Feb 3, 2023·edited Feb 3, 2023Liked by Kim Goldberg
Brilliant. I fully agree that there need not be disparity between these two "camps." In fact, holding the oligarchs accountable for their evil actions and intentions WHILE ensuring that the psyche of the masses isn't so easily hijacked by said oligarchs (read: empowering the masses) can only improve our chances for sustainable liberty. Indeed, it may be the only functional formula for freedom. The covid narrative often feels like a spell has been cast on the world, and this may have indeed been the case, but it's also just as likely - or at the very least worth exploring - that these oligarchs have a whole history of Psy ops from which to draw upon for their agendas.
So true. It's still hard for me to understand the infighting within the movement over these different approaches. They really shouldn't be incompatible.
Good to have you back :-) Thank you for your balanced and intelligent reflections on the unfortunate attack mounted against Desmet. I’ve read the Breggins’ book but not Desmet’s although I have heard him speak and read references to his work by Robert Malone. I’m very much in agreement with Peter Breggin’s stand against the abusive practices of psychiatry. But as much as I enjoyed reading COVID-19 and the Global Predators, and certainly benefitted from gaining yet another angle on the COVID ‘virtual world’ we’ve been forced to live in, the book’s tone does get very strident and shrill at times. I’m finding my current read (my 12th on the subject!), Aaron Kheriaty’s The New Abnormal, a far less histrionic book but which is powerfully written nonetheless in its analysis of ‘the Rise of the Biomedical Security State’, examining the issue of control from yet another insidious level.
I haven't spent the time on all the various books and blogs but have sided with the controlled ops view of Desmet.
Turn off the TV is the most important step to break free from the mass psychosis/group think messaging. There are bad players feeding the public cognitive reprogramming in subtle ways across all forms of media. Huge, well funded, and neuro-linguisyic programming tactics.
We need to see it as part of an agenda, not something that just arose out of people on their own.
Thanks so much for your writing. I’ve just read your piece about Matias Desmet and the Breggins. I’m just an ordinary senior, trying to stay sane through this difficult time. Knowing that others are exploring why this is happening is a relief. Why folks who see the wrongs can argue about it is a waste of energy. Frankly, I stopped listening to Breggins videos a while back. He interrupts his guests and doesn’t listen. Anyway, I’m a new fan. Many thanks Kim.
It is apiece by Kevin Ryan, a person well known to me as a whistle blower. He is sympathetic to Desmet's views, but also make some observations with respect to how Desmet may have misunderstood some things. Here is quote:
"In terms of the Leaders intent, some of Desmet’s misunderstanding and contradictions on this point can be resolved through a better understanding of history. For example, a long-term conspiracy to terrorize the population of Europe was designed and implemented in Desmet’s own country of Belgium.
Operation Gladio is but one example of many throughout history in which secret, intentional plans to cause harm and deceive the public have been planned or carried out by Leaders. Desmet cites an example himself when he writes of the Holocaust:"
Thanks for this, Kim. I've been curious too, as mentioned in an earlier comment, why one argument must preclude the other in this case. I'm a big fan of Hopkins, so was mesmerized by his denunciation, (he does that so damnably well!) but not so much so that I didn't cleave to Desmet and his apparent muse, Hannah Arendt. But, and it is an enormous one, being denounced for airing even a discussion of his work, with you, on my now defunct radio program, and suffering my censors' description of that work as merely "pop psychology" convinced me of both the cruciality of Desmet's theory and the vital necessity of its defense in this dangerous moment.
That's an interesting point, Chris - how even the mention of Desmet and a description of his theory is enough these days to earn one denunciation and even censorship. So what is really going on here that people on both sides of the "freedom" cause - for and against freedom - feel so threatened by a theory that explains why people eagerly comply with loss of democracy?
Yes, absolutely. it's strange so many can't see this. Examining the mass formation in no way negates the important work of exposing powerful elites who orchestrate all kinds of things to steer the public or to foist upon the public.
I followed Peter Breggin's work for 15 years. He's incredible, clear-sighted, and courageous. He was slightly off my radar when Plandemic sprouted all the new truth-tellers. Mattias Desmet popped up, and I watched so many of his podcast interviews that I grew to know how he would answer a question. Bought his book as soon as it was available.
Can't express my dismay at the Breggins' attack on Desmet. It's NOT the only fissure in the "freedom" community, but it's surely the most regrettable.
You have thoroughly explained the ins and outs of this needless fracture and added at the end, a well thought out analysis. Thank you for explaining this mess chronologically and I believe you are right on all the points - including the dynamic of Breggins not wanting to be overshadowed. It should be obvious to anyone reading this that there was no reason for the Desmet take-down. His view added to the good-vs-evil story, it did not detract from it or make it wrong in any way. I hate to see this sort of academic pettiness when energy should be funnelled toward mutual support. Many thanks, Kim.
thanks Rena. Yes, that's the most disheartening part of this whole saga. this dispute was needless and is diverting the energies and resources of the freedom movement. Lawyers are now involved in the Malone/Breggin dispute, which is an outgrowth of the Breggins take-down of Desmet. Crowd-sourcing campaigns underway for all that instead of fighting tyranny.
Terrific analysis. Wouldn't it be great if the two sides would just sit down together, drink tea & maybe just... iron things out?
I don't actually see such a great conflict - semantics? some professional jealousy? Call it mass formation or not, it was some kind of social contagion - though, to me, obviously set up, directed, & fed.
Interesting concept, the clash between Humanism & Judeo-Christian world views. My brain would like me to be an atheist, but the rest of me won't cooperate. Maybe that's why I'm inclined toward the good/evil hypothesis.
I'm unable to believe that a few elites & opportunists are in back of the fake narrative, or just the insatiably greedy & corrupt pharmaceutical companies. And how does WEF fit in? China?
I do sense some shadowy dark figure(s) behind it all. (Possibly the ultimate goal is Social Credit/Digital ID control?) It is unlikely we will ever know who it is, if anyone. And if we do figure it out, too dangerous to ever publicly name.
Never could be bothered with conspiracy theories before - I can hardly believe what the Scamdemic has done to me!
Thanks Judy. I too don't really see that this needs to be an insurmountable conflict - at least not logically. But perhaps ideologically it is. Yet really, an understanding of the mass formation process is not incompatible with awareness of shadowy forces and abuses of power also at work. Desmet had the right idea about sitting down for virtual tea and discussing.
People aren't hardwired to divide the world into a polar dichotomy. They've been trained to do that, at least in the US, by the implementation of Reagan's "education reform" in the mid-80s. Given it judges educational outcomes solely on the basis of standardized tests, and given how those tests are composed, generations have been "educated" into the firm belief any issue or subject, no matter how complex or nuanced, can and must be reduced to either/or, or the acceptable option from a predetermined list of outcomes. In short, those oligarchs and political elites have set up the population to be ripe for precisely the kind of manipulation we witnessed during the Great COVID Con.
Thanks Kim for your intelligent analysis of this pointless conflict, which sadly is still going on. It erupts in the comments to Substack articles regularly, with Desmet and Vivianne Fischer of the German Coronavirus Investigative Committee being branded as "traitors," a telltale term that another kind of mass formation is happening on the Freedom side. As experts on mass psychology since Charles McKay and Gustav LeBon in the 19th century have noted, and again in the 20th century with Hannah Arendt and Jacques Ellul, ruling elites fully exploit the human tendency to demonize (or in Desmet's concept, objectify) the target of their fears and hatred. This is very dangerous because, as we saw with both the Nazis (against Jews) and the Covid propagandists (against "anti-vaxxers"), the next step is usually some form of elimination from society, whether literally or socially. (Another good authority on the use of propaganda in mass formation is Canadian retired professor Randal Marlin and his textbook The Ethics of Persuasion.)
Thanks very much Art for your own intelligent addition here - and with references to the works/authors this whole current study of mass formation is based on.
I'm unaware of the conflict around Vivianne Fischer. I watched her on many of the earlier podcasts with Fuellmich and she seemed fully aligned to his effort. Can you summarize?
there was some falling out between Vivianne and Reiner. They are no longer doing an inquiry together. There were claims of stolen committee funds, I have no idea what actually happened so am not commenting more until I know more. Reiner has launched a new Corona inquiry process of his own.
Thanks for this well-written and nuanced article, Kim.
My take is that both theories are vital to better understand Covid-1984.
Also, the totalitarian policies which have transformed our society can be further explained by a combination of the Migram Experiment, the Asch Conformity Experiment and the Stanford Prison Experiment....two of which have been banned from being repeated over severe ethical concerns.
Thanks Angie. I too think both approaches/theories are needed to fully understand how human consciousness and human society has been so sabotaged these past 3 years with the Covid drama.
Excellent, thoughtful piece, Kim, and very glad to see you back! I too have been puzzled by the dismissive reactions to Desmet, whose observations seem, to me, to offer a very helpful understanding not at odds with other writers/thinkers. Enemy-making is itself a mindset we are conditioned into.
Yes, these critiques of Desmet coming from within the freedom movement do seem like a conditioned response more than anything else. Thinking has become so polarized - all nuance has been lost.
Brilliant. I fully agree that there need not be disparity between these two "camps." In fact, holding the oligarchs accountable for their evil actions and intentions WHILE ensuring that the psyche of the masses isn't so easily hijacked by said oligarchs (read: empowering the masses) can only improve our chances for sustainable liberty. Indeed, it may be the only functional formula for freedom. The covid narrative often feels like a spell has been cast on the world, and this may have indeed been the case, but it's also just as likely - or at the very least worth exploring - that these oligarchs have a whole history of Psy ops from which to draw upon for their agendas.
So true. It's still hard for me to understand the infighting within the movement over these different approaches. They really shouldn't be incompatible.
Good to have you back :-) Thank you for your balanced and intelligent reflections on the unfortunate attack mounted against Desmet. I’ve read the Breggins’ book but not Desmet’s although I have heard him speak and read references to his work by Robert Malone. I’m very much in agreement with Peter Breggin’s stand against the abusive practices of psychiatry. But as much as I enjoyed reading COVID-19 and the Global Predators, and certainly benefitted from gaining yet another angle on the COVID ‘virtual world’ we’ve been forced to live in, the book’s tone does get very strident and shrill at times. I’m finding my current read (my 12th on the subject!), Aaron Kheriaty’s The New Abnormal, a far less histrionic book but which is powerfully written nonetheless in its analysis of ‘the Rise of the Biomedical Security State’, examining the issue of control from yet another insidious level.
Thanks Keith! I look forward to reading Aaron Kheriaty's book. It's on my list.
I haven't spent the time on all the various books and blogs but have sided with the controlled ops view of Desmet.
Turn off the TV is the most important step to break free from the mass psychosis/group think messaging. There are bad players feeding the public cognitive reprogramming in subtle ways across all forms of media. Huge, well funded, and neuro-linguisyic programming tactics.
We need to see it as part of an agenda, not something that just arose out of people on their own.
Thanks so much for your writing. I’ve just read your piece about Matias Desmet and the Breggins. I’m just an ordinary senior, trying to stay sane through this difficult time. Knowing that others are exploring why this is happening is a relief. Why folks who see the wrongs can argue about it is a waste of energy. Frankly, I stopped listening to Breggins videos a while back. He interrupts his guests and doesn’t listen. Anyway, I’m a new fan. Many thanks Kim.
Thank you Kim! Bring on the both/and. Really appreciate your work.
Yes, we certainly need more of the both/and mindset.
Just encountered a substack by Desmet: https://mattiasdesmet.substack.com/
Yes, just read that article moments ago. I think he just posted it. I shared it on twitter & FB.
Kim, you may find this of relevance, and of interest: https://off-guardian.org/2023/02/04/review-the-psychology-of-totalitarianism/
It is apiece by Kevin Ryan, a person well known to me as a whistle blower. He is sympathetic to Desmet's views, but also make some observations with respect to how Desmet may have misunderstood some things. Here is quote:
"In terms of the Leaders intent, some of Desmet’s misunderstanding and contradictions on this point can be resolved through a better understanding of history. For example, a long-term conspiracy to terrorize the population of Europe was designed and implemented in Desmet’s own country of Belgium.
Operation Gladio is but one example of many throughout history in which secret, intentional plans to cause harm and deceive the public have been planned or carried out by Leaders. Desmet cites an example himself when he writes of the Holocaust:"
That's interesting Mike. Thanks. I'll have a look.
Thanks for this, Kim. I've been curious too, as mentioned in an earlier comment, why one argument must preclude the other in this case. I'm a big fan of Hopkins, so was mesmerized by his denunciation, (he does that so damnably well!) but not so much so that I didn't cleave to Desmet and his apparent muse, Hannah Arendt. But, and it is an enormous one, being denounced for airing even a discussion of his work, with you, on my now defunct radio program, and suffering my censors' description of that work as merely "pop psychology" convinced me of both the cruciality of Desmet's theory and the vital necessity of its defense in this dangerous moment.
That's an interesting point, Chris - how even the mention of Desmet and a description of his theory is enough these days to earn one denunciation and even censorship. So what is really going on here that people on both sides of the "freedom" cause - for and against freedom - feel so threatened by a theory that explains why people eagerly comply with loss of democracy?
Well said, Kim. I'm amazed that intelligent people can't see this as a two-pronged issue. It's not either/or. We must do both.
Yes, absolutely. it's strange so many can't see this. Examining the mass formation in no way negates the important work of exposing powerful elites who orchestrate all kinds of things to steer the public or to foist upon the public.
I followed Peter Breggin's work for 15 years. He's incredible, clear-sighted, and courageous. He was slightly off my radar when Plandemic sprouted all the new truth-tellers. Mattias Desmet popped up, and I watched so many of his podcast interviews that I grew to know how he would answer a question. Bought his book as soon as it was available.
Can't express my dismay at the Breggins' attack on Desmet. It's NOT the only fissure in the "freedom" community, but it's surely the most regrettable.
You have thoroughly explained the ins and outs of this needless fracture and added at the end, a well thought out analysis. Thank you for explaining this mess chronologically and I believe you are right on all the points - including the dynamic of Breggins not wanting to be overshadowed. It should be obvious to anyone reading this that there was no reason for the Desmet take-down. His view added to the good-vs-evil story, it did not detract from it or make it wrong in any way. I hate to see this sort of academic pettiness when energy should be funnelled toward mutual support. Many thanks, Kim.
thanks Rena. Yes, that's the most disheartening part of this whole saga. this dispute was needless and is diverting the energies and resources of the freedom movement. Lawyers are now involved in the Malone/Breggin dispute, which is an outgrowth of the Breggins take-down of Desmet. Crowd-sourcing campaigns underway for all that instead of fighting tyranny.
Terrific analysis. Wouldn't it be great if the two sides would just sit down together, drink tea & maybe just... iron things out?
I don't actually see such a great conflict - semantics? some professional jealousy? Call it mass formation or not, it was some kind of social contagion - though, to me, obviously set up, directed, & fed.
Interesting concept, the clash between Humanism & Judeo-Christian world views. My brain would like me to be an atheist, but the rest of me won't cooperate. Maybe that's why I'm inclined toward the good/evil hypothesis.
I'm unable to believe that a few elites & opportunists are in back of the fake narrative, or just the insatiably greedy & corrupt pharmaceutical companies. And how does WEF fit in? China?
I do sense some shadowy dark figure(s) behind it all. (Possibly the ultimate goal is Social Credit/Digital ID control?) It is unlikely we will ever know who it is, if anyone. And if we do figure it out, too dangerous to ever publicly name.
Never could be bothered with conspiracy theories before - I can hardly believe what the Scamdemic has done to me!
Thanks Judy. I too don't really see that this needs to be an insurmountable conflict - at least not logically. But perhaps ideologically it is. Yet really, an understanding of the mass formation process is not incompatible with awareness of shadowy forces and abuses of power also at work. Desmet had the right idea about sitting down for virtual tea and discussing.
People aren't hardwired to divide the world into a polar dichotomy. They've been trained to do that, at least in the US, by the implementation of Reagan's "education reform" in the mid-80s. Given it judges educational outcomes solely on the basis of standardized tests, and given how those tests are composed, generations have been "educated" into the firm belief any issue or subject, no matter how complex or nuanced, can and must be reduced to either/or, or the acceptable option from a predetermined list of outcomes. In short, those oligarchs and political elites have set up the population to be ripe for precisely the kind of manipulation we witnessed during the Great COVID Con.
Thanks Kim for your intelligent analysis of this pointless conflict, which sadly is still going on. It erupts in the comments to Substack articles regularly, with Desmet and Vivianne Fischer of the German Coronavirus Investigative Committee being branded as "traitors," a telltale term that another kind of mass formation is happening on the Freedom side. As experts on mass psychology since Charles McKay and Gustav LeBon in the 19th century have noted, and again in the 20th century with Hannah Arendt and Jacques Ellul, ruling elites fully exploit the human tendency to demonize (or in Desmet's concept, objectify) the target of their fears and hatred. This is very dangerous because, as we saw with both the Nazis (against Jews) and the Covid propagandists (against "anti-vaxxers"), the next step is usually some form of elimination from society, whether literally or socially. (Another good authority on the use of propaganda in mass formation is Canadian retired professor Randal Marlin and his textbook The Ethics of Persuasion.)
Thanks very much Art for your own intelligent addition here - and with references to the works/authors this whole current study of mass formation is based on.
I'm unaware of the conflict around Vivianne Fischer. I watched her on many of the earlier podcasts with Fuellmich and she seemed fully aligned to his effort. Can you summarize?
there was some falling out between Vivianne and Reiner. They are no longer doing an inquiry together. There were claims of stolen committee funds, I have no idea what actually happened so am not commenting more until I know more. Reiner has launched a new Corona inquiry process of his own.
Thanks for this well-written and nuanced article, Kim.
My take is that both theories are vital to better understand Covid-1984.
Also, the totalitarian policies which have transformed our society can be further explained by a combination of the Migram Experiment, the Asch Conformity Experiment and the Stanford Prison Experiment....two of which have been banned from being repeated over severe ethical concerns.
Thanks Angie. I too think both approaches/theories are needed to fully understand how human consciousness and human society has been so sabotaged these past 3 years with the Covid drama.
Excellent, thoughtful piece, Kim, and very glad to see you back! I too have been puzzled by the dismissive reactions to Desmet, whose observations seem, to me, to offer a very helpful understanding not at odds with other writers/thinkers. Enemy-making is itself a mindset we are conditioned into.
Yes, these critiques of Desmet coming from within the freedom movement do seem like a conditioned response more than anything else. Thinking has become so polarized - all nuance has been lost.