Fantastic article. I remember the Blair government sending out a questionnaire to let citizens engage with some debate or other, and was dismayed to find multiple choice answers with no answer I could tick.
As a previous post suggests, there's a lot to consider in this thought - provoking piece.
Although the idea is new to me, manufactured consent seems to be a most insidious tool for manipulating the naive general population. The Climate Change Committee appears to be a tool for this. Some years ago, I went to a workshop intended to make people reconsider their opinion on a certain topic. People were skeptical and disapproving when I talked to them prior to the workshop, but gradually fell into line and became enthusiastic during its course. This shows how transient people's opinions are.
With regard to eating insects, they're appearing in some ultra - processed foods. A quote from Entomology Blog: "Overall, it appears that insects are an unavoidable aspect of modern diets, existing in many everyday foods without consumers' awareness".
I fully agree with awareness being a protection, but I hope that a tiny minority of aware people can counterbalance or stem the flood of people saying "yes" to the manipulation coming from all aspects of modern life, including the power of institutional capture.
In the UK at least, we appear to be increasingly subjected to the rule of communist - style ideology. This rot has even infiltrated our (so - called) criminal justice system. A sex offender gets away with a suspended sentence, and an unfortunate woman saying a few words that the State doesn't like is imprisoned. This two - tier "justice" should have no place in any Western country.
Re the idea that people will naturally accept drastic changes in their standard of living in order to save the planet, I'm just about to publish a piece for KBM on the establishment family of Bristol's Transport Committee Chair. His dad said this: 'I believe that the British people would be prepared to make sacrifices, even heavy ones, for the sake of posterity if the need was clearly explained and the burden was fairly shared.'
It has been obvious since civilisation started that the majority of people are sheep ie. they just follow the herd. This is a gift for the elites which they use against the majority to shepherd them into the actions and beliefs that the elites want the majority to follow. I don't see a way out of this and it will lead to a degraded civilisation with a psychopathic elite who only care about flouting their power over the rest of us, no matter what. It will lead to a stagnant society and ultimately a civilisation that will decay from low morale and lack of intellectual freedom.
I DO see a way out of this. Some people call it 'the evolution of humanity' but basically it means growing up and learning not to give our power away. In contemporary Britain we seem to have lost the capacity to envisage alternatives to what we have now. Previous Substacks especially "If Only You Knew" cover some positive, visionary thinking from the US.
I hope and pray that you are right and that people will change but recent experience (ie. Covid) suggests that there is still some way to go yet. I also think that the Americans have a more pro-freedom and individualist mindset to the British.
I'm talking about deep transformation; we're unlikely to see much of that in our lifetime. For now, we at least need enough spirit to ensure that there are future generations of humans rather than a new transhumanist slave class!
I have only just read this article and not the receding ones, but I have thoroughly enjoyed your description of the citizen assembly process. I was going to apply to one being held by my County Council to see what they are like, but as a parish councillor, I wasn’t allowed.
The Institute of Goverment’s MINDSPACE document is worth becoming familiar with. This manufacturing of consent and the publication of it I still the idea of Norms and we know that people like to conform and not stand out. (Wasn’t it the Asch Experiment that starkly showed this?)
Yes, the Institute for Government is on my radar as a major player in this area but I didn't want to extend the piece further. MINDSPACE is quite a revealing name, isn't? The battle we're fighting is primarily psychological!
Hi Alex, an email was forwarded onto from someone claiming to be you. Is there anyway I would be able to confirm the email was indeed from you to rule out that it is an imposter?
Alex, there is so much to consider here and I am going to revisit , because it’s all so vitally important. Thanks
Yes, it is. Although I look at this stuff all the time, I'm continuously surprised. And knowledge IS power!
You are helping build that knowledge Alex and that is a major part of our strategies of POWER. Wes will prevail.
Fantastic article. I remember the Blair government sending out a questionnaire to let citizens engage with some debate or other, and was dismayed to find multiple choice answers with no answer I could tick.
LOL! Welcome to my world. But take heart, there's soo many of us in this world now ...
As a previous post suggests, there's a lot to consider in this thought - provoking piece.
Although the idea is new to me, manufactured consent seems to be a most insidious tool for manipulating the naive general population. The Climate Change Committee appears to be a tool for this. Some years ago, I went to a workshop intended to make people reconsider their opinion on a certain topic. People were skeptical and disapproving when I talked to them prior to the workshop, but gradually fell into line and became enthusiastic during its course. This shows how transient people's opinions are.
With regard to eating insects, they're appearing in some ultra - processed foods. A quote from Entomology Blog: "Overall, it appears that insects are an unavoidable aspect of modern diets, existing in many everyday foods without consumers' awareness".
I fully agree with awareness being a protection, but I hope that a tiny minority of aware people can counterbalance or stem the flood of people saying "yes" to the manipulation coming from all aspects of modern life, including the power of institutional capture.
In the UK at least, we appear to be increasingly subjected to the rule of communist - style ideology. This rot has even infiltrated our (so - called) criminal justice system. A sex offender gets away with a suspended sentence, and an unfortunate woman saying a few words that the State doesn't like is imprisoned. This two - tier "justice" should have no place in any Western country.
Have you read Iain Davis's pieces on sortition, Alex? https://iaindavis.com/sorting-sortition/
Re the idea that people will naturally accept drastic changes in their standard of living in order to save the planet, I'm just about to publish a piece for KBM on the establishment family of Bristol's Transport Committee Chair. His dad said this: 'I believe that the British people would be prepared to make sacrifices, even heavy ones, for the sake of posterity if the need was clearly explained and the burden was fairly shared.'
That sounds like the kind of propaganda used around the world wars! Thanks for the link.
It has been obvious since civilisation started that the majority of people are sheep ie. they just follow the herd. This is a gift for the elites which they use against the majority to shepherd them into the actions and beliefs that the elites want the majority to follow. I don't see a way out of this and it will lead to a degraded civilisation with a psychopathic elite who only care about flouting their power over the rest of us, no matter what. It will lead to a stagnant society and ultimately a civilisation that will decay from low morale and lack of intellectual freedom.
I DO see a way out of this. Some people call it 'the evolution of humanity' but basically it means growing up and learning not to give our power away. In contemporary Britain we seem to have lost the capacity to envisage alternatives to what we have now. Previous Substacks especially "If Only You Knew" cover some positive, visionary thinking from the US.
I hope and pray that you are right and that people will change but recent experience (ie. Covid) suggests that there is still some way to go yet. I also think that the Americans have a more pro-freedom and individualist mindset to the British.
I'm talking about deep transformation; we're unlikely to see much of that in our lifetime. For now, we at least need enough spirit to ensure that there are future generations of humans rather than a new transhumanist slave class!
I have only just read this article and not the receding ones, but I have thoroughly enjoyed your description of the citizen assembly process. I was going to apply to one being held by my County Council to see what they are like, but as a parish councillor, I wasn’t allowed.
The Institute of Goverment’s MINDSPACE document is worth becoming familiar with. This manufacturing of consent and the publication of it I still the idea of Norms and we know that people like to conform and not stand out. (Wasn’t it the Asch Experiment that starkly showed this?)
https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/sites/default/files/publications/MINDSPACE.pdf
A key protection of our freedoms is to recognise and understand these behaviour modification techniques.
Yes, the Institute for Government is on my radar as a major player in this area but I didn't want to extend the piece further. MINDSPACE is quite a revealing name, isn't? The battle we're fighting is primarily psychological!
Hi Alex, an email was forwarded onto from someone claiming to be you. Is there anyway I would be able to confirm the email was indeed from you to rule out that it is an imposter?
I haven't sent you an email.
Thank you for confirming.