On freedom, tyranny, and responsibility
The fear of freedom is the fear of assuming responsibility.
We are overfed slaves to comfort. At the same time, we loathe uncertainty and changes. They contradict the mantra that everything in life is effortless and guaranteed.
Nothing is granted, and no one owes us anything. Refusing to accept these truths makes us weak. The weaker we are, the more susceptible we are to manipulation.
Human nature is imperfect. We can be as kind-hearted as we can be wickedly cruel. Though a small fraction of the population falls in the latter category, they are active enough to exploit our weaknesses.
Every dictatorial regime is based on human irrationality. On one side stands a tiny unscrupulous group; on the other are the passive masses. The former successfully subjugates the weaknesses of the latter.
Population control is not from yesterday. In Rome, the ruling elites knew which levers to pull to steer the masses in the desired direction. This knowledge has not been forgotten.
Lessons of the past
People love small pictures. Or rather, we are trained to. We neither care nor want to care about the big picture. That's the way it should be.
One of the basic postulates of control is that the subjects of power should not see the big picture. Who possesses the power defines the limits, i.e., what is needed and what is not to be known.
Left dictatorships bring down an iron curtain combined with extreme prohibitions. Conversely, covert dictatorships, as liberal regimes are now called, do not lower the veil. They rely on another approach—a subtle yet systematic population degradation through entertainment.
Orwell's “1984” and Huxley's “Brave New World” serve as illustrious analogies. In “1984”, books are banned, while in the “Brave New World”, no one wants to read. In the former, control is based on fear and micromanagement, while in the latter, it is based on bread and circuses. Both novels describe how dictatorial regimes create apathetic sheeple who believe what they are asked to believe.
"Some things are believed because they are demonstrably true. But many other things are believed simply because they have been asserted repeatedly, and repetition has been accepted as a substitute for evidence."
Thomas Sowell
Huxley and Orwell are prophets, but their writings echo ancient times.
Control of crowds is one of the paramount tasks of any ruler. The Roman Empire was the first to set foot on three continents so that the Romans could teach us about #SocialEngineering101.
According to the Roman historian Salustius, only a fraction of society craves freedom. With freedom comes responsibility—responsibility for our thoughts, actions, and consequences.
"The fear of freedom is the fear of assuming responsibility."
Joost A.M. Meerloo
Freedom requires constant effort, first to earn it and then to keep it. Delegating responsibility for our lives is so tempting because it inhibits the pain of continuous efforts.
Tacitus says that the more the laws, the more corrupt the state. Numerous laws make it possible to catch anyone in violation at any time for anything.
The state is not a nanny, creating entitled groups. It should help only the desperate, such as orphans, invalids, and pensioners. The state should not act as an obstacle for industrious and virtuous citizens.
Anything beyond that means the government becomes a parasite, serving itself, i.e., the ruling elites and the bloated bureaucracy. The plethora of complex laws is an intricate tool for delicately funneling money and power to those two groups.
Juvenal’s phrase, "Give them bread and circuses, and they will never revolt," is more valid than ever. A full belly and mindless entertainment is a foolproof anesthetic for critical thinking.
The relentless consumption of spectacles makes us increasingly apathetic. Accordingly, the bloated state apparatus kills the population's few civic initiatives. Moreover, craving freedom is not for everyone. And we got the recipe for dictatorship.
There is one shocking similarity between dictatorships. It is the use of the passive part of the population to crush the active.
Dictatorship of the weak
Tyranny is a dictatorship of the weak. The weak wait for someone else to do their job, someone to solve their problems, someone to get them out of their predicaments. A thin layer of society knows this very well and pushes all efforts to harness the weak.
Consequently, people who cannot feed a tied dog suddenly become directors, politicians, and entrepreneurs. And so they should; they are useful idiots, therefore, loyal.
The idiot is envious and cruel. He despises intellect and humanity. To him, being curious and kind is incomprehensive.
For an idiot, I consider a person of low morals, not a person who lacks cultural capital. High intellect does not mean high morality, either. For reference, Dr. Josef Mengele.
On the other hand, a well-read person (not state-educated) has an increased chance of developing moral values. That is why all tyrannical regimes re-educate the population with one goal in mind—the obliteration of critical thinking. The tools are well known: book burning, systematic propaganda, and concentration camps.
"The aim of totalitarian education has never been to instill convictions but to destroy the capacity to form any."
- Hannah Arendt
Idiots treat decent people as idiots. Decent people treat idiots as decent. This discrepancy is well-known and exploited by every dictatorship.
Any tyrant needs the idiots to crush the resistance of the decent. The opposite would never happen because the decent would see through the system's motives and refuse to obey.
In any society, there are three groups of people according to their level of critical thinking. There is a fourth group, too. It is distinguished not so much by its thinking but by its lust for power and unscrupulousness.
40% (Group 1) of the population sits in the passenger seat without asking where it is going or how it got there. People in this group do not question the MSM (mainstream media) narrative; they feel no need to do so.
The other 20% (Group 2) are those to whom reality diverges from MSM-generated narrative. To Group 2 individuals, trusting someone else to steer their lives is the ultimate self-betrayal. For the 20%, asking questions is the only way of existence.
The remaining 40% (Group 3) are most interesting. They are between here and there: here, in reality, suspecting that something is wrong, and there, being passive and not questioning anything. The other two groups are focused on Group 3.
Wherever an experiment has been conducted with far-left regimes, Group 1, who accept everything unquestioningly, has been the lever to neutralize the resistance of Group 2 and attract Group 3.
However, Group 1 is not sufficient on its own. It is like fuel waiting to be ignited. A spark is needed. And here comes the catalyst, Group 4. According to various studies by sociologists and anthropologists, it is about 1-3% of society. These individuals seek power at any cost. They share unscrupulousness, high intellect, and a lack of morality. Stalin, Mao, and Hitler come to mind.
Given the opportunity, these people manipulate Group 1 first, and then attracting Group 3 will be easy. Group 2, the critical thinkers, remain a minority.
The communist "revolutions" are a textbook example of how the described algorithm works. All “liberations” follow well-established steps. In the USSR, power-hungry individuals were trained to indoctrinate Group 1 in their home countries. Then, having the first 40% on your side makes it easier to attract Group 3. Eventually, a considerable portion of Group 2 is faced with two options: people's court or immigration (if possible).
When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent.
Isaac Asimov
Let`s not forget that "liberation" is one of the most exquisite levers for conquering new territories. The principle of reciprocity also works at the collective level. When someone gives or suggests they have given to you, you feel obliged to reciprocate in gratitude.
Dictatorial regimes are misanthropic. They succeed thanks to the passive. What I just described is a Social Engineering 101 with an ultimate goal: a homogeneous mass of useful idiots.
Conclusion
The world unfolds before us as we watch yet another reality show and wait for someone to care for us. Subtly yet irreversibly, the worship of comfort turns us into spectators of our lives.
The principles for governing the masses have been unchanged for millennia. They work because the subjects have always been the same—the masses. Human society operates by immutable rules that the knowledgeable can harness to their advantage.
Bread and circuses, a bloated state apparatus, and a lack of values sooner or later lead to a dead end - a dictatorship of the weak led by a handful of sociopaths. And yet, we stay passive observers overfed with entertainment and comfort, awaiting our doom as a society.
The Old Economy is media for investing, not political philosophy. However, the two have more in common than we think—critical thinking. If we blindly follow the mainstream more often than not, we will find ourselves on the wrong side. A truth valid for the markets and life.
Seek, demand, and consume quality information. Question every source, every person, and every piece of information. Including The Old Economy, its author, and its work.
Being awake here and now is the best thing you can do for yourself.