Our Middle Grove moment

(After a thread posted on Jan 29, 2021)

Thread.

Don’t sell the American People short!

Don’t underestimate the common man and woman!

There is a lot of defeatism going around, and, while not completely without reason, I will make a more positive case: to paraphrase a classic: “the situation is serious, but not hopeless.”

In a previous article, I referenced Muzafer Sherif, a social psychologist who published a famous experiment in a summer camp at Robbers Cave, where he set up 2 groups in the camp against each other to study the dynamics of their adversity, and under what circumstances they would cooperate again.

But few know that this was only his second experiment: the first one, at Middle Grove, did not go to plan, at all. Sherif left the 11 year old boys to their own devices, and interfered, together with his research staff, to stoke animosity between the Pythons and the Panthers, the 2 groups in the camp.

They stole clothing, cut flag ropes, broke tents down, threw suitcases in the bushes, even destroyed the ukulele one of the boys had brought to camp, etc. in an attempt to make both groups hate each other. To their surprise, the boys simply didn’t. They found reasons to explain some clothing mix-ups, and the team who’s flag was cut off believed the other team when they swore on a Bible they didn’t do it.

By the time the staff was throwing the suitcases out and destroyed the ukulele, the boys had caught up with their scheme, and suspected that they were just testing them. The strength of the values of the boys proved too much, and both groups never entered into conflict themselves.

Here is the importance of all this. We all know the results of Robbers Cave, but not those of Middle Grove. Similarly, we all are aware of the ‘success stories’ of the media and the elites, as they subtly (and not so subtly) manipulate us to further their own ends.

The Tea Party tried to wake up the apparatchiks in the GOP, threatening the DNC, but Obama’s IRS and likely other interference squelched that growth. Even when that came out, that story simply fizzled away, and the media, a few years later, even praised Obama for having the first scandal free administration! And ‘we’, the American people, just sat in general silence.

Even in the last 4 years, we all know of people who wavered, disliked Trump as they believed the constant barrage of stories. Even we ourselves might have had moments of doubt in the middle of that onslaught.

Yet, the media FAILED, they are IRRELEVANT now! Trump got reelected, by huge margins, adding about 12 million votes compared to his first term (using the official numbers).

Despite the (no longer subtle) manipulation attempts by the Mainstream Media and Big Tech (more and more of which is now coming out, and being proven!), people voted AGAINST the instructions, and FOR the mean and bad orange man. Just like the boys at Middle Grove, many are waking up to the manipulation. Doesn’t mean they all are becoming pro-Trump conservatives/ Republicans (that is not the goal either, really), but they do add their voice against the deceit. Some might indeed vote for Trump, as a protest vote.

We have to realize that our perceptions are skewed, and colored. Yes, there is real hate and violence in this country. Yes, it is serious. No, it is not hopeless: it is only a small minority, as we are learning!

Most Americans don't want this, and start to see through the smoke and mirrors!

The evidence I have to offer in support is indeed anecdotal: mention of Antifa being shipped around, as they are not numerous enough to keep the fires lit in each city. Mention of Democrats becoming disgusted with how the Biden Administration is behaving. Union members getting a rude awakening. Even some suggesting that without the fraud even California might be in play!

The fact that even among Democrats, those who spew the most insane hate and violent messages are a minority. True, many Democrats still vote along, or remain silent, but that ‘Kadaverdiszipline’, the strict control that party has over their members and their votes (though not absolute), seems not that easy to break through (which is in good part because they are starting from the collective, not the individual as conservatives would).

Yes, there is similar anecdotal evidence of Trump supporters getting disillusioned, giving up, feeling betrayed by Trump. Or being disgusted by the violence on the 6th and the break-in in the Capitol.

Still, do not lose sight of the main point here: even those who lost heart, still are awakened in regards to the manipulation and fraud.

Millions of people went out to vote, and voted for Trump. So many, that the normal digital fraud was not enough, and the Democrats were forced to use the much cruder extra paper ballots to get their candidate over the finish line. And this, despite all the manipulation, which has been going on non-stop for the last 4-5 years, and longer.

It is, in effect, the victory of the American spirit and people, even if not yet recognized as such. I am absolutely impressed by that!

Even when pressed, and goaded on, the vast majority of the American people remains peaceful. Remains holding on to the rule of law, or retreat to that rugged individualism that made so many frontiersmen and women survive the adversity in their days. Even amidst the unprecedented power grab and abuse of power that came with the response to the Covid-19 pandemic!

This is our Middle Grove moment. We foil the attempts to manipulate us, and are awakening to those schemes. In part because those old values were too strong to have survived for this long, in part because of the absolute overreach by the Democrats: too much, too soon, too blatantly.

We have to trust in our fellow Americans, and we have to trust Trump and his team.

Something is brewing, the people are restless, realizing the emperor is naked, but many not yet quite ready to say it out loud yet. If my expectation (as formed and so well articulated by so many other writers here on Substack) is indeed correct, Trump’s actions will light the fuse. Or, as the most recent events in Ukraine seem to point at, perhaps it will be an external event that starts the cascade that will end up exposing the top of the current DNC, the White House, and those who cooperated in the Media, Big Tech, and in the RNC as well.

It will run through the whole world, and signal a true Spring, an awakening, not a reset. Oppressive Covid rules, mismanaged countries, China’s creeping influence, high taxation but dwindling living standards, leftist cultural erosion,… As frogs in the boiling pot, ready to finally jump out. Trump knows he is standing at this powder keg, wick in hand, and waits for the right time, for maximum effect.

I for one cannot wait to see that fire spread over the world.

Addendum:

The frantic pace and action on part of Big Tech, Media and the Biden administration, helped by Pelosi and Schumer, suggest that they know this, too. They feel something is up, and try to have as much done as possible, in the hope to have some of it stick.

I am currently working on another article, that will deal with something related: a new battlefront that has been opened, where the target is you, me, us. Civilians. In the US, and abroad. A shifted battlefield, where we all have become ‘combatants’. Might take some time, but in the mean time I will post some of my previous writings, that will help deepen the understanding of how we think and (re)act.