About seven years ago, when Stalin was in process of being rehabilitated and had just been voted second in Most Important Russian in History by the Russian people, a professor at an English University in Moscow asked me, "How do you know what is the truth?" Not an easy question to answer as there is no set of rules or cookbook to follow, mostly just comparing every piece of information one comes across related to the subject. There is no such thing as too much information.
I told her one solid reference and that is "If it is the official government version, it is invariably a lie". Not 100% but so close it really doesn't matter. I mean, have these people EVER told you the truth?
Which brings us to Alex Jones. That, of course, is also his position but then he jumps in with a ready made theory about what was lied about (covered up) and why it is a lie.
Let's take the Boston bombings. His website raises some interesting issues, some of which may be real, There are other questions about inconsistencies in the public story as well, not just his. They should be followed up and explained clearly and logically, not just brushed off. I quit following the story so some of this may have happened already.
The problem is that Jones' theory that it was a "false flag" operation (for which, sad to say, there is some precedent). But his version that the government is looking for more excuses to "take away our guns and turn us into a police state" is patent nonsense. America already is a fascist police state, more or less, and the largest supporters of every move, regulatory or otherwise, to make it such are the people WITH guns, calling themselves Patriots.
Most Americans, I suspect, wouldn't know what "fascism" or "police state" looks like any more than they know what "communism" or "socialism" is. They just throw the words around. Same as they do "Liberty", "Democracy" and "Patriotism"...but I digress.
The government must love crazy conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones because he makes it so easy to write off anyone who questions the official version of anything. He is, in Lenin's words, a useful idiot. Anyone who suggests there might be unanswered questions is simply shut down for "believing in reptilian aliens coming to conquer the world".
Do you ever wonder why there are other kinds of "useful idiots" around when they are needed? The Tsarnaev brothers were allegedly self recruited via the internet. Others have mentioned a "newly converted Muslim" as a major influence on the older brother. This is much more likely as research indicates there is always a recruiter. Who was he? Anyone looking?
I could make a list of all these other kinds of useful idiots in American history possibly beginning with John Wilkes Booth but you can do that yourself.
Someone always benefits from any incident; natural (Hurricane Katrina) or man-made; deliberate (9/11) or accidental (Deepwater Horizon . Regardless, the question is always "Cui bono?" Who, how and why did they benefit? The answers are rarely simple and conclusions too often jumped to. If the unanswered questions are likely to put the official story at risk you can rest assured that they will not be investigated, key pieces of evidence will disappear or it will simply be stonewalled until forgotten. JFK, MLK, RFK come to mind.
Why do American people accept the official version so unquestioningly in face of any and all evidence to the contrary? Same reason the Soviet people readily believed that the millions of people arrested, tortured, disappeared, executed, sent to the gulag under Stalin were guilty. Because to believe otherwise raised issues too terrible to think of and impossible to do anything about.
Believe what you want but question everything. Get as much information as you can especially about unanswered questions and DON'T jump to conclusions, is all I can say.
And keep in mind Heinlein's Razor Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity, but don't rule out malice.
I told her one solid reference and that is "If it is the official government version, it is invariably a lie". Not 100% but so close it really doesn't matter. I mean, have these people EVER told you the truth?
Which brings us to Alex Jones. That, of course, is also his position but then he jumps in with a ready made theory about what was lied about (covered up) and why it is a lie.
Let's take the Boston bombings. His website raises some interesting issues, some of which may be real, There are other questions about inconsistencies in the public story as well, not just his. They should be followed up and explained clearly and logically, not just brushed off. I quit following the story so some of this may have happened already.
The problem is that Jones' theory that it was a "false flag" operation (for which, sad to say, there is some precedent). But his version that the government is looking for more excuses to "take away our guns and turn us into a police state" is patent nonsense. America already is a fascist police state, more or less, and the largest supporters of every move, regulatory or otherwise, to make it such are the people WITH guns, calling themselves Patriots.
Most Americans, I suspect, wouldn't know what "fascism" or "police state" looks like any more than they know what "communism" or "socialism" is. They just throw the words around. Same as they do "Liberty", "Democracy" and "Patriotism"...but I digress.
The government must love crazy conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones because he makes it so easy to write off anyone who questions the official version of anything. He is, in Lenin's words, a useful idiot. Anyone who suggests there might be unanswered questions is simply shut down for "believing in reptilian aliens coming to conquer the world".
Do you ever wonder why there are other kinds of "useful idiots" around when they are needed? The Tsarnaev brothers were allegedly self recruited via the internet. Others have mentioned a "newly converted Muslim" as a major influence on the older brother. This is much more likely as research indicates there is always a recruiter. Who was he? Anyone looking?
I could make a list of all these other kinds of useful idiots in American history possibly beginning with John Wilkes Booth but you can do that yourself.
Someone always benefits from any incident; natural (Hurricane Katrina) or man-made; deliberate (9/11) or accidental (Deepwater Horizon . Regardless, the question is always "Cui bono?" Who, how and why did they benefit? The answers are rarely simple and conclusions too often jumped to. If the unanswered questions are likely to put the official story at risk you can rest assured that they will not be investigated, key pieces of evidence will disappear or it will simply be stonewalled until forgotten. JFK, MLK, RFK come to mind.
Why do American people accept the official version so unquestioningly in face of any and all evidence to the contrary? Same reason the Soviet people readily believed that the millions of people arrested, tortured, disappeared, executed, sent to the gulag under Stalin were guilty. Because to believe otherwise raised issues too terrible to think of and impossible to do anything about.
Believe what you want but question everything. Get as much information as you can especially about unanswered questions and DON'T jump to conclusions, is all I can say.
And keep in mind Heinlein's Razor Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity, but don't rule out malice.
Well, this is sufficiently depressing to make me want to go to bed, pull the covers over my head, and hope to fall asleep quickly. The fact that it's past 11:00 p.m.also adds to the wish.
ReplyDeleteHaving all the unincorporated data floating around in ones mind is very stressful. Developing a conspiracy theory begins to give one some control over the situation. And life goes on from there.
Malice. Stupidity. Take your pick. The world is full of useful idiots.
Peace and joy
Bears Noting
Life in the Urban Forest (My poetry blog)
"Why do American people accept the official version so unquestioningly in face of any and all evidence to the contrary?"
ReplyDeleteCould it be for the same reason that the Russians are fond of Stalin? For the same reason that people believe in an afterlife? For the same reason that people believe doctors can heal them? If you live among shallow and gullible people who crave security but will settle for an illusion, it greatly enhances your odds of being as they are. Americans are probably no worse inherently than anyone else. I mean, it's not like all those people from all those places came over here, screwed, and gave birth to idiots. It's just that we're all victims in one way or another. The sad part about America is that its own people are both victims and victimizers. Everyday, we, in this country, draw closer to many brinks with nothing being done to stop it, and I have no thought that we care about the rest of the world except as we perceive it to be useful to us. However, are other countries really different? In how many places do the people rejoice whenever something bad befalls America? I have no thought that other countries would help us, no matter what happened here, that is unless they thought that it would benefit them to do so. It's just how the world is. Caring is a fiction on the large-scale.
It is not gullibility or necessarily even ignorance. It is the fact that to recognize what has been done and is being done raises issues too impossible to accept.
DeleteWhen the turn of the American empire comes, as the world goes around, you are quite right. The world will rejoice. You will be treated as you have treated.
Victims and victimizers is a good description. You elect these people. You blame big money for who gets nominated and elected but it is not their fault. You do not need a dictatorship of one man. It matters not who your president is, the policies are the same. You traded your freedom long ago for bread and circuses and now trading what is left for "security" from an invented danger.
My concern is that your poison is spreading into Canada.
"You blame big money for who gets nominated and elected but it is not their fault."
DeleteI do this? Nay, sir. I do not.
Not you you, the Progressives, the left, the collective American YOU.
DeleteI think that the fight against unlimited amounts of anonymous money being thrown at campaigns is a good one, but as to how many people really think that it is the only problem, I shouldn't think very many. Obviously, ads on TV wouldn't work if people didn't believe them, and people wouldn't believe them if they weren't shallow, gullible, and overly impressed by solutions that are sufficiently short and simple that they can be put on a bumper sticker. The problem is that such people are inordinately swayed by whichever side can amass the most money, so by limiting campaign spending, more people can have their views heard.
DeleteYou are exactly right, Snowbrush.
DeleteIt is good to agree.
Delete