The 12-minute video in this post clearly explains a major problem in America, the struggle between those who conform to social Marxism (subscribing to the political left, bowing to political correctness, blindly accepting their propaganda as truth…) and those who are not conforming.
I have been writing about this problem but have not been able to put it in terms that this video uses; it clearly presents the matter and provides a solution.
After listening to the video, you will recognize that the solution is emerging at great cost to those involved; hopefully, more will take up the cause after it is clarified for them.
If you agree with this post, then please forward a link to others.
Why Are Most People Cowards? Academy of ideas
HIGHLIGHTS from the video [bracketed statements are mine]:
*People increasingly accept authoritarianism in religion and science because they are anxiety ridden and feel helpless; so, they follow these leaders, public opinion, custom, and social expectations [a paraphrase of American psychologist Rollo May, in Man’s Search For Himself, 1953]
*[this government loves to create social problems to engender such states in their citizenry]
*In the decades that followed May’s observations, the West “tiptoed into tyranny,” a surveillance state was established; it increasingly began to censor its citizenry and to intrude into their private affairs
*There has always been power-hungry and psychologically disturbed people who seek roles of leadership in society
*Our problem lies in the fact that very few people possess the virtue that can correct this problem in our day, COURAGE
*Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn warned in 1978, in A World Split Apart, that a decline in courage may be the most striking feature characterizing our time; and that in history, that signaled the beginning of the end of such cultures
*This video explored how hyper-conformity and blind obedience has infected the West, hindering the cultivation of courage
*The pathological conformity that infects the west is furthered by the following practices: a value system in which social validation is valued very highly; by the use of social media, wherein success is achieved by virtue signaling that one is agreeable to the moral flavor of the day
*The above is the product of an education system that exalts the democratic ideal, promoting the rights of the majority over those of the individual [socialism and communism trample the rights of the individual in favor of the community which they claim they will usher into the utopia they create]
*Psychologist Rollo May, identified the opposite of courage as automaton conformity
*One manifestation of western conformity is blind obedience and a pathological need to follow rules; they equate that with ‘being good,’ to obey political leaders, the leftist media and celebrity culture
*The blindly compliant citizen often fails to realize that government could be acting immorally, unethically…and that his own conformity could be helping to pave the way to social ruin
*What is ethical about obedience?
*The conformist is very troubled, threatened, by others who exercise independent judgment, self-responsibility and self-reliance as it is contrary to the high value he has placed on blind obedience
*That is, the conformist is not one who obeys while he allows others to make their own choices
*Stanley Feldman, in Enforcing Social Conformity: A Theory of Authoritarianism, people who value social conformity, support the government when it wants to increase its control over social behavior and punish non-conformists… Voluntary social conformance increases the motivation for placing restrictions on behavior
*The desire for social freedom is now subservient to the enforcement of social norms and rules. Thus, groups will be targeted for repression, to the extent that they challenge social conformity
*[People have terms to describe such groups, ‘The Twitter Mob’ is one phrase; I call those who blindly follow the dictates of political correctness, the PC mafia]
*[Some social issues and groups of late, in which much pressure has been exerted on non-conformists, include: vax mandates; transgenderism; abortion; conservatism; and Christianity]
*When the majority advocate for government enforcement of conformity, a society places itself in what psychologist Ervin Staub called, a continuum of destruction
*As government uses force and coercion to punish the non-conformist minority, the majority rationalizes their support of such government measures by further demonizing the noncompliant, saying that they deserve to be fired; to be canceled…
*[Vax mandates are a perfect example – furthermore, it is a shame that so many negative effects are being experienced by those who trusted government…]
*Examples provided, of 20th century government actions by the USSR, Turkey, Germany, Cambodia and China that led to banning non-conformist minority groups from public spaces, imposing curfews, terminating jobs, imposing fines, restricting the movement / assembly of such groups…
*Such mass scapegoating, included imprisonment and even murder [think of Nancy Pelosi and the January 6 trials; Trump impeachments…; think of the CCP re-education camps that net them profits form organ harvesting and slave labor — will America soon have such camps for non-conforming conservatives and Christians?]
*Ervin Staub, in The Psychology of Good and Evil, asked, How does harmful behavior become the norm? Doing harm to a good person is inconsistent with responsibility to others in a just world.
*Conformists are very troubled by those who refuse to comply; the “inconsistent” behavior of such people is seen as warranting their maltreatment
*The only way to right such social wrongs is to exhibit moral courage; to stand up for TRUTH, FREEDOM AND JUSTICE
*Rushworth Kidder, in is book, Moral Courage, stated that it is easy to exhibit courage in an environment of security and well-being; the real challenges occur in the face of hazard, when one endures danger / harm in the process of standing for values such as freedom or truth [paraphrase]
*Some mild risks that accompany moral courage might be, ridicule, insult, being ostracized; greater risks include loss of employment, physical and financial penalties, imprisonment and death
*[Think of pastors who were jailed in Canada; the January 6th victims; conservatives and Christians who do not bow down to the PC Mafia…]
*Rollo May said that the hallmark of courage in our age of conformity is the capacity to stand on one’s convictions
*Viktor Pestov, 1967, USSR. He was well off; his mother worked for the KGB. He was troubled at the tyranny of the Russian government as it entered Check Republic and crushed a human rights protest called the Prague Spring. He created a group called ‘Free Russia’ three years later, he was imprisoned for 5 years, his mother was fired
*The stages of history wherein governments ruled via brute force are the darkest periods of history
Other videos by Academy of Ideas that are very relevant to this topic; I used them in the two following posts:
***The following 21st century realities have set up a scenario wherein the willing enslavement of the individual may occur by stealth:
The breakdown of the family unit
Increased hedonism
Increased sexual promiscuity
Increased usage of mood altering drugs
Increased availability of mood altering drugs
The promotion of various effective diversions such as cell phones; phone gaming; internet porn
Propaganda that flows to all users of electronic devices
https://sheeplywolves.com/freedom-is-yours-an-illusion-would-you-care-paganism-part-30/
***In this post on propaganda and brainwashing, the second video explains Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s “ The Gulag Archipelago ”, “his other novels and short stories published in the 1960-70s shattered the belief in the communist utopia, and paved the way for future changes. Solzhenitsyn’s creative work is diverse and distinctive, with the focus being on ethics and moral virtue.” [From post cited below]
https://sheeplywolves.com/propaganda-truth-epistemology-brainwashing-paganism-part-11/
About Solzhenitsyn:
- For Solzhenitsyn, Moscow evoked two challenging periods of his life: his prison years (1945-1949) and years of persecution for his writings (1965-1974).
- In 1945, Solzhenitsyn, as a prisoner, built residential buildings for Soviet intelligence officers at Kaluzhskaya zastava. He later depicted his experiences related to this period in the novel The First Circle.
- In 1949, Solzhenitsyn was sent to Steplag (Kazakhstan). The days spent in this labor camp are depicted in the world-known short story One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.
- Following the launch of the persecution campaign against Solzhenitsyn, he would often stay in the summerhouse of his friend, Korney Chukovsky, in Peredelkino.
- On 12 February 1974 Solzhenitsyn was arrested, charged with treason and deprived of citizenship. He spent the night before his expulsion from the Soviet Union in Lefortovo Prison.
- Solzhenitsyn returned to Russia on 27 May 1994. He lived in Sosnovka-2 state summerhouse, situated in the Troitse-Lykovo Natural Reserve.
The above points are from https://www.moscovery.com/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/#:~:text=Solzhenitsyn%E2%80%99s%20famous%20work%2C%20%E2%80%9C%20The%20Gulag%20Archipelago%20%E2%80%9D%2C,the%20focus%20being%20on%20ethics%20and%20moral%20virtue.