I had not heard that, so I did a quick search (below) that challenges your claim. It's more in line with my understanding of Desmet......
"Mattias Desmet characterizes Yuval Noah Harari as the primary literary prophet of a mechanistic view of humanity, arguing that Harari’s philosophy strips humans of free will, soul, and moral responsibility by reducing them to biological machines.
In his analysis, Desmet critiques Harari’s Homo Deus for promoting transhumanism and the idea that death is merely a "technical glitch" to be solved by technology, which Desmet views as a dangerous rationalist ideology that paves the way for technocratic totalitarianism.
Desmet suggests that Harari’s mechanistic worldview aligns with the mass formation phenomenon, where individuals surrender their autonomy to systems that promise to eliminate uncertainty and suffering, ultimately leading to a loss of human essence. "
Thanks, earl. I have read Desmet book, The Psychology of Totalitarianism, and thought I read it there. I hope I'm wrong and this information you've presented seems to prove that.
I detest the labels like Covid-denier and climate change-denier, when it is an established fact that Covid was a manufactured crisis, and the shot was preplanned bio-weapon.
Furthermore the world’s literal top climate scientists have demonstrated that climate changes nothing short of a government generated hoax and I’m happy to debate that with anyone at any time.
We are called ‘Far Right’ because the ruling ((establishment)) continuously moves the goal post demonizing everything common sense and tangible as further and further right to try and discredit the truth by association with this vacuous label.
Although ostensibly stupid, these nonsensical tirades are likely intelligence-crafted well studied takedowns of politically threatening forces. The ample use of epithets, slurs, and morally staining associations are the adult version of 6 year-olds calling one another "dumb-head", "doody-head" or "your mama....". The level of maturity is comparable. If they really want to lay it on thick, they could call you a "far right, MAGA, Trumper, anti-vax, anti-Semitic conspiracy theorist." This pretty much is an all inclusive put down. Ridiculous as this name-calling is, it is highly effective. I have had many people call me out or question me about being one of the above simply because I am willing to question the assumptions implicit in these derogatory gibes.
How the world became massively stupid, led by the United Nation's agency, the World Health Organization, yet today, dictating we all be injected with stuff, they had the Provincial, State, have the Medical Licensing Colleges control their membership to close a blind eye to injected mandated toxins. A true example of State and a private entrepreneur working hand in hand, we all be injected with stuff. The were joined by employee unions, and religions of all sorts. To quote how fascism works:
How did Germany become the moronic inferno that it is today? I believe that what we see happening is the result of precisely “the strong exertion of external power” that Bonhoeffer described in 1943.
This power is being exerted by CORPORATIST interests—that is, the sort of “public-private partnerships” championed by the World Economic Forum. Italian political theorists during the 1920s characterized this binding of state and corporate interests— to enhance the power of both—as “fascism,” which derives from the Latin word fasces (”to bundle or bind”). The medical word “fascia” derives from the same Latin root.
Former U.K. chief justice Hailsham - on liberties:
The only freedom which counts is the freedom to do what some other people think to be wrong. There is no point in demanding freedom to do that which all will applaud. All the so-called liberties or rights are things which have to be asserted against others who claim that if such things are to be allowed their own rights are infringed or their own liberties threatened. This is always true, even when we speak of the freedom to worship, of the right of free speech or association, or of public assembly. If we are to allow freedoms at all there will constantly be complaints that either the liberty itself or the way in which it is exercised is being abused, and, if it is a genuine freedom, these complaints will often be justified. There is no way of having a free society in which there is not abuse. Abuse is the very hallmark of liberty.
A bit inflammatory calling it abuse, but, there you go, I'm objecting to the abuse of the word “abuse”! Perhaps Hailsham had that in mind. Though in context he's calling attention to the abuse of liberties, not of people. People may be offended; liberties may be abused. But who's to say whether complaints of abuse of liberties are “justified”?
“being hated by idiots is the price one pays for not being one.”
From a brief bio in Britannica on Jean Cocteau... "His family was of the solid Parisian bourgeoisie—cultivated, wealthy, and interested in music, painting, and literature."
I didn't think he grew up in a family of idiot laborers. Revealing.
The author is just blowing off steam - pointing out the failure of others - rather than making the shallowest attempt to understand what's going on.
I don't think I am being picayune.
Why write and distribute an essay but fail to address the real issues - which I think he fails to do.
The issue is not stupidity.
Phrasing it this way obscures the issue and the problem.
The argument that "There are people that are intellectually agile who are stupid" is useless if not stupid itself.
It gives us no insight into what is clearly a widespread process going on.among his stupid fellow humans.
The author says he translated Bonhoeffer's essay.
Having read some translations from German, I'm going to bet that Bonhoeffer's original text is more nuanced than Leake's.
Some German words can take a whole English sentence to replace.
SInce the word 'stupid' is the crux of the issue regarding people who don't agree with him it begs the question, regardless of Benheoffer's original intent..
It is about cognitive dissonance - and it almost universally influences human behavior.
Most people make a choice to see the world a certain way and then get on with their lives.
'Done! Finished!'
"I don't want, (I choose consciously or more often not) to rethink this or that issue any further."
"It's too stressful! It's a time burn! I don't care about it!"
A stronger person would accept the tenets of Niebuhr's prayer:
"G-d grant me the serenity to change the things I can . . . .",
That requires that throughout one's life he gives full consideration to what his ongoing choices are.
Too much effort!
I know!
Look how much time I'm spending trying to re-educate you!
We are genetically disposed to be tribal - most of us choose not to override those, among other compunctions.
Not just the average man - most people just want to 'choose a side', usually early in life and let the team set the moral standards.
If we refuse or fail to try to understand who we are, how we think, and why, we are just blowing off steam.
Leake intuits that there is something important and dangerous going on here
He is correct, but that is as far as he goes.
He chooses to show what team he belongs to but fails to establish a cogent reason.
Because he's 'Not stupid!???'
I smell AI in the works! - "Listen to what Bonhoeffer said about this!"
The real influencers online and elsewhere are not laying out facts, certainly not context, nor raising real problems.
They are not explaining their goals, or their process.
They are doing what Leake is doing - contriving to get their audience upset - keying them up to react.
The real influencers hae read Alinsky on politics, La Bon on mob psychology, Bernays on propaganda, and my favorite German, Schoeck on Envy.
Thank you for this commentary and analysis combined with Bonhoeffer's points. As a close watcher of this country, I continue to struggle to make sense of what it's become. The described phenomena seem an important piece of the puzzle.
You should read The War Against Humanity by Anonymous Patriot to make sense of what our country has become. The described phenomena is only one piece of the puzzle, while the much larger piece is never spoken of. This essay describes stupid people as instruments without independent will, fools capable of all manners of evil, and subject to the strong exertion of external powers. Any exorcist in the world will also recognize another possible explanation for this description, but modern man has convinced himself that it doesn't exist. How can you possibly defeat an Enemy that you don't believe in? The author of the book I recommended takes every reference to Satan and demons in the Bible and combines them to prove Satan exists, and shows how the Enemy is responsible for our inverted world, which bears an uncanny resemblance to the world Christ was born into.
Germany has great potential if it stops playing the globalists games of the WEF and outsiders telling it how to do things. Basically stop committing suicide.
happy to see you back here! indeed "stupidity" is blooming with its disturbing proclamations filling Europe's political air-bags. thank you for reminding us of Bonhoeffer's essay.
And where does the Vatican & Merkel fit in here? She was responsible for opening the gates and bringing in all the Muslims to Europe, which helped create the rise of the Nazi energy, again. The Vatican supported this move.
Vatican City is not Europe. As one Italian man educated me by stating that Rome is the city of Love whereas Vatican City is one of power, which is why they have a wall around it and the nerve of them to say anything to the USA about the southern border fencing. I do not support all male or all female groups. And their transcribing of the ancient Greek texts messed with many of the true meanings. Many are homosexual males and a month ago I read where a good number of straight priests are leaving because of finding out about this situation within the church. Predators have always hid among religious, educational and medical communities. Both sexes have suffered from these types of humans. Flooding Europe with the Muslims has taken the heat off their backs because many voices were rising up and telling the truth about them.
The small amount of good they do is nothing compared to the terrible damage they have wrought across our planet. Do as I say..not as I do!
One thing think that I don't like about Substack is: one can address simply one idea of immigration..and 'we' are given all the sins and complications of mankind. I was imply stating a fact. Not interested in receiving a lecture about corruption.
The Bonhoeffer quote is top end: "One gets the impression that stupidity is often not an innate defect, but one that emerges under certain circumstances in which people are made stupid or allow themselves to be made stupid."
If we could spend time identifying the factors that make stupidity we would benefit.
".....those who have retained their ability to think independently can do little to fight the moronic inferno."
What turns that tide?
Dropping out of the WHO, is a good start.
According to Mattias Desmet, just speak the truth, calmly, when you can.
Yes, when the hand waving starts, you know when they're trying to fill in blanks - around some spin scoop, headline word salad.
In between bouts of being struck upside the head.
Mattias Desmet likes Yuval Noah Harari. Not good.
I had not heard that, so I did a quick search (below) that challenges your claim. It's more in line with my understanding of Desmet......
"Mattias Desmet characterizes Yuval Noah Harari as the primary literary prophet of a mechanistic view of humanity, arguing that Harari’s philosophy strips humans of free will, soul, and moral responsibility by reducing them to biological machines.
In his analysis, Desmet critiques Harari’s Homo Deus for promoting transhumanism and the idea that death is merely a "technical glitch" to be solved by technology, which Desmet views as a dangerous rationalist ideology that paves the way for technocratic totalitarianism.
Desmet suggests that Harari’s mechanistic worldview aligns with the mass formation phenomenon, where individuals surrender their autonomy to systems that promise to eliminate uncertainty and suffering, ultimately leading to a loss of human essence. "
https://words.mattiasdesmet.org/p/the-de-souling-of-the-world-the-veil
Thanks, earl. I have read Desmet book, The Psychology of Totalitarianism, and thought I read it there. I hope I'm wrong and this information you've presented seems to prove that.
I detest the labels like Covid-denier and climate change-denier, when it is an established fact that Covid was a manufactured crisis, and the shot was preplanned bio-weapon.
Furthermore the world’s literal top climate scientists have demonstrated that climate changes nothing short of a government generated hoax and I’m happy to debate that with anyone at any time.
We are called ‘Far Right’ because the ruling ((establishment)) continuously moves the goal post demonizing everything common sense and tangible as further and further right to try and discredit the truth by association with this vacuous label.
Although ostensibly stupid, these nonsensical tirades are likely intelligence-crafted well studied takedowns of politically threatening forces. The ample use of epithets, slurs, and morally staining associations are the adult version of 6 year-olds calling one another "dumb-head", "doody-head" or "your mama....". The level of maturity is comparable. If they really want to lay it on thick, they could call you a "far right, MAGA, Trumper, anti-vax, anti-Semitic conspiracy theorist." This pretty much is an all inclusive put down. Ridiculous as this name-calling is, it is highly effective. I have had many people call me out or question me about being one of the above simply because I am willing to question the assumptions implicit in these derogatory gibes.
How the world became massively stupid, led by the United Nation's agency, the World Health Organization, yet today, dictating we all be injected with stuff, they had the Provincial, State, have the Medical Licensing Colleges control their membership to close a blind eye to injected mandated toxins. A true example of State and a private entrepreneur working hand in hand, we all be injected with stuff. The were joined by employee unions, and religions of all sorts. To quote how fascism works:
How did Germany become the moronic inferno that it is today? I believe that what we see happening is the result of precisely “the strong exertion of external power” that Bonhoeffer described in 1943.
This power is being exerted by CORPORATIST interests—that is, the sort of “public-private partnerships” championed by the World Economic Forum. Italian political theorists during the 1920s characterized this binding of state and corporate interests— to enhance the power of both—as “fascism,” which derives from the Latin word fasces (”to bundle or bind”). The medical word “fascia” derives from the same Latin root.
a link for your translation of Bonhoeffer’s 1943 essay?
Also see https://nsjonline.com/article/2021/12/bonhoeffer-on-stupidity/
If there was ever an essay for our time, Bonhoeffer’s is it. Thank you.
I especially liked the contrast between internal freedom versus the external force of authority.
https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/on-stupidity?utm_source=publication-search
Tx!
Yep. Whenever one sees the two words “far right”…
far right, far left... <snort> Personally, I'm far-center
Former U.S. intelligence analysts Ray McGovern and Scott Ritter on The World This Week, Read here... https://default.salsalabs.org/T89d6d27b-d60c-4f19-9b6b-854aca47bc55/93d4088c-ea17-46ab-9a06-87593a028031
Second half, Ritter states that the German power structure is infested with Nazis, real live ones - direct descendants of the Reich.
Former U.K. chief justice Hailsham - on liberties:
The only freedom which counts is the freedom to do what some other people think to be wrong. There is no point in demanding freedom to do that which all will applaud. All the so-called liberties or rights are things which have to be asserted against others who claim that if such things are to be allowed their own rights are infringed or their own liberties threatened. This is always true, even when we speak of the freedom to worship, of the right of free speech or association, or of public assembly. If we are to allow freedoms at all there will constantly be complaints that either the liberty itself or the way in which it is exercised is being abused, and, if it is a genuine freedom, these complaints will often be justified. There is no way of having a free society in which there is not abuse. Abuse is the very hallmark of liberty.
A bit inflammatory calling it abuse, but, there you go, I'm objecting to the abuse of the word “abuse”! Perhaps Hailsham had that in mind. Though in context he's calling attention to the abuse of liberties, not of people. People may be offended; liberties may be abused. But who's to say whether complaints of abuse of liberties are “justified”?
Ritter is a convicted pedophile, caveat emptor
“being hated by idiots is the price one pays for not being one.”
From a brief bio in Britannica on Jean Cocteau... "His family was of the solid Parisian bourgeoisie—cultivated, wealthy, and interested in music, painting, and literature."
I didn't think he grew up in a family of idiot laborers. Revealing.
The author is just blowing off steam - pointing out the failure of others - rather than making the shallowest attempt to understand what's going on.
I don't think I am being picayune.
Why write and distribute an essay but fail to address the real issues - which I think he fails to do.
The issue is not stupidity.
Phrasing it this way obscures the issue and the problem.
The argument that "There are people that are intellectually agile who are stupid" is useless if not stupid itself.
It gives us no insight into what is clearly a widespread process going on.among his stupid fellow humans.
The author says he translated Bonhoeffer's essay.
Having read some translations from German, I'm going to bet that Bonhoeffer's original text is more nuanced than Leake's.
Some German words can take a whole English sentence to replace.
SInce the word 'stupid' is the crux of the issue regarding people who don't agree with him it begs the question, regardless of Benheoffer's original intent..
It is about cognitive dissonance - and it almost universally influences human behavior.
Most people make a choice to see the world a certain way and then get on with their lives.
'Done! Finished!'
"I don't want, (I choose consciously or more often not) to rethink this or that issue any further."
"It's too stressful! It's a time burn! I don't care about it!"
A stronger person would accept the tenets of Niebuhr's prayer:
"G-d grant me the serenity to change the things I can . . . .",
That requires that throughout one's life he gives full consideration to what his ongoing choices are.
Too much effort!
I know!
Look how much time I'm spending trying to re-educate you!
We are genetically disposed to be tribal - most of us choose not to override those, among other compunctions.
Not just the average man - most people just want to 'choose a side', usually early in life and let the team set the moral standards.
If we refuse or fail to try to understand who we are, how we think, and why, we are just blowing off steam.
Leake intuits that there is something important and dangerous going on here
He is correct, but that is as far as he goes.
He chooses to show what team he belongs to but fails to establish a cogent reason.
Because he's 'Not stupid!???'
I smell AI in the works! - "Listen to what Bonhoeffer said about this!"
The real influencers online and elsewhere are not laying out facts, certainly not context, nor raising real problems.
They are not explaining their goals, or their process.
They are doing what Leake is doing - contriving to get their audience upset - keying them up to react.
The real influencers hae read Alinsky on politics, La Bon on mob psychology, Bernays on propaganda, and my favorite German, Schoeck on Envy.
I'm not sure Leake has - but you should.
Thank you for this commentary and analysis combined with Bonhoeffer's points. As a close watcher of this country, I continue to struggle to make sense of what it's become. The described phenomena seem an important piece of the puzzle.
You should read The War Against Humanity by Anonymous Patriot to make sense of what our country has become. The described phenomena is only one piece of the puzzle, while the much larger piece is never spoken of. This essay describes stupid people as instruments without independent will, fools capable of all manners of evil, and subject to the strong exertion of external powers. Any exorcist in the world will also recognize another possible explanation for this description, but modern man has convinced himself that it doesn't exist. How can you possibly defeat an Enemy that you don't believe in? The author of the book I recommended takes every reference to Satan and demons in the Bible and combines them to prove Satan exists, and shows how the Enemy is responsible for our inverted world, which bears an uncanny resemblance to the world Christ was born into.
Thanks for the tip! Definitely seems worth the read. Satan undoubtedly is continuing his proud march out of the last century.
Germany has great potential if it stops playing the globalists games of the WEF and outsiders telling it how to do things. Basically stop committing suicide.
oh,
happy to see you back here! indeed "stupidity" is blooming with its disturbing proclamations filling Europe's political air-bags. thank you for reminding us of Bonhoeffer's essay.
And where does the Vatican & Merkel fit in here? She was responsible for opening the gates and bringing in all the Muslims to Europe, which helped create the rise of the Nazi energy, again. The Vatican supported this move.
You may want to visit the following link. You will read the truth of immigration in the Vatican.
https://zenit.org/2024/08/29/vatican-citys-immigration-law-one-of-the-strictest-in-europe/
Vatican City is not Europe. As one Italian man educated me by stating that Rome is the city of Love whereas Vatican City is one of power, which is why they have a wall around it and the nerve of them to say anything to the USA about the southern border fencing. I do not support all male or all female groups. And their transcribing of the ancient Greek texts messed with many of the true meanings. Many are homosexual males and a month ago I read where a good number of straight priests are leaving because of finding out about this situation within the church. Predators have always hid among religious, educational and medical communities. Both sexes have suffered from these types of humans. Flooding Europe with the Muslims has taken the heat off their backs because many voices were rising up and telling the truth about them.
The small amount of good they do is nothing compared to the terrible damage they have wrought across our planet. Do as I say..not as I do!
One thing think that I don't like about Substack is: one can address simply one idea of immigration..and 'we' are given all the sins and complications of mankind. I was imply stating a fact. Not interested in receiving a lecture about corruption.
Awesome read
It’s been run by leftists.
The Bonhoeffer quote is top end: "One gets the impression that stupidity is often not an innate defect, but one that emerges under certain circumstances in which people are made stupid or allow themselves to be made stupid."
If we could spend time identifying the factors that make stupidity we would benefit.