Part 10: Are we the baddies?

How to move forward

Part 1, Is Russia’s cause justified? The historical run-up
Part 2, A just cause in the face of violence and a Neo-Nazi resurgence
Part 3, A just cause in the face of violence, deceit, and a policy of regime change
Part 4, Some history and background on bioresearch
Part 5, Ukrainian biolabs and US attitude towards bioresearch
Part 6, Use of chemical weapons in Ukraine confirmed
Part 7, Russia is NOT the aggressor…
Part 8, …but the US, NATO and EU are!
Part 9, America’s nuclear gambles.
Part 10, Are we the baddies?

After all the deceptions that I chronicled, and the inexplicable urge to openly thwart any peace in Ukraine, even flirting with nuclear war, the US has a very poor record on the international stage (not even mentioning any of the often very valid criticisms one could have on the many ‘military interventions’ and ‘police actions’ the US has undertaken worldwide, at the cost of hundreds of thousand of lives, millions displaced and homeless, etc.).

All in order to do what? Establish peace? Or maintain their own status as the only superpower left? Drunk on an arrogant idea that their version of liberalism was the only good one for the whole world? Where liberty and democracy were promoted and pushed everywhere, while simultaneously ignoring the will of the people in those locations, hollowing out the very concepts and ideals they were pushing? Something is seriously amiss in how the US has acted on the World Stage.

Yes, the American Flag used to stand for liberty. Many people, all over the world, in oppressed countries, risked their lives when they took to the streets waving the Stars and Stripes around, demanding to be respected, demanding to be FREE. The US was the shiny city on the hill, the example everyone aspired to be like.

This is what we are used to see and hear: being looked to as the nice big brother a smaller sibling could turn to when they were bullied, who would come to their aid. The above is from the 2019 protests in Hong Kong.

But that has shifted, worldwide. In 2022, people in Africa, upset about poverty and violence, the corruption in their own governments, and the meddling by European countries such as France, do not bring American flags to their protests. No, Russian flags!

In the whole international jockeying, in the UN as well as attempts to influence/force individual countries, the US has been very unsuccessful in gaining any support outside their core allies (EU, Australia, Japan). People see how the US plays politics, and upholds embargoes against Russia over the delivery of much needed grain and fertilizers. Or against Syria, even in the wake of the most devastating earthquake in recent history, where the sanctions were not lifted, not even to allow an unimpeded flow of much needed life-saving humanitarian aid! Prices of energy are rising, all over the world, and for what?

People see how Hungary is being forced to comply across the whole board of EU policies. Not just economic, but social and cultural! No deviation is allowed, no dissonant voices. People see how the EU treats their own farmers, to give one example: Without farmers, no food, and without food, no life. And how this crackdown is based on the most arbitrary of rules, making it clear that this is about money, trade, planned economies, from people in ivory towers that have no respect for identity and local success. People see how Western (read: US) controlled international institutions force liberal concepts such as abortion, sterilization (at times forced!), lgbtq, etc. on other countries, in return for humanitarian aid and support. Freedom? Equality? Democracy? Listening to the people? None of that. And it is getting so ugly, that no amount of make-up the media tries to apply will stick and hide it to the watching world.

As Harvard Professor International Relations Stephen M. Walt stated, at the start of the article: “But the United States hasn’t learned much from the experience, given that it is still listening to the strategic geniuses whose actions squandered Washington’s Cold War triumph and hastened unipolarity’s end.”

The United States had a golden opportunity, to help steer the world to a better place. But their words and their actions did not match. Their over-extended. They became so arrogant, now no one could oppose them. And the policymakers behind the scenes in the US took full advantage, and became more and more demanding. Look at how countries are treated when they disagree with an imposed embargo on another country. They get threatened, and forced, to conform. There is only 1 truth, 1 leader: the American view, and the American example. And this is forced on the world through military might.

Meanwhile, at the home front, we are being told that the US is protecting the downtrodden. The poor. That the US is standing up for freedom and democracy. That we are there to help anyone in need. And of course, those are GOOD things, and we understandably applauded and supported that. Little did we know how that was just a Potemkin mirage, to hide a blatant power grab, where power was more and more only applied to preserve that same power, and those wielding it.

THAT is unforgivable. That it was Americans who did it, makes it even harder to swallow. We should have known better. “We know what is best for you, so shut up and obey.” That has been the hallmark of dictators all over history, and it does not matter if they were ‘enlightened’ or not. The end result is the same.

As I wrote in a previous article, it is easier to fool someone, than to explain that he has been fooled.

There is fascinating work being done on the study of ‘wrongness’, including that by Cornell professor of psychology David Dunning (yes, THAT Dunning, of Dunning-Kruger fame). In one study, he asked respondents if they were familiar with a series of terms, as Prof Dunning explained in an article titled ‘We are all confident idiots’. Some were real words, such as centripetal force and photon, and people indicated being familiar with those, in a normal range. Yet people also said they were familiar with terms such as plates of parallax, ultra-lipid, and cholerine, all three complete nonsense words.

“In fact, the more well versed respondents considered themselves in a general topic, the more familiarity they claimed with the meaningless terms associated with it in the survey.”

He then explains something else that is very important to realize:

“Because it’s so easy to judge the idiocy of others, it may be sorely tempting to think this doesn’t apply to you. But the problem of unrecognized ignorance is one that visits us all. And over the years, I’ve become convinced of one key, overarching fact about the ignorant mind. One should not think of it as uninformed. Rather, one should think of it as misinformed.

An ignorant mind is precisely not a spotless, empty vessel, but one that’s filled with the clutter of irrelevant or misleading life experiences, theories, facts, intuitions, strategies, algorithms, heuristics, metaphors, and hunches that regrettably have the look and feel of useful and accurate knowledge.”

And finally, an explanation that sheds a lot of light on why so many people seem to be denying the light of day out of political expediency:

“Some of our most stubborn misbeliefs arise not from primitive childlike intuitions or careless category errors, but from the very values and philosophies that define who we are as individuals. Each of us possesses certain foundational beliefs—narratives about the self, ideas about the social order—that essentially cannot be violated: To contradict them would call into question our very self-worth. As such, these views demand fealty from other opinions. And any information that we glean from the world is amended, distorted, diminished, or forgotten in order to make sure that these sacrosanct beliefs remain whole and unharmed.”

Admit that irregularities happened in the last few elections? That would call into question for many the idea that Trump was evil and deserved, no, needed to lose, somehow. Admit that wearing masks did nothing to stop Covid? That would call into question for many the idea that they were on the side of science, that they are reasonable people, who possess strong insight on how science and the world works.

But also: Admit that we can be wrong about the United States as a shining city on a hill, a beacon of freedom? That would call into question the idea that we ourselves, as Americans, are moral and good people.

And that we cannot allow!

A first observation is that the ability to do great good, is always combined with the ability to do great evil. A weak man cannot do great deeds of strength, building a house by himself for a homeless person, but neither can that weak man tear down a house from an enemy.

This is a HUMAN trait, not tied to any ethnicity or nationality. Not even tied to any period of time or even religion. I know Catholic saints, as well as Catholic sinners, for example. This means that a Hitler could have risen up anywhere in the world. Even in the US.

The current events, after seeing how quick Covid could justify emergency powers no one knew our leaders could draw from, and now how we can so quickly run behind yet another anti-Russian psy-op campaign after the previous Russia, Russia, Russia was exposed as a hoax, show just how true and dangerous this is.

A second observation is that we are, as a nation, as a people, responsible for the leaders we elect and have. Period. It is not always our chosen people that are voted in, but that is the nature of voting: we accept the collective authority given to our leaders: the people have decided.

But if you look at the absolute lack of information we the people have been given, by a media that has been completely sold to the elites, to the point that they became indistinguishable from propagandists, how can we properly assess the candidates, the issues at play, the real concerns people have?

What if primaries are rigged to favor the party chosen candidates? What if the elections themselves are rigged?

“The voter can't make a credible judgment on people based on lies.” someone wrote.

Exactly.

And add massive voter fraud to the mix, covered up by a complicit media, and things fully change.

At that point, we are victims, and no longer fully responsible. Some of us DID see it, and acted. But without a proper media to spread the word, and drum up the public outrage and support needed to force change, that went nowhere.

(And remember how the Government agencies were weaponized to kill the rising Tea Party! We have been rising up against the elites, in the Democrat party AS WELL AS in the GOP (!!!) for over 15 years now!)

So we had to build our OWN news and media channels, a very slow and difficult process, but it is happening.

Others, of course, were oblivious, and believed/still believe the MSM narratives. It is hard to believe that our own government would willfully cheat and lie, after all! Or do such crazy dangerous things in secret labs! Or defraud elections on such a massive scale! Banana republics, perhaps, but NOT in THESE UNITED STATES! Beacon of FREEDOM! (Granted, that STILL is hard to believe, I think even for each of you, yet here we are).

So here is my conclusion, after my first judgement of guilt (see my previous articles, on how this war in Ukraine is now 100% America’s war, that the US behaved like an international bully, has been irresponsible with dangerous research in bioweapons, and is dangerously provoking other nuclear powers), and my 2 observations:

The US will suffer a huge initial blow. The home of the brave, and land of the free, beacon of freedom, police of the world, bringer of freedom at 600 rounds a minute in oppressed countries all over the world, is unmasked as worse than Nazi Germany, developing race/ethnicity-based bioweapons, among other cruel bioweapons, has overthrown democratically elected leaders and replaced them (in name of defending democracy, of course!), and has started many wars that killed millions of people in total, and has provoked other violence, like the current war in Ukraine.

But the moment that the massive election fraud is proven, and the Deep State is unmasked, and with that, the deep ties with China all over our academics, research, business, and government bodies, the continued research into dangerous weapons, the constant provocations towards Russia, and the openly stated desire to neuter or dismantle it, the US-led coup in Ukraine and the war mongering, and finally the active role played in preventing peace to happen, we will be able to rise above that initial blame and guilt.

Still, ONLY if we indeed do OUR OWN due diligence, and vote massively, work tirelessly in our local governments and parties, and show that even though we were a victim, we won’t sit back and blame others, but, in true and tested American fashion, took the bull by the horns, and blazed our own trails, building a better tomorrow. By taking responsibility. By apologizing, where needed, for what happened when we did not look.

Yes, there will be a very uncomfortable period ahead for every American, if tomorrow brings real proof of wrongdoing in those labs. A very humbling and shameful period.

Yet, as I see it, we will be able to overcome even that, and come out on top, stronger and better.

We need this storm, to clean up the deposits of the swamp, clogging our systems.

We, the People, need to demand that our foreign policy is revamped, and returned to our ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. To a true democratic foundation where we listen to the other people first, before telling them what to do and how to do it.

We let an elite take power, across both parties (the uniparty, the swamp, the cabal, whatever you call it), and run our lives and politics for us. That time is over. Must be over, if we are to continue as a free people. We need to take action, on local level.

17SOG has a new series of articles, called ‘We the People’, where they explore exactly that: “The Constitution of the United States is the bedrock of our nation's principles and the foundation for our government. It provides us with an invaluable framework for individual rights, freedoms and liberties. We The People have a responsibility to ensure that our Constitution remains intact. The importance of understanding our local government is paramount for creating lasting change in our communities.

Our local government, through municipalities, counties and townships, are responsible for establishing laws, setting budgets and shaping public policy that affects us all. By understanding the history of how our local governments are formed, we can better educate and equip ourselves with the knowledge to enact meaningful change. It is not enough to just cast our ballots.

We must look beyond the ballot box and become informed citizens who are engaged in civic activities, advocating for policy changes, and holding our elected officials accountable for their actions. Only through creative efforts can we uphold the spirit of the Constitution and ensure our rights continue to be protected. Our participation is crucial for our system to function properly and how we participate is of our own choosing. One thing we all can agree with on is that, however we choose to participate, knowledge of our local governance is essential to our own efforts.”

THAT is at the core of our response. THAT is how we can take our country back, and realign our foreign policy with our own values of Freedom. Yes, call your elected officials, and protest how American policy was allowed to become so detached from what We the People actually wanted or could accept. But realize that the best action, is to retake control over local politics, and build up again, from there. We don’t need a single strong leader to do it for us.

One last warning: We have to guard ourselves, and our thinking, in order we don’t fall into the trap of becoming like those we battle with. We cannot allow ourselves to think that all those who oppose us are evil. They acts might be, but the people themselves? No. This is a vitally important warning!

I will repeat the opening part of a previous article I wrote on this, called ‘Seeing people as evil’ (worth a full read, as well), to give the basics.

A while ago, a friend wrote in a comment on a different forum, Free Atlantis: “for some people it’s quite simple - Trump is evil. Once that premise is accepted, all actions, no matter how unjust or grotesque, are justified. To accept election fraud, or that Russia collusion was a hoax, or that Trump is not a racist means tampering with that core belief. Nothing that challenges their core belief can be entertained, or their entire reality crumbles.”

So how do people come to label any person as 'evil', and then extrapolate as they do? I’d like to start answering this by referring to a very apt quote by the great C.S. Lewis (with his very keen analytical method, drilling down to the very core of a problem [almost Thomistic], influential on my development of thought, next to Tolkien and Chesterton, among others).

“Suppose one reads a story of filthy atrocities in the paper (about your enemy). Then suppose that something turns up suggesting that the story might not be quite true, or not quite so bad as it was made out. Is one's first feeling, 'Thank God, even they aren't quite so bad as that,' Or is it a feeling of disappointment, and even a determination to cling to the first story for the sheer pleasure of thinking your enemies are as bad as possible? If it is the second then it is, I am afraid, the first step in a process which, if followed to the end, will make us into devils.”

-C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

This gives a great baseline of normalcy. When confronted with evil, even apart from the question if that evil is real or not, are we able or even willing to be proven wrong on that evil?

As Lewis pointed out: if we aren’t, we are on our way to become evil ourselves.

Now, how do people start on this path? For many, it is fear of being proven wrong or to simply ‘be’ wrong, so they cling to that ‘first story’. If ‘they’ are bad, evil even, ‘we’ must be the good guys, right? Right?! It is usually based on insecurity, and aided by ignorance, which often goes hand in hand, even if not acknowledged or recognized.

Another avenue by which people fall into this trap, is, as mentioned, ignorance. Especially when confronted with a media that is still trusted, but that is telling the most negative angle on the other person/group, is it easy to think the other side is evil. If you hear that Trump put kids in cages, and that is all you read/hear, does it surprise anyone that you start to believe Trump is evil?

[…]

Knowledge is power. Let us try to remain calm and in control of ourselves, and resist the urge to call others ‘evil’. Their deeds might be. Their words might be. Their ideology might most certainly be. Granted. But they themselves? I would refrain from making that judgement in the course of our conversations about politics, lest we fall into the same trap, and become like those who seek to demonize whole groups.

Which doesn’t mean evil doesn’t exist, far from it. Nor that are aren’t actually evil people. There most certainly are. But I think this is still a very important habit to keep in mind. Most people are swayed by those evil people or ideas, deceived, but not evil themselves. Even if they participate, under group pressure.

Does that make them accountable? Of course. But not really evil, themselves. That is the very fine nuance I am trying to make, which is very important for any society to remain healthy.

The end does not justify the means. When the US uses deceit, threats and violence to impose ‘peace and democracy’, they are wrong. When we ourselves push back against that yoke, and allow ourselves to dehumanize whole groups of people, we make the same mistake they did. Can we guarantee that the new America we build will be better, if we allow this rot in our foundation? This is not a game…

________________

Some further thoughts:

There is a difference between individual guilt, and collective guilt.

Even then, there are different degrees, as well.

In an ideal world, with a free people in a free country, the people ARE responsible.

Now, with each step away from that ideal situation, the collective responsibility changes. People in a dictatorship cannot just rise up at any time, unprepared. They are NOT responsible for what happens AGAINST their will, without proper channels for them to protest or change the outcomes.

In the US, we have the perception of a free country, with free press, and free elections. As such, we ARE responsible, in the eyes of all who see the US as such free country.

That was the point of my post, to explain that this is how we will be judged, initially. But also that there are factors at play that made us a whole lot less free than we thought we were.

Some people point at the SES (Senior Executive Service), and how they, as entrenched bureaucrats, form a very hard to fire backbone that weighs very heavily on policy and decision making on the long term.

And then there is the WEF and Davos crowd, as well, plus our own deep state. And China, in God knows how many ways infiltrated.

But we are not a dictatorship (yet), and we DO have means to rise up and change things, however hard.

And the beauty is, we see this happen, all over the country: we the people taking back the authority, and control over our own institutions.
On local level, first, building up.

We let that local level go, and then we lost all the higher levels, as well. In that sense, it is our collective fault for letting it slip. For not sending poll watchers (I read that for many years, the GOP poll watchers were hopelessly understaffed, for several reason).

Or school boards. Etc. You know where I go with that.

So in the degree we rise up, and take responsibility, I do believe we don't bear guilt for what was forced upon us, against our will, and without our full knowledge (media playing a very dirty role here, forsaking their main reason of existence as 4th power).

Sin/guilt requires awareness and consent.

However, we are DONE with this crap.

Time to shed light on those in the shadows, working against the people.

Time to take back the reigns, and our responsibility.

In this light, notice the specific way that both Putin and Xi Jin-Ping have made clear that their enemy is NOT the United States as a whole, or the American people, but a certain elite that has taken over and is ruling against the will of the people (even if ‘the people’ aren’t all aware of that yet, because of the grip on media and the psy-ops they have been subjected to). They know. Let us prove them right, and show that we are not the same as those elites.

Still, we need to realize that many of us will be going through a process of mourning. We will have to grieve over the crimes committed, the lives lost or destroyed, ostensibly in name of the US and of high values, such as freedom, democracy, equality, but profiting only the elites, paid for by us all, and going completely against those very same values. We need to allow each other that process, and not fault anyone for being on this or on that step of the mourning process. Remember, denial is one of those! Allow others, and yourself, to come to grips with the enormity of what has been done, in our name (falsely!), to so many other countries, and even in our own country against our own citizens. Our shared future will be all the better for it.