up with the Kinsey Report, that said people should view themselves as “animals” with natural urges that needed to be released by whatever means necessary. Kinsey was viewed as the “expert” on these matters very much as Dr. Fauci has been viewed with respect to Covid.

    That’s a great analogy. 

    • #26
  27. drlorentz Member
    drlorentz
    @drlorentz

    Bob Thompson:  I had recognized Communism as an oppressive governmental approach to organizing society. I had thought the principal tool for regimes to get there was the use of police and military power. Communist propaganda techniques were always part of the discussions but I, not having any expertise in public media or communications, never really understood the important role that plays in capturing the people.

    This would seem to be the appropriate time and place for the classic Theodore Dalrymple (aka Anthony Daniels) quote from 17 years ago:

    Political correctness is communist propaganda writ small. In my study of communist societies, I came to the conclusion that the purpose of communist propaganda was not to persuade or convince, not to inform, but to humiliate; and therefore, the less it corresponded to reality the better. When people are forced to remain silent when they are being told the most obvious lies, or even worse when they are forced to repeat the lies themselves, they lose once and for all their sense of probity. To assent to obvious lies is in some small way to become evil oneself. One’s standing to resist anything is thus eroded, and even destroyed. A society of emasculated liars is easy to control. I think if you examine political correctness, it has the same effect and is intended to.

    Bob Thompson: We are now in a decisive battle for the preservation of the republic that America’s Founders handed us, documented by the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution amended with the Bill of Rights.

    It is way too late for that. That battle has been raging for decades and it’s pretty-much lost. There have been lots of amendments after the Bill of Rights, not all of them so great. About 100 years ago there was still a chance to turn the tide. This century’s roaring twenties will roar in a way quite different from the last century’s but like the 1920s, they will end in tears.

    • #27
  28. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    drlorentz (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson: I had recognized Communism as an oppressive governmental approach to organizing society. I had thought the principal tool for regimes to get there was the use of police and military power. Communist propaganda techniques were always part of the discussions but I, not having any expertise in public media or communications, never really understood the important role that plays in capturing the people.

    This would seem to be the appropriate time and place for the classic Theodore Dalrymple (aka Anthony Daniels) quote from 17 years ago:

    Political correctness is communist propaganda writ small. In my study of communist societies, I came to the conclusion that the purpose of communist propaganda was not to persuade or convince, not to inform, but to humiliate; and therefore, the less it corresponded to reality the better. When people are forced to remain silent when they are being told the most obvious lies, or even worse when they are forced to repeat the lies themselves, they lose once and for all their sense of probity. To assent to obvious lies is in some small way to become evil oneself. One’s standing to resist anything is thus eroded, and even destroyed. A society of emasculated liars is easy to control. I think if you examine political correctness, it has the same effect and is intended to.

    Bob Thompson: We are now in a decisive battle for the preservation of the republic that America’s Founders handed us, documented by the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution amended with the Bill of Rights.

    It is way too late for that. That battle has been raging for decades and it’s pretty-much lost. There have been lots of amendments after the Bill of Rights, not all of them so great. About 100 years ago there was still a chance to turn the tide. This century’s roaring twenties will roar in a way quite different from the last century’s but like the 1920s, they will end in tears.

    I don’t disagree with what you have said here. Perhaps the battle now is just for Truth.

    • #28
  29. Henry Castaigne Member
    Henry Castaigne
    @HenryCastaigne

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    drlorentz (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson: I had recognized Communism as an oppressive governmental approach to organizing society. I had thought the principal tool for regimes to get there was the use of police and military power. Communist propaganda techniques were always part of the discussions but I, not having any expertise in public media or communications, never really understood the important role that plays in capturing the people.

    This would seem to be the appropriate time and place for the classic Theodore Dalrymple (aka Anthony Daniels) quote from 17 years ago:

    Political correctness is communist propaganda writ small. In my study of communist societies, I came to the conclusion that the purpose of communist propaganda was not to persuade or convince, not to inform, but to humiliate; and therefore, the less it corresponded to reality the better. When people are forced to remain silent when they are being told the most obvious lies, or even worse when they are forced to repeat the lies themselves, they lose once and for all their sense of probity. To assent to obvious lies is in some small way to become evil oneself. One’s standing to resist anything is thus eroded, and even destroyed. A society of emasculated liars is easy to control. I think if you examine political correctness, it has the same effect and is intended to.

    Bob Thompson: We are now in a decisive battle for the preservation of the republic that America’s Founders handed us, documented by the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution amended with the Bill of Rights.

    It is way too late for that. That battle has been raging for decades and it’s pretty-much lost. There have been lots of amendments after the Bill of Rights, not all of them so great. About 100 years ago there was still a chance to turn the tide. This century’s roaring twenties will roar in a way quite different from the last century’s but like the 1920s, they will end in tears.

    I don’t disagree with what you have said here. Perhaps the battle now is just for Truth.

    You do know that most people like Truth and wealth and the flag. 

    • #29
  30. Derek Tyburczyk Lincoln
    Derek Tyburczyk
    @Derek Tyburczyk

    MarciN (View Comment):

    What has changed now is the 87,000 new IRS agents. That move tells me the Democrats have run out of money.

    Those agents are a weaponized force, in and of itself a large number like that is meant to intimidate. You can be the most law-abiding, taxpaying, everything by the book taxpayer. If the IRS contacts you, especially as a business owner, you now have to spend time and resources try to prove your innocence. You are guilty until you prove otherwise. This isn’t about tax collection, as much as it is about putting the fear of God in business owners, and contractors like myself. Truly authoritarian and fear inducing government over-reach.

    • #30
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