Category: Unsolicited Advice

Russia Ukraine Two Years Later – Half Life Crisis www.halflifecrisis.comIt has been two years since Russia’s military forces crossed the Ukrainian border, and this senseless war rages on with no end.  What has the world learned?

 

A protracted war with no end in sight.

The conflict between Ukraine and Russia is one of the most significant geopolitical events in our lifetimes.  While millions around the world go about their lives without a second thought, Ukrainians have been under threat of death and violence every single day for the last two years.  There is only one person on this planet who can immediately stop this conflict, and that person is Russian President Putin.  Though he has made it clear that he is not interested in ending this war anytime soon.

If you are new to this series, I’ve written several articles about it on this site.  I recommend you to read the previous articles before continuing with this one.  Of course, you’re also welcome to read this article first before working your way back in time.  The words on those have remained as true back then as they remain true today.

Ukraine & Russia Conflict… over 485 days later

Ukraine & Russia Conflict… a year later

Ukraine & Russia Conflict… 334 days later

Ukraine & Russia conflict… 302 days later

But more importantly, the premise for this war has not only continued to morph, but in some people’s weird mental gymnastics’ twists, it has also doubled down on some of the less credible claims.  Anybody who digs just below the surface to find context will be able to see what the international courts have agreed.  This conflict is a crime against humanity, and like it or not, the entire world is involved because of it.

Setting the record straight.

I’ve said it before, it is worth repeating.  On February, 24, 2022 it was not the Ukraine military who crossed the border to their neighboring country.  Instead, initially the official narrative from Russia regarding this so called “special military operation” was meant to “liberate” Ukrainians who happen to be ethnically and ideologically aligned with Russia.  After two years of war, it is safe to ascertain that Ukrainians do not agree with the official Russian rhetoric in regards to this conflict.

Recently, ex-Fox News host, Tucker Carlson travelled to Moscow to “interview” the incumbent Russian President.  I put “interview” in quotations, because despite Tucker calling himself a journalist, his interaction with Putin was less than stellar, and likely highly controlled by the Kremlin.  Russia is historically known for framing information on very specific ways.  And it is also well known that dissent with the official narrative has been met with severe punitive measures.

Was Carlson aware or cognizant that saying something provocative towards Putin could put himself under duress?  I would ascertain that given the tenor of their in-camera meeting, Putin was in full control of that narrative, and even the small push back Carlson hinted at, it was met by Putin with overwhelming mockery and downright humiliation against Carlson.  Many of Carlson’s fans think he was brilliant during this interview with Putin, but most people in the rest of the planet disagree with them.  Putin was a former KGB agent, who is very savvy in human intelligence and it would be very naïve to think he was not going to be able to take full control of the interview.

And Putin did take control of the interview from the very start, after mocking Carlson in the first few minutes, he went on to speak for more than a half hour about his understanding of Russian history.  Many historians do not agree with Putin’s historical recount.  However, Carlson obviously did not have enough historical acumen to ask relevant follow up questions, even though I would not be surprised that Putin would have not tolerated even a single poignant follow up question.  How do I know?  Because even soft-ball questions were met with mockery and humiliation.

Why am I talking about this interview?  Because it is very relevant to the geopolitical stability of the country.  It would be very naïve to think that Putin and the incumbent Russian government did not understand the value to have Tucker Carlson as the megaphone to Putin’s voice to a western audience.  Putin has been very cognizant and vocal about saying how divided we are here on the west (no surprise there), yet he has not been able to speak directly to the American people.  Particularly those Americans who are very receptive to what he had to say.

And if you have heard and read the comments post-interview, a lot of Americans who happen to like Tucker found a lot of affinity and devotion for Putin.  In other words, Putin’s tactics worked as a charm.  And that is an important topic, because like it or not, Carlson’s audience have a proclivity for repeating Russian talking points verbatim, even if they haven’t realized it.  And of course, these talking points are cleverly disguised as “American Patriot” points, but they are in fact very divisive in nature.  Much like any swindle, it will look very reasonable superficially, but if you scrutinize it a bit, the math will start showing a lot of dead ends.

Yet propaganda, and narratives that have a particular agenda to move rhetoric into action are designed to be very palatable.  In fact, they will look enticing, and even fire up the spirit of a person to “fight” against whatever perceived enemy is pinned in front of them.  But again, it is not just about what is being said, but HOW it is said.  There are a lot of subtleties in the way a narrative is presented.  It is subjective, but there is a reason why some people can elicit higher levels of human emotion.  It is a trick as old as time itself.  Most swindlers will seem legitimate to the untrained eye, that is why they can get away with it.

And if a person falls for that, well – don’t’ feel too bad, because these traps are designed in a way that it is very easy to fall for them.  The difference is that they are a lot more complex than most people will realize.  Like an illusionist will divert your attention, similarly, a propagandist will move your perception in a manner that it will make the victim perceive the actual answer as counterintuitive.  Again, it is designed to be that way, and it is a sinister art form.  In my book AUTHORITARIANISM & PROPAGANDA The Puppet Master Tools, I dedicate an entire chapter to talk about that sinister artform.

AUTHORITARIANISM & PROPAGANDA The Puppet Master Tools

So, it was not surprising that Carlson’s audience found Putin’s words enticing.  Many of Carlson’s fans even praised Putin for reciting history off-the-cuff.  Which is extremely naïve to think Putin did not have that already planned out, because he knows that it would impress some people to whom he was really talking – Carlson’s audience.  And they sure assimilated Putin’s message exactly as he intended it.  There was no shortage of disparaging comments against Ukraine, the United States, the American people, NATO, and other U.S. & world interests.  And of course, there was huge praise about Putin and Carlson, even though Carlson was emasculated a bunch of times during the interview.

Putin spoke unchallenged for more than two hours, and Carlson barely had a word in, and any time he said something that could seem provocative, Putin humiliated him.  I repeat this, because this seems to be the part that Carlson’s fans are missing.  And yes, all this part ties to the conflict with Ukraine.

 

Two years into a war that started several years earlier.

It is heartbreaking that a lot of people in a peaceful part of the world do not really stop to think about the pain and suffering that has been raging in Ukraine.  If you live comfortably today in your home, look around you… Now just imagine everything that is in your home is destroyed, the walls have fallen, there is no clean water, and even if you have few moments of electricity, you don’t know when the next bombing raid will hit your town, and kill your loved ones.

Your job, gone!  Your loved ones, killed!  Your memories and everything you ever loved, destroyed!  Maybe you were lucky enough to survive and leave, leaving your home and everything you worked your whole life behind.  You only have the clothes on your back, and everything you ever collected, cherished, enjoyed, saved, loved, remembered – has been destroyed!  If you had a job, you cannot longer do that because your place of work does not exist anymore, and you don’t know how much worse each day will be, and often each new day is harder than the last.

The human toll in Ukraine is not only the deaths, but we have millions of people displaced, whose lives have been destroyed, yet for two years they have not stopped fighting.  Their homes, their lives, their families, their children, their loved ones, and their very existence forever damaged because one day a neighboring country crossed and remains on their land.

Do this quick exercise with me to illustrate: Imagine you are in your home living peacefully, and one of your kids happens to get along with the neighbors, and have a lot in common.  Then one day your neighbor comes into your house and wants to take over your kid’s bedroom inside your house and tell you (the parents) this kid is no longer your kid, and that the neighbors are also taking custody of his bedroom.  And if you do anything to prevent that they will “liberate your kid” with overwhelming violence against you if you don’t agree to this madness.  And they will punish your kid severely if the kid does not agree to this crazy arrangement.

For a while you think this is preposterous, there is no way your neighbor can do anything about it.  Yet, you call the authorities, but for some reason they say that it is also preposterous and that it won’t ever happen.  You’re worried the neighbor will take your child and take over his bedroom, but few people seem to agree with you, and let you fend for yourself.  Afterall, this neighbor tends to have a bad temper, and they don’t want to get involved, because they fear that getting involved would also result in retaliation against them.

Because of all the clamoring you’ve been making about this neighbor threat, finally some people kind of listen to you, and ask the neighbor if his plan of taking over the child’s bedroom and “liberate this kid” from his parents is true.  The neighbor denies that, and says that is preposterous.  The next day, the neighbor enters the house and takes over the bedroom holding the kid hostage, and when you as the parents are trying to save your kid, the neighbors start destroying the kid’s bedroom, and attacking you (the parents), and destroying the rest of your house.  This goes on for a while and nobody is helping you against this neighbor who is taking over your house.

To make matters worse, you were warned that you cannot go to the neighbor’s house and destroy their home in retaliation.  Some of your other neighbors lend you something to fight back this aggressive neighbor, but they warn you that you can only use it if they walk inside your house, you’re not allowed to use any of those against their house as an offensive weapon.  Meanwhile, your child remains stuck in his bedroom with the neighbors, and little by little the neighbors have people come from all corners of your house and start destroying different areas in your house, and tell everybody else in the world that it is your fault that this is happening to you, because you should have just let them take your kid and his bedroom, and be good with it.

Of course, the reality in Ukraine is a lot more complex than the analogy I just posed to you.  But I’ve noticed that putting something in perspective tends to help others empathize with what is really going on.  People are suffering, we might not see it, but they are experiencing hell on Earth.  And if you think this could not happen to you in your cozy corner of the world, think again.  Even a lot of Ukrainians and European allies thought it was preposterous that Russia was going to cross the border into Ukraine and start a war.  I predicted this was going to happen, and it pains me that I was right, just as many others who ascertained the same were also right.  But that does not make it any less painful for Ukraine.

I’ve said before, and I will keep saying it.  History is repeating itself, and for those who ignored the lessons learned, they will become victims of the same tactics that occurred in years past.  And this is another reason why I keep writing.  Fortunately, more people are reading what I am saying, and hope this message resonates.  But I cannot help but feel uneasy that the message is not resonating fast enough, because those who want to destroy us all have already traveled a very long trek before I even made it to the starting line.  But that does not mean we cannot still win the race.

And that might actually be an advantage on this case, because the adversary is likely to take their victory for granted, much like they took for granted their perception that Ukraine would fall quickly and swiftly.  Two years of war is not quick at all, yet people keep getting killed and wounded every day, and their futures shattered every time they try to rebuild their lives.  Let’s be clear that what is happening in Ukraine is not only horrific, but the daily massacre also counts as crimes against humanity.

Many Ukrainians did warn that Russia was coming for more after they took the Crimea peninsula a few years before.  Russia originally thought that the Donbas area in Ukraine was going to be just as easy, and that they would be received as liberators.  Well, if that was the case, this whole conflict would have been settled a long time ago.  Instead, it became the most significant geopolitical conflict in our lifetimes.  And although it is not the only one, it is definitely a lot more mind-bending than many people realize.

Let’s put this in perspective very quickly.  Nobody has told the incumbent Russian president “NO” in more than two decades.  His circle of advisors is “yes men & women” – and no matter how erroneous his perspective might be, they will not contradict him.  This is very usual in any society that has a very centralized and galvanized power structure.  The penalty for dissent tends to be very punitive.  So that’s a starting point to understand this situation.

During the Tucker Carlson “interview,” Putin went on for over a half hour on a revisionist version of history.  Historians would be able to tell you how many plots points he missed.  Of course, this was not challenged by Tucker… because what the hell does he know about Russian history?  Afterall, Tucker was amazed by the world-famous Metro station in Moscow which was created in great part as political propaganda during the times Stalin ruled over the Soviet Union.  One of the reasons why this structure is so grand is because Stalin diverted funds from people’s tables to make this impressive project a reality – which was by the way supposed to demonstrate how “wonderful” was the Soviet Union.  Of course, they don’t talk about all the people who starved to fund this place.

On a different side of the spectrum, Tucker was even amazed by the grocery store coin system to return shopping carts.  This narrow level of understanding of history is highly exploitable, and again it is very likely why Putin was after Tucker Carlson’s audience.  It is very likely Carlson’s audience won’t be doing any fact-checking on Putin’s revisionist history.

Not to imply that they are dumb, because not everybody knows very much about foreign history.  Hell, I can tell you right now that if I ask most American-born citizens to name all original 13 Colonies, or the history behind the “Louisiana Purchase,” or about the acquisition of Alaska, they would have no F-ing clue about those either.  Therefore, a revisionist version of Russian history would have been very impressive for them, if there is a world leader who seems to be reciting history off-the-cuff.  It was not off-the-cuff, THAT’s his strategy!

Everything that was said by Putin was likely very much calculated, and although he is surrounded by “yes men & women” – that does not negate the fact he still has a lot of practical knowledge with years of experience.  This is not praise for Putin, it is a mathematical fact.  If you’re doing something for a long time, even if you’re not stellar at it, just by the simple fact you’re existing in that environment, you’re bound to pick up some information that is useful.  But of course, Putin was not infallible, and it is not unlikely that his advisors (euphemism for his yes men & women), conceded that the invasion of Ukraine was going to be an easy task.

Obviously, that was not the case, Russia has lost several warships in very embarrassing ways, and they have also damaged tons of military equipment beyond recognition.  The fact is that a lot of Russian soldiers do not want to be there fighting in Ukraine in the first place.  A sizable number of the Russian military is due to conscription, which was actually mobilized to the front lines, because Russian soldiers were dying like flies.

So, what happened?  Well, it is sad to say, because any loss of life is tragic.  Russian soldiers were not ready for combat, period.  They were dragged from all the less affluent places in Russia (euphemism for poorest areas), and were not given enough time for training, nor equipment before they were in the front lines.  There have been many reports of Russians buying their own gear, to include body armor.  And for those who made it to the front lines, some of their more senior Soldiers were hazing them, and stealing from their own Russian conscripts.

The levels of desertion in the Russian military were rampant, and of course Russia cracked down on that with very stern and punitive measures.  That is not surprising at all.  We’ve spoken in a previous article about how even the mercenary groups were unhappy with the way Russia was conducting this war.  And of course, the head of the Wagner Group who spoke against Putin, just so happened to have his plane fall out of the sky.  And similarly, some powerful Russian oligarchs who were critical of Putin, also somehow suffered some very bizarre accidents, such as falling off balconies.

For a long time, it was illegal in Russia to call this conflict a “war.”  And those who did ended up in prison or worse.  The “correct term” was “special military operation” – and it has been bankrupting Russia ever since.  But Russia does have a lot of cards under the sleeve.  Let’s discuss.

 

The problem with Russia is that they already lost this war.

Despite the sustained combat, Russia has not won this war.  Nor will it win because they are victims of a lose-lose situation of their own making.  What does that mean?  Simple, and I’ve spoken about it in previous articles on this series, it remains unchanged.  Russia overestimated their success rate, and in the midst of trying to prove to the world they were capable, they made the mess even worse.

 

This is their conundrum:

If Russia “wins” – they still lose.  Because they have destroyed their economy, and killed so many of their fighting-age generation to a point that will affect Russia for generations.  Also, on the Ukrainian side, Russia had polluted so many agricultural lands with ordinance, rendering those lands useless for who knows how many years, and PROPERLY fixing the agricultural lands alone would take a lot more money than Russia has ever made in its entire history as a country.

Not to mention all the infrastructure, the lines of communication, the ports, the cities, the displacement of civilians, the loss of military personnel and equipment, their obvious incompetence in several battles and the discovered corruption in the front lines against their own people.  Those are well documented – by Russians soldiers themselves, in the front lines!  Often by making cell phone videos, showing the reality of the situation to the world.

To fix this mess, it will take generations to resolve, and it will cost a lot more than Russia can ever pay for.  And that of course affects every day Russian people.  And let’s remember that Russians do not have the same economic power as we are accustomed here in the West.  Which is by the way something Carlson clearly did not understand when he made a video of a supermarket in Moscow.

If Russia “loses” – And by losing, I mean that there is a cease fire because they cannot longer afford to fight, or are forced to stop fighting.  Then all the costs associated with the paragraphs above (and more that I didn’t mention), PLUS all the legal charges for crimes against humanity, war crimes, and a bunch of additional punitive measures will compound.  Furthermore, they will have to PAY for everything they broke, but they won’t have the luxury to do it on their own terms as would be the case in the previous paragraphs.

Any person with two brain cells to rub in the Russian strategic planning process likely have figured out what I just told you.  It is common sense, though a lot of people don’t really have the time nor the inclination to think about it.  Afterall, many people don’t really understand how important this conflict between Ukraine and Russia truly is.  And I will be talking about how this affects the entire world shortly (below).  And I can understand why this can be the case, the conflict seems to be “over there” and there are very deep links into history that can seem tangential for some.  And quite frankly overwhelmingly complex.

And by complex, I also mean disheartening.  Sure, it can be a downer for some people to think about the tragic suffering others are experiencing.  It is easy to look the other way, and just focus on whatever we have going on in our own lives.  That is a fair point, we all have problems that we are dealing with.  But my point is that the people who are fighting for their lives every day in Ukraine have it a lot worse.  It is easy to shut down and move on with our lives when the human toll is not as evident in our current reality.

And if this talk makes you feel uncomfortable, even just thinking about it… imagine for a second if you would have to live this tragedy, and there is no end in sight, and nobody is really coming to your rescue.  They might give you some means to fight, but you have to fight alone.  Because sure as hell the USA or NATO for that matter is NOT actually fighting with Ukraine.  At best they are rooting for Ukraine with some means for them to defend themselves, but not fighting directly.  And the reason is because doing so would start World War III (WW3).  And Russia very well understands this.

Also, it is worth noting that there has not been any invasion of Ukraine into Russian territory.  In other words, people in Russia are not getting their homes destroyed by military ordinance originating from Ukraine.

So, what is the only option Russia seem to have?  Simple, blame somebody else.  They have been trying to pining this war on the USA and NATO since well before February 22, 2022.  I know for a fact; I spent time deployed in the Mediterranean while this conflict was still in its early months.  And one thing we got to see was the levels of propaganda trying to taunt the USA or NATO to do something stupid – such as becoming responsible for starting WW3.  Obviously, that has not worked in the last two years, so the Russian regime rhetoric would need to be more far reaching.

And the strategy seems to be creating more conflict and confusion, to include conflict in the United States of America – dividing our people.  And do something similar with the NATO countries, or any other nation that could seem convenient towards that effort.  What better way to destroy your enemy than by enticing them to divide themselves?  That is why this Tucker Carlson interview is so important.  The Russian regime likely needed to see a measuring rod to ascertain the effectiveness of their message in the minds and hearts of Tucker’s audience.  And they got their metrics; especially via tweeter, and all the other social media platforms this video was streamed.  What do you think Russia does with the names and statistical numbers of the people who comment in favor of Russia’s actions?  Take a moment to think, I’ll meet you in the next paragraph.

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Ok, if you realized it that they will shove them a lot more information that will shape their already favorable perception of Putin, and demonize Ukraine, then you would be correct.  It is also common sense.  This technique is also used in marketing all the time to try to sell you stuff, but it works just as well when you are trying to push a particular narrative.  Understand that the fall of Ukraine is extremely convenient to Putin and his acolytes.

And it is worth mentioning that Putin does not equal Russia as a whole.  It is well documented that a lot of Russian citizens do not want to live under Putin’s rule, but they don’t have a choice.  Recently the most prominent opposition leader Alexei Navalny was killed while in custody in a very harsh penal colony in Russia.  And Navalny actually had enough of a chance to gain name recognition as Putin was still galvanizing his current level of power.  Dissent is not tolerated in Russia, and if it is, then it seems bizarre that all Putin’s opposition leaders somehow end up incarcerated or killed.  Coincidence?  Also, even several powerful oligarchs who spoke out of turn lost their lives.

The fact is that most Russian people are actually super nice human beings.  I know, because I’ve met several of them throughout my life, and they’re wonderful. I’ve said it before and I will say it again.  People, no matter where you’re from, are more similar than different.  But this level of similarities is extremely inconvenient to those who want to control us.  Hence, those who want to divide us thrive on bigotry, so people who think they are superior will start doing the dirty work other cognizant people would not do – because actual good people understand that we are all human, and nobody is racially superior to anybody.  We are all human beings.

And the fact is that it would be very naïve to think that all Russians approve of the war with Ukraine.  Because they don’t, but again, there is not much they can do but comply, keep their head down, or risk very punitive actions.  And if the Russian regime would claim that it is not true, then they would be ok if people go out on the streets and ask to stop the war.  But the fact is that some Russian citizens were even arrested and punished for paying their respects after Navalny was killed earlier this month.  And it is well documented that many were arrested for criticizing their government.

 

The ENTIRE world is involved, like it or not.

If I could make a wish, it would be for this war to end.  But the only way this war will end is if President Putin decides to stop it.  But he won’t.  He was even very clear that if NATO stops giving support to Ukraine to defend itself, then the conflict will be done in a “few weeks” – understand what that means.  He didn’t say, it will stop immediately.  It means that he would keep fighting Ukrainians until they are defenseless or eliminated.

Let’s use the earlier example to illustrate what does that means.  In the illustrative example we had your child being kidnapped in his bedroom in your own house and the neighbor who kidnapped your kid is destroying the rest of your house.  You were given means to defend yourself by your neighbors, but you’re not allowed to go to your aggressive neighbor’s house and destroy their house, even if that would mean that you can get your son back, and get that bedroom back under your control, and have this aggressive neighbor stopping destroying your house.  This fight has been going on for a while, but at some point, the tools your good neighbors give you will run out, and you have to fend for yourself, while your aggressive neighbor has an unlimited supply of tools to keep destroying your house and physically hurting you.

Sure, once you run out of weapons to defend yourself you might be able to fight for a little bit longer, but the battle will be over once you get overpowered.  What do you think your aggressive neighbor is going to do once you run out of weapons?  Obviously, he is going to hurt you even more, and take your kid, his bedroom, and probably your house after eliminating you.  That is what would happen to Ukraine.  So, let’s say for the sake of argument that this aggressive neighbor does exactly that.  What makes you think he will not try to move to the next house in the neighborhood and keep doing exactly what he got away with, until he cannot get away with it anymore?

I mentioned it in a previous article, but it is worth repeating.  Ukraine has a high level of strategic importance for Russia.  This is not only a cultural issue, but it is also a very practical logistical advantageous area.  Russia has a huge advantage which happens to be their disadvantage.  Russia is huge, but it is stuck up high up on the Northern Hemisphere.  This negates their freedom of movement from different ports, and of course it means that although gigantic, their actual useable lands are not as extensive as many would have guessed.

And the reason is because of the “habitable zone” – there is a reason why convicts used to be sent to Siberia as punishment.  The conditions are extremely rugged and harsh over there.  But so are many huge areas of the Russian land.  Ukraine, although it is a lot smaller than Russia, it is also a gigantic country.  But Ukraine also has a lot of climatic advantages due to its geography.  Whenever you think about warfare, you have to understand geography.  Mountains, ports, valleys, rivers, prairies, agricultural lands, climate, winds, currents, etc.  Ukraine was known as the world’s bread basket for a reason.

In fact, the disruption of many ports caused a lot of famine to areas in other countries that imported grain and other food products from Ukraine.  And now, a lot of those agricultural lands are highly polluted with the toxicity of exploited ordinance that has carpet bombed their country side.  This is what I as saying earlier that will be a gigantic undertaking to properly sanitize in order to make those lands suitable for agriculture.  Why?  Because if you use that land with that toxic ordinance, you’re essentially eating poison.

So, let’s talk about the food situation for a moment.  We have to realize that if the Ukrainian economy also derived in great part by the export of their agricultural production, that means that somebody was buying those products.  The reason why those agricultural products were exported is because most of those countries importing them cannot grow these themselves.  Should be obvious enough, but that means that if the Ukraine goods are no longer available, that creates food insecurity and scarcity into these other countries as well.

Another problem is the fact that even if the war stopped today, those agricultural lands won’t be able to produce food.  The pollution from all that indiscriminate shelling and ordinance is exceedingly toxic, rendering whatever grows in those lands not suitable for human consumption.  I mentioned it before, and it is worth mentioning again.  Therefore, even if Russia ends up taking those lands, there is not much they can do with them because they are severely contaminated.

Meanwhile, the hunger and raising cost of food does not only get confined to Ukraine, but it extends to all those other countries who were depending on this agricultural production.  And yes, many of those countries are in Africa, and sadly that is probably why some people have not given them a second thought.  They just don’t make the media buzz as some more developed nations.  But that does not mean that the suffering is not expanding a lot farther than the Ukrainian territory.  And by the way, this has also affected food costs in other developed nations.  They just don’t feel it as bad.

 

Military dissonance and rules of conflict.

To be perfectly honest on a related matter, though seemingly tangential to some, it can be extremely punitive to speak against the Russian government inside Russia.  This creates unintended consequences, for instance their military service men are dwindling for two reasons.  First because they keep getting killed in the front lines, and not only by Ukrainian firepower, but by sheer incompetence.  There was a high level of attrition and desertion in the Russian military, not because they don’t love Russia.  They do love Russia, but because they don’t trust the military personnel appointed over them.

I’ve mentioned this in a previous article on this series, but it is important to repeat it. Russia does not have the same level of Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs)like the United States and other NATO allies.  This is important because the NCOs are the subject matter experts on the enlisted side.  This is an important “open secret” tool for any professional military.  Because you can simply not “buy” experience.  You might be able to “pay” for experience, but the experience needs to be honed by sets-and-reps doing something for a determined period of time, it does not happen overnight.

Russia does not have that experience and commitment at the level other countries do.  First off, because most of the forces in the front line are conscripted.  That means that they are NOT volunteers, but rather they got “voluntold” to do what they are doing.  That alone is a huge handicap for anybody who is a professional military person to contend with.  Because even volunteers who have their heart and soul into the mission take time and skill to become proficient at their duties and responsibilities.

Sadly, for them, because they are also human beings, a lot of the Russian military is not as cohesive as it might look on the surface.  It is authoritarian for sure, because there are consequences for disobedience – particularly insubordination.  But the myriad of other important military standards is not consistent.  These are the words of Russian military people themselves in the front lines, via their own cell phone video, not mine.  And if you watch those videos, you can see the shortcomings based in the quality of their gear, their logistics, and the overall command and control.

Russia lost a huge number of Flag Officers, such as generals.  These high-ranking personnel have been killed largely due to incompetence.  What does that mean?  A Flag Officer has important duties that do not require them being where they were standing where they were killed inside Ukraine.  The problem is that they could not trust their NCOs and their Senior and Junior Officers.  Hence, necessitating the need for Flag Officers to step in into what is a de-facto demoted position that should have been filled by an Officer of a lesser rank.

But that is why I said, and it has been demonstrated, that Russian lack the professional military experience needed to be a formidable force.  However, what they lack in experience they make up in numbers, and of course they do have weapons that could destroy the planet.  And it would be very naïve to think they have not been contemplating their use.  In fact, the Russian president was very vocal on his “first strike” policy.  Meaning that he would not be opposed to nuke the planet if he feels Russia is being threatened.  Even if they started the campaign against a neighboring country themselves.

That is why the USA and NATO have not ever said that they are fighting with Ukraine, but only giving them the means to defend themselves.  And true that there are political agreements and accords that also limit what we can and cannot do, aside from the threat of nuclear Armageddon, because once the first nuke falls, that won’t be the last and it would take us all with them.  So, in case it was not clear to somebody about the policy and rules, here is a quick guide:

NATO Article 4 – NATO Partner.  Ukraine is a NATO Partner, but not a NATO Ally.  There is a huge difference.  Under Article 4, they are considered a friendly nation, but they won’t receive all the benefits an ally receives.  In other words, if a partner gets attacked it is akin to “thoughts & prayers” but not getting involved in fighting directly whomever is attacking them.  That is why NATO allies have been providing Ukraine means to defend itself, with the caveat that those means for defense and weaponry are not to be used inside the Russian borders.

NATO Article 5 – NATO Ally.  Ukraine is NOT a NATO Ally.  Under Article 5 that means that if another country attacks a NATO Ally, then ALL the NATO Allies will fight whoever was the aggressive country.  In other words, if somebody attacks any NATO country, then NATO will rise as a coalition to fight them back.  Yes, I am redundant on purpose, because this is why NATO is very cognizant of escalation, and does not start World War 3.

In fact, Article 5 has only been invoked once in the entire NATO history.  And that was to support the United States of America, after the 9/11 attacks.  So, if you’re against NATO, just remember they were there for us when we needed help.  Does NATO have room for improvement?  Absolutely yes, but so does the United States and any other country for that matter.  But the fact is that we are where we are during world history, and like it or not, NATO is trying to prevent this conflict from spilling away from the region.

USA and NATO flag flying in the Mediterranean Sea

I know that for a fact, because when I was deployed in 2022, and while we were in the Mediterranean Sea, that is exactly what we were doing.  You see, warfare is a lot like playing chess.  The area’s geography is the chess board, and each piece has certain capabilities and limitations, but even the less capable piece in the chess board can achieve a check mate.  Conversely, even the strongest piece in the chessboard can be rendered useless depending on the strategy, which is usually several steps ahead.  So, with that example, just understand that it is like playing chess but on steroids.  It can certainly be overwhelming for anybody who is unfamiliar with military planning and execution.

And there is another factor, a lot of that information and strategy is fluid and hence will be usually classified.  Therefore, not for public consumption.  For example, no classified information is to be shared in news stories.  The military strategies are fluid because they prevent adversaries from having an advantage over our own forces.  That is why safeguarding classified information is so important.  Because it is essentially articulating what the next moves will be.  So, if the adversary knows what moves their foe will perform, then they will be able to adjust their doctrines.  That is why you will see me be very vocal against people who compromise classified information.

Information gets classified to protect lives.  And contrary to a popular belief, military forces such as NATO are actually intended to PREVENT war.  And the reason why that is needed, it is because it is obvious that some countries are crossing anther sovereign nation’s border and killing innocent civilians every single day.  That is definitely true for Ukraine, who was been in the explosive end of bomb raids and ordinance for two whole years, with no end in sight.  Just imagine for a second if that was YOU living in those conditions.  Would you not want somebody to help you end this nightmare?

And keep in mind that as I said before, it’s not a lack of willingness from the USA and NATO to end this nightmare.  But at the end of the day there is only one person in the world who can unilaterally end this conflict.  And that person is the incumbent Russian President.  His rationality for ending the daily massacre in Ukraine is if Ukraine stops fighting him for trying to achieve what started this war in the first place.

So, let’s put this in perspective one more time.  The people in Ukraine are fighting for their lands, their livelihood, their future, their freedom, and most importantly their very lives!  Russians who are under Putin’s unilateral orders are fighting because of a rationale that is demonstrably inaccurate.  However, this particular narrative is not being shared with all Russian citizens.

Keep in mind that in the west we are accustomed to diverse opinions, to include the type that is highly critical of whomever is the incumbent leader in the nation.  This is not the case for a lot of countries, even those who seem “free” on the surface.  But in the case of Russia, the media is highly controlled by the government, and their message is supposed to be aligned with whatever the office of the President deems as true and accurate.  And anybody who says a disparaging word against their incumbent will find there are punitive measures.

Contrast that to a place like the United States where incumbent President Biden is disparaged in ways that would be extremely dangerous in places where dissent with the president is punitive.  Yes, long sentence for a reason.  Also noting, there is an entire industry of disparaging and vulgar merchandise in America, that is specifically targeted to insult President Biden.  And of course, all this merchandise is only bought by people who align with Bidens political opposition.  Yet this industry is not only alive, but thriving.  All this paragraph illustrates that the USA is not an authoritarian country.

Keeping that in mind, it is easy to assume that other countries have the same freedom of expression level.  But that is not the case, even if there is opposition who can speak their minds – to a point, that does not mean that there is no retaliation for those who do.  In other words, it takes time to get to a point where unilateral control is galvanized.  So, with that context, just remember that nobody has said “no” to the Russian incumbent in more than 20 years.  That is a long time to get rid of anybody who is not always saying “yes.”

Understanding this, the geopolitical instability does get highjacked liked or not.  When a country with a gigantic nuclear arsenal has already subdued their population into obedience, then this will extend to the rest of the world.  Starting with their immediate neighbors, if they are not aligned with the same vision of government.  There is a reason why not every country is onboard with Russia when it comes to the war against Ukraine.  However, I have to reiterate that people are not against Russians, they are against the policies dictated by the Russian government, that is a huge difference.

The war against Ukraine will continue to create instability around the world in the geopolitical realm.  There is no shortage of authoritarian regimes who have a lot to gain if Ukraine falls, and some of those are a lot further than Ukraine.  Meanwhile, the hearts and minds of people around the world are numb to the horrors occurring as though they are simply old news.  Yet, this continues in Ukraine as a daily reminder that the world seems to have forgotten their struggle.  And I keep framing this reality because even many Ukrainians themselves where not prepared because a lot of them did not think this could happen to them.

Well, I have news for the entire world.  This sustained horror of war can happen at any time, and we are not ready for it.  Are you?  Even if you’re a prepper and have lots of guns in your basement, thinking you can shoot-fight your way out of it, you’re not a match to a bombing raid.  When it comes to military grade weaponry, even the least capable piece of artillery has a lot more range or power than your meanest rifle.  And the strategies of an adversarial regime who is fine with breaking the rules of sovereignty will not hesitate to break the rules of war.  And yes, there is such a thing as the rules of war.  And the war Russia started against Ukraine has violated those rules.

In fact, this is considered by the international community to be an illegal war.  And yes, there is such a thing as” legal war.”  Hence, there are many sanctions imposed against Russia because their President started and continues this war.  This of course also affects every day Russians, which also serves as a measure to “prove a point” even if it is not aligned with reality.  But remember, for any narrative to work, there has to be some truth to the matter intermingled with spin and misdirection in order to frame the narrative in a way that concurs with their agenda.

But if you think that this control of information is only limited to the Russian population, think again.  I told you earlier that Russia lost the war with Ukraine long ago, the horror that continues is to ensure Russia is not stuck with the aftermath from all the damage created and the loss of life inflicted against Ukraine.  But shaping the minds of people to have somebody to “point” at as the culprit takes time.  Hence, the need to frame a narrative to the rest of the world, especially to those who stopped paying attention long ago.

The most influential country where great segments of its population stopped paying attention is the United States of America.  The political and ideological division that has been growing in the USA plays phenomenally for the Russian government.  Why?  Because either if the USA destroys itself by dividing their own population, or miscalculates in a way that results in conflict, then Russia can point and assert that THAT is the reason why they had no choice but to cross Ukraine.  It validates their narrative, even if it does not make sense.  But then again if it did, they would not have crossed the border in the first place.

When the USA is helping Ukraine defend their own interests, it is in fact defending the USA from entering into a global conflict that is surely to come.  How? If the USA is so far away from Ukraine?  Because of Article 5, there is a credible fear that Russia will not stop if they defeat Ukraine.  There are a lot of NATO countries who were former Soviet Republics, and according to Putin’s understanding of history, those territories would also be considered “illegitimate countries” – much like the Russian government is calling Ukraine out as though it is not an actual sovereign country.

And the reason why he says that is because there is precedent that Ukraine and Russia have a lot of shared history.  And of course, Ukraine was a former Soviet Republic, and when they split off as independent nations, this was a huge blow to Russia.  Specifically, because Ukraine is a frontier country giving the rationale it is a buffer zone between NATO and Russia.  Putin said that he is afraid NATO is aggressive against Russia and that they want to erase Russia from the map.

I said this in an earlier article, and it remains true.  Nobody wants to erase Russia from the map.  In fact, nobody is even meddling on their internal affairs.  The only people who can make a change in Russia is the Russian people themselves.  Much like they have done it throughout their history.  To be brutally honest, most people, even in NATO countries are more interested in simply living their lives.  And to better illustrate, here is the full list of NATO countries, which one of these do you think would want to risk being the catalyst to start World War 3 and compromise their peaceful standard of living?  The answer is none of them.

These are the 31 North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries in alphabetical order:

1. Albania

2. Belgium

3. Bulgaria

4. Canada

5. Croatia

6. Czechia

7. Denmark

8. Estonia

9. Finland

10. France

11. Germany

12. Greece

13. Hungary

14. Iceland

15. Italy

16. Latvia

17. Lithuania

18. Luxembourg

19. Montenegro

20. Netherlands

21. North Macedonia

22. Norway

23. Poland

24. Portugal

25. Romania

26. Slovakia

27. Slovenia

28. Spain

29. Turkey

30. United Kingdom

31. United States

And of course, we have Sweeden who is in cue to be completing the process to become part of NATO.  Notice that Ukraine is not in the list.  And Russia’s rationale is because it would be a huge threat to Russia to have a NATO country outside their borders.  Except that there are many NATO countries who are actually bordering Russia already!  In fact, newly accepted NATO member, Finland, shares a border to a very strategic area of Russia in the northern part of the world.  And of course, there are NATO countries that border with Kaliningrad, which is also Russia in the southern Baltic Sea.

For the United States being part of NATO is of huge strategic importance.  I can speak about that for hours, but let’s only choose one of those many topics.  Geography! when you have allies keeping an eye and keeping the peace in their own area of responsibility away from the United States, then it prevents an adversary from making its way to our homeland.  And instead of the USA having our forces spread thin across the world, each nation is deemed reliable to ensure we all work together, and prevent conflict from becoming a global problem.  Which includes conflicts like what Ukraine has been experiencing for the last two years.  You think that can’t happen, remember, many Ukrainians thought the same.

And this is another reason why it is incumbent on all of us to understand politics.  I am not asking to get a political science degree, but I am advocating for paying attention.  Why?  Because it is in politics where the policy is approved.  And these policies could work for or against our best interests.  And that is why I am so vocal against policies that are weakening our country.  Because if our country weakens, then the entire world stability goes with it.  And yes, we are in the driver’s seat now, therefore it is incumbent on all of us to understand what is truly going on.

I am particularly concerned that there is no shortage of politicians who just so happen to repeat adversarial nations talking points verbatim in Capitol Hill!  Does that mean that they are purposely treasonous?  Not necessarily, they might very well be as confused as many people who parrot the very same thing that just so happens to align with approved state-sponsored media in adversarial countries.  Don’t take my word for it, that information is freely available.

But this is a good time to understand that there are two forms of insider threats.  Witting and unwitting.  The former is somebody who is doing something deceitful or illegal willingly while being cognizant about it.  That is bad.  However, the latter, the unwitting insider threat is more dangerous, because they are too stupid to realize they are accomplishing the same nefarious agenda for the adversary, without even realizing it.  My question when I hear and see these politicians repeating the very same talking points is: I wonder which type of insider threat they truly are?

The fact is that the incumbent Russian government will find it extremely convenient if the United States plays ball by either staying away from providing Ukraine with means to defend itself altogether, or better yet, join the effort among the nations who are misaligned with the rest of the planet.  Which means that adversarial nations would love having the USA be against democracy, and freedom of thought and action.

The United States action or inaction on this conflict also resonates greatly on other countries around the world.  Even those countries that a lot of Americans cannot point on a map.  But as I mentioned, this is by design.  The war in Ukraine is perhaps the catalyst that has already started World War 3, but we have not realized it yet.  This is true for both types of countries in this dynamic, those who are for and against freedom and democracy around the world.  The road to crisis tends to be very abstract and it has a lot of indicators that are buried in the sand, but that does not mean that there aren’t telltale signs that are very obvious to those who know what to look for.

Countries adversarial to the USA want to see if we are as strong as we claim to be, and if we are not, then that gives them an avenue to exploit our nation.   Meanwhile, they constantly do what they find very effective, which is dividing us. That way our efforts to fight the real adversary will be ineffective.  Has this happened before in the world?  YES!  In fact, it happened in Ukraine, and in the European Union.

Here is a quick history lesson, before this war that Russia started against Ukraine there were many countries who thought that Russia would NEVER start this conflict.  And as I said, there were a lot of people in Ukraine, to include those in prominent places who agreed that Russia was not going to cross the border.  In fact, Putin himself said something along the lines that it was preposterous that Russia would cross the border into Ukraine just days before the war started.  Many of us who were paying attention did not believe what Putin said that day, and the truth is that two years later, Russia still fighting and killing people inside the Ukrainian borders.

 

What can we do about it?

Now many of you would be asking yourself, well, what CAN I do?  Well, to be honest physically there is not much you can do for Ukraine right this second.  In fact, it would be unrealistic for you to leave your family and loved ones and join the fight to liberate Ukraine, even if that is what you would want to do.  So, what can you REALLY do to help?  The answer is simpler than you might think.  Learn about the conflict, and prevent the misinformation from continuing to spread like wildfire.

Sharing my articles on this series can be a good start.

Ukraine & Russia Conflict… over 485 days later

Ukraine & Russia Conflict… a year later

Ukraine & Russia Conflict… 334 days later

Ukraine & Russia conflict… 302 days later

Like it or not authoritarian propaganda is on the rise, and it is affecting the entire world.  Propaganda is the catalyst that turns otherwise good people into monsters by turning divisive rhetoric into [often] violent action.  An authoritarian is only as powerful as their followers, and they have already galvanized power all around the world, they just have not been able to exercise to its full extent, because there are still checks and balances left.

AUTHORITARIANISM & PROPAGANDA The Puppet Master Tools

 

However, when politicians keep getting away with talking points that erode the fabric of our society, then the problematic rhetoric becomes normalized despite the horror.  Much like for many outside Ukraine, this horrendous war has become normalized, and most people don’t stop to think about it.   So, what else can you do about it?  You can be an advocate to ensure the Ukrainian people’s pain and suffering that they have already endured was not in vain.  And if for some reason you happen to be one of those people who only care about themselves, just know that what Ukrainians are experiencing today, it’s the same reality you could very well be experiencing tomorrow.

The type of weapons that exist today can travel several times the distance you can see over the horizon, and many of those will be traveling at several times the speed of sound.  You won’t see them coming.  Yes, even those AR-15 trigger happy people won’t see them.  Beside that weapon is ineffective against the type of ammunition that would be hurdled at people if this war expands from the region.

It would be naïve to think that we have not been at the brink of War World 3 a few times since this war started.  But remember that there was a NATO person on the seat paying attention and guarding your sleep.  They are preventing this war from expanding against the rest of the world.  Although Ukrainians are fighting on their own, giving them the means to defend themselves is actually holding the line for the rest of the world!

We are at the brink of a thermonuclear war, and if you haven’t realized it yet, it has been stopped by the brave Ukrainian people, even those who thought this war was never going to start in the first place.  As you go on to enjoy your weekend, take a moment to remember that Ukrainians have not been able to have a normal weekend in two years!  Next time you hear politicians or anybody saying or asking, why are we worried about Ukraine anyway?  Put yourself in their shoes, and imagine every horror that is going on in their lives as though it was happening in your own life.

It will be horrific to THINK about for anybody who has any sense of humanity, but remember that it is REALITY for millions of Ukrainians today.  In fact, they won’t be able to stop that “inconvenience” and “look away” and return to their happy lives.  And I keep emphasizing it, this could very well be the preamble for the next global war.  How do I know?  Well, consider this:

What year did World War 2 start?  The correct answer is: It depends!  It depends which country you were in at the time, and what geopolitical involvement was at the time the war started for them.  History is repeating itself, that is why I keep writing what I am writing.  Fortunately, the way to fix it is by combining our critical thinking with intellectual honesty.  This will help us understand what is real, and separate it from all the distracting noise.  Again, I write extensively about it, hopefully we can start working together to defeat authoritarian propaganda around the world.  HLC

No matter the dissenting opinions, we are Americans under the same sky – J. Marcelo Baqueroalvarez

 

America is experiencing pivotal events in our history.  Whether you lean to the left or right side of the political spectrum, we must learn to work together.

 

The division in America is widening each day.

If you check most types of media outlets nowadays, the narrative is similar – “us against them.”  This is happening at an accelerated rate, and it needs to stop, because we are eroding America from the inside out.  And if this happens, we have to ask ourselves: Who wins if America fails?  The answer is simple, those who benefit if America fails.

And who is this cabal of anti-Americans?  You might or might not be surprised to learn that this group of people span the entire world, and yes – some are even inside our own borders – and they were born in America.  This later one is more nuisance, because even though they are American themselves, and might be operating under the impression that they are on America’s side – they are destroying the very fabric of the country at an accelerated rate.

It is sad but true that it is very easy to highjack the intrinsic goodness of people, and turn it against them.  Worst of all, some of those who had their best intentions highjacked can very well be convinced they are fighting the good fight.  This is happening around the world.  Some have already destroyed the fabric of their own countries, bamboozled under a faux outrage that misdirected their candor and ire against their best interests.

Are we next?  I would not quite say “next” – because that is very much happening right now in real time.  But before we explore this phenomenon, let’s talk a bit about this cabal of those who want to destroy America… or at the very least bump America off the number one spot as a world-leader.  Is it too bad being number two?  It is worse than most people would imagine.  And that is why this process of bumping the USA off the world stage has been executed for such a long time, and for many has been mostly unnoticed.  Afterall, if you’re number one, your place is forever secured right?  No, wrong.  But those who have something to win from that delusion will surely make you think that is the case.

American Exceptionalism – not always a welcome concept…

It is not unusual for Americans to call the United States “the BEST country in the world.”  How do you think people in other countries, even the ones we like us view and perceive that statement, and sentiment?  If your guess is that they feel super happy for the USA and they are super stoked about it, then you’re delusional.  The reality is that most people around the world, though they would agree that the USA is a world-leader, in fact resent the fact that Americans call themselves the best of the best in the world stage.

American exceptionalism is called by many other countries “American Arrogance” – and either if you agree or disagree with that narrative, that’s the opinion of a non-insignificant number of people around the world.  And if you’re an American, this might make you angry, or make you feel bad, sad, or perhaps even combative about their perception.  “How dare these many millions of people around the world not agree that the USA is the best nation in the world!”  And to be fair, America is indeed a leader in many, many facets.  Not all good, not all bad.

For example, from some of the not so good, we are number one in gun violence.  We are also number one in the most expensive health care system on the planet.  Oh, and we are also number one on incarcerating people.  Yet when it comes to education, we are nowhere near number one, when it comes to wealth gaps we are also pretty far behind.  And don’t get me wrong, the USA is a wonderful place, unlike no other.  But you see, I also have a very different vantage point than most of the world.

For instance, I’ve lived in the USA most of my life, and I’ve served in uniform north of 20 years.  Also, both my wife and daughter were born in the USA, and I have been afforded levels of trust by America that is only limited to very few people alive.  My love for the United States of America is beyond what anybody could quantify or even imagine.  It is vaster than the expanses of the known universe.  And that is why I have no problem speaking truth to power.

What makes the United States of America truly the most amazing place in the world is the AMERICAN PEOPLE – we have the most diverse demographics in the world.  There is representation of every corner of the planet who are American Citizens, and Permanent Residents.  But not only that, we also have people from all over the world who come and serve in our Armed Forces, in our agencies, and many other segments of our nation, expanding our scope of knowledge and understanding of what is needed to make us better each day.  This diversity is inconvenient to those who want to destroy America as we know it.

Is there room for improvement?  Of course there is!  Even the fanciest smart phone, which already does more mind-bending taskings that we ever imagined possible just a few short years ago has room for improvement.  We cannot live from past wins alone; this is a continuous journey.  Change is inevitable, otherwise it creates stagnation.  Following the cell phone example.  What if we had just settled for flip phones in the early 2000’s?  And if you’re old to remember those days, having a cool flip phone back then was a huge deal.  Today, if you can find those, it might as well be in a museum of obsolete technology.

That is what diversity brings, new ideas – new concepts – new innovations – additional points of view.  Some that will be welcome at first sight, some might be more challenging, if they seem to be disrupting the status quo.  Continue with the phones example, back in the day we used to have rotary phones… you know those with the big wheel with numbers you had to spin to dial.  Imagine for a second if we had kept those rotary phones and by doing so negate ourselves the possibilities to innovate to the technological advances we have today when it comes to telecommunications.

Some of the more cynical readers might think that I went on a tangent.  Starting from American exceptionalism to rotary phones.  Well, there is a reason why I frame it in such a way.  The minds of people are getting highjacked to become one-dimensional.  My writing style is meant to rebuild that abstract part of thinking in order for us to understand the bigger picture and stop being bamboozled.  I have to be a bit more on-the-nose nowadays, because sadly we are running out of time.  The adversary is winning, and we are losing ground.

So, let’s bring this back together to the American Exceptionalism.  There are regimes who are diligently capitalizing on the resentment people around the world have been brewing against the USA for several decades.  Meanwhile, they are positioning themselves as a better alternative to the USA.  If the USA – by its own hand destroys itself, they win by default.  It is even more insidious than that.  They will try to get the USA to join the “bad regimes” club, and create a division so massive inside our own borders that it will implode, and win by default.  Either way, they would win.

Sadly, I can only oversimplify on this article, because the entire premise alone is enough to write an entire book.  We don’t have time to go through all that.  But fortunately, I’ve written and released two books that help that effort.  And also, I’ve written a myriad of long-form articles that deal with this exact theme.  I wrote all this because I saw it coming, I’ve warned a lot of people – some took heed, many have no idea what is coming their way.

 

Get your copy of “AUTHORITARIANISM & PROPAGANDA The Puppet Master Tools” (available on eBook & paperback)

Get your copy of “WOKE & PROUD The Charlatans’ Inconvenience” (available on eBook & paperback)

Read the TODAY IN AMERICA series at Half Life Crisis.

 

In my series “Today in America” I add important turning points in our American History, and how this is playing a pivotal role in how we are been bamboozled into fighting one another, and for the rest of those who are unaware – to remain unaware, thus giving card blanche to an adversarial regime to take over their lives, as the unsuspected American segment of willfully ignorant people have given tacit consent to others to dictate their lives without as much as a semblance of awareness.

Are many Americans arrogant?  You can bet your full paycheck that many are, and that is the impression many around the world see of this otherwise great nation. There is a lot of merit for why the USA has become the de facto world-leader, but that does not mean that other countries do not feel that that situation rubs them the wrong way.  And before you think “well F-em” – think again, because – first that shows that you are indeed arrogant, and foolish.  People around the world have choices, even if they owe something to America.  Much like if you have a mortgage with a bank, and there is another bank that offers you a better rate – you might refinance.  In the strategic level of geopolitics, it is very similar.

 

Being a world leader.

You’ve probably heard the term “it is lonely on the top” – and indeed it can be if a person burned bridges and used others as stepping stones to reach to the top.  Politics, for better or for worse, have a huge role to play in the way we are perceived around the world.  Every time people in congress throw verbal feces at each other, somebody in a country who dislikes the USA uses that as a propaganda point to show that “the US system of government is flawed.”  That is a phenomenal gift on a golden platter to an authoritarian regime.

No matter if you are an American or not, rip the proverbial bandage right now, the USA has a lot of room for improvement, but it is right now (at the time I write this article) remains the best alternative for a myriad of reasons.  For better or worse, whatever happens in the USA will be followed by countries around the world as an acceptable status quo. If you are not from the United States, you might or might not like the USA – but regardless the USA remains a world leader in many respects that are beneficial to the entire world.

Has the system been abused by a few unscrupulous and opportunistic entities?  Absolutely yes.  Can it be fixed?  Yes!  But it is not an automatic process.  What makes the USA the USA is the PEOPLE!  And people need to have a full grasp and understanding of what is affecting them.  Especially the “boring and scary” parts that are usually left unattended.  I can ask many Americans right now about what is most important in the current news cycle.  Many will concede (and indeed when I asked them) that they “don’t follow the news” – but they can tell you the entire gamma of TV shows, movies, games, video games, and other entertainment with superlative detail.  That especially in 2024 – which perhaps is the most influential election year in our lifetimes is not a good trend.

With that said, MOST people in the USA are actually wonderful and caring people, no matter where you are.  Is there rampant misinformation that has been dividing us?  Yes, again – and that is what I am trying to change through my writing.  But I have to admit that this is not an easy task.  There is no shortage of people who are “talking” about what is going on – but I don’t see much “doing” about it.  This part of me “doing something” – but there is a lot more that I do, and that is engaging with any group of people I can interact with.  Especially if they have a point of view that has been highjacked by propaganda.

I’m happy to report that some people with whom we had conversations, eventually had an epiphany.  They did not agree with me at first – but I like to plant seeds that will be tumbling on a person’s mind for a while.  They eventually will find the correct answer.  Why?  Because facts don’t care about our feelings, the truth comes to light at some point.  It does not matter how hard we try to hide from it.  The problem is that the truth is not always as palatable as propaganda.  Propaganda is easily digestible; the truth can be a hard pill to swallow.  Especially if we were enamored with the incorrect narrative.

You’ve probably heard also this phrase: “The chain is only as strong as its weakest link.”  The propagandists and regimes who are hellbent in destroying America are preying on those weakest links.  The trick is that they will make them believe they are the strongest links in the proverbial chain.  It is very easy to do so in fact. People (in particular) with some unapologetic on-your-face alpha personalities can be very susceptible to running errands for an authoritarian.  Sorry, that’s what normally happens.  But non-alphas also have vulnerabilities that can be quite exploitable.  It takes different levels manipulation to target each segment.  This can result in the “us against them” reality I was speaking of at the top of this article.

And to bring it full circle – being a leading nation is not a matter of having only “a few good people who are good and well informed” does not help the collective from being a premiere nation.  For example, in countries where information is curtailed and controlled by the regime, there is no diversity, nor tolerance for different points of view – the perception of reality gets skewed to the point that the population has no recourse but to stagnate.  They will instead be waiting for whatever is being fed to them as far as thinking (and sometimes literally for sustainment).

Conversely, when there is a diversity of points of view, there will be more checks and balances.  That does not mean that you have to “agree” with every different point of view.  Some of those points of view (even your own) could very well be divorced from reality.  But even on those events, that is not an entirely negative situation, because you can also understand where there could be cognitive traps (cognitive dissidence).  Having people smart enough to realize that there are blind spots is a good place to start when searching for facts.

But I’ve said it before, and I will say it again – there is a sizable number of people who confuse facts with opinions.  A fact is logical, measurable, and demonstrable.  An opinion can very well be simple conjecture and divorced from reality.  The latter is of course very convenient for propagandists who want to implant a “plausible” version of events – even if when put in context it would not be plausible at all.  But of course, that is why those unsuspected people won’t be afforded the full context.  It is designed to be that way.

Although this situation certainly happens in the USA, we are far from being the only country in the world suffering from the same situation.  Tragically, due to the fact that the United States is such an important and influential country (like it or not), the collective dissidence affects the entire world (again like it or not).  And even if there are other countries around the world looking in awe, horror, or contempt that the USA is struggling – it also negatively affects THEM sooner or later.

Leadership is a privilege, not a right.  However, in places where they can still elect their leaders – the rules have been tilted in some superficially innocuous directions.  But the truth is a lot darker; political influence is not a single-country issue.  There are regimes who realize that the more global their influence, the more they can get away with other nefarious agendas.  Agendas that most definitely affect their own countries, but it also tilts the game at a much deeper level.  That is where things get a lot more complex – because it becomes abstract, and it is hidden in plain sight.

While the majority of people are busy living their own lives, the direction for which their road is being skewed happens beneath their own noses.  The changes are gradual – and as they continue in their life journey – however long it takes, the destination was already predetermined for millions of people.  That is why understanding history in proper context is so important.  I’ve said it a million times, and I will continue saying it – propaganda is meant to be palatable, and easily understood.  Of course, it is because it becomes the vehicle for subliminal marching orders – and these orders can very well be against the obedient person’s best interests.

So, if you’re an American – like it or not – what you do adds to the collective effort for the rest of the planet.  No pressure.  But that should not be a bad thing.  In fact, when we conduct ourselves in a good way that is meant to help each other out, the benefits are returned with high returns.  And no, I am not asking about donating, or giving stuff away for free.  But for example, if you have friends who own a restaurant, or that they provide a service, recommending their services or using those services yourself already contributes to the betterment of our society.

The problem is that most people now seem like a walking price tag.  And often asked to pay more than they can afford – especially if they are in the lower parts of the economic scale.  When Americans can’t work together, what is the message the rest of the world sees?  They would assert something along the lines “if the USA is no longer a world leader, then it is time for a different country (even their own) to be that leader.”  This can be very beneficial or polarizing to the world stage – but remember that at this time in history, where there is great power competition, there are some regimes that are far ahead of the curve.  And letting the USA out to dry (like it or not) is not the best answer.

But when it comes to a person put in charge, it does not mean that person is an actual leader.  There is a huge difference between the two.  And when we compound the millions of people collective in that country, and there are few awesome people and a bunch of non-awesome people, what is the average for the country?  Does that affect the collective average – you bet it does.  Why?  Because like it or not a majority of people can affect change for better or worse.  A population who is subpar in the manner they consume and understand information will be a lot worse off than a population who is above average in the proper understanding of the information they consume.  Why?  Because they will be able to understand if the information provided to them is accurate or if it is flawed.  In other words, they will understand the proper context.

 

Dummying down our world’s population.

This has been occurring at an accelerated rate, and in many ways, it is a world-wide phenomenon.  There is a reason why things that are more “fun” and “entertaining” are palatable and spread like wild fire.  They are designed to capture our interest and to teach us something in a very easy manner – often time to try to sell us something, or make us loyal to their brand.  But something similar also happens with propaganda.

Bottom line, the dumber a person is, the easier they are to manipulate.  Make this dumb person believe they are the smartest person in the room, and they will be kissing the rear end of whomever is making them feel so good – and accepted!  No matter how crazy the narrative might be, people want to belong – and propaganda makes it easier to create these bubbles that place people in a “community of like-minded folks” – while separating us from those who “seem to be” against us.

The reality is that we are more similar than different.  And that is very inconvenient to whomever wants to manipulate us.  In fact, that is another reason why they make their enticement so palatable and easily to assimilate.  They have realized that the savvier a person is, the less likely they are to ingest falsehoods, and the less likely they are to take something at face value without doing its due diligence.

Let me give you a quick example.  Let’s pretend for a moment you’re about to spend a pretty penny on a big-ticket item. Maybe a huge TV, or a new central air conditioning Unit, a vehicle, a new roof, an expensive musical instrument, or whatever that would cost a small fortune.  In those instances, people will tend to do a lot of research on the brand, the reviews (good and especially bad), and ask around, and find out if the item they are about to purchase or the company they will be dealing with is reputable, etc.  Those who fail to do so might go one of two ways.

1. They could get lucky and everything works fine.

2. They will find out that there was some merit in doing some research because now they are stuck with a bad investment.

Whatever the case, there was more to the story.  In the first instance, yes – sometimes we get lucky buying something on a whim and it turns out to be great.  But that is not always the case.  In some instances, what we think was good turned out to be a swindle.  Especially if the situation was too good to be true.  In fact, that is part of the marketing process – making it as palatable and enticing as possible for the consumer.  Hopefully, that will include good quality control if they are interested in the customer for coming for more.  Some other times it might be just enough to make a quick buck and for the swindler to disappear into the shadows.

When it comes to propaganda, the swindlers are going to give them nice little samples, but they are not ready for the big reveal.  Much like getting a buffet dinner in a time-share sale.  Sure, they are feeding you something, but the payout they are looking for is a lot bigger than what they are offering to get you through the door, and to keep you there – until you stay long enough to listen, and perhaps being enticed to sign up.

Well, the dummying down of the population is similar, but a lot more complex in scale and execution.  Why?  Because the payout is enormous.  Some people are more prone to take some false narratives at face value – if their biases have prompted them to blindly follow a person that they find enticing.  Make no mistake, those of us who want the best for you are going to ask you to look beyond your bubble and question everything – even what WE are telling you.  Why? Because we want you to expand your mind.

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People who want to control you or keep you dumb will make things “too easy” for you.  This might seem convenient to you at first, but the fact is that they are re-training your mind towards blind obedience.  Through my writing I am trying to change that trend.  But it is a team effort.  Thank you for spending this time with me!  HLC

 

When Americans are divided and fight one another, who wins?  It is not America for sure, but rather a lot of regimes who want to set a divergent world standard.

 

Are we running towards a new American Civil War?

If you have been familiar with the pages of world history – to include American history, then you would not be surprised to realize that indicators leading to a civil war tend to be very consistent.  I cannot begin to explain how disturbing and dangerous this situation is at this very moment (as I type these words) for American history – and by extension the world.

There is a lot to say and praise about American exceptionalism.  Agree or disagree, like it or not, the United States of America is still the most influential country in the world.  Why is that?  The answer is complex, but it can be summarized in the fact that we are a conglomeration of every culture and heritage spanning the entire world.  There are American citizens who were literally born, or have ancestry linked to every corner on this planet.

Our diversity is our strength as a Nation.  Of course, being an influential nation that sets the standard for equal treatment to all people is inconvenient to a large slew of regimes.  In fact, it is a lot more insidious than that, but we’ll talk more about it in in a little bit – let’s put this thought in context first.  When you have a lot of diversity, it is a lot harder for “group-thinking” and “bubble mentality” to blind people from reality.  In other words, the dialog (or sometimes disagreements) will pose a different point of view – and spark a larger [actual] conversation.  That does not imply that an agreement might be reached, but it will show empirical evidence that there is more than one way of thinking.  That is inconvenient to regimes who require unilateral obedience.

In a civil war there are many factors that play crucial roles in the process leading to conflict.  I call them factors because they are multipliers.  Unrest does not tend to start suddenly, it tends to brew for a long time, and once there is enough dehumanization from one another, the new perceived foe becomes a target, while also forgetting their own humanity.  It is this group thinking that keeps adding to this “us against them” mentality.  Once the communication breakdown is inevitable, then being reasonable becomes a moot point.  The anger and visceral response take full control of each individual person, and it just goes downhill from there.

This is happening in America right now.  And I cannot begin to tell you how painful it is to realize it.  And what makes it even more dangerous – is that there are plenty of people who are blissfully unaware of this danger, and likely won’t realize it until it is too late.  That is unless we can wake up people and diffuse this whole catastrophe from occurring in the first place.  But even if this gets diffused, the less informed segment of the population would remain unaware or even annoyed about “what was the fuzz all about,” or “what people were talking about.”  Sometimes being lucky is not a blessing, it can be a curse of apathy and ignorance.

The lack of dialog in the political discourse, the current cult of personalities for particular people in office is a very disturbing trend many people ignore.  However, for a segment of the population, what was one a solemn institution – regardless of whether you disagree about policy – has become a circus where there is a non-insignificant number of “elected officials” who are constantly spewing divisive points which also happen to be propaganda points from other regimes, specifically designed to divide Americans.  This is a problem, because we are instigated and therefore getting attacked from the inside out.

The difference between the catalyst for this potential new American Civil War and the last is that those who are been enticed to start fighting are not even aware of what they are fighting for.  For the American Civil war in the 1800s it was fought because many people were perfectly ok with slavery.  Many states severed themselves from the United States in order for these “states’ rights” to have people keep other human beings as property.  The mere thought of condoning owning other human beings as property is despicable, and it was a terrible part in world-history, to include American history.  We can’t change the past, but we [collectively] can certainly be responsible for our futures.

And hence, that is what the crux of the matter gets muddied up.  There are countless people who are perfectly fine with trying to destroy other people’s lives – Americans killing other Americans.  Some have not even realized it yet.  But the divisive rhetoric is making it more and more incendiary with every passing day.  I’ve been seeing this situation deteriorate more and more in real time.  And while some are speaking up about it, the solution seems ever so elusive.  Talking with no viable action can perpetuate a problem.  And no, the action I’m speaking about does not imply getting violent against the dissenting group.

 

 

What are the actions needed to diffuse a civil war?

Let’s start with some context.  Civil wars have something in common.  Somebody wants to keep or raise to power.  They achieve this by dividing people under the specific regime, and have them kill each other to keep only loyalists alive so they can pander towards the dear leader for as long as it is convenient to this dear leader.

Did that happen during the American Civil war?  Yes, it did.  There were many poor Southerners who were convinced that anybody with a darker skin tone was inferior to them, and should remain subservient to those with a non-dark complexion.  However, there were very rich plantation owners and other people who actually owned human beings – not every southerner was a slave owner.  In fact, the great majority didn’t.  But those who did own slaves derived their incredible wealth out of the literal exploitation of human beings, who were originally captured overseas and sold as property in the United States.

Slavery, unfortunately, was not only relegated to the South, there were many people in other states who were perfectly ok about owning slaves too.  The American Civil War started because when slavery was to be abolished, many states – who happened to be in the South, wanted to keep human beings as property, then created the Confederacy and severed themselves from the United States.  Which is technically treason, and brought four years of bitter fighting among Americans.  The Union defeated the Confederacy, but this division among Americans has never really healed up.

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The reason is because many of them have been lied to, and even though most non-wealthy Southerners fought, they were lied too as well.  I’m not sure they would have been super wired up to fight if they would have been told the truth – which would be akin to the following: “hey you’re fighting and likely dying for these very rich people who want to keep slaves to get richer, and by the way are not fighting themselves in the front lines against the USA, they will mostly be giving orders to you – but YOU, will be doing the fighting and likely dying, while their wealth is being protected by YOU.”

Some southerners did figure that out in the middle of the battle, and the Confederacy had a lot of attrition and desertion.  They realized that the rich folks wanted to have the poor-white folks fighting on behalf of keeping their wealth.  For example, owning slaves was also expensive.  Therefore, there was no shortage of white people who made a meager living doing manual labor.  And because slaves were giving housing and food – however squalid the conditions, the non-wealthy southerners probably perceived that the slaves had it “easy” – which is of course cognitive dissidence.

Considering this, several scholars have come to the agreement that only ~1% of southerners actually owned slaves.  And it was THIS 1% who set America on a bloody four-years’ war – which they ended up losing anyway.  How where they able to make the 99% additional group of people to fight to the death for this 1% of super rich folks’ economic interests?  Sadly, lies and racism.  They convince them that folks with dark skin were inferior.  By dehumanizing a group, and dehumanizing those who accurately considered people with darker skin human beings.  And of course, feed a narrative that the union was being aggressive.  Hence, still many southerners call the civil war, a “war of northern aggression” – despite the fact that most of the Confederate soldiers were fighting against their own best interests.

In any battle mobilizing people on lies, there has to be a foe.  This foe has to be formidable – yet inferior (in any way they can consider it as such – even the despicable ways).  Once it becomes an “us against them” issue – it is very easy to fall in the trap of cognitive dissidence.  People tend to galvanize against what they consider a common threat.  And those who want to manipulate people vulnerable to exploitable biases are very much aware that those obedient fools are disposable, but that they would break their backs or fight and gladly die for a cause that was manufactured.  However, those fighting and dying are very much convinced it was for a worthwhile cause.  That is why it is so dangerous.

We’ve seen this happen in other countries.  For example, suicide bombers, they are lied about heavenly rewards and other perks. This narrative is indoctrinated for a long time… it is not like they tell today to join a group and tomorrow they will be asked to be a martyr.  The ones in the higher echelons never do the suicide-bombing themselves, bizarre, huh?  However, these martyrs are very much enamored with the idea that they are doing something bigger than themselves – despite the fact they are just disposable fools who are convinced that ending their lives and the lives of others is an honorable cause.  Well, when it comes to civil war rhetoric, although a bit different in semantics, has very similar mechanics – and produces similar results.

What are those mechanics?  Let me summarize them this way:

1. Find a foe, whatever or whoever it might be.

2. Disparage this foe until they become dehumanized (if people)

3. Ramp up violent ways to eliminate said foe, and convince that eliminating this foe (even through violence) is not only the right thing to do – but it is an honorable cause.

4. Send the most disposable fool to the front line to do the hard work (even if it is a suicide mission), by promising them some sort of reward for them or anybody they leave behind.  It is not like they can come from the afterlife if the reward never indeed happens.

5. Repeat the process until there are no more disposable fools to send to do errands for them.  Which might happen sooner or later – that is why authoritarian regimes tend to end at some point.  Or are big in indoctrinating new generations, so they can be those next disposable fools.

This process, as despicable as it sounds – it is all too real, and it happens around the world.  It has certainly occurred in America.  There are larger geopolitical intricacies.  Why? Because although the American Civil War in the 1800’s was very much domestic in the sense that some rich American folks wanted to get richer.  This new [potential] Civil War is a lot more complex.  This time is about entities outside our borders who want to destroy the USA from the inside out.  And they have been achieving this with spectacular results.

Even people with good intentions are falling victims of this sick game.  And yes, it is designed to be that way.  Therefore, for any reader who has a realization they have been lied to, don’t worry – DO something about it!  DOING means stop perpetuating the falsehoods of those who lied to you, and use this new found knowledge to tell the [actual] truth to others who were also lied to.  Just remember that you might find pushback – just like you were pushing back before the epiphany.  Again, this was designed to be that way.

It is very easy for lies to gain traction because they are designed to be easily digestible – and have just enough “accurate” information in order to pass a shallow fact-checking level of scrutiny.  But of course, this is not going to last if a higher level of scrutiny is ensued to seek the truth.  A lot of people who are not inside the bubble when this information is being pushed onto unsuspected victims won’t fall for this trick.  However, for those inside this bubble, the actual reality of being bamboozled will seem counterintuitive.  As I keep saying it, it is designed to be that way.  And it has been working for a long time.

Case in point.  Social media – especially Tweeter (X) in the last several months.  At some point there was some fact checking or at least some sort of deterrent from cyberbullying, hate speech, and other types of harassment to users.  Nowadays, it is a lot harder to report to a person than to endure the extremely offensive and divisive things many anonymous keyboard warriors spew all over the platform.  We see something similar in other platforms, but they tend to be regulated in a different manner, not only by the actual people running the platform, but by the users themselves.

A good example of accountability as described is Threads, the vibe is a lot better than Tweeter, according to the consensus of most Threads users.  I happen to agree with the Thread users.  But of course, even social media sites are being used as a polarization of who is subscribing to what world view.  Particularly, people on Tweeter (X) tend to be a lot more aggressive.  And that includes people from either side of the political spectrum, and religion.

Surprisingly (and heartbreaking enough), I’ve also seen many people who claim (claim being the key word) to be atheists who also happen to be extreme right-wing, LGBT, Ultra MAGAs, but also tend to spew all kinds of hate speech against LGBT, and repeat ultra-conservative talking points.  Of course, anybody who has been familiar with and studying sociological factors would also find it surprising as I did, because that is very much out of character for those groups.  And of course, unsurprisingly, most of these accounts spewing divisive rhetoric have avatars that are not an actual person – and there are no links to any actual social presence.  In other words, they are cowards hiding anonymous accounts, giving them the opportunity to harass others while hiding in the obscurity of the internet.  I’ll be writing additional articles about that, and I have talked about that in my blog as well.

I’ve challenged many of those, with this very line.  I point to them that it is cowardice to attack people online.  And further, they would not be doing the same thing if this was face to face with them showing their real name and identity.  They claim that those who they harass would go after them -claiming the other [users] to be somebody like the gestapo during Hitler’s times.  Which is interesting because these anonymous accounts cowards are doing the same level of harassment, only in a virtual scenario – yet in their sophomoric minds they feel justified; it seems they are lost in the irony.

Trying to reason with many of these minds who are clearly compromised can not only be challenging but incredibly frustrating.  I have to admit that although it can be tragically amusing and entertaining, it is also exceedingly sad.  And by sad, I mean it is sad to see how deep propaganda has made it almost impossible for them to see how deluded their arguments really are.  And of course, there is a non-zero chance that many of these trolls are perhaps high as a kite when they are spewing nonsense in social media.

But the most important point I want to put across with this article is that good people (not just in the USA but around the world) fortunately are the majority.  I keep seeing more and more people talking about a potential civil war in the United States – although I’ve been talking about these indicators for a lot longer than they have.  But the point remains, what are we going to do to stop this from happening?  The simple – yet complex answer is: EDUCATION!  And by that I don’t’ mean schools – I mean turning propaganda on its head.  The same tools being utilized to divide us can be reversed engineered.

I will be writing a series of articles in the coming weeks about this particular topic, because it is complex.  Meanwhile, I have been talking about that in any platform I can get a hold of.  For example, in the Festival of Story Tellers, I spoke about propaganda and how to defeat it.  You can view that video at the following link

Link to Video About Turning Propaganda on Its Head.

But the fact is that I may be idealistic all I want – but I cannot do this alone.  I’ll keep doing my part to spread awareness and provide solutions through my writing – and any other platform I can find.  I just hope that my message won’t resonate when it is too late.  HLC

 

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The Muller report was a litmus test on how cognitive dissidence can be exploited for political purposes.  Many people are still confused about its importance.

 

The confusion perdures to this day.

The Muller Report is names after the Department of Justice (DOJ) Special Counsel Robert Muller, who was a prominent career law enforcement professional at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States of America.  He was appointed to conduct a thorough investigation into possible Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election.

Among the targets of the investigation, was included the recently elected U.S. President Donald J. Trump.  The reason was because there were credible allegations that his campaign had close unduly communications with the Russian Federation, and that his campaign conspired together with Russian operatives to get an advantage against Trump’s presidential opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.  Russia stated on record they favored Trump over Clinton as President of the United States.

Before I move on, please find below the link to the entire Muller Report, as released to the public.  Please keep in mind that some of the released Muller Report [enclosed] to the public have been redacted for reasons of National Security.

Mueller Report (link via CNN)

IMPORTANT NOTE: It is worth mentioning that when citing Russia in this report, and on this article, it is not referring to the entire country of Russia – nor it is a so called “Rusophobic” attack. But unfortunately, the people involved in this report were from Russia. Any country involved in a similar fashion would have been cited on a consistent basis if they were under the scope of the investigation Mueller conducted. It is worth noting also that most Russian people (like most people around the world) are actually super nice, and they might or might not have a say, knowledge, or condone what happens outside their immediate purview.

You are welcome to read the entire report now (all 400+ pages), or after you finish this article.  We will be touching upon some of the important takeaways from the report.  The report itself is written in legal jargon, hence for some people it might seem counterintuitive to understand what Muller is actually trying to say.  That’s the nature of the beast, legal writing is very different than normal everyday vernacular.

For this article I will be using down-to Earth vernacular to ensure it is better understood.  And I said, “better understood” – because in legal terms words and context have a much encompassing terminology.  That is why it takes years of going to law school and passing a bar exam to navigate the vernacular.  To put in context the bar exam alone takes about 12 hours and it is extremely grueling.  Some of us (who are not attorneys, but) due to the nature of our jobs just so happen to be acquainted with that language to “read it” – but not to “write it” – if that makes sense.  E.g. You might be able to distinguish the difference between a high-quality and low-quality steak when you eat it, it is a whole different ballgame cooking it.

If you do end up reading the full report (which I recommend), it is best if you read it in little chunks, and with an open mind.  The report is obviously very well written, but for those unfamiliar with the lingo, it will be interpreted like “scripture” (as in a bible or religious text) – and create a misperception that it is subject to some interpretations – especially if a person has a particular bias.  However, biases are not the case when writing the report – Mueller himself was a Republican.  But it is possible that some people might find ambiguity.  Remember, this report was not meant to be read by the people, but rather by legal experts.

This in no way is demeaning to the general public, it is just part of the area of expertise needed for that particular specialty.  Just like a bartender might have some specific language they use for some of their mixology, or just like us Sailors have a very specific vernacular when we talk about Navy stuff, or just how mathematicians communicate with complex formulas.  Somebody outside those specialties might find it confusing if seeing it from the outside in.

Same thing with the Muller Report.  It has a specific language, crafted by experts in that field.  Fortunately, just like any cryptic language out there, there is a key to understanding in everyday terms what the intent and purpose for that report means to the general audience.  There is a reason why I put this in context.  You will see what I mean by that as you continue reading this article.

The Muller Report is inheritably complex, because it addressed a very complex issue.  Further, it was unprecedented because it was the first time a sitting U.S. President was involved in the middle of this type of controversy.  And of course, the environmental factors (not as in weather) in the country, particularly on political divisiveness – was making an already incendiary issue all the more volatile.  There were a lot of entities who had a lot to lose based on the findings of this report.  And those who had a lot to lose were both inside and outside the United States of America.

What does this mean?  The Muller Report was never just about Trump, it was a lot bigger than that.  It was about the possibility that third nation was interfering with the American Electoral process, and potentially getting away with it.  Trump was largely anecdotal, but had to play also a center role for the investigation because he just so happened to be the President of these United States.

 

Understanding the Report’s Context.

The Mueller report was not about finding “Collusion” – why?  Because Collusion is not a crime.  It was about finding conspiracy to undermine an American Electoral Process.  However, as Trump became extremely combative, and largely [on the Right-Wing of politics], attacks against Muller started to percolate, the scope of the investigation had no choice but to add instances of obstruction of justice to the mix.  Cause and Effect.

What does that mean?  Let me illustrate with an example.  Let say person “X” is accused of beating up his spouse.  An investigation into domestic abuse will start taking place.  So, let’s say that while this domestic abuse investigation is going on, person “X’ decides to antagonize and threaten the police officers with violence, and incites others to antagonize and threaten these police officers – as they are conducting the domestic abuse investigation.   What do you think is going to happen?  If you assessed that an additional charge will be added to the domestic abuse charge, then you will be correct.

Further, antagonizing the police and threatening with violence while they are investigating domestic abuse – is not helping person “X” case, is it?  Use the same analogy, but just change the charges and names, and that is what happened during the Muller Report.  The fact that Trump and is acolytes were attacking, disparaging, and denigrating the character of Robert Muller, made it very evident that Muller likely found a lead Trump and his acolytes found very problematic (against them).

Robert Muller himself got death threats, much like many other Trump dissenters had endured in the last several years.  Especially those with a platform.  But the death threats normally come from a Trump acolyte, or somebody who feel vindicated to do so in their [Trump’s] base.  I should emphasize that issuing death threats onto anybody is a crime.  And yes, it is a crime no matter if you do that face-to-face, by email, by social media, or any other method of communication.

And bear this in mind because of the wide context of the report.  Remember, the report is a snap-shot in time, but the significance of this report is a timeless tool about glaring vulnerabilities in the very fabric of American society.  And yes, the exploitation of divisive vulnerabilities is designed to be like that – divisive and confusing.  That is why I said that in the beginning it became a litmus test regarding our political stability.

 

Finding Trump guilty in the Muller Report

The official name for the Muller Report is “Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election” – this report encompasses two volumes, and spans for 448 pages.  In other words, the scope of the investigation was to find the facts about Russian Interference, which is not necessarily the same as an investigation about Trump, although Trump was certainly a significant factor in the entire situation – because Russia was favoring Trump over Clinton.

For us to understand the significance of this report, we have to understand that using semantics to fight the merits of the issue is not a compelling argument.  It is a lot more abstract than that, because we are dealing with a strategic-level adversary levering personnel near to the sitting President of the United States, in order to push their [foreign country’s] agenda.  This report is not about finding collusion, it is about connecting conspiracy behind the mechanics for which the favoring for Trump turned into action favorable to Trump.

Hope this is making sense so far, because it is about to get more abstract.  It is designed to be that way.  The adversary is not going to put this complex issue in a black & white, Fifth-Grade level of understanding – instead, this topic is an all-stars varsity multi-level strategy being played upon the US via its own political intricacies.  Again, it is designed to be highly complex, and that is why the actual merits of the case will seem counterintuitive to a great swath of the population.  Again, this report was not meant to be read by the general public, it was meant to be read by the top Attorney in the Country – The Attorney General.

And this is an important distinction.  Because Muller and his team had to be impartial in their investigation.  Hence, Muller (who was in charge of the investigation) was not going to declare “Guilty” or “Innocent” – among other intricacies we’ll talk about – that was not his role.  His role was to find facts, write about them, and pass to the Attorney General to (for a lack of a better word) decipher what was presented to him on this report, and for him to make a recommendation as the top law enforcement person in the Federal Government at the time.

And at this particular juncture is where politics started to get from ugly to very dangerous.  For as long as we can remember in the American discourse, the partisan political climate has become more and more polarized.  It was not designed to be that way – it was meant to give a voice from different points of view; but through the years demagogs and other special interest powers have created a wider division among politicians.  All this division is extremely convenient to regimes leading nations who have poised themselves as adversaries against America.

Some politicians (hopefully unwittingly) tend to play and parrot propagandistic points that are specifically designed to polarize America more and more.  The reason for the division is incidental at best, but certainly politics is a very visceral vehicle that gets people enticed to perform actions that can very well go against their own best interests.  They just don’t realize it does, because it is designed to make those victims feel like vindicated heroes, whilst making them believe they are the smartest people in the room.  Sadly, that is a very prolific manipulation tool.

The damage created to discredit the Muller Report is causing negative effects even today!  And that report was released in 2019.  For that reason, it is worth understanding what the political climate was back during those days.  And the short answer is, that the ENTIRE U.S. Government, all three branches at the time were Republican.  The Executive power (President), The Legislative power (Congress with the House & the Senate), and the Judicial power with a conservative majority.

If you were a Democrat, you had no chance to push any legislation at that time.  That of course changed in the very next midterm election when the House Flipped to the Democrats, and the Republicans lost the majority.  But by the time this report came over, it was all Republican Controlled.  This was very important for many political reasons, and of course gave a very high advantage to Trump as far as how the narrative would be controlled to the rest of the Republican political base.

Sadly, that means that if Trump was found guilty of any wrong doing, there was a snow ball chance in hell of a probability the GOP (Republicans) would even hint on giving Trump any level of accountability, let alone prosecute him, recommend impeachment – or any punitive action whatsoever for that matter.  Why?  Because that would be political suicide, that is why.

Politics are strategic by nature, and sadly this strategy tends to leave constituents out of the equation.  A shrewd politician would be able to plan several steps ahead and bamboozle a base of voters to believe a false narrative with little to no scrutiny.  Yes, it is designed to be that way.  A happy constituent tends to be one who feels their political leader is reading their minds, and doing their will – as faithful representatives of their democratic process in Capitol Hill.  You could argue, THAT is EXACTLY why they were elected in the first place to do, right?

So, what does any of this have anything to do with the Muller Report?  A lot actually, that is why I say it is abstract, and might even see tangential.  Again, it is designed to be that way.  When we look at the Muller Report there is not one page which reads “guilty” except to demonstrate that somebody pleaded as such to previous proceedings – for example, George Papadopoulos, who pleaded guilty to lying to investigators.  Papadopoulos was very close in Trump’s orbit – once he became inconvenient, Trump disavowed him.

Other big names in Trump’s orbit included Gates, Manafort, and Cohen.  The later was also known as “Trump’s Fixer” and better known for the case involving porn-star actress Stormy Daniels – when she engaged in what was described as a hilariously short and unpleasant, though consensual sex encounter with Trump – when his wife Melania was staying home with their still infant son Baron.  And I just want to add this part about the [if you can even call it] affair (which is factual by the way – however hilariously short). Because it adds to Trump’s character, and adds to why the overarching scope of his investigation is so important.  Lack of character is vulnerable to exploitation – and having the President of the United States of America having an exploitable vulnerability is very dangerous for the country.

Another big player is Michael Flynn, who also pleaded guilty for lying to the FBI about talks he head with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak.  Note that in every mention of “guilty” was for already a person in Trumps orbit who have already been convicted.  It is important to pay attention to the fact that these individuals were very close to Trump – that is problematic.  Who wins if the President of the United States of America has people who have pleaded guilty to some very problematic allegations?  Regimes who are adversarial to America, that is who wins when this happens.

Letting Trump get away without prosecution, despite the findings of the Muller Report is what has prompted a lot of the cognitive dissidence that has endured to this day.  And this is really the crux of the matter.  Cognitive dissidence occurs when we let our biases control the narrative despite the facts.  There is always a lot more to the empirical facts behind the superficial context of a situation.  Some of the facts can certainly be obscured by misinformation, and lack of understanding of the full context.

In other words, when we are presented with a situation out of context, and we don’t have enough datapoints to ascertain the validity of those facts, then our assertion to those facts will be flawed.  Hence the correct answer will feel counterintuitive, despite the facts being against their core argument.  Again, it is designed to be that way.  And a lot of people have fallen into that trap.  It is not really their fault; a trap is designed to capture those unsuspecting souls.  Much like a con artist tends to be charming and engaging.  The difference is that with propaganda this is executed at a much larger scale and level of complexity.

 

Was Trump found Guilty?

Yes, he was found guilty of conspiracy of getting aid from a foreign government to help him with the election, and of obstructing justice and making all kinds of public acts of intimidation that among other things included death threats to Muller himself.  The key word is “found” – that is not the same as “declared” guilty.  Doing so gets into a semantic game that fosters cognitive dissidence.

This is how they differ.  Finding instances of guilt does not necessarily mean that a person is going to be held accountable.  For example, if you’re driving 20+ MPH over the speed limit, but there are no COPs around to pull you over, and issue you a citation for reckless driving – then you’re not getting accountability.  You (should) know that what you did is highly illegal and can put you in a pumpkin suit, and there are several witnesses to your misdemeanor.  Mainly every other car that you zoomed by – but they don’t have the authority to pull you over and give you a citation.  But it is very obvious to all witnesses that you were breaking the law.

Somebody being declared guilty, that means that somebody who has the jurisdictional power to give you accountability is acting upon those findings.  Following in the example, if a cop does pull you over and issues you a citation – the cop can start the accountability process, but not finish it.  It would be up to a judge (in traffic court) to give the verdict on the infraction.  Some judges might be lenient and let the speeder go with a warning, others might impose a heavy fine, others might send the driver straight to jail.  I’ve seen cases like this all the time – it largely depends on how repentant the person placed in front of the judge is.

So, let’s bring this into context.  Mueller (as the example being the cop on the above example) was gathering the information and writing the ticket.  But it was going to be up to the attorney General (as the judge in the previous example) whom was required to make the determination about if the president was found guilty or not.  The Attorney General at the time was Bill Bahr, and he gave the press a very misleading version of what Mueller described in the findings.  The point being that Bahr likely wanted to try to make this problem disappear.  Particularly because of the heavy political baggage it carried.  Finding Trump guilty would make the Republican party implode.

How so?  Well, the obvious thing is that if Trump was found guilty, then a lot of legal actions – none of which were convenient, nor had a precedent, would inevitably snowball out of control.  There was a lot of appetitive for the entire report to be released.  The GOP fought tooth and nail against it, but eventually it came out.  But it took a long time.  During that time there were countless attacks against Mueller himself, and many more death threats not only to him, but to other people who were in favor of releasing this document.  So, the fact that you can read it (even on this site) was a gigantic undertaking that was being prevented by the highest levels of government at that time.

There was an important caveat.  Because Trump was a sitting President – regardless if he was indeed guilty – he was NOT to be prosecuted.  Those were the guidelines at the time, because it was meant to protect against people from attacking a President as a political eruption… with the pretense that the President was indeed an innocent person.  Well, this is not very much the case in the Muller Report.  Although he does not call Trump with the words “guilty” he did say that he was not exculpated from wrongdoing.  And I said before, he was to present the facts, not to issue a guilty or innocent plea.  But rather point if there was culpability.  There was gargantuan evidence of guilt.

Using a “big word” such as not “exculpated” probably muddied the water – even though it is an accurate term.  “Exculpated” means “acquitted” – Trump was not acquitted, if we put it in non-thesaurus terms.  Muller went on to say that if Trump was not a sitting President he would have indeed been prosecuted.  So, what does that mean?  It meant that as long as Trump was President, then he was able to run that suspended guilt until he left office.  But once he was gone, then accountability would follow.  What would Trump’s next logical move be then?

Obviously, it was in Trump’s best interest to stay in power as long as possible!  For one, because the statute of limitations would run out on this – and besides he did so much other crazy s—t after this event that the Muller Report will seem like small potatoes in comparison.  But that does not mean it is any less significant, because this started a snowball effect for a lack of accountability to any sitting President.

Let’s talk about this snowball effect, this is a non-exhaustible list.

1. It forced the GOP to truly play ball and become Trump acolytes by choosing party over anything else Trump was able to get away with.  Doing otherwise would be political suicide.

2. It empowered other adversarial nations to flood the USA with propaganda.  The same type of divisive propaganda that has continued ever since – because it proved to be effective.

3. Fostered cognitive dissidence.  It is convenient for other nations when we are divided, and if there is a communication breakdown.  This first step was a proof of concept for adversarial nations as far as how people get lost in semantics rather than understanding the overall context.

4. The enemy is hidden in plain sight – who is the biggest enemy?  Our own biases are being manipulated by our own misperceptions.  It is designed to look black & white – but in reality, it is a very dynamic gradient.  Hence, even people with good intentions will not see the true depth of the issue – it is designed to be that way – much like an illusionist only shows you what they want you to see, but the mechanics of the trick are out of sight to the general audience.

5. If Trump was able to get away with this, then he was going to continue pushing boundaries until he would get push back.  He sure did, and hence he got impeached twice – and he is currently facing 90+ criminal cases, and a myriad of civil cases.  Accountability started after he left the office – and the investigation into the merits for these cases already started the process before he left the presidency.

6. A lot of people got turned off by Trump, but also a whole bunch of them got ignited their new found passion for Trump.  The Republican partly itself is very fragmented.  Some of Trump’s more vocal supporters are Republicans themselves; though the hate and attacks from MAGA Republicans are often directed to more “obvious” challengers – which are the Democrats.

7. Trump started a very dangerous precedent that made people around the world distrust the United States of America.  Who do you think wins when America gets isolated from NATO or other partner nations?  It is not the USA; it is the countries who want to get the USA to lose its primacy in the world.  By getting away from interfering with our political candidates’ process, this helps other countries who do not like America to perceive that the US candidates are for Sale.

8. Propaganda Points from other countries flooded the political discourse, and created an enormous social engineering campaign to find out which minds are more exploitable and obedient to Anti-American talking points, disguised as ultra-patriotic.  Yes, it sounds like an oxymoron – that is why I say it seems counterintuitive to many.  I wrote an entire book about it [AUTHORITARIANISM & PROPAGANDA The Puppet Master Tools], because it is affecting us all.

Authoritarianism & Propaganda: The Puppet Master Tools by J. Marcelo Baqueroalvarez | BookBaby Bookshop

9. The entire world was watching the proceedings about the Muller Report, and caused a worldwide mistrust in the American legislative process.  If the USA is not considered a reliable intrinsic arbiter of justice, then the rest of the world will start seeking for a “better alternative” to follow.  There is no shortage of adversarial nations who want to set that standard.  And if the USA is not holding their leaders accountable, then that becomes the norm for the rest of the world.  Like it or not, the USA can either set the standard for equal accountability under the law, or yield that option to any other nation who wants to impose their political agendas onto the rest of the planet.

10.    Interpreting the Muller Report on “semantics” rather than substance is a very fertile ground for Information Operations campaigns by adversarial nations.  In other words, they get to realize how naïve particular segments of the population are based on their lack of reading comprehension – and turn them into obedient parroting assets.  More importantly, by providing these out of context talking points, they will feel vindicated as though they have “won” a battle of wits with somebody else – when in reality they have not been afforded the entire context.  Plenty of people who are cynical about complex issues, but get hung up on semantics, are very much off-the mark on the actual substance of the matter.  And yes, that is extremely convenient and exploitable by adversarial nations.

 

Moving Forward, and Deprograming Compromised Minds.

It might sound idealistic, but there is a way to straighten up this slew of propagandistic campaigns pouring over the USA.  I use the Muller Report as an example, but there are hundreds if not thousands additional examples linked to Trump alone.  But he is not the only one who enjoys a cult following, many of his acolytes also benefit from that clout.  And even those who say that they don’t support him could very well be misled by thinking that “giving him a perceived fair” shot is a valid argument – when in reality, Trump was indeed guilty – hence, giving a “perceived fair shot” after he already has tilted the system on this favor is in fact a win for America’s adversaries.

What do I mean by that?  Lately, as I became an author, I had to start learning the intricacies of the social media world.  Not that I am super stoke about that, and I only hang out on the different platforms whenever I have some downtime.  Which is not that much time actually.  At this point in time, I am either checking my social media accounts while I am taking mini breaks during actual stuff I need to do in the computer – of if I so happen to be in a waiting room – as I have to sit and stay put prior to a scheduled appointment.

But no, debating people on Twitter (X) in 280 characters or less, or in Threads in 500 characters or less is not the only thing I have to do with my day.  Especially if the cognitive dissidence from somebody drowning in a glass of water that they poured themselves off proves it is too much of a waste of time for me to spend my scarce time dealing with them.  I’ve met all kinds of people, from super nice human beings, to well-intentioned confused people, to incredibly nasty individuals.  During the less desirable interactions, I am afforded the opportunity to use it as a metric on how this cognitive dissidence has taken a foothold in the propagandistic realm.

Generally speaking, some people who seem to fall into a certain category (being left or right), tend to trail a very particular pattern of biases.  All of which are very exploitable, and they have been exploited in spectacular fashion (even if they think they are winning an argument – thus prompting them to perpetuate that behavior).  To figure out if they have been deceived, sometimes it is as simple as doing a quick check by looking at their feed, their vernacular, their answers to other tweets, the memes they post, their level of misguided arrogance, etc.

It is similar but more complex when we validate and assess how some people (to include those I mentioned) have easily been manipulated by adversarial nations Information Operation campaigns, and other methods of exploiting their biases.  These are synonyms for propaganda.

And if you think only Trump supporters fall for this, think again.  Even those who are against Trump can be vulnerable to unwittingly support those who want to see Trump back in office.  And yes, it will seem counterintuitive to them as well.  I mentioned earlier in the article that this level of propaganda is at a high varsity level.  Most people sadly will read tweets, or read important talking points at a very elementary level.  Then it is very easy to hide gargantuan amounts of misinformation on a semi-superficial level of veracity.  Again, it is designed to look legitimate.  Especially to target those who superficially think they have it all figured it out.  There is plenty of room to add visceral responses in whatever falls through the cracks.

But for us who have been afforded a different vantage point, and have dedicated our lives to understanding these intricacies – the falsehoods stand up like a sore thumb.  Once you see it, you cannot unsee it.  It does not make us “better than anybody” – what it does, however, gives us a level of awareness that is otherwise hidden in plain sight.  Again, that is why I wrote an entire book about authoritarian propaganda [AUTHORITARIANISM & PROPAGANDA The Puppet Master Tools}.  And, it is also the reason why I keep writing these long-form articles.  Riding just ahead is extremely important, and many people are oblivious to that fact.

Authoritarianism & Propaganda: The Puppet Master Tools by J. Marcelo Baqueroalvarez | BookBaby Bookshop

The political discourse is full of misinformation, and when something important comes to light, it quickly loses the spotlight to another event – suddenly this previously important event becomes forgotten, and the facts for the argument become misconstrued.  In other words, it is easy to help a person you don’t like win, just by misconstruing the facts -even if in your mind you think you’re attacking this person, or “just letting the system” run its course – without really understanding if the system perhaps has been compromised.

I keep saying it, and will keep repeating it.  It is designed to be that way.  It can be frustrating at times when I talk to some people in Twitter, or other social media outlets and they are clearly confused about something, but in their minds, they think they are spot on, or that they had a sick burn on me or whomever they are debating.

Let me make this entirely clear.  First, I have a lot better things to do that debate somebody who clearly has not made their homework; and to build on that statement – they are just not ready to make the argument because their understanding has plot holes large enough to fly jumbo jets through it.  But in their mind, they might think they have it all figured it out.  Again, propaganda is designed to be that way.  There is always a lot more than what meets the eye, and a semantic battle is often non-compelling to the actual merits of a situation.

The Muller report found Trump guilty, but won’t not say guilty.  It found what it needed to find, which was conspiracy from a foreign country to interfere with our elections, and obstruction to investigate said obstruction.  That begs the question.  Why did Russia (in this case) wanted Trump to win over Clinton?

Think about it for a moment, and this will [hopefully] give you the “ah ha” realization about why the Muller report is so important.  Why did Russia favored Trump over Clinton to the point they would interfere with our election process?

The answer is obvious, but it is complex.  The obvious part is because Clinton would have been inconvenient to Russia.  That’s the obvious part (yes, I said it twice).  The complex part is the thousands of reasons for why this was the case.  And no, it is not just because Clinton was better prepared (like her or dislike her) than Trump for president between both candidates.  Learning the intricacies of government is not something that you can do in a short amount of time.  To put it in context, even our turnover whenever we have one military member taking the EXACT job we are performing, despite the fact they arrive highly trained for whenever they come from one unit to the other is a very thoroughly complex process.

The less obvious part is Trump’s character, and the character of people in his orbit – and how this can erode the trust of our institutions and the divisiveness that was going to create in the USA for years to come.  In that sense, it was a huge win for them (America’s adversaries).  Not only did democrats and republicans further polarized, it also destroyed in the internal political parties inside their own ranks – and further radicalized people (from either side) who think they are the only ones holding the truth – so long it is dissenting with the other side.

By enabling Trump to essentially get away with a bunch of problematic issues as they were found in the Muller Report (and his many controversies), makes it extremely convenient for America’s adversaries to push all kinds of other divisive rhetoric – and find a fertile ground to keep dividing us.  And yes, they are doing that even as we speak.  You’ll be surprised how many “patriots” and other unwitting acolytes repost a lot of propaganda points that are against their own interests – and most definitely against the interests of the United States of America.

Fast forward to 2024, and some people still think that the Muller Report found Trump innocent.  It didn’t, many people in his orbit went to prison because of it.  Trump would have joined them in a pumpkin suit IF he was NOT a Sitting President.  That is why, of course, it is worth mentioning why Trump will continue seeking the Presidency.  Because if he is not a sitting president, he is liable to prosecution.

Just pay attention to some of his rhetoric [especially the days circa when this article was written] asking for unabashed immunity for potential crimes.  Such as when his lawyer was asked if hypothetically Trump should be prosecuted if he directed Seal Team #6 to assassinate a political opponent – and he asserted that he would be ok, unless both he gets impeached and convicted by Congress… But keep in mind that even if that ever happens, then the political opponent is already dead in this case.

This is what the Muller Report found, that Trump has proclivity to do some certainly illegal actions – and use the limitations in the legal system to get away with it.  And the startling thing is that the partisanship in the system has enabled him to get away with all of this.  The Muller Report is only the dress rehearsal for a lot more than followed.  And it is worth reminding that the entire US Government was Republican led at that time, so there was no way they would hold Trump accountable or impeach him, because for the GOP, that would be a win to the Democrats – when in reality it would be a win for America, because it would hold every person equal under the law, regardless of party loyalty.  That course of action was convenient to adversarial nations too.

How can we solve this situation?  It starts with each and every one of us.  I cannot change your mind, I can only give you the facts, and spark that curiosity needed to continue researching the exceedingly deep levels of context affecting this situation.  I’m doing my part by writing from an objective perspective.  If it was a left-wing candidate doing the same stuff I would be writing about, and condemning them too.  Each person owns their own life, but their actions can positively or adversely affect collective lives if they cling to propagandistic blind spots that cloud their judgement.  HLC

 

Three years ago, today Capitol Hill was assaulted by thousands of MAGA supporters.  Because of that I started my series “Today in America.”  Let’s talk about it.

Three years later, the “big lie” continues.

I remember it like it was yesterday.  The horrific images of a mob assaulting Capitol Hill, fighting Capitol Police, smashing the windows, the gallows along people chanting “hang Mike Pence” – who was Trump’s Vice President at the time. These images were broadcasted live on TV around the world, as they were also live streamed by many insurrectionists themselves.

As the events were unfolding, I was writing my first “Today in America” article as a chronicle of what I was witnessing in real time.  I invite you to read the article at the following link if you haven’t seen it yet – before you continue with the current article.  If you decide to read it later, that is fine also – but by reading it, it will give you more context as I update about what has been going on in these last three years in connection to that dark day in American History.

https://www.halflifecrisis.com/2021/01/today-in-america-06-jan-2021/

As I was reading back my words from that day – my sentiment has not changed at all.  I was just as disappointed that day as I am today.  In fact, perhaps I am even more disappointed today because there is a copious number of voters who: a) have no idea about what happened that day, and b) they know what happened, and think it is very much justified.

And that either one of those is not good news at all for our country.  But it is very convenient to other regimes who do not want America to remain the number one nation on the world-stage.

The denial of the 2020 presidential election is commonly referred by the “Big Lie” – and that is likely the way it will be designated as in future history books.  The 2020 election was not “stolen” and it was not “rigged” as Trump and his supporters would assert.  And they have tried it in numerous ways to set forth that narrative.  In every legal case the claims about the 2020 election from being stolen, and legitimizing Trump as the winner has failed.  That includes cases were Trump-appointed judges around the country ruled against him.

Did Trump get the most votes of any sitting US President ever?  Yes, he did.  But there were millions more voters who voted him out of office.  And that includes copious amounts of Republican voters.  Despite all the legal cases, lawsuits, investigations, recounts, etc.  Trump was never able to proof election fraud to be the cause for his defeat.  However, there have been thousands of cases combined against him and his followers in connection to try to change the outcome of the 2020 election.

At some point, no matter how fervently we like a person (like Trump fans), the numbers are simply not on their favor.  And think about this for a moment.  Many MAGA Republicans (please note that not all MAGA are fully convinced of this lie, and not all Republicans are MAGA) were perfectly ok about not contesting electoral fraud on elections they won.  But they were very much calling foul for elections and they were defeated.  Conversely, all blue-contenders who were defeated in that election conceded.  Keep this in mind as we continue this dialog.

The critical question we should arrive to is: “Who has the most to lose if Trump was not to be elected?”  The country “survived” and even thrived under the Biden administration – regardless of whether you like the guy or not.  It has even been good for business.  It is not perfect – there is plenty left to do.  But I for one am very happy not having to wake up to a twitter storm.  And yes “mean tweets” against targeted private citizens is not acceptable coming from the highest office on the planet.

So, the question remains.  Who had the most to lose if Trump lost the 2020 election?  Well, that is actually an easy answer.  Trump himself.  And he knew it.  There were plenty of legal cases pending against him before he was to leave office.  Many of those cases were not prosecuted while he was a sitting president (such as the findings on the Mueller report) because that was a guideline set forth by the federal government.  By the way, he was found guilty under the Mueller report – he was not convicted because of the guideline I mentioned, and the at-the-time Republican controlled House and Senate saved Trump from being kicked out of office.

After the House of Representatives flipped in favor of the Democrats, Trump was impeached – twice for two additional high crimes and misdemeanors; and saved by the at-the-time Republican controlled Senate – twice!

 

No stranger to controversy.

For many people who had been paying attention objectively, the Trump Presidency was bizarre at best, and extremely polemic at worst.  And by polemic, I mean that there was never a day were a career-ending scandal did not dominate the headlines.  It became so common place that people got oversaturated with negative information about Trump.  Trump and his acolytes also used this as a catalyst to excite his base – the higher the polemic, the more he would double or triple down.  This perceived “martyrdom” is a very powerful tool to exploit certain biases.

But objectively, if Biden or anybody else for that matter would have done 1/1,000,000th of what Trump was getting away with – the entire right-wing media ecosystem that favors Trump would have called Biden (or any other dissenter) out on that.  But for the court of public opinion, redacting particular stories is simply the status quo nowadays.  Many people don’t tune in to watch something that disagrees with their world-view.  The loyal eyeballs are more interested in getting more of what they come to accept as true – regardless of if it is factual or not.

And this is why it is important to understand the MAGA mentality at this point in history.  Trump is NOT who is leading the MAGA movement, contrary to what many would think.  There are a lot of other interested parties who are using Trump as the figure head who will spout all kinds of things that excites the base.  THAT base, THAT is what they are after.  The MAGA Republicans are divided in two main segments.  And from those there are a lot more subtleties.  But that would take me days to go through.  So, this is a good starting point.  Let’s explore:

 

JAN 6 2021 gallows capitol hill

 

Types of MAGA Republicans:

If you have read my articles for a while, then you have likely seen that I am not a fan of treating anybody with disrespect.  That includes MAGA Republicans.  I’ve met a bunch of them, and they do have their heart in the right place.  We can disagree on policy, but we can generally agree on what is good for the country.  Others are just very unsavory people, and have more of a “debate me bro” attitude than actually trying to find a solution that is good for the country.

What they have in common is that for some reason they find Trump appealing.  With that context let’s delve into what we are seeing here.  This is my own analysis, and I illustrate it in a manner that is intended to make better sense to the reader.

MAGA Type 1 – Honest to goodness Patriotic good people who actually want the best for the country.

We all have biases.  It is part of being human.  However, if those biases are exploited, then somebody can take advantage of our otherwise good intentions.  If that ever happens to you, don’t feel bad – it is designed to be that way.  And those perpetrators are very good at what they do.  And what they do is turn good values into a narrative that is actually self-destructive.

Before I continue, let me emphasize that this variety of MAGA is less likely to remain loyal to Trump.  Why?  Because at some point they realize that some of the narratives sent their way are not as accurate as they were led to believe.  In other words, they feel betrayed and their devotion turns on its head and suddenly they become very vocal dissenters from Trump.  What causes them to turn against Trump?  Depends on the person.  But the common denominator is that they will be as vocal against MAGA as they were vocal in support of MAGA once they decided they are out of that club.

Being MAGA does not mean that a person is unintelligent, but they do have a proclivity to choose one side a lot more fervently.  For example, very unlikely you will see a person being draped head to toe with Biden merch.  Sure, you might see a few, but never at the scale and scope as you see MAGA regalia all over the place.  And that MAGA merch tends to be expensive.

I have to emphasize that many ex-MAGA started their journey out of that movement once they stopped listening to what Trump or his acolytes were saying – and pragmatically started “challenging” what the non-MAGAS (including other Republicans) were advising.  Which as simply “hey, there is a lot of official information posted in the public domain, read it and find out what they are saying.”

Many who (albeit reluctantly) actually read through the paperwork realized the obvious.  A lot of important details were [perhaps] conveniently left off on any of their outlets or choices.  Being TV, pundits, influencers, podcasters, whatever.  And as they attempted to refute that information objectively, they realized that there was so much more data that was contradicting a lot of the narratives fed to them for years.

This is not an easy process for anybody to accept.  Actually, it can be very traumatic.  That is why whenever a person “hits a nerve” on during a conversation with a MAGA republican, they tend to more from the defensive into the offensive very quickly.  Often using name calling, condescending epithets (such as cupcake, honey, sweetie, etc.), and suddenly shift towards a non sequitur to state “what about this or the other” – often unrelated to the topic at hand – and coincidentally, a repetition of a buzz phrase that they were fed before as an argument point.

However, when those arguments cannot be held to scrutiny, this will be very traumatic to them.  It is meant and designed to be that way when the information was implanted on their minds in the first place.  People hate to be told they are wrong, and will immediately gravitate towards their echo-chamber to regain that “sanity check” they desperately need as part of a confirmation bias, they might not see it as such, but that is exactly what is happening.  “Somebody said something I agree with, I’ll use this as a narrative counterpoint” – I’ve seen it thousands of times.

I’m not intending to change their minds, but when the conversations happen in a public forum such as social media – other people do pay attention to the narrative, and they can see by proxy how valid or flawed an argument really is.  Most people will just look, but rather not comment, or even react with a heart, or like or whatever.  But the crux of the argument resonates with them.  Even if it takes a while for the argument to settle in their minds.  Especially if this argument is now rocking their world.  People need time to process.

This segment of MAGA has and will likely flip against Trump if they are afforded the opportunity to make decisions based on the merits, and not just limited to the strategically cherrypicked talking points deemed convenient by those in the second group as described below.

MAGA Type 2 – Opportunistic people who are actively pushing a nefarious agenda that is actually eroding the country from the inside out.

Some of those who belong to this group do so wittingly, others unwittingly.  I would argue that the second group is more dangerous, because they have convinced themselves that any dissenting option should be discarded outright, regardless of factual merits.  These become the perfect vehicle to become the muscle and loyal soldiers to run with a narrative.  What they have not realized (yet) is that this devotion is indeed disposable.

The witting group definitely know that what they are doing or advocating for can be clearly divorced from the truth and in many cases illegal.  There is a reason why Trump has 90+ criminal charges against him.  And no, it is not because of the mean tweets.  Although that type of sophomoric behavior is also well below the prestige of the Office of the Presidency of the United Sates of America.

Surprisingly or unsurprisingly to some, Trump himself is likely not part of the higher echelons of his own MAGA movement.  Some people would say that is nonsensical – but as I mentioned before, Trump is the figure head – but strategy is not his strong suit, but he is surrounded by people who can directly or indirectly take a full advantage of his clout.  Despite what anybody might have perceived in the MAGA universe, Trump is not a one-man show.  There is a gigantic team who help him drive the MAGA narrative.  Trump himself is disposable.

What Trump was able to forge is a movement that is way bigger than him.  For better or worse, it has not been without controversy.  Why do you think that is?  Well, if all the indictments, the impeachments, and the many controversies tell you something – it is obvious that he is not going to play by the rules (to include the rule of law).  And that is [sadly] very enticing for a big segment of his base.

People on this group might end up being disloyal to Trump at some point – but they will be very loyal to the ideology behind MAGA.  Trump himself has set that standard.  He had disavowed hundreds of supporters whenever they became inconvenient.  We have seen that on live television, on his “mean tweets” and many other platforms – such as the rallies.

Do you think he is able to orchestrate all those events by himself?  Obviously not, he has teams to put that together.  So, there is a vested interest in getting MAGA as a strong brand.  There is plenty of money to be made for each and every one of those appearances.  And the crazy amounts of merch are only a small fraction of everything else.

Just do yourself a favor.  Google “MAGA Merch” and see how much all that cost.  Then do a “Biden Merch” – and you will see plenty of MAGA merch being disparaging to Biden.  Who do you think buys all that stuff?  Obviously, a Biden supporter is not going to spend the 40 bucks on a sweatshirt that is depicting him in a disparaging manner.  Also, by the way – a lot of that merch is actually made overseas.  Even though some might have a “Made in USA” label.

I’ve never attended his rallies, but from people who attended – I’ve been told they are not free.  And can range somewhere around $50 to $4,000 depending on what access you can afford to get.  Add these costs, and it gets to be pretty penny to support him.  If you attended a Trump rally, can you confirm this?

Perhaps some people think, how is it all relevant to January 6, 2021?  Well, it is very much related because what I’ve described is the context that helped bring rhetoric into action.  And despite what many would say to the contrary, January 6, 2021 was the date that marked an extremely violent insurrection.  Some would call it a “guided tour” – and I realize it is very hard to listen to that type of narrative without wanting to understand how much misinformation and spin was needed in order to help them reach that [extremely erroneous] conclusion.

 

Bringing it full circle to January 6, 2021.

As much as it pains me to say this, January 6, 2021 was a day of insurrection against the United States of America.  And it pains me, because it did get worse after that, despite all the accountability that was embarked via law enforcement and other legal resources to bring those who desecrated Capitol, and committed acts of violence to justice.

Over 730 people pleaded guilty, with about 170 convicted, and two acquitted (the latter only by a judge, but not by jury trial) in connection with the January 6 insurrection.  That alone negates the “guided tour” narrative some have floated around.  Trump himself is facing criminal charges due to his involvement in January 6, and of course is the reason why he got impeached for the second time – just days before he was supposed to leave office.  Ever since, a lot of his allies have turned their backs on him.  Afterall, for the first time ever in our lifetimes, we did not have a peaceful transfer of power in America.

But Trump did not act alone, he had huge teams working towards this particular goal – months in advance.  For anybody paying attention, during his rallies, tweets, and other events, Trump would assert that the 2020 election was going to be rigged.  Of course, there was no proof of that, but he did say that he would only accept the results if he was declared the winner.

Then it makes perfect sense why before the assault to Capitol he hosted the “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington DC.  What do you think a name like that would prompt into attendees who travelled from all corners of the United States to see him speak?

Trump finally addressed the crowd at noon, but before that time his loyal supporters were listening to a bunch of speakers who were revving their discontent – and validating “the importance” that brought them to the capital that day – after traveling from all corners of the United States – largely at their own expense.  Yet there were some Trump campaign donors, and even Alex Jones pledged $50,000 to the cause.  But it is obvious that 50 grand is not near enough to make a dent on the gigantic amount of resources January 6 took collectively.

Some quick math considerations: -Lodging in D.C. (generally three figures a night) -Transportation to DC either driving or getting there (flights, caravan, whatever).  Parking is not free most everywhere in D.C. -Transportation Inside D.C. from wherever their hotel or lodging was arranged -All the Trump regalia they draped themselves with (flags, shirts, hats, hoodies, etc.) -Meals -Time Off from work (vacation time / sick days / etc.) -Childcare (back home) for whomever that is commuting from out of area.  And even if they brought their kids – they still need a place to stay while they attended the event.

I can go on, but hope this makes the point.  So, even thinking about the logistical nightmare that would be for loyal Trump MAGA supporters – imagine what it would be if those storming the capitol were “posing as MAGA” as some conspiracy theorist seem to assert.  I can tell you that it is hard enough for Democrats to go out and vote, unless they feel it is very-very important to do so.  They would not go out of their way to invest all that time in effort just to discredit Trump.

You can see more about the timeline of events for January 6, 2021 at the following link.  Credit to NPR for that report.

A timeline of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack — including when and how Trump responded : NPR

 

But again, bringing this full circle.  Democrats and many other Republicans simply did not want to give Trump another chance to sit in the Oval Office.  The country was not better off when he was President – it might have seen like it was from the outside in like it was good, but working for the U.S. Government when he was in Office, I can tell you that we had to do a lot of damage control every time he would go on a Twitter rampage. Although the current administration has plenty of room for improvement, at least I am not worried about what the next scandal will be.

And about scandals – there were so many under Trump, that even before we got a chance to process one, the next two were already making headlines.  I’ve mentioned it before, and it is worth repeating.  This creates a media oversaturation that hides in plain sight important indicators to a larger issue.  Some of us who like to pay attention to that, then can identify when these “hidden issues” percolate and appear.  That is one reason why I am not surprised about the geopolitical events that occur.  That includes our domestic policy.

Fast forward three years, and Trump has won absolutely zero cases regarding his narrative of the election been stolen.  60+ cases spearheaded by Rudy Guiliani as his former lawyer.  Guiliani not only lost every case – he had to file for bankruptcy due to a lost case for defamation.  And to add insult to injury Trump never paid Guiliani for all his legal services on Trump’s behalf.  Also, his legal team flipped on Trump, and will be witnesses against him in criminal court in the next few months.

Fox News had to pay a 787 million dollars settlement for reporting that the election was stolen, and blaming Dominion for this alleged irregularity.  Whenever Fox News had to prove in court that what they were reporting was factual.  They could not, because it was not true.  Other far right news outlets were also required to fact-check themselves on air in order to avoid the lawsuit.  Why did they concede to Dominion if they (these far-right news outlets) had actual proof?

The answer is obvious, there was no proof that the election was stolen.  It has been recounted a bunch of times, and researched to exhaustion.  The only thing proven was that this was in fact the most secure election thus far.  And that would actually give credit to Trump, because was technically under his watch.  Therefore, talking about the election been rigged is actually a hit on his own record, because that would mean he did not do his due diligence to have a secure election.  In other words, he is searching for a lose-lose solution.  But fortunately, the facts are what they are.  This was a fair election – and Biden defeated Trump.

It is worth repeating what I said three years ago.  Republicans are perfectly fine showing up to rallies and buying tons of merch.  Democrats generally do not do that type of stuff.  They will show support by reading what’s available and showing up to vote in any convenient way available to them.  Sometimes it’s in person – but during the pandemic the mail-in-ballot option was a lot more attractive to them.  Hence, they voted in troves by mail.  Trump could have taken advantage of mail-in-ballots, but he preferred to ask his followers to go out and vote in person.  And that is exactly what they did.

They showed up to the polls in person – at least the ones who were not either dead or sick with COVID during election day.  The Biden campaign probably already realized that advertising on any right-wing outlet – especially those MAGA consume was just going to be a waste of money.  So instead, they advertised in outlets that would target democrats and undecided voters.  It worked, the popular vote for Biden superseded Trump’s tally by more than seven million votes.

However, these optics make it counterintuitive for a lot of right-wing voters to ascertain that Biden had a following.  Because obviously he did not appear on their television screens.  Why should he?  Was he going to be able to change any MAGA Republican Minds to vote for him in 2020?  There was a better chance for a cargo ship to navigate on top of a bunch body-builder squirrels marching in unison on a residential street than for a Trump voter to vote for Biden.  Hence, Biden chose places where he would be better received.  It is a commonsensical strategy when you think about it.

Trump has never won the popular vote, but was able to win the Electoral College in 2016.  Democrats learned their lesson, because they were losing seats in the previous elections.  And many could [rightfully] argue those were self-inflicted wounds.  In either case MAGA Republicans endorsed by Trump did not perform very well in the polls in subsequent elections.  That is of course a harsh reality many MAGA Republicans would prefer was not true.  Sure, that is normal, nobody likes to be defeated.  And as I said earlier, some of them really thought the country was going to be destroyed – yet, here we are – there have been some records of how well it has been going – although there is plenty of room for improvement.

For many people in the United States of America, sadly today is not a very significant date for them.  For some of us who are paying attention to what is going on (sometimes on their behalf), we’ve realized already what many who got turned off by Trump eventually realized.  The difference is that we did not have to either go behind bars, or lose a lot of time and money to become aware of it.

 

Food for thought, and cult of personality advisory.

This applies to Trump followers, but it could very well apply to any person to whom we develop a cult of personality.  Trump can be charming and even funny to some.  He might sound like he is “authentic” and even caring about others.  But is he though?  The same can be said about any person with whom you had a relationship of any kind that enjoyed your attention and devotion.

There is no shortage of people who have disavowed Trump, and I’m not talking about “Liberals” or “Progressives” or “Never-Trumpers” – I’m talking about hard-core MAGA Republicans.  If you are a MAGA Republican reading my words right now, YOU might not be feeling that way towards Trump right NOW (and maybe even resent me for the time being).  But it could very well be sooner or later that you will change your mind about him.  Why?

Let’s do a quick parallel example to illustrate.  Remember a time whenever you were hanging out with a person who had a lot of baggage and your loved ones were warning you against hanging out with this person?  What happen in the end if this person was indeed full of crazy baggage?  Hopefully you realized what your loved ones warned you about time and time again.  Yet, if you are a living-breathing human being, there is a non-zero chance you blew off all your loved ones and decided to hang out with this person who was clearly not good for you.  It could have taken days, months, even years sometimes.  But eventually, you got to see for yourself what everyone warned you about.

At some point, the indicators are just too many to ignore.  No matter how much you truly adore and admire a person – the facts are what they are regardless of their love and devotion to them.  For an extreme example, if your child goes and murders somebody in cold blood – you might still love your child, but you will have to come to terms with the fact that your child did something that cannot be condoned, no matter how much you want to justify it.

To a much larger extent, because blood has been shed by people who want to protect Trump’s rhetoric – yes, there are people with proclivity to violence who are just waiting for marching orders.  That should be very disturbing to any person.  The only group who wins if we descend into a civil war are adversarial regimes who want to defeat America.

Sure, that there is a lot of emotional baggage every time indictments, lawsuits, impeachment inquiries, criticism, and so much more is being directed at Trump.  But that is not YOUR baggage, that is Trump’s baggage.  Bluntly put, it is cause and effect.  The difference is that it is put in black and white, and he is getting a level of accountability that did not occur in the entire time of his Presidency.  Fast forward to today, and there is a huge number of people who understand the dangers of putting him back in the office.  And I am not talking about Democrats saying this – this is coming from Republicans.

There is no shortage of Republicans who have a lot of following all over social media disavowing Trump, and encouraging others to do exactly that.  In fact, there are some who are even rooting for Biden on this election, because they feel that is the best course of action at this point in our history, and for our country.  You’re welcome to agree or disagree with them about this.  But the question should be “why are they going through such lengths?” If [on first impression] handing the steering wheel to the Democrats is not “on their best interest.”

Well, this is the truth, party loyalty is not everything.  The best interests of the country are nonpartisan.  Sadly, there is a very real threat of a non-insignificant number of MAGA Republicans who have a proclivity for violence.  Most of the countries prefer not to give power to those few people who could do great amounts of damage to the rest of the country should they get unlimited power.

January 6, 2024 is a wakeup call that has been snoozed for three years.  It is a call for people to understand what is truly affecting our political discourse, and if whomever is enjoying our loyalty, devotion and affection is the right fit for ALL Americans.  Some might think that only “certain” Americans are to be in a privileged position – then that is not America – America is a land of equal opportunity and accountability for everybody based on their merits and their character.

I will finish by saying that the rhetoric of a 2024 stolen election by the Democrats is already floating around in the national discourse – mainly promulgated by Trump himself.  Much like he did for 2020.  That is propaganda, it is not true.  The voters will decide in the end if Trump is given a second chance.  That is if he can pass the Supreme Court case that is reviewing the Colorado decision to get him off the ballot.  The case is going to be heard in the near future.  And yes, Trump was removed from the Ballots in those states because of the January 6, 2021 insurrection.

I don’t want to think too hard on what the future will hold, but what I can tell you is that nothing that is happening has surprised me.  I have my suspicion of what the US Supreme Court will rule – We’ll see if I am still right.  My hunch is that it will be voted by party lines letting Trump stay in the ballot, thanks to the Conservative SCOTUS majority.  If that is not the case, I would be very surprised.  But if he is disqualified, I can only begin to imagine how divisive the next several months will be.  HLC

Get your copy of “AUTHORITARIANISM & PROPAGANDA The Puppet Master Tools”

 

As my little platform got more traction, the trolls started to appear.  I expected it, and even interacted with some.  I learned a lot about them and me.

 

Engaging with trolls.

Counterintuitive to many (even myself perhaps) the (very few) trolls who landed shortsighted comments on my platforms – they were quite entertaining.  Maybe not for the reasons most people think.  But for starters I am not a person who needs external validation, therefore no matter how offensively superior these keyboard warriors pretend to be, I just find them tragically amusing.

I also notified them that I might write about them, and the fact that when I interact with them – THEY are not my actual target audience, but rather anybody who might benefit from this interaction.  Also, however shortsighted their commentaries, it somehow counts as “engaging” for my platforms.  So, as I am steadily growing in social media it becomes a win-win.  I get entertainment and material to write, plus it engages with other viewers who get to see our interaction.

With that said, let me be clear that I do not intend to interact with every troll out there.  Fortunately, my audience for the most part is amazing people.  Whenever I was interacting with these trolls, I just so happened to be working on something else that was important but more akin to “busy work” on my computer – and these little breaks interacting made me laugh – but I did not spend more than a few seconds on each interaction.  Whenever I have important stuff to do, they would get no reply.

Yet once in a while, we’ve all been there – we have tasks that need to get done on a computer that are mundane enough but need to get done – well that was me during these interactions.  If you guys find this topic as interesting as I did, I might make it into a series. If these guys came unsolicited to start some ridiculous stuff – the least I can do is to share how ridiculous their assertions tend to be.

For today I am going to choose only one from a couple of examples that I encountered while hanging out on “X” (Twitter).  There is no shortage of trolls and others who are not necessarily trolls but definitely feel vindicated on spewing all kinds of ignorant opinions, disguised as facts.  Yet, some of them have a very substantial following, and that is one of the reasons why I decided to write this article.  Because in some instances their rhetoric does resonate with other people who are just as confused.

And yes, all of these trolls are supposed to be residents from “civilized” Western Nations.  But despite this, their tunnel vision perception of the world creates a concerning situation for me.  They are the microcosmos of a much larger problem.  I’ve written about it for years.  It does not matter what the topic is, some people are just divisive.  Conversely, I prefer to be a unifier and an educator.  That is what I did during these interactions.

 

A troll or just a very confused individual?

Well, in reality they can be both and one on the same.  Some people just engage because they are sophomoric enough to think that being a jerk is somehow the zeal of ingenuity.  Others truly feel compelled to voice their opinions because they either want attention, or because they feel they have “something to say.”

But let’s understand that having “something to say” does not equal “adding to the conversation.”  The examples I will talk about for this article are in one of many very different subjects.  For today I’ll cite a religious extremist – in this case he happens to be Catholic.  You can see the full exchange at the link below.  In a future article I’ll talk about an example with a climate change denier.

The religious extremist person did change the thread flow as the conversation continued, but hope this gives you an idea of the tenor of our conversation.  To be honest I don’t feel like looking frantically for every thread he started.  Because he often engaged in circular reasoning – so this is pretty much the gist of it.  But you’re more than welcome to read through this and any of my replies.  I stand-by my words.

 

ZakTheTemplar ✝️ on X: “@crisis_half @nytimes Yeah I did in regards to the LGBT community. You agree with their protests? May I ask what happened for you to take such a stance against Faith? Something genuinely must have happened for you to challenge It? Do you reject the Bible?” / X (twitter.com)

 

In either case, this one like all these trolls came with the usual tell tales of a person who start with guns blazing on attack mode as their own perception for being a “mighty keyboard warrior” feels like vindication.  In reality, as you will see in any examples I am citing, they were very confused about many basic facts, and they have no shortage of double standards when it comes to their thought process.

Eventually this and the others stopped bothering me, but I did take them for a ride around their own biases until they had to hit the proverbial brick wall.  My life is still as good as it was before we ever interacted.

If I was a betting man, both of them – none of whom I’ve ever heard of again, likely still have the ordeal of our conversation chewing inside their minds – even if unconsciously.  I am very familiar with putting the proverbial mirror in front of people if push comes to shove, and they will see their demons displayed in full sight.

We can try to run from the truth, but ultimately, we can never run from ourselves.  I don’t do this to be punitive, on the contrary, I might be the only person who is actually affording them the opportunity to see themselves for who they really are.  Even if they don’t realize it now and won’t realize it for a while why this was for their own good.

Are they going to change?  I don’t know – but I did my part.  Behind each troll I saw a scared lonely person.  Understand that people can be alone in a crowd and even when in a committed relationship.  In every case their avatar has “something” that was not them as their own person (not even a depiction of themselves), and of course their profile had no link to show who they really are.

That to me is cowardly because if you are “brave enough” to say something offensive, then you should be brave enough to show who you really are, and stand-by your words and actions.  It is worth noting my avatar though cartoonish is a depiction of me, and my profiles have links to my online presence, so you can see who I am as a person.  I’m not hiding.

In fact, I have been very vocal about everything you get to read on my site.  Actually, although it might seem paradoxical, I have been writing these cultural-propaganda-combating articles lately because I want to go back to writing more heart-warming things.  For instance, as I sit here overlooking my backyard and my daughter playing on her bike – I feel very sorry that a lot of confused people will be in the driver’s seat as she grows to the point where I can no longer function.  A lot of these confused people out there are gaining traction, and they are very much aligned with the example I’ve cited, and the others I’ll speak of in the future.

I’ll talk a bit more about each case if you guys want, and you can see this or any of our full conversations on our twitter page at the following link under the “replies” tab to enjoy all my comments.

Posts with replies by HALF Life Crisis (@crisis_half) / X (twitter.com)

 

Part 1 – The Homophobic Religious Intimidator.

To contextualize Pope Francis (Catholic) says he has changed his stance as far as blessing same sex couples to marry.  I commented that I am glad the Catholic Church is moving forward on this topic.  The homophobic comments soon after followed.  Apparently, they are very concerned about what consenting people do in private.  To me that’s creepy.

For the one I am citing, I came to find out that he is Catholic, he is definitely homophobic – but he is also [claiming to be] hiding because he is afraid of Muslim people in the United Kingdom.  As the conversation progresses you can see how his bravado lost a lot of traction.  I’ve had conversations like this one thousands of times throughout my life.  Usually, they end in a similar way.  They will realize they are indeed practicing double standards – even if they don’t voice it out loud.

ZakTheTemplar ✝️ on X: “@crisis_half @nytimes Yeah I did in regards to the LGBT community. You agree with their protests? May I ask what happened for you to take such a stance against Faith? Something genuinely must have happened for you to challenge It? Do you reject the Bible?” / X (twitter.com)

But everything I say to them is intended to create a sense of self-awareness and bring them full circle.  Especially if they are hypocrites.  By giving firm compassion (but not letting myself to be run over – that is not the same) – it flies in the face of their misconceptions.  They will get bitterly defensive and kick and scream – that is normal and expected.  They are actually realizing (even unconsciously) that they have been lying to themselves all along.

This is normal, and it is part of indoctrination and propagandistic purposes.  Paradoxically, this man is convinced that he is holding the truth – but his facts do not add up.  I would go on a limb to ascertain that he might actually lose his faith in the future – but not anytime soon.   He calmed down a lot as our conversation progressed – but it is because I know how traumatic this can be to a person like him.  He is lost, he needed help.  I don’t attack a person while they are down.

The man been attacking others ever since our interaction, and likely won’t understand what these double standards were for a while.  It would be extremely naïve for me to think this will resonate immediately based on his deep level of indoctrination.  But the seeds of this interaction will continue to be chewed in the back of his mind until one day he will wake up screaming with the epiphany.  That is normally how it goes down.

So why did I even entertain interacting with this person in the first place?  Well, because the problem is a lot larger than one person – like him many are thinking the same thing – but they are just not going to compel themselves to express their homophobic rhetoric openly.  It is worth repeating that this man just so happens to subscribe to Catholicism, and in no way, this implies that every Catholic out there is anywhere this extreme or confused.

My message was simple, why do you care what other consenting people do in the privacy of their bedroom?  He (like many religious parishioners – no matter their fate) threatened me with hell.  Which is funny because he actually thought I was perhaps a same-sex couple, I’m not – I’m a dude married to a lady and we have a daughter.  I am straight, but I am also not an asshole who judges people for their sexual orientation.  I say, if people love who they love as long as it is consensual – that is fine, and otherwise it is none of my business.  Just like what happens in the privacy of my marriage is none of anybody’s business – that simple.

Our conversation, after he started a keyboard attack, eventually met a head-on challenge to his stance on [misinterpreting the doctrines] on his own faith – while I was also defending other faiths.  None of which I practice by the way – but I am not a religious basher.  In fact, I always say that a person should be free to worship whatever makes them a good person.  It is when this worshiping start to usurp other people’s rights that I have a problem with.  And what he was doing was exactly that – particularly bashing same sex couples.

I realize he is still spewing a lot of divisive talking points – but I am more interested in shedding light on why these are so toxic.  Of course, I wrote an entire book about it, and it will be released sometime in 2024 as of the time I am typing this article.  But the reason is because some (and by some, I mean unfortunately a bunch) of people use their religion (whatever they subscribe to) as a catalyst and justification for doing some really messed up things onto others.

I find it especially atrocious when they frame in a manner that they are doing us a favor by imposing their doctrines by force.  And funny enough this very person says he is very much against owning guns – yet he is perfectly ok rejoicing if people would have an eternal damnation because they happen to love somebody from the same sex.  And again, why should that be any of his business?  An omnipotent deity does not need an errand boy to pass judgement.

But on judgement, they say in different sentences that only their God can judge.  But yet he started this entire conversation by attacking me for appreciating that the Pope was finally ending a centuries old prosecution of LGBTQ people.  For the more homophobic group I would emphasize – sure you don’t have to understand it, but that does not give anybody license for treating others with disrespect.  And plainly, it is nobody’s business if two consenting people love each other – except for those two people in that relationship.

That shortsightedness and negative rhetoric against LGBTQ really bothers me –Why?  Because they are people – we are all people, and we all deserve to live in peace.  All this extremist propaganda attempting to portray them as “groomers” in a derogatory manner, or any other nonsense is not only extremely insulting, it is also extremely dangerous.  Not just for the people who are targeted, but for the minds of those who tend to normalize this misunderstanding, and giving credence to a few ignorant people who speak from a self-proclaimed holier-than-thou platform.

And the [saddest] truth is that most people who have a problem with LGBTQ people happen to be also very much invested in whatever religion they profess.  Is that bad for religion?  Not necessarily, there are plenty of congregations who have evolved in their thinking and are not bigoted.  In fact, there are plenty of pastors who are LGBTQ.  I’m not a religious person myself, and even with that fact, I do not condone discrimination against any person whose faith makes them happy and fulfilled individuals.

In fact, I have friends from any faith you can imagine.  And some of them also have no faith at all – but we all have something in common – we are all human beings!  It is actually surprising to some people how many more similarities than differences we have – even when we span diverse cultures around the world. For example, that is what makes the United States of America such a wonderful nation.  We have living representation of essentially every corner of the world.

Our diversity is our strongest weapon – that is why outside entities who want to diminish America’s influence in the world first attack our diversity.  When we are fighting among each other, then we are weaker as a nation.  Somebody wins when that happens – and it is not America.  This divisive rhetoric has been running rampant in other countries around the world, and it has been successful at dividing their people.  Fortunately, most of the younger generations are a lot more open to the fact we are more similar than different.

The (perhaps) young man with whom I had this exchange did not care about those instances.  He was more interested in seeing the world from his own small viewfinder, and judging anybody else who did not see it the same way.  More than once I told him that his argument was not a compelling one.  I know for a fact that it hit him like a ton of bricks.  But regardless my message is unifying while his was divisive.  And I stand-by my words.

But it is worth noting that sometimes this division does not only happen on one side of politics.  Sometimes those who seem to be posing as “social justice warriors” might go on the opposition and ram way past the point of balance.  Hence, this makes people who otherwise would be like-minded and willing to be part of the combined solution instead take a wide “v” in a different direction.  What do I mean by this?  Sometimes people who might seem to be “on your side” from certain vantage points are actually more dead weight than help.

And it is this latter group that gives credence to these trolls.  It feeds their misconceptions and encourages that communication breakdown.  I am not advising people to engage with trolls, but I am saying that some of these trolls are just very sad lonely people who are clamoring for attention.  And because of that, they are actually quite vulnerable to exploitation by somebody actually smarter than they think they are.  And this exploitation can give them a “sense of purpose” – and this purpose can (and has) turn into a nefarious action.  Whatever this might be.

 

Part 2 (Coming soon) – The Climate Change Denier Conspiracy Theorist.

This dude even erased our conversation from his profile – which proves my point.  But You can enjoy it the next time you see this series, it is still immortalized under my own profile.

I originally wanted to put both parts in one article, but Part 1 took longer than I thought.  So, I decided while writing a mid-article that it was best to put it into a series.  You can look forward to the entire recount of that situation – it is tragically amusing, then eventually just becomes pathetic.  But it is worth checking out.

As I am getting closer to wrapping this article, please let me know if you want to see more of this topic.  I am not trying to bash these people; I want to use them as an example of how propaganda is alive and well – and how it is poisoning the universal discourse.  Yes, this is a global problem, not just a problem in the USA.

For future articles, let me know which one you want me to write first:

1. Please let me know if you want me to tell you the story about the “patriot who never served in uniform, but who is perfectly ok with stolen valor photos.”

2. Or the “dude who has an avatar with a depiction of ‘American Psycho’ and claims that his whole reason to join threads is to antagonize ‘liberals’ on the Threads app.”

3. Or the aforementioned “Climate Denier Conspiracy Theorist” who seems to be a lonely person who even his pet cat dislike him, and more than likely (and sadly) he will die alone.

Both of those gentlemen for 1 & 2 are very much enamored with Far-Right political views, and show how convoluted their world view can be.  For 3, I am not sure if he is left or right wing – but he is certainly a very confused individual.

In either case, my intent is not to put these guys out as the outliers – but rather to serve as a case study and as examples for how propaganda can rapidly spread misinformation.  In either case once they decide to comment on my site, that is consent for me to comment on their views.  I make it perfectly clear that I will do so if I find it important enough to create awareness.  Like them, there are many who will either vote for a crazy leader or even contemplate violence – even if in their minds they mean well.

Their profiles are also anonymous.  Like I mentioned before, they do not have the valor to show who they are behind their avatars.  I say this because I do not condone retaliation against any person.  If they had any actual identifiable information, I would not be using them as an example.  With that said, I hope you find as much value (or more) in our interactions as I did.  HLC

 

America’s polarization is accelerating, the early drumming of a potential civil war is being played – and I don’t like it.  This is what we can do about it!

Politics are still irrelevant – yes really…

It has been a while since the last time I got a chance to write a “Today in America” article – my favorite series on this blog-site.  But that has not stopped my predictions from becoming true.  What I find most disturbing of all right now is that the early drumming marching set-up for a potential Civil War – these indicators are ongoing.  Is that parabolic?  I wish it was, but the reality is a lot more complex and dynamic.

Politics are not as relevant as some people might think, because this visceral response is not about actual policy or doctrine.  Those attributes are incidental at best.  They only serve as a way to pick a “team” to “root for” or to “feel” part of.  Never mind that the actual platform policies have been already conflicting with their own narratives for years.  It is important to highlight that not everybody feeling compelled to “fight” this civil war is actually a “bad person” – many are just confused.  Especially some who are aggressors who think they are in fact defenders.

And in this confusion, they can feel vindication for their nefarious actions – THAT is why I find this situation most disturbing in these early states of the potentially-looming horrific divide. I’ve written before – several times, that for example, it is futile to label so called “MAGA” Republicans in any derogatory epithet and expect that is enough to reach a solution.  Communication breakdown is a key component of division.  It is intended to be that way.  In simpler words it’s a trap. I interact with people who have become victims of propaganda pretty much every day.

Many of them are honest-to-goodness good people, or at the very least their heart is in the right place.  However, their decisions are factored with faulty data.  Then the correct answer to them becomes counterintuitive, and arguing with them tends to becomes frustrating or even futile.  Especially if they realized they are wrong.  Some of them then just really want to piss you off.  For others it actually becomes a traumatic event.  Facts, and rationally be damned at that point.

But it is this lack of rationality that is so enticing to those demagogs who want to push a divisive narrative into an action.  Whatever this action might be, so long it is self-serving.  If does not matter if you are for or against it. It only matters if the conversation breaks down to the point that we stop listening to each other, and forgo any actual substance in the argument’s merit.  Especially if we happen to agree on key points.  Again, this is by design, and I’ve been talking about it for years, and I am quite frankly starting to get desperate, because we’re quickly approaching the point of no return.

What IS happening to America?

The latest incendiary issue to affect us all spans from the verdict ruled by the Supreme Court in the State of Colorado.  On December, 19 2023 – the Colorado Supreme Court voted to remove Donald J. Trump from the primary ballot.  Sure, there are a bunch of other things going on, but this is a catalyst for a lot more than what meets the eye.

Read the full 2013-page document here.
23SA300 Supreme Court Colorado Removing Trump Full Document

 

The grounds for the removal were put in effect because of a provision on the 14th Amendment of the United Sates Constitution that prohibits a person involved in an insurrection to run for office.  This a provision that dates back to the times after the Civil War.  In essence politicians who were pro-Confederacy were (and former Confederate themselves) sent to Congress by those same states who wanted to separate themselves from America.

Unsurprisingly, they were not very cordial to anybody who was not pro-Confederacy – yes even after the American Civil War. Fast forward to December 2023, love or hate Trump is not the issue here.  Nobody, and I mean NOBODY would have been able to run for office with his legal rap in a realistic Presidential-race.  In fact, with all his 90+ criminal charges and other civil charges he would most likely not been able to apply for even a low-level government job anywhere.  Not as a civilian, not as a military… he would have not been accepted.  I know that for a fact, because I am quite familiar with the process, having been working with the government for over 20 years.

And of course, it was recently broadcasted that more criminal charges might be added in connection with election interference.  This time in the State of Michigan.  So even if this pattern of misbehavior was a coincidence, at some point we have to face the reality that the probably for coincidences have long been exhausted.  It behooves to see the facts very pragmatically – especially for MAGA supporters.  Because if he is actually guilty, they are defending the indefensible.  And it also becomes their legacy.  Not unlike knowing that you’ve gotten swindled by somebody and giving them your sustained undeterred devotion.

To put this in context, every U.S. Government worker – being civilian or military must have at a minimum impeccable trustworthiness, loyalty, and character.  If any of those are impacted negatively in any way, then the person would not be selected for that job, and other candidates who do meet that minimal threshold would be considered for that (or any position) available. Hence it is only logical that for the most exulted office in the land, this minimum threshold should not be an exception.  In fact, a lot more is needed of the incumbent or aspirant for that job.  Sure, that Trump is innocent until proven guilty, but likewise when there are open cases (especially criminal cases) people applying for a government job do not get hired until it gets sorted out.  Why should a candidate be different?  Because he’s popular?  There are other candidates who could represent the ticket who do not have the same list of charges.

Let’s do a quick case study example.  Let’s say that a person who is seeking a job in a junior position which requires a security clearance has gotten into some legal trouble.  The case is still pending.  For example, let us say that the job deals with the maintenance of a particular weapons system.  The person might or might not be innocent of the charges, but how do we know for sure? So, the question is: Should this person be hired regardless?  Spoiler alert, the answer is NO.

And that is exactly what does happen in government – and it has for years.  Even contractors have a lot of limitations based on placement and access.  That being the case, what should we expect for the highest office on the land, the office with the greatest placement and access of all?  The answer is obvious. And we would have to be very naïve to think that accruing 90+ criminal charges, being twice impeached, and a plethora of other civil cases (which he has not won, or is losing) it is actually a very hard list of trouble to amass for any person.

Are ALL those charges frivolous?  Are they?  Are the prosecutors going to risk their career risking a mistrial?  Also, worth mentioning, why are most of Trump’s lawyers and co-defendants jumping ship and testifying against him?  At some point, the “benefit of the doubt” becomes more dubious than simple apathy for this man. However, his base will happily listen and believe anything that comes out of his mouth, and his acolytes.  However, they will disavow and even go on the offensive against those very acolytes, should they start speaking out of turn against Trump.

Some of those acolytes were themselves on the offensive of others beforehand – until it was their turn to be under the Trump train wheels.  For many of us, we are not surprised to see this happening.  Being Trump or anybody else, the actions are more important than who is enacting them.  If Biden was doing the same things, I would be writing about him too. But I digress.  However, there is no shortage of GOP members, to include presidential-hopefuls who are galvanizing in favor of Trump. I was actually surprised that many of them would actually take themselves off the ballot in Colorado to support him.  And that of course might have been naïve of me to think that they had some principles on the actual merits.

The promoter for that was Presidential Hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy.  He essentially dared the other candidates to do so.  I let Ramaswamy know every now and the of them via twitter my opinion when he pops on my feed and his words are dangerous to national security– not that I will ever get a response.  But I want to do my part, even if he does not understand why.  I always ask him to have his staff contact me for him to understand the unintended consequences for his often-misguided policies.   In either case I was hoping deep inside that the GOP hopefuls would take the hint that this is not a battle they want to fight.  Maybe a tactical advantage -because of Trump’s base, but the pages of history will state the truth – they are right now advocating for supporting a person who has been guilty of several crimes, insurrection in particular – and punishing their own campaigns in the process.

I was specially disappointed at Chris Christie who tends to be a very vocal dissenter of Trump – nowadays.  He has of course been humiliated by Trump before multiple times, and despite this Christie was also one of his most fervent supporters.  I don’t know if he realizes that cameras do record what he was saying.  But his flip flopping and excuses for his actions might be bought by a few people, but most people don’t trust him.  Hence the polls show it on the numbers for support among the GOP themselves.  The blue side would be goose eggs.

But I realize that to an extent that is irrelevant.  Just now I’ve been speaking with somebody on social media who is very much convinced of narratives that have been fed to him for years – and parrots propaganda points with a lot of confidence.  Even though his arguments have the water integrity of a hair net.  Facts be damned.  But the problem is a lot deeper than what we are seeing now, this propagandistic narrative has been building up for years, and it is accelerating.  And it needs to stop.  The only way to do so is by educating people who are perhaps blissfully unaware of all this chaos happening around them – to wake up!

 

The drumming of a Neo-American Civil War needs to be stopped.

Yes, it might seem like my articles turn into a shameless plug for my books, but I wrote them because of what is happening right now.  Everybody is “talking” about the symptoms of authoritarianism and some of the rhetoric, but missing the point by a factor of galactic proportions.  This goes for mainstream media, pundits, and a bunch of other – perhaps well intentioned locutors.  They are falling into the trap too.  My books, just like my writing pertaining to these articles, are not a vanity affair.  I am very disturbed by the events in the world, and I will use my platform, however (relatively) small at this time to do my part.

AUTHORITARIANISM & PROPAGANDA The Puppet Master Tools – get it here

We have to understand that propaganda is designed to be subtle in execution – even if the reactions it incites are very much on the nose.  I know that sounds like an oxymoron, but I is not.  You see, a propagandist plants some seeds, and these ideas are churning on people’s minds.  They become repeated from different angles, validated by other people repeating them, and suddenly they become normalized.  It does not matter if you are in the favoring or dissenting side of the [chosen] issue.  That is not important as much as how willing are you to be divisive against “the others.”

If you are on the side that is divisive – but on rooting for the home team, good news!  They got you – or you will become a token figure to be made an illustrious example to the larger audience.  A picture-perfect speaker.

If you’re rooting for the visitors’ team, stand by. They will either discredit you or try to quiet you down any way possible.  This is what I realize more and more is happening to the rest of the world who has an important message to share.  It won’t be surprising for you to see that some of the people with the most short-sighted and off-the-wall ideas are getting a lot of attention – AND followers!  And so are those who are distracting people from the real situation that is affecting their very lives.  Meanwhile, trying to get your foot through the door to speak your voice will feel like screaming into a void.  I know I’ve felt that way more often than I wish, though things are turning the tide – but perhaps not fast enough, given the urgency of the situation.

I’ve been pondering on that instance – though I am grateful that we have reached readers in 79+ countries, and there is a grass-roots audience who is receptive to the message we are conveying.  But there are millions out there who will prefer to be disengaged, but who will affect all our lives, like it or not.  I’ll continue doing my part to help the “algorithms” (which is the larger audience) find my content and spread my message.

I do get offers from many people who claim to be able to do so, but they haven’t read a word I’ve written.  I prefer not to give them my business if they haven’t taken that crucial first step.

But in the meantime, this “junior clout” makes it very difficult to get across to others who need to hear this message.  Because of the inheriting emergency for this topic.  For that reason, I’ve decided not to be subtle at all, and I am going to be engaging with people who have large platforms until they get sick of me.  Or finally re-engage.  I am not rude, but I am going to be appearing more and more on their feeds until those who review the” engagement” finally get the epiphany I’m trying to transmit.

The truth is that I cannot keep waiting until maybe one day those with a larger platform figure out who I am and what I was trying to say.  I do this project (Half Life Crisis) on my own (my daughter is my team mate, but she is only 12) while trying to retire from Active Duty Navy – so this is incumbent on me to put this together in the most effective manner.  That is why I keep asking for help to spread my message.  This is no different, but the reason why I say that is because I see a neo-American Civil War approaching, and by the time I finally reach some clout it might be a moot point.

Nothing that has happened in the last several years has surprised me, and so far, I’ve been spot on in every prediction.  The only way to stop it is if people understand what is REALLY at stake and how to reverse these bad trends.  It is disturbing to me that most people I speak to have no idea about the insurrection on January 6, 2021.  Some are even in denial that for the first time in our lifetimes the former and current Presidents of the United States were not present together for the peaceful transfer of power.

Those controversial moments are wonderful news for other nations who are suppressing their people under authoritarian regimes.  “If it happens in the United States, then it is very easy to let it happen in any other country around the world.”  This new trend should be a very disturbing situation to anybody.  It most definitely is very disturbing to me.  That is why I keep writing about it.

I realize that the tenor of my article is a bit darker.  I don’t wish it to be that way.  But the fact is that we have to adapt to the environment, and the environment is dangerously chaotic.  There have been a lot of instances where violence and dehumanizing rhetoric continues to normalize.  In fact, some people even seem to welcome it.  When people such as Trump call their opposition “vermin” or “poisoning the blood” of our country.  Those were words used by Hitler himself.

When Trump says point blank that he would be a dictator “only on day one” – that should not be tongue in cheek.  Most disturbing is the fact that his base actually cheers and applauds, yet they don’t realize that this divisive rhetoric is eerily similar to what others have communicated before some of the worst chapters in our history.

The solution is ensuring that people go out and vote understanding what they are really voting for.  Understand the policies, and understand the urgency of the situation.  There is a much larger world than the United States alone.  And some of those authoritarians have already galvanized their power over there.  It is going to happen here sooner than we know – but we still have time to work together.

If you haven’t yet, please read and share my books with everyone you know, so we can continue this important conversation.  Time is running out, and anything else we try to do will become a moot point.  I’m doing my part, the best I can – but I am only one man.  Thank you for being part of this solution!  HLC

 

Authoritarian propaganda is on the rise in the United States of America, and around the world.  Some people have not noticed it yet.  Hence, I write about it!

 

It is no secret that I am a huge advocate against misinformation.  And misinformation thrives in propaganda.  Propagandists are in the business of dividing people into two groups: Obedient fools and anybody who dissents with their “approved” rhetoric.

 

Politics are irrelevant – yes really…

I’ve said it before, and I say it again.  Authoritarians and propagandists do not give a crap about your politics.  That is incidental at best.  It is more valuable for them to understand what your biases are so these can be exploited.  Either they will have you fight on their court (by coercion or otherwise gaining your volunteering candor), or put you in the dissenting camp.  Depending on how powerful you are on the dissenting side it could affect if these dynamics will turn violent – and no, more power does not necessarily mean fewer attacks.

My last article I wrote about how pleasantly surprised I was with this new “Threads” app from Meta.  I’m not alone, most people I’ve had the pleasure to interact with in threads feel the same way.  Actually, talking about how rough the “X” Twitter neighborhood has gotten there seems to be a common trend with the Threads crowd.  And deep inside I start to worry that inadvertently this great new app will become another matter of division between one “political stance” against another.

We saw something similar during COVID between mask or no mask, and vaccine or no vaccine.  Clearly although there is a level of diversity for politics in “X” there is a lot of contention in any comment section.  In threads it is actually not like that – not that I’ve seen at least for the most part.  I’ve had some wonderful conversations from people from all walks of life, and this keeps validating my point that we are more similar than different.

But remember, this is not convenient to a propagandist.  I feel very strongly about this, that is why I wrote two books that speak about how propaganda has been weaponized throughout history, and how this is affecting us right now.  Right now, a non-insignificant part of the population is blissfully and willfully ignorant of how a dark chapter of history is repeating – except that in this century the destruction would be exponential.

Authoritarianism & Propaganda: The Puppet Master Tools by J. Marcelo Baqueroalvarez | BookBaby Bookshop

Woke & Proud: The Charlatans’ Inconvenience by J. Marcelo Baqueroalvarez | BookBaby Bookshop

 

And this is happening already, there are major armed conflicts in strategic geographical choke points RIGHT NOW!  Also, there is no shortage of people gaining seats of prominence around the world who are prominently displaying indicators for this dark period.  Sure, that a lot of that is not “news” worthy to some – but it is happening.  Sadly, news stories and even a lot influencers covering geopolitics are still tethered to an algorithm that would either gain or lose an audience.  The algorithm IS the audience – and the fact is that the audience usually prefers not to hear about something that is going to scare the s–t out of them in a non-fiction manner.

Trust me, I am an analyst – it depresses the living s–t out of me too… but not for the reason you might think.  It depresses me because I feel like 90% of the time I am screaming into a void, but only a small fraction is reacting to what we try to do to save their very lives.  I understand the concepts are abstract and it will seem hyperbolic to many people.  It is designed to be that way.  Please don’t feel bad if you’ve fallen victim to that – propaganda is a sinister art form, and it is subtle enough to become part of a person’s own identity.

People who have a strong political, religious, organizational, or any other type of bias also have more proclivity to being exploited by a propagandist pushing for authoritarian rhetoric.  In fact, for the targeted audience, it will feel counterintuitive to agree with anybody other than their “dear leader.”  Again, it is designed to be that way.

Good people, patriotic people, people of faith, people of good “moral values,” people who are [actually] altruistic are also prone to be victims of this reality.  Yes, I know, right? – Counterintuitive.  When people and their community feel that they are vindicated over a particular world view – no matter how destructive – it will not matter to the person who has fallen into this echo chamber.  Suddenly this becomes an “us against them” situation.  And it works, and it has worked for years.  That is why I wrote my books, to shed some light on that reality that is hidden in plain sight.

 

How do you know if you’re being bamboozled?

There are many ways to realize if a person is getting bamboozled.  And I’ll be honest, I’ve been dealing with a few swindlers and scammers even very recently.  I identified that in the first moments of our interaction – but it is fascinating to see how they operate.  So, I let it go for a while.  First because I want (perhaps naïvely enough) to see if me being the better person is going to wake up that conscience inside them.  Yes, that does happen.

And second, because I like to see firsthand their tactics – and what type of language they use.  How they use “sugar” to bring us closer – and slowly moving from altruism to a [covert] scam.  They will appeal to your better nature, learn from you, and use this against you, try to guilt you into something.  And continue to try to manipulate you.  I can see this in the first seconds of an interaction.

When somebody is lying, no matter how well they try to craft a lie, the math is not going to add up somewhere.  I on the other hand am forthcoming.  And I am true to my principles, so I will treat everybody the same – give everyone the benefit of the doubt.  That does not mean that I am not tracking what is actually going on.  And I don’t lie… but I will walk away.  These swindlers come more often than you might imagine.  Sadly, for years I’ve seen these attempts.  Some are more sophisticated than others.

Propaganda is very similar.  I’ve mentioned this before – no matter what political figure you favor (especially if you’re an ultra-fan of this person); I’m willing to bet that if somebody talks smack about this person who enjoys your devotion, you’ll be prone to be defensive or go on the offensive.  Why is this happening?  Because this person of your devotion has become a reflection of you – with all your virtues and idiosyncrasies.  Let this go uncontrolled long enough and it becomes a cult of personality.

But these cults of personality can become extremely dangerous, even if the authoritarian wanna-be does not actually end up being elected.  These seeds are planted and another opportunist will be able to harvest them later.  That is why it is so important to differentiate truth from bulls–t. That is why you won’t see me go on the attack to any left-or-right leaning person as a person – but I will address the merits of issues I find problematic.

The division of our people (all over the world) is rampant.  In some authoritarian countries, the dissenting has been quelched and people who were once free to speak their minds – they are very aware of what is the punishment for speaking “out of turn” on this current homeland.  Yes, this could happen in the United States of America if we are not careful.  And yes, we are trending that way – fast – and it is extremely disturbing to see.  That is why understanding who we elect to an office of influence is so important.

If somebody is pushing propaganda, it is actually very easy to identify.  They are divisive towards somebody else.  Equality only applies to a group, but there are repercussions, particularly very harsh repercussions to anybody who dares go against the grain of the like-minded-folks.  Otherwise, good and well-intentioned people are prone to fall for this trap.  If a propagandist is making you a useful fool, consider the divisiveness of their rhetoric.

This is happening all over the world, there are even some “copy cats” who emulate not only mannerisms, buzz words, but even hair-cuts!  There is a reason why this works so well, because it creates a visceral response on people who feel that “finally somebody is doing something about this thing I am supposed to be mad about.”  And I am not saying that disagreeing is bad, in fact it is important to listen to dissenting points of view in order to come up with a better solution.

In fact, diverse opinions – even conflicting ones are part of any venture’s planning process.  Furthermore, not having dissention tends to bring a project towards failure because it was planned in a vacuum.  But dissention does not equal anarchy; however, the factors to be considered in a planning process must be factual – unfounded opinions will become time-wasters and people will start chasing elusive shiny objects in lieu of actual solutions.  Facts are logical, measurable, and demonstrable.

That means that they can be held to scrutiny and no matter how you feel about it, the fact will be what it is – like it or not.  For example, if you’re holding a paper cup – it does not matter what you want to call it, it is still a paper cup.  No matter if you use it for a different use than its designed intended purpose – it is still a paper cup.

I cited a paper cup because it is the closest object in front of me.  But the fact is that no matter how I view it, or show it, or demonstrate it, or measure it, or weight it, or x-ray it, or take a photo, or pour liquid on it, or spill the liquid from it, or draw a puppet on this cup… it does not matter… it is still a paper cup, there is no viable dissention.  A propagandist will try to convince you that this paper cup is a champagne flute or anything else for that matter.  And in fact, you may even pour champagne on it – but even with that – the reality is that this reception remains a paper cup.

I’ll be as blunt as to say that I am sick and tired of this division among otherwise good people.  I have reached people with larger platforms than mine – not everybody has been very receptive – some have not even answered at all.  But there are enough who are listening and we (Half Life Crisis) will be featured in more outlets in the coming weeks.  I won’t give up because I don’t want the dark pages in our history to repeat and sit idle as I see the world burn down.  And yes, so many places around the world are burning down.  Even some people in my reader’s audience are surviving in places where the conflict they are struggling against (right now) found them.

I’ve said it so many times before, but it is worth repeating.  Please help me spread this message.  I wrote my books in order to speak about that in detail.  Admittedly, some of the people who have read my book stated that they found it a lot more eye-opening than they thought at first.  I’m happy to hear that, because that was the intent.  The books are thought-provoking and designed to unmask the propaganda hidden in plain sight.

If you have a platform, all I really ask you is to please give it a chance and read some pages (even if it is the preview in any of the outlets available).  My books are non-fiction and the topics are extremely emergent.  Things are continuing to deteriorate around the world very rapidly – and that includes these United States.  We can stop authoritarianism on its tracks – together.  I’ll continue doing my part shouting it onto any platform I can find.

Thank you for spending this time with me.  I will close by reiterating that the reason why I have been emphasizing these topics is because this is affecting us all – no matter where in the world you are today.  We are all in this together, and much like the “Threads” app, there are a lot better people out there than bad ones hijacking the narrative.  We can regain control – together!  HLC

 

Authoritarianism & Propaganda: The Puppet Master Tools by J. Marcelo Baqueroalvarez | BookBaby Bookshop

Woke & Proud: The Charlatans’ Inconvenience by J. Marcelo Baqueroalvarez | BookBaby Bookshop

When you are a United States Navy Sailor stationed in Hawaii, you are forever linked to the history of valor our shipmates endured during December 7, 1941.

Sunday, December 7, 1941 the U.S. Military forces on the island of Oahu woke up to a surprise attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service.  The main target was the U.S. Navy Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.  2403 military and civilians were killed during the attack. This event became the catalyst for the United States of America to enter World War II (WWII).

Remember Pearl Harbor

It has been 82 years since that Sunday morning.  It would be several decades before any readers would have been born when this attack took place.  I was stationed in Pearl Harbor for three years in the early stages of my military career.  Even back then, you could still see the palpable reminders of the horrors from that day.  This humbling and sobering feeling has been with me ever since.  It is very different when you are walking through the same areas where these brave souls fought back.

War is hell.  Aside from the obvious – it is also because the adversary gets dehumanized.  People who have feelings, parents, loved ones, goals, and dreams – they become targets.  Most times anonymous targets, just another number destined to be eliminated.  Contrary to popular belief, military forces are put in place not to make war, but rather to prevent war.  I know, it sounds counterintuitive, but we’ll speak more about that shortly.

I cannot speak, nor would I dare to speak for the Pearl Harbor Veterans, and for all those who were front and center during that day.  But I can very well talk as a person who wears the cloth of the United States of America for two decades.  Any military person I’ve met can attest that there is an inseparable bond between people who have answered the call of duty.  And the sacrifices made by our siblings in service during this attack are indescribable, and we owe them a debt of gratitude.  Their lessons and legacy still resonate today.

On that morning, the entire fleet moored in Pearl Harbor was still asleep.  It was a Sunday morning, or as we call it holiday routine.  Giving the Sailors a well-deserved chance to have a little bit of rest from the otherwise hectic and laborious days.  While many slept, others stood watch guarding their sleep.  The attack was meant to catch these Sailors and other uniformed military and civilians by surprise while they were least able to respond.

It was this rude awakening of epic proportions what ultimately caused the United States of America to enter WWII.  Until then, although the world had been at war for several years, the United States had maintained its distance.  But with the adversarial powers invading the world, this unprovoked attack was something that would start a chain of events and battles, which eventually resulted in the first nuclear detonation as a matter to stop the war.  Fast forward several decades, and now we are once again at the potential brink of war.

Back then the USA did not start WWII, but it was the country that ended it.  But the cost for that victory continues to this day in ways that were likely unimaginable back then.

 

Lessons from Pearl Harbor – Today.

Most of us are familiar with the bravery and aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor.  Some people might be surprised to hear that at the time of the attack Hawaii was not yet officially part of the United States, as a state.  Hawaii became the 50th state to join to join the United States of America on August 21, 1959.  That is 18 years after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The row for Hawaii to become a state is a very complex story, and the history is quite contentious.  Therefore, I will write about it at a different time.  But keep a pin on that thought because the key factor that I want you to realize is strategy of the highest order.  In warfare, and strategic (as world-countries) planning, geography is a key element.  Much like if you are playing a board game such as chess – the geographical disposition and everything that is included in that geography is much like that board game.

During WWII the Japanese Emperor and his Flag Officers very much understood that concept.  For anybody who is familiar with warfare and wargaming, this will be perhaps a basic concept, but not an elementary one.  In other words, this is a base where other strategies are built upon.  Where am I going with all this?  WWII is over, the ideology that was behind WWII has not yet surrendered.  The faces of the adversaries might have changed, since foes are today allies – and vice versa.

However, authoritarian ideologies have perdured and especially lately they have been gaining a lot of traction.  There is plenty of exploitative money and power in misinformation, and this is nothing new.  The difference is that today we should be able to understand the difference – because before the flow of information was very much curtailed in the past.  Today, we have an oversaturation of information mixed with rampant falsehoods disguised as facts.  There are entire industries built on that misinformation flow.

Today’s currency is attention.  And attention can be misdirected in ways that can either galvanize a segment of the population that is prone to action, and entice another large segment to stay idle, and satisfied about being manipulated (for some even wittingly if they considered it futile to even try to change that reality).  But the great majority of people live their lives as though they are free – when in reality that freedom is very relative to what has been normalized as adequate in their existence.

With some of my fellow analysts in uniform we were asking ourselves the following questions: Has World War III (WWIII) started and we are not yet aware of it?  As we look at the current young generation of Sailors and uniformed members (both from the USA and allied), we ask ourselves.  Are there any WWIII veterans in this room, ship, unit or wherever else and they don’t yet know it?  We were asking ourselves these questions years ago.  And it does not take a doctorate degree to see how the instability has accelerated so much in the last several months.

And for us to understand if WWIII has already started, it is a good way to ask ourselves, when did WWII start?  That is a trick question, because it started on a different date, depending on where you were or lived at the time.  For us in the United Sates of America it started in 1941 when Pearl Harbor was attacked.  Yet the world was already in the path from war in the 1920’s very shortly after World War I (WWI) ended in 1918.  And yes, WWI was the catalyst for WWII.  So, what does that mean for WWIII?

WWII started in full swing for Great Britain well before the start of the war was officially noted as September 1, 1939 when [at the time] Nazi Germany invaded Poland.  Even though it is officially articulated that Britain declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939.  But it would be extremely naïve to think that Great Britain was not anticipating this situation from occurring.  Although not everybody in power in Britain agreed that this was a problem, there were enough who were tracking what later became obvious to the world.

Seeing indicators that are escalating at the geopolitical level should not be surprising for anybody that I am bringing them up – I have been talking about these indicators for years.  Fortunately, it seems that my words are getting more traction, thanks to you my beloved readers.  Half Life Crisis has readers now in 80 countries spanning every continent except for Antarctica.  Which is good, because WWIII would very much affect the entire world, even if it was only a few who nuked at each other.  That is what we are trying to prevent, by the way.

But to give you some perspective for what I mean.  Let us say for example that if two countries with a smaller arsenal – won’t name names for this example but here are the nine countries with nuclear weapons as I type this.  The United States, Russia, France, China, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, India, Israel, and North Korea.

If any or a few of these escalated to nuclear conflict, the entire world would be destroyed very soon after the initial target area was vaporized.  Why?  Because of the nuclear fallout, the nuclear winter, the plumes of radioactive dust clouds going far and wide, and of course the actual radiation and potential escalation of force based on geopolitical issues.  There are no winners.  That is what MAD (Mutual Assured Destruction) became a key deterrence during the Cold War.  The problem is that a lot of nations are very much escalating their rhetoric inviting the use of nuclear weapons.  If that ever-growing reality does not wake people up, I don’t know what could.

But no, the rhetoric does not start with nukes.  It has already been ramping up steadily and increasing traction in the last several years.  Unfortunately, much like it was before WWII a lot of people were blissfully unaware of it, or willfully ignorant for that matter.  Afterall, WWI was supposed to be the war to end all wars.  That happened, right?  Multinational wars, other than WWII had been fought several years after WWII officially ended on August 14, 1945 when Japan surrendered after the nuclear strikes in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

This weapon was so horrific that it stopped the conflict in its tracks.  However, the current nuclear weapons would make those strikes against Japan dwarfed by the destruction capable in todays’ arsenals.  How big is that explosion?  Well picture this – look out the window and see how high the highest jet-airliner is flying.  The mushroom cloud was significantly higher during the strike in Hiroshima.  Today the most destructive mushroom cloud would be about four times higher than that…. Which of course means that it would be a lot larger on the ground – and all that mushroom cloud fallout will also kill you and everyone you ever loved in the most agonizing manner.  And you cannot outrun it because the radioactive blast moves at about the speed of light.

When Pearl Harbor was attacked there were a lot of failures in the dissemination of critical information to prevent the catastrophe.  If we had but a millimetric fraction of the capabilities we have today to ascertain indicators, they would have not had a reason to be surprised.  Yet today’s weapon in the adversarial arsenal is not merely curtailing critical information, but the one they get for free and effortlessly – their adversarial willful ignorance.  And in case you did not realize it yet, we are considered the adversary to nations that do not particularly like us.  That is some food for thought.

The sacrifices and remembrances are not only supposed to be a solemn moment to stop in silence, for some to offer a prayer perhaps.  It is a lot more than that.  We owe a lot more to every person who lost or gave their lives with valor, to include those who were caught off guard.  There were indicators that could have prevented this from happening – even back then, but as I said, we have learned a lot since that day.  So, there is no excuse today for not understanding the impact of our actions or lack thereof, and how that plays in the great scheme of things.

I cannot think of a better way to honor our fallen men and women in Pearl Harbor, and the subsequent horror that engulfed the world for the next four years after the attack.  The world was already at war several years prior to the attack against Pearl Harbor.  Some people around the world even back then thought that it was “somebody else’s problem” – yet the war did reach every corner of the world, not just the battle grounds.  I remember my grandmother telling me how the war affected and destroyed lives all the way down in Ecuador when she was a child.  And South America is nowhere near where the battles were fought.

As I sit here reflecting on Pearl Harbor, I want to invite you to think about the lessons learned we have received ever since.  Every time you hear divisive rhetoric, speeches that dehumanize others, partisan politics, and party loyalty over substance, demagogs clamoring for attention by means of discriminating against any segment of the population, etc.  Remember that those were indicators that WWII was nearing its critical starting point – we can prevent that type of dark history from repeating… together.  HLC

I am more and more worried about the increased levels of authoritarian propaganda in the USA, and around the world.  It’s happening and it is destructive!

Yes indeed, it pains my heart to tell you that Authoritarian Propaganda is indeed happening in the USA right now.  In fact, it has been ramping up for a while.  And no, the USA is not the only place where this is happening, this is a lot more widespread than most people realize.  But there is a reason why I keep talking about it.

 

Let’s be blunt – because it is reality.

This is the kind of stuff that keeps me awake at night and has been keeping me awake for several years.  Unsurprisingly, both my books speak about this topic almost exclusively.  Today I want to talk a bit more about why I am so adamant about these topics.

Every day I hear it not only in the mainstream media, but also through independent commentators, and a bunch of other experts that are not affiliated with any media outlets.  This authoritarian propaganda is not only happening, but it is ramping up and accelerating.  Before I continue, I want to make sure that it does not matter if a person leans to the left, right, of balances in the center – we are all vulnerable to fall in this trap.  What do I mean by that?

Simple, the larger the level of polarization, and the expanding of this “us against them” rhetoric – the worst it will get.  And the hardest truth is that negotiating these differences in a vociferous manner might seem like the right thing to do.  In fact, it will feel counterintuitive to do otherwise – even this overt dissent is done with good intentions.  But that division is exactly what fuels authoritarian propaganda.  The cold-hard-truth is that we are actually a lot more similar than different.

Case in point, I hear a lot left-leaning pundits, hosts, podcasters, youtubers, etc., express some choice words against so called “MAGA” Republicans.  To a sizable segment of them it would be counterintuitive not to comment clamorously about their political leanings.  But that course of action does not help.  If you are from a left-leaning world view, have you ever tried to talk to a “MAGA Republican” about Trump in a derogatory manner?  (Or challenge Trump’s many controversies in their presence for that matter) How well did that go?

And the fact is that for better or for worse MAGA Republicans will not entertain any dissent against Trump.  But insulting a MAGA Republican intelligence and/or feelings about their patriotism is not going to help either.  If anything, it might make it worse.  And no, I am not a MAGA Republican myself, but I have met quite a few and they are not (as people) bad people.  You could argue that the information given to them is not fulfilling the entire context of an issue (if it dissents with Trump), or that they don’t care to see other points of view outside their preferred information outlet sources (by their own admission, they might not find those credible in their view) – but that is a different issue.

Likewise, not every Democrat is a “Liberal” as stipulated by red-meat-eating-Republicans when using the “Liberal” as an epithet in a derogatory way.  And progressive does not equal communist.  True that some left-leaning folks would go overboard on some of their rhetoric every now and then.  But guess what?  Going overboard on political views happens all over the political spectrum as well.  Why?  Because this visceral response is not a political issue at its core, it is a people issue.  In the United States of America “Left and Right” are not as straight forward as most people think.  There are a lot of intricacies that have a lot in common between those two otherwise polarized segments.  Why? Because people are complex.

 

Pop Quiz, are you left or right leaning?  Let’s see how you do perceive the political support and inclinations on these questions I pose to you below.  Please don’t over think these questions, because a lot of propaganda can be inserted under any of these topics.  It is best if you feel this is something you would support or are against it – as person.  And by putting yourself in those shoes.

·       Should people have a living wage for their work?

·       Should people be able to defend themselves?

·       Should people have to pay only a fair share of taxes?

·       Should people be able to be proud of their heritage?

·       Should people have freedom of religion?

·       Should people have freedom to become the person they are meant to be?

·       Should people have to risk going bankrupt for routine or emergency medical care?

·       Should the laws of the land apply equally to all citizens?

·       Should people have a safe place to lay their heads at night?

·       Should people have enough food to sustain their health?

·       Should people be able to make consensual decisions as cognizant adults?

·       Should people be able to pursue goals that make them feel whole?

·       Should people be able to live in a safe community?

·       Should people be able to live without being discriminated against by the color of their skin, but rather be judged by the content of their character?

·       Should people be able to attain a level of education that helps them, and the country become better and more educated?

·       Should people be able to keep entitlement programs at retirement age after they have paid into these for their entire working lives?

·       Should people live in a country that has safe and decent public infrastructure (roads, bridges, etc.).

·       Should people be able to afford dwellings without running the risk of becoming homeless because of cost of living and price hikes?

·       Should people be able to elect their leaders without having special interest groups deciding on their behalf by manipulating district demographics?

·       Should people have access to clean water and edible food in the richest country in the world?

·       Should people have viable options for energy without having to pay exorbitant amounts.

·       Should people be able to live in a country where inflation is controlled and not having to pay more for less?

·       Should America have more opportunities for manufacturing “made in USA” – that are not prohibitable or extremely expensive for consumers?

·       Should people have the right to choose what they do with their own bodies as cognizant and consensual adults?

I can go on, but I hope this makes the point.  Yes, those questions are open-ended.  But there is a much larger point to be made – and – a common denominator to all this.  The question was in essence if the interrogates I posed are left or right leaning questions.  Surprise – they are both left and right simultaneously!  I’ve been saying it for years, we are more similar than dissimilar.  The great majority of us want a better country for all of us – where we can be free!

For example, on my second question: “Should people be able to defend themselves?”  I am sure many eagled-eye politically savvy readers assessed this to be a second amendment right question, and for the right-wing segment assess that this is mostly a right-wing stance.  Particularly if “defend themselves” is congruent with owning guns, sometimes lots and lots of guns.  Well, sorry to burst that bubble, there is no shortage of left-leaning, liberals, and any other flavor of democrats that do have a lot of guns – and they love those guns too.

In other words, it is not only Right-Wing Republicans who own and love their guns.  There are plenty of Left-Wing Democrats who own them and love their guns too.  I will go on a limb and assess that both Republicans and Democrats are against mass shootings.  As they should.  And that goes in line with the question: “Should people be able to live in a safe community?”  And the answer should be unequivocally YES!

And the truth is that according to many scientifically evaluated polls, the majority of Americans ~81% in fact, want common sense gun regulation.  And no, that does not mean that somebody in the federal government is going to confiscate the guns, that is a propaganda point.  And unsurprisingly it will get people really frantic.  Don’t feel bad if you’re one of them, propaganda is designed to be visceral in nature.  That is why it is so effective and can go unnoticed.

In fact, propaganda could very well fish for your concurrence – but of course it leaves a lot of important contexts out of your decision-making process.  That is why it would become counterintuitive when actual facts get challenged.  It is designed to be that way.

And I just chose the second amendment as an example because that one seems to have a lot more traction on the propaganda world than other less on-the-nose issues.  But the truth is that a lot of these issues we very much agree upon are politicized and are driven by special groups who have something to win when we dissent.  And we do help them in that effort, even when we have good intentions.  And again, it is designed to be that way.

That is why I wrote these books “AUTHORITARIANISM & PROPAGANDA The Puppet Master Tools” and “WOKE & Proud The Charlatans’ Inconvenience,” in order illustrate this propagandistic process.  It is a sinister art form, and a game most of us won’t realize is being played upon us.

 

You can get the Book “AUTHORITARIAN & PROPAGANDA The Puppet Master Tools” following this link.

You can get the Book “WOKE & PROUD The Charlatans’ Inconvenience” following this link.

But once you understand the game rules, their propaganda power diminishes because everything that is otherwise jumbled up sticks like a sore thumb.  This is important because history is repeating itself, and it takes people to thwart an authoritarian from galvanizing power.  And the way they galvanize power is by spewing propaganda.

 

Authoritarian Propaganda in America.

Who can be a victim of propaganda?  Everybody!  No matter how smart we think we are, we all have blind spots.  However, by understanding context, the chances of being bamboozled diminish significantly.  Let me give you an example.

An illusionist (magician) will give you a pre-determinate perspective for you to see something that is out of context.  If you see what happens from the magician’s point of view, you will understand how the trick works.  Propaganda is the same way, but often a lot more subtle and complex in nature and scope.  This also happens in politics all the time.

But the difference is that sometimes the politician might be the prop being used by the illusionist. In fact, the illusionist (magician) in this case might not be on stage at all, but you only get to see the puppet show.  And to be brutally honest we have people in Capitol Hill who repeat adversarial regimes talking points verbatim!  Yes, I’ve said that before – it remains true.

Some of these politicians parroting propaganda points might be doing so intentionally, some might be too stupid to realize it.  And that means their staff are also either just as blind or as incompetent.  If you don’t believe me, you can always look at the news from adversarial regimes and look at their talking points discrediting America and see how many of those actually match what some politicians are saying – quite overtly I might add.

As I said, it does not matter if a person is a MAGA republican or a so called “Liberal” or anything in between.  An authoritarian and propagandist do not give a crap about your political stance, that is irrelevant in the great scheme of things.  They just need to understand your biases and see if you will do what they want you to do.  And yes, attacking each other is exactly what they want you to do!  Especially if these attacks become escalatory in nature – that’s both for rhetoric or if it evolves into action.  To include violent action.

That is the game.  Discredit each other to the point where communication seems futile, and starts dehumanizing the other side.  The reason why I am so adamant about this, is because after this happens, this otherwise “civil” yet escalating friction and tension accelerates exponentially once it reaches a critical point.  What is this point?  Well, that depends on several factors.  These could be cultural, political, religious, environmental, etc.  Each country and group of people are unique, that is why complacency can set in sometimes for years before it reaches that critical point.  At that point, it will be too late.

Many nations around the world have experienced this critical point.  And from there it is extremely hard to regain control.  I don’t know how else I can keep asking people to please help me share my message.  I’ve lived through it; I’ve seen it in action and I know how it goes and evolves.  History is repeating itself.  I’ve studied this phenomenon for years.  Please help me share this message.  That is why I wrote my books, because the topics are emergent.  And it is getting worse each day.

Unfortunately, there is a large segment of the population who seem oblivious to these facts.  I am trying to change that.  But I am just one random guy that started this journey with a small platform competing for attention in an oversaturated world.  I am grateful that my little platform is growing thanks to outlets such as CloseUp Radio, BookBaby, ReadersMagnet, who were the first ones to reach out to me.  And of course, to all my readers, I cannot thank you enough for my words.  That is why I have not been searching for a way to put ads on my site www.halflifecrisis.com, as this message is making its way out to the world, I don’t want special interest groups to dictate or redact the message I am trying to convey.

There is propaganda in America, and the rhetoric several politicians are spewing is driving us towards an authoritarian reality none of us are ready for.  But we can stop this threat together.  You have probably been reading, viewing, or listening to a lot more of that in today’s media.  I was already speaking about that for a few years already, and that is why I published my books as soon as I could.  I saw this very snipping of time coming – it will get much worse unless we thwart this game that is being played onto us.

 

The first step is gaining introspection to understand the reality surrounding us.

The second step is to understand the actual context of the issues that affect us all.  Finding the common ground, and realizing that we are more similar than different – despite our political leanings.

This stops propagandists on their tracks because their falsehoods will fall on deaf ears once they get uncovered.  Right now, their falsehoods are gaining a lot of traction via influencers, media personalities, politicians, social media algorithms, etc.  Yet facts are losing track, and in the end, we will have no one to blame but ourselves.  That is why I am so adamant about sharing this important message.

If for some reason you forget everything I just typed, please remember this: authoritarian propaganda is on the rise in America, and America for better or for worse is a highly influential country on the world-stage.  Hence this situation will engulf the planet probably sooner than later.  Thank you for taking this time to help me spread this important message.  I continue hearing a lot of media personalities talking about how signs of authoritarianism are growing in America, but I have not yet seen them provide an actual solution.

I intend to do my best to provide a viable solution through my writing – and it starts by providing a thorough understanding of how this vicious propagandistic game is being played.  I don’t for a second pretend to be the end-all-be all in this effort, but I can only hope these words will be instrumental in slowing this authoritarian rhetoric trend because of the vantage point I have been afforded.  I never take for granted the fact you’re reading my words today, and I want to thank you for being part of this solution by starting this conversation.  HLC

 

You can get the Book “AUTHORITARIAN & PROPAGANDA The Puppet Master Tools” following this link.

You can get the Book “WOKE & PROUD The Charlatans’ Inconvenience” following this link.