Totalitarian and communist regimes were built on a combination of violence, emotional manipulation, and the wall of silence built by citizens who were too afraid to speak the truth. When those who support an orthodox perspective, no matter how absurd, are trumpeting their opinions from the rooftops, while their critics are hunkered down in their homes, terrified to open their mouths, this gives an artificial boost of legitimacy to the orthodoxy in question. After all, if the only voices you hear in the public sphere are all saying the same thing, the orthodox position can’t be all
> The only way to break this wall of silence is for citizens to overcome their fear, open their mouth, and speak up for the truth.
Nope. Far better to just shut up and don't make waves.
Twenty-one years ago, Glenn Reynolds ( @instapundit ) popularized the idea of the "preference cascade".
> Social pressures cause people to express sentiments that differ from those they really feel. As social scientist Timur Kuran noted in his 1995 book Private Truths, Public Lies, there are all sorts of reasons, good and bad, that lead people not to show how they truly feel. People tend to read social signals about what is approved and what is disapproved behavior and, in general, to modify their conduct accordingly. Others then rely on this behavior to draw wrong conclusions about what people think, and allow those conclusions to shape their own actions.
> This illustrates, in a mild way, the reason why totalitarian regimes collapse so suddenly. (Click here for a more complex analysis of this and related issues). Such regimes have little legitimacy, but they spend a lot of effort making sure that citizens don't realize the extent to which their fellow-citizens dislike the regime. If the secret police and the censors are doing their job, 99% of the populace can hate the regime and be ready to revolt against it - but no revolt will occur because no one realizes that everyone else feels the same way.
> This works until something breaks the spell, and the discontented realize that their feelings are widely shared, at which point the collapse of the regime may seem very sudden to outside observers - or even to the citizens themselves. Claims after the fact that many people who seemed like loyal apparatchiks really loathed the regime are often self-serving, of course. But they're also often true: Even if one loathes the regime, few people have the force of will to stage one-man revolutions, and when preferences are sufficiently falsified, each dissident may feel that he or she is the only one, or at least part of a minority too small to make any difference.
I used to believe that. Maybe it did happen in the past.; even the recent past. But the last dozen-or-so years have convinced me that so-called "spontaneous" social movements -- while not necessarily initiated by some shadowy organization from their secret volcano lair on the moon -- would not gain any traction unless there was some powerful special interest(s) behind them.
It was in _somebody's_ interest for Black Lives Matter, the transgender ideology, the backlash at mask and vaccine mandates, etc. to happen; so they were allowed and encouraged.
Do I have any evidence? Nope. But it is consistent with my own personal experience.
Or maybe I _am_ just some out-of-touch tinfoil hat * wearing lunatic tilting at simulated windmills.
* Actually aluminum foil. When was the last time you ever saw tin foil available at the super market? And why is that?
The CIA pharma military industrial complex are experimenting with self-assembling nanoparticles. Are they causing the massive bloodclots we have been seeing worldwide?
Hi David. What is the name of your Spotify podcast? The link didn't bring me directly to it and nothing is coming up under your name except for your Elevate interview.
Thanks David. In hindsight I think the problem with the link might have been in my security settings. Always a trade if between convenience and privacy. Thanks for everything you do.
Hi Andy, sorry, I haven't seen that email or it slipped my attention! I'm happy for you to include my credited work in your post, though the video of The Plan is not mine :)
Me gusta lo que acabo de leer y me anima a apoyar y seguir el ejemplo. Gracias
> The only way to break this wall of silence is for citizens to overcome their fear, open their mouth, and speak up for the truth.
Nope. Far better to just shut up and don't make waves.
Twenty-one years ago, Glenn Reynolds ( @instapundit ) popularized the idea of the "preference cascade".
> Social pressures cause people to express sentiments that differ from those they really feel. As social scientist Timur Kuran noted in his 1995 book Private Truths, Public Lies, there are all sorts of reasons, good and bad, that lead people not to show how they truly feel. People tend to read social signals about what is approved and what is disapproved behavior and, in general, to modify their conduct accordingly. Others then rely on this behavior to draw wrong conclusions about what people think, and allow those conclusions to shape their own actions.
> This illustrates, in a mild way, the reason why totalitarian regimes collapse so suddenly. (Click here for a more complex analysis of this and related issues). Such regimes have little legitimacy, but they spend a lot of effort making sure that citizens don't realize the extent to which their fellow-citizens dislike the regime. If the secret police and the censors are doing their job, 99% of the populace can hate the regime and be ready to revolt against it - but no revolt will occur because no one realizes that everyone else feels the same way.
> This works until something breaks the spell, and the discontented realize that their feelings are widely shared, at which point the collapse of the regime may seem very sudden to outside observers - or even to the citizens themselves. Claims after the fact that many people who seemed like loyal apparatchiks really loathed the regime are often self-serving, of course. But they're also often true: Even if one loathes the regime, few people have the force of will to stage one-man revolutions, and when preferences are sufficiently falsified, each dissident may feel that he or she is the only one, or at least part of a minority too small to make any difference.
>
> - "Patriotism and Preferences", March 13 2002
> http://web.archive.org/web/20030910002544/http://www.techcentralstation.com/031302A.html
I used to believe that. Maybe it did happen in the past.; even the recent past. But the last dozen-or-so years have convinced me that so-called "spontaneous" social movements -- while not necessarily initiated by some shadowy organization from their secret volcano lair on the moon -- would not gain any traction unless there was some powerful special interest(s) behind them.
It was in _somebody's_ interest for Black Lives Matter, the transgender ideology, the backlash at mask and vaccine mandates, etc. to happen; so they were allowed and encouraged.
Do I have any evidence? Nope. But it is consistent with my own personal experience.
Or maybe I _am_ just some out-of-touch tinfoil hat * wearing lunatic tilting at simulated windmills.
* Actually aluminum foil. When was the last time you ever saw tin foil available at the super market? And why is that?
The CIA pharma military industrial complex are experimenting with self-assembling nanoparticles. Are they causing the massive bloodclots we have been seeing worldwide?
More here; https://wakeuppeople.substack.com/p/self-assembling-nanoparticles-causing
Hi David. What is the name of your Spotify podcast? The link didn't bring me directly to it and nothing is coming up under your name except for your Elevate interview.
Hi Stefan, I've recently revamped it as Freedom in Focus. Sorry that link didn't work for you. Here is the same link again. Does it work now? This is the "link to the show" that Spotify gave me: https://open.spotify.com/show/7CPKE1nDcHvclifnewMgHJ?si=0a0acf52043b482a
Thanks David. In hindsight I think the problem with the link might have been in my security settings. Always a trade if between convenience and privacy. Thanks for everything you do.
Ok, glad to hear it! And thanks for your kind words!
Hello David. Great post as always.
I did send an email seeking your permission to use the video of The Plan in my own post.
But zero response from you? I did credit your good self correctly in my post.
https://andybunting.substack.com/p/the-plan
Hi Andy, sorry, I haven't seen that email or it slipped my attention! I'm happy for you to include my credited work in your post, though the video of The Plan is not mine :)
Thanks David. Appreciate all of your work & web site is a whole &great journey in itself!
Thanks Andy! Yes, it is a journey I am enjoying!