As IF Times

link https://autistocrates.substack.com/p/aristotle-on-tyranny?utm_source=url

There’s an old saying that “there’s nothing new under the sun”.  For those interested, that line is taken from a passage of the Bible, under Ecclesiastes (1:4-11 for those researching)  In the passage, the reference was more about the consistency and predictability of life and of people.

The human experience can be viewed the same way of course and history has shown that basic elements of human nature always manifest themselves in almost predictable fashion.

As far back as Aristotle’s time, the reality of some people desiring to control other people has been a common trait among all societies.  In fact, he accurately describes the method by which tyranny takes over a society.

“Their first end and aim is to break the spirit of their subjects. They know that a poor-spirited man will never plot against anybody.”

“Their second aim is to breed mutual distrust. Tyranny is never overthrown until people can begin to trust one another; and this is the reason why tyrants are always at war with the good. They feel that good men are dangerous to their authority, not only because they think it shame to be governed despotically but also because of their loyalty to themselves and to others and because of their refusal to betray one another or anybody else.”

“The third and last aim of tyrants is to make their subjects incapable of action. Nobody attempts the impossible. Nobody, therefore, will attempt the overthrow of tyranny, when all are incapable of action.”

An essay discussing this is in the link above.

So, we can see that the methods by which tyrannically minded people use to control passive people have all but been prescribed since Aristotle’s time and likely before then.

This is an interesting perspective as we view the happenings of the world in the past two years through the constants of human behaviour. We refer of course to the chain reaction of events spawned over 2 years ago (!!) by a supposedly deadly virus.

Using fear as the big stick, the majority of the world’s societies fell lockstep into protocols which were implemented essentially at the behest of one man.  Truly amazing when you think about it.  An entire planet of 7 billion people had their lives uprooted by the utterances of ONE man. Fear of the unknown was the means by which entire nations were cowed into protocols that, today, are laughably comical.  But in the absence of real data, it was easy for the people who supposedly knew better to create rules out of thin air.

Fast forward to our present day, a full two years after the original alarm about a global catastrophe which would cause death on a scale only seen in video games and NONE of the projections have played out in any way whatsoever. Ironically, the real tragedies show up in the so called remedies to the virus.

What’s even more amazing is how the narrative has morphed seamlessly into protocols which have nothing to do with a generally benign virus.  Even as evidence piles up from nations worldwide that the ‘pandemic’ is over and that measures taken during the threat were proven useless, certain nations, notably the ‘free’ western nations of the US, Canada, France and Germany are doubling down on measures having no link to illnesses.  Odd how the virus is only deadly in wealthy nations.

To cite one example, the Canadian government took the extraordinary ( and illegal) measure of restricting citizens’ bank accounts if they were deemed to be anti-government operatives. This characterization would include a waitress who donated $10 to a freedom rally.

Clearly the agenda has moved from containing a virus to containing and controlling entire populations.  As we now know, the methods being used are timeless… and timelessly effective.

link:  https://exploringyourmind.com/the-invisible-gorilla-a-classic-experiment-in-perception/

We are now embarking upon the third year of the delusional insanity that has consumed the world in the form of Covid delirium.  Measures that were unthinkable two years ago are in place throughout the world today.   But instead of the ‘pandemic emergency’ waning, the measures being implemented against Covid are actually escalating.  We all recall the ‘experts’ advising that it would be a matter of 2 weeks to dissipate the malaise and achieve herd immunity.  How quaint. It’s as if you called someone in to get rid of a few ants in your house and two years later, not only has your home been completely destroyed and your pets killed,  but so also those of your neighbors for a 3000 mile radius… and they’re still looking for ants.  Meanwhile, you have to wear a contamination suit and ingest anti-ant poison.  A skeptical mind may question whether the powers that be were incompetent then….or even more incompetent now.  In either case, why would anyone still listen to these ‘experts’?

There’s no debating that many or most of the people in positions of power that are able to implement civil restrictions, penalties and coercion are natural born tyrants who just happened to find a timely outlet for their perversions.  We can say this without hyperbole because no rational person would accept their edicts if they weren’t cowed by fear over an illness that is so wildly exaggerated.

The government is going to order you to do something to your own body and you can’t refuse.  You can’t move about the country freely.  You can’t hang out with your family.  You will not be allowed out at all in public unless you do what the government says.  You will be denied health care and food if you don’t comply.  You will be taxed oppressively if you don’t comply.  Try saying that stuff out loud a few times. The Jeopardy answer to all this would be; what is North Korea?

Ironically, most of the oppressive behavior is being exhibited in the erstwhile free democratic ‘first world’ nations where the tradition and legacy of civic freedoms were once most sacrosanct. As evil and despotic as the Nazis were in 1930’s Germany, the modern day tyrants are essentially saying, “hold my beer”. As stated earlier, we can somewhat expect this since so many public officials satisfy their power thirst by running for office even at the dogcatcher level.  Most of the time, they’re feckless and harmless.  Give them access to real power, and they’re full on Kim Jong Un. Think Barney Fife without the manliness.

The most astounding thing is that a large part of the populace stands for this. Were this not the case, all the ersatz Barney Fifes would be run out of town with pitchforks and torches. How can such a large part of the populace not see the blatant falsehoods laid out directly before them?

There was a fascinating psychology demonstration in 1999 which can be called the Invisible Gorilla experiment. The invisible gorilla experiment has become a psychology classic. Although it was conducted for the first time in 1999, it’s still cited as a typical example of the limitations of perception and has been replicated many times since to similar results.  It also illustrates how people don’t like to accept the fact that they’re often blind to the world around them.

In the demonstration, teams of people are situated on a stage and audience members are asked to count the number of times a ball is passed between white shirted members thereon.  In the midst of this, a man in a gorilla suit walks across the stage in full view of the audience. At the end of the exercise, audience members were asked if they noticed anything unusual…say a man in gorilla costume.  To the researchers’ surprise, more than half of the audience didn’t notice the gorilla.

The first time the invisible gorilla experiment was conducted, and all subsequent ones, most of those who participated and didn’t notice the presence of the gorilla were amazed at how clear it all was! It seemed impossible to them that they had overlooked something so obvious.

This quirk of human perception is at work on a grand scale today as people are seemingly oblivious to the obvious things that are happening surrounding the Covid narrative. People are so focused on the fear that’s being sold to them that they can’t see the teams of gorillas running unfettered in their midst.

It’s vexing to know when people will be awakened to that realization, but in the meantime, Barney Fifes are running rampant in the world….without any sheriff Taylors to rein them in.