The Lost
Why some obstinately refuse to give up the narrative, and the risks they face
THE POWER OF THE CULT OF COVID
Lockdowns caused untold harm, mostly to the less fortunate, and children. There are numerous studies confirming this, it would take a particularly ferocious Covid cultist to still argue for them. But some still do.
The vaccination program was run in such a way as to cause deep divides in our community. Vilification of unvaccinated people was deliberately stoked. Mandates were put in that cost many people their jobs, ruined their lives. Families were torn apart, and the division exists to this day. There are still plenty of people around who hate the unvaccinated and are happy to say so.
The government response to protests worsened the division, with the Police force of most disarmed countries choosing to just brutalise their citizens into submission rather than allow the protests to continue. Many people got hurt, people were literally choked, thrown to the ground etc for the “crime” of not wearing a mask. This has led to a deep feeling of resentment by the unvaccinated towards the Police, the very same Police charged with protecting their interests have been turned on them.
The amount of damage caused by government Covid policies worldwide is untold, it’s caused a huge amount of misery for mankind, out of all proportion to the risk we faced. Not only that, the virus was actually created by the people who then wanted to force the vaccine on everyone.
But still, many people hold on. They continue to despise the unvaccinated, they continue to behave hysterically about Covid, urging mask-wearing, getting their kids boosted and so on. It’s all over social media, here’s just a couple of examples.
It’s clear that some are unable to break the power of the spell that has been cast over them. The horror at seeing their children brought into this is palpable.
It’s easy to judge them, after all, there’s an absolute mountain of evidence to support the contentions in my opening paragraphs:
Lockdowns were immensely harmful.
The vaccination program was a huge failure that did way more damage than Covid and looks set to cost us a huge amount in healthcare, as well as legal liability. The tsunami of litigation, once it starts, will be like nothing ever seen before.
The interactions between government/Police and their citizens over this period has led to a portion of the population feeling incredibly resentful and distrustful towards their government. Some people were directly harmed by their governments/Police.
There’s really no science that still supports any sort of discrimination against the unvaccinated, yet this concept is still alive and well, with many employers still requiring it, and many people happy to continue the vilification.
The economic damage done by the reaction is something that we’re yet to see the full effects of, but it’s likely to be hugely damaging.
On and on it goes, that list could just keep going. The damage done by government Covid policy is enormous. But still, some hold on, defend these policies, and even call for their return. Why?
WHY IS IT THAT A LARGE PORTION OF THE POPULATION SIMPLY WON’T ACCEPT THESE BASIC FACTS?
Is it because they’re stupid? Irrational? Ignorant? Do they lack critical thinking capacity? Or proper discernment?
Whilst some of those things may be true in some cases, none of them are the true reason for them being unable to break the spell. Many very intelligent, discerning, well-read people are deep in the spell, after all.
An idea that has been popularised a lot recently is the theory around “Mass Formation Psychosis”, a coin termed by Robert Malone some time ago.
This is not a new theory, it just has a new name. This mentality was studied and commented on widely post World War 2, when it was evident the Germans had fallen under a similar spell of trusting an authoritarian government that was ultimately psychotic and evil.
Ayn Rand, Joost Meerloo, Hannah Arendt, Carl Jung, Waldemar Gurian and many others have written about the totalitarian spell, and its power. A lot of old wisdom on this matter exists, for that reason it’s a good idea to look at it, many of these people lived through the worst genocide the world has even seen. Their warnings and thoughts on society should certainly be heeded.
The mission, vision and values of Totalitarianism
To start to unpack this, we first need to look at the psychology of totalitarianism itself.
All [totalitarian] visions of society-as-garden define parts of the social habitate as human weeds. Like all other weeds, they must be segregated, contained, prevented from spreading, removed and kept outside the society boundaries; if all these means prove insufficient, they must be killed. – Zygmunt Bauman.
So intrinsically the world view of the totalitarian is that there are at least two distinct groups of people, some of them are “acceptable” to them, and some who aren’t. Those who aren’t are a potential threat who must be suppressed or eliminated.
So what does totalitarianism usually offer? In almost all cases there is a vision of a utopia, a vision of a better world, but only for those who ascribe to the cult, never to those who resist it.
But most of all, the totalitarians offer their subjects a vision of safety, usually from a fear they themselves have created. The higher the level of fear, the more suggestible are the masses, so ideally this fear should be ramped up as much as possible.
They promise to remove all your sources of fear, if only they can have your compliance.
The vision is false, as Karl Popper succinctly puts it -
The attempt to make heaven on earth invariably produces hell. - Karl Popper
There is usually an identifiable threat, in WW2 it was the threat of the Jewish people, and the other “untermensch” the Germans deemed unfit to live. In other countries it has been communists that were targeted, or non-communists. They may just be ethnic or religious differences, as seen in Croatia or the Middle East. Point is, there’s always an “other” that is to be blamed for society’s ills. If our society can just deal with this threat posed by the “other”, all will be well.
One thing is a common theme in all of these scenarios - it usually doesn’t end well for the group of the population being “othered”. The Holocaust, the Holodomor in Ukraine before WW2, the genocide that occurred in Rwanda, or Croatia/Serbia, or even what’s happening in Myanmar right now, all of these scenarios saw thousands of people killed, usually from a subgroup in society.
The ways this is achieved is enough fuel for a whole other article, but the use of mass conditioning through media propaganda plays a major role in it. A delusion is implanted into the masses mind about the reality they live in, their role in it, and what needs to happen. It’s all based on a fictitious totalitarian vision, but to them it is more real than any sort of evidence their eyes presents them to the contrary.
Usually a Pavlovian strategy of repeating ready made opinions and catchphrases through the media continuously is employed, whilst at the same time suppressing dissenting opinion. Over time, these ideas implant themselves deeply into the masses psyche that they become a fixed pattern of thought in the brain.
In this way, people are encouraged to participate in a form of groupthink, they simply look to others for what they think, and a common delusion is created.
Interestingly, these delusions are often irrational. It’s a perfect way to stifle opposition to these ideas. The delusion is meant to be nonsensical, and if one tries to argue with it using logic or reason, one only ends up being told another illogical lie. This repeated illogical lies end up defeating reason/logic through repetition and the inability to logically argue with its basic points.
Once the delusion has been instilled, the totalitarians use a combination of terrorising the population with more fear, and ostentatious shows of love, affection and apparent care for their subjects, as described by Alexandra Stein:
…the alternation of love and fear within an isolating environment results in a disassociated, loyal and deployable follower who can now be instructed to act in the interests of the leader rather than in his or her own survival interests. – Alexandra Stein
So first they batter the people with fear, but tell them “it’s all going to be OK, we’re going to sort it out for you because we love you so much”, in simple terms. This combination of fear and love keeps their subjects dependent on them for hope and their feelings of safety and even belonging.
The results are undoubtedly cult-like. The people submit themselves to a form of groupthink, simply trot out approved lines from their masters, and abandon all independent thought. It’s literally like a religion. In today’s non-spiritual times, this could be an existential threat, more so than we realise.
The totalitarian movements that have arisen after the First World War are basically religious movements. Their aim is not to only change political and social institutions, but also to remodel the nature of man and society. – Waldemar Gurian
This very old quote is frighteningly true in today’s context, where we have Klaus Schwab from the World Economic Forum openly talking about how the gene editing part of the Fourth Industrial Revolution will change you, literally. “It’s you who are changed”, he says, enthusiastically. It sounds like a transhumanist nightmare to me.
Can anything be done to break the spell?
Based on historical experience, the only thing necessary for the spell to be effectively broken in an almost instantaneous manner is the relocation of the person to a place where totalitarianism no longer exists, or an end to the totalitarianism itself.
Unfortunately the situation we’re in today means this isn’t viable right now. We’re literally in the middle of this situation, we’re effectively at war with those who wish to seize total control of the world. For many people to only wake up when this is all over is far too late, really. For many, failing to wake up will prove to be fatal.
So is there anything we can do? Well, I’m no psychologist, but I’ve been through this process with a few people, and I see both some very dark aspects to this, and some surprising glimmers of hope.
I’ve written about the process of Red-Pilling in my article “A gentle, but firm red pill”, in which I share some of my thoughts on assisting a person through the process, based on my own experience in real life.
I think for many people there is considerable hope of redemption and awakening over the next year or so, even if they are only awakening now. But they need to be open to discussion, to new information, and keep an open mind about things. It’s true to say that some of the truth of our current situation can be difficult to believe, so I urge patience with those who are just awakening.
But there is a hardcore cult of probably 10-15% of the population that are holding on to the cult and their status within it in defiance of all reason and sensibility. It’s simply not possible to get through to them, if you try you will only be met with catchphrases and illogical, emotional positions.
Joost Meerloo, in his excellent (but very dark) book on the topic of menticide and totalitarian psychology, The Rape of the Mind, describes it thus:
Delusions, carefully implanted, are difficult to correct. Reasoning no longer has value; for the lower, more animal type of thinking becomes deaf to any thought on a higher level. If one reasons with a totalitarian who has been impregnated with official clichés, he will sooner or later withdraw into his fortress of collective totalitarian thinking. The mass delusion that gives him his feelings of belonging, of greatness, of omnipotence, is dearer to him than his personal awareness and understanding. - Joost Meerloo
I’m literally haunted by these words, as they ring true of people I know. People whose opinions I respected, people with formidable intellects and analytical capabilities are deeply caught up in the spell, and as described, if you challenge them, they will just “retreat into a fortress of collective totalitarian thinking”.
Is there any hope for these people?
Sadly, I think not. The truest fanatics of a cult usually don’t survive the demise of the cult, they either expend themselves defending the cult, or if they do survive, they retreat into an alienated state, often still holding onto their old ideas. No amount of reasoning or reality will ever bring them around.
So then, if 10-15% of the population breaks off and refuses to return to reality, what becomes of them?
Many of the cultists are likely to end up becoming your enemies
The true fanatics sense of self is so caught up in the cult that obliteration of the cult is unacceptable, this would after all destroy the basis for their own ego. They won’t allow it to happen.
There’s a good chance some will even try to fight it, to fight us, to fight a return to normality. They’re so caught up in the spell that they genuinely believe they’re fighting for the right thing. Yes that’s right, it might come down to combat with Covid cultists.
They may realise they’re wrong, but simply not want to concede to us, for fear of being ridiculed in the same way they ridiculed us. They’ll simply find new reasons to hate the unvaccinated (“they’re so smug”), or they may envy the fact that we’re going to end up healthier than them. They’ll undoubtedly feel quite embarrassed and humiliated for having fallen for the lies.
There's an excellent chance there’s no coming back for some of these people psychologically.
Alternatively, when suddenly faced with the reality of the lies they’ve accepted, the things they’ve said, and what they’ve participated in, many will simply go mad. The combination of the attack on their ego/sense of self, the guilt associated with having swallowed a lie and accepting abuse as well as the guilt of how they may have treated other people is likely to be a toxic mix that will be too much for some people to bear.
Some will retreat into a catatonic or traumatised state. Some will undoubtedly commit suicide when they realise the enormity of the evil they face, and their participation in it.
Complete mental collapse, for some.
The governments of the world appear to be rallying for a second round of vilification of unvaccinated, “anti science”, “anti government” people. Many in the Covid cult will enthusiastically participate in this new round of discrimination, no doubt with glad memories of 2021 in their minds.
So the Covid cultists time in the sun isn’t over yet, I’m sorry to say. Expect shrill cries for mask mandates, with cries of “think of the children” (even though children aren’t really at risk from Covid), calls for returns to vaccine mandates, and so on. Bring the controls back, basically, they make us feel safe.
The beautiful thing about setting up these cults for the totalitarians is that they can implant any new ideas they want in there. So you’ll see, the type of person who is fervently pro-vax, pro-mandate is also the kind of person who “stands with Ukraine”, supports BLM, trans activists and so on.
Once you’re part of the groupthink, all you need is to be instructed what to think next. I sometimes think it must be liberating, outsourcing your thinking like that, but my little independent mind could never do that.
So what will be the new nonsense they trot out this year for the cultists to regurgitate? Who knows, no doubt the new “Kraken” covid variant that has just arrived on Australian shores will form part of that narrative, but I doubt that’s the only trick these totalitarians have up their sleeve.
Want to know more?
I could write so much more on this subject, but I’m nearing the word limit of this article. Suffice it to say there’s a wealth of material out there on this subject, if you want to understand the psychology of the cultists better. I’d really recommend you do, as you’ll be dealing with it a lot in days to come.
Mattias Desmet has written a book “The Psychology of Totalitarianism”, and as mentioned previously, Joost Meerloo wrote an excellent book “The Rape of the Mind”.
I’ll also include some great video links on this subject below. Some of the quotes I include in this article I originally came across in some of these videos, I highly recommend a look.
If you made it this far, thanks for reading.
Edit: 25.2.2023 - The below youtube video was from a channel called Foundring, called Mass Formation. He was cancelled recently by Youtube, which is disgraceful. Hopefully he pops back up somewhere else again soon.