There has always been a hunger for new discoveries and revelations of the truth, but often, in the past, it took great effort to get past the “agenda”—there has always been one.
Think of the Daniel Ellsberg exposure of The Pentagon Papers as well as many pieces coming out of Viet Nam during the ‘60s by a group of idealist journalists covering the war there. None of these were popular publications with the editors (or the powers that be), and had their difficulty getting published, but they were not altogether censored.
Then jump a few decades ahead and think of Julian Assange, still being held against his will for his revealing publications in WikiLeaks on war crimes committed by the United States. And we certainly must not forget the courageous work of Edward Snowden who exposed illegal CIA surveillance in the summer of 2013 having The Guardian, in the UK, and The Washington Post, in the US, publish his story.
Again, although unusual considering today’s climate that his story was published in two particularly prominent instruments of the state, Snowden himself was declared an alleged traitor by the US and has dodged extradition to this day. The screws tightened as the years rolled by—now so tight practically nothing gets through.
There is a lot more than this, of course. And today the censoring of highly qualified professionals and journalists who have pertinent and quite important information to share with the public has become so blatant it brings to mind the Nazi book burnings of the 1930’s and Soviet censorship during Stalin’s reign as General Secretary of the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1953.
It is impossible to know how devastating to a culture this sort of censorship is. One can only imagine what it would be like to live in a country where not a speck of information came to you that was not controlled by the state. The state could literally tell you anything and you would have to believe it. Or would you?
I believe one of the distinct differences between now and then is that people did not buy everything that was thrown at them by official word in Nazi Germany or Soviet Russia (or the dozens of other such totalitarian regimes spread throughout the world before and since.) Today, although censorship is rampant in the Western world, stuff does get through.
The Internet is not so clamped shut that nothing of contrarian content gets to the eyes and ears of the masses. Actually, very little is stopped cold in its tracks. If you look hard enough, you can find just about anything. Why is this so? —probably because there is no real need to shut it out completely, the people are trained to ignore it.
In Germany or Russia during the height of their censorship efforts, a person could be shot for holding alternative news (truth). And if it did get out, it most definitely was listened to or read and was fervently consumed, but maybe not by everyone. There were always staunch Soviets, Leninists, Stalinists, and in Germany, Nazis who were loyal to the cause. I would venture to say that most of these people under the psychological thumb of their handlers.
The brainwashing effort is so successful here and now, that even if alternative news is available to the public through some alternative news source, it simply is rejected and scorned. This in itself is a form of censorship—the destruction of information’s reliability and the people’s ability to trust.
Anything not officially approved is tainted. The mark of a piece of information’s “unreliability” is its absence (removal, “fact-checked,” banning, etc.) from the usual pop-social news sources such as Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube as well as the mainstream news sources such as CNN, MSNBC, The Washington Post, and The New York Times.
What is occurring is a sort of double whammy. Block (censor) these alternative news items from the approved news conveyors and it is thus marked and if it shows up elsewhere it is immediately considered unreliable, conspiracy material, and untrustworthy—misinformation.
This same process occurs with the news conveyance entities as well as the actual human source (the experts, the witnesses, the scientists, etc.). Since people are not desperately looking for non state-sanctioned news material, the state does not have to worry about such news items leaking out. The minions (sheep) are adequately brainwashed to not be the least bit interested in anything the state does not approve.
The horrendous damage is obvious. Considering the volatility of the world today, information is vitally important. And when a silent enemy is created and released on the public (the manufactured virus), the only way to control its state defined “death ray of destruction” is to acquire information about it—unfortunately only information the state supplies and sanctions.
Any information that is contrary to the state approved information must be rendered impotent through censorship, degradation of the source, ridicule, labeling as conspiracy material or labeled as misinformation. The sheep eat this up, for some odd reason we are still trying to figure out. To the rest of us this state permitted drivel is clearly the actual misinformation. See Mattias Desmet’s fine book on the subject, The Psychology of Totalitarianism.
People seem to have a psychological compulsion these days to enable these authority figures and systems (government, law makers, etc.) to “do the wrong thing.” They enable by handing over to these entities the responsibility of filtering through news to determine what they should and shouldn’t be exposed to.
“If we have free speech and a free press then people can say anything they want (duh). They can print and speak hate, they can call people to racism, they can lie about medicine…about anything. You, Mr/Ms Government must protect me from that, I cannot decide for myself, you have to do it for me.”
Even if a person thinks these powers are not corrupt, this enabling and handing over responsibility and power will make them corrupt. This is a natural law no one can ignore.
What of the other things going on in the world? It isn’t only Covid crap that is being censored and radically distorted…what do we know of general world news that we can trust? Look at the Ukraine/Russia situation. How many “non-shrews” have seen in the mainstream news sources anything about the massive trucker’s convoy in the US? How many people have seen in the news the horror in Shanghai? in Sri Lanka, in the Netherlands?
Most shrews are aware of the distorted news we are receiving through what sheep believe are trusted sources. None of this could be even remotely accurate.
Why would it be? If we are receiving false information left and right, then it stands to reason that nothing we are receiving is the least bit reliable. What of worldwide food shortages leading us into famine of a magnitude the world has never seen? What do we really know of all of this? We could be being fed radically false information, and I suspect we are.
Unless you are there on the ground, or have trusted friends in these specific areas of the world, you don’t know shit, none of us do. Most of you reading this do have your sources for news, but the sheep don’t. All the news they will even bother to look at is only propaganda, nothing else.
That is the horrendous consequence of censorship, the breakdown of trust of alternative news sources not under the control of the agenda, and the strangulation of information sources as well as the desecration of our main news sources we have relied on in the past (which probably never were all that reliable). We live in a sealed black box, under the illusion that the Internet in all of its free information glory is actually managing to supply us with all the information we could possibly need.
Only problem here is that many don’t believe 90% of it because it doesn’t meet the state’s criteria for trustworthy news, we are told most of it is misinformation, and should be avoided like the plague. The entire world is about to implode, and most people in the West (or anywhere for that matter) don’t have a clue because they have been brainwashed to avoid any information that does not come from the state-sanctioned news sources.
Check out UNESCO’s effort to degrade alternative information sources, you will have a blast with this one—amazing, and frightening beyond comprehension.
Censorship relieves people of a lot of responsibility. They don’t have to protect themselves from being hurt by things people might say, they don’t have to figure out if what they are reading is true or not, or if it pertains to them.
They let daddy and mommy figure all that out for them, to protect them, to relieve them from deciding for themselves what they should or should not read or see or hear, or to facilitate the state’s nefarious, and self-serving, agenda. This all boils down to trust. I think most oppressive regimes begin with the masses trusting the oppressors (of course, they are not oppressors at first but rather present themselves as liberators).
As time goes by these same masses start to see their prison wardens can’t be trusted, and then the censorship and news that is shoved down their throats as obvious propaganda takes on a different character. Maybe that realization is yet to come in our current situation, but when it does, if it does, it clearly will be too late.
Image by Mike Ljung from Pixabay. Article cross-posted from Off-Guardian.
Five Things New “Preppers” Forget When Getting Ready for Bad Times Ahead
The preparedness community is growing faster than it has in decades. Even during peak times such as Y2K, the economic downturn of 2008, and Covid, the vast majority of Americans made sure they had plenty of toilet paper but didn’t really stockpile anything else.
Things have changed. There’s a growing anxiety in this presidential election year that has prompted more Americans to get prepared for crazy events in the future. Some of it is being driven by fearmongers, but there are valid concerns with the economy, food supply, pharmaceuticals, the energy grid, and mass rioting that have pushed average Americans into “prepper” mode.
There are degrees of preparedness. One does not have to be a full-blown “doomsday prepper” living off-grid in a secure Montana bunker in order to be ahead of the curve. In many ways, preparedness isn’t about being able to perfectly handle every conceivable situation. It’s about being less dependent on government for as long as possible. Those who have proper “preps” will not be waiting for FEMA to distribute emergency supplies to the desperate masses.
Below are five things people new to preparedness (and sometimes even those with experience) often forget as they get ready. All five are common sense notions that do not rely on doomsday in order to be useful. It may be nice to own a tank during the apocalypse but there’s not much you can do with it until things get really crazy. The recommendations below can have places in the lives of average Americans whether doomsday comes or not.
Note: The information provided by this publication or any related communications is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as financial advice. We do not provide personalized investment, financial, or legal advice.
Secured Wealth
Whether in the bank or held in a retirement account, most Americans feel that their life’s savings is relatively secure. At least they did until the last couple of years when de-banking, geopolitical turmoil, and the threat of Central Bank Digital Currencies reared their ugly heads.
It behooves Americans to diversify their holdings. If there’s a triggering event or series of events that cripple the financial systems or devalue the U.S. Dollar, wealth can evaporate quickly. To hedge against potential turmoil, many Americans are looking in two directions: Crypto and physical precious metals.
There are huge advantages to cryptocurrencies, but there are also inherent risks because “virtual” money can become challenging to spend. Add in the push by central banks and governments to regulate or even replace cryptocurrencies with their own versions they control and the risks amplify. There’s nothing wrong with cryptocurrencies today but things can change rapidly.
As for physical precious metals, many Americans pay cash to keep plenty on hand in their safe. Rolling over or transferring retirement accounts into self-directed IRAs is also a popular option, but there are caveats. It can often take weeks or even months to get the gold and silver shipped if the owner chooses to close their account. This is why Genesis Gold Group stands out. Their relationship with the depositories allows for rapid closure and shipping, often in less than 10 days from the time the account holder makes their move. This can come in handy if things appear to be heading south.
Lots of Potable Water
One of the biggest shocks that hit new preppers is understanding how much potable water they need in order to survive. Experts claim one gallon of water per person per day is necessary. Even the most conservative estimates put it at over half-a-gallon. That means that for a family of four, they’ll need around 120 gallons of water to survive for a month if the taps turn off and the stores empty out.
Being near a fresh water source, whether it’s a river, lake, or well, is a best practice among experienced preppers. It’s necessary to have a water filter as well, even if the taps are still working. Many refuse to drink tap water even when there is no emergency. Berkey was our previous favorite but they’re under attack from regulators so the Alexapure systems are solid replacements.
For those in the city or away from fresh water sources, storage is the best option. This can be challenging because proper water storage containers take up a lot of room and are difficult to move if the need arises. For “bug in” situations, having a larger container that stores hundreds or even thousands of gallons is better than stacking 1-5 gallon containers. Unfortunately, they won’t be easily transportable and they can cost a lot to install.
Water is critical. If chaos erupts and water infrastructure is compromised, having a large backup supply can be lifesaving.
Pharmaceuticals and Medical Supplies
There are multiple threats specific to the medical supply chain. With Chinese and Indian imports accounting for over 90% of pharmaceutical ingredients in the United States, deteriorating relations could make it impossible to get the medicines and antibiotics many of us need.
Stocking up many prescription medications can be hard. Doctors generally do not like to prescribe large batches of drugs even if they are shelf-stable for extended periods of time. It is a best practice to ask your doctor if they can prescribe a larger amount. Today, some are sympathetic to concerns about pharmacies running out or becoming inaccessible. Tell them your concerns. It’s worth a shot. The worst they can do is say no.
If your doctor is unwilling to help you stock up on medicines, then Jase Medical is a good alternative. Through telehealth, they can prescribe daily meds or antibiotics that are shipped to your door. As proponents of medical freedom, they empathize with those who want to have enough medical supplies on hand in case things go wrong.
Energy Sources
The vast majority of Americans are locked into the grid. This has proven to be a massive liability when the grid goes down. Unfortunately, there are no inexpensive remedies.
Those living off-grid had to either spend a lot of money or effort (or both) to get their alternative energy sources like solar set up. For those who do not want to go so far, it’s still a best practice to have backup power sources. Diesel generators and portable solar panels are the two most popular, and while they’re not inexpensive they are not out of reach of most Americans who are concerned about being without power for extended periods of time.
Natural gas is another necessity for many, but that’s far more challenging to replace. Having alternatives for heating and cooking that can be powered if gas and electric grids go down is important. Have a backup for items that require power such as manual can openers. If you’re stuck eating canned foods for a while and all you have is an electric opener, you’ll have problems.
Don’t Forget the Protein
When most think about “prepping,” they think about their food supply. More Americans are turning to gardening and homesteading as ways to produce their own food. Others are working with local farmers and ranchers to purchase directly from the sources. This is a good idea whether doomsday comes or not, but it’s particularly important if the food supply chain is broken.
Most grocery stores have about one to two weeks worth of food, as do most American households. Grocers rely heavily on truckers to receive their ongoing shipments. In a crisis, the current process can fail. It behooves Americans for multiple reasons to localize their food purchases as much as possible.
Long-term storage is another popular option. Canned foods, MREs, and freeze dried meals are selling out quickly even as prices rise. But one component that is conspicuously absent in shelf-stable food is high-quality protein. Most survival food companies offer low quality “protein buckets” or cans of meat, but they are often barely edible.
Prepper All-Naturals offers premium cuts of steak that have been cooked sous vide and freeze dried to give them a 25-year shelf life. They offer Ribeye, NY Strip, and Tenderloin among others.
Having buckets of beans and rice is a good start, but keeping a solid supply of high-quality protein isn’t just healthier. It can help a family maintain normalcy through crises.
Prepare Without Fear
With all the challenges we face as Americans today, it can be emotionally draining. Citizens are scared and there’s nothing irrational about their concerns. Being prepared and making lifestyle changes to secure necessities can go a long way toward overcoming the fears that plague us. We should hope and pray for the best but prepare for the worst. And if the worst does come, then knowing we did what we could to be ready for it will help us face those challenges with confidence.
