Western mass media consumers are no less propagandized than North Koreans or any of the other nations we're told to pity because their government indoctrinates them with state media, in fact they are arguably more propagandized, which is why Noam Chomsky said that any dictator would admire the uniformity and obedience of the US media. The way the public is manipulated into consenting to all the agendas of the powerful without their even knowing that they are being propagandized has arguably been the most astonishing feat of social engineering anywhere in the world.

Reading by Tim Foley. 

Article with links/sources: https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/maturity-is-realizing-that-propaganda

Maturity Is Realizing That Propaganda Isn't Something That Only Happens To Other People

China and Russia are right to try to undermine US unipolar hegemony. The planet is not America's property and efforts to stop it being treated as such are good. 

It's not okay to be a grown adult in 2022 and still believe the US is a force for peace and justice in this world.

Reading by Tim Foley.

Undermining US Global Hegemony Is Good Actually

Who actually killed Martin Luther King Jr? The answer may surprise you. Author, journalist and activist Eugene Puryear fills us in. Eugene Puryear is the author of "Shackled and Chained: Mass Incarceration in Capitalist America," a journalist at Breakthrough News and the host of the Punch Out podcast.

Hear our patreon-only chat with Eugene about the latest in Ethiopia, what he learned when he went there, his father's role in the Civil Rights Movement, and the worst Happy MLK tweets here https://www.patreon.com/posts/patreon-with-khs-61390129

Who Killed Martin Luther King Jr? with Eugene Puryear

Sources say the system's working great,
and the government is your friend.
Commerce is the same as freedom
and wealth is the same as happiness,
according to sources familiar with the matter.
Sources say you should hate the Russians,
and also you should hate the Chinese,
and also you should hate Iran,
and also you should hate anti-vaxxers,
and also you should hate disobedient podcasters,
and really just hate anyone but your owners.

Sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, say we would never lie to you.
We've been speaking to you since you were young.
You can trust us with your mind.
If we were lying to everyone
everything would be a mess,
and the system would be a failure,
but it isn't,
so we can't be,
sources say,
sources say.
Sources say that you are finite,
and that a better world is impossible.
Sources say there is no magic coursing through your veins,
no miracles lurking in the great unknown,
no potentiality crackling within our species,
no leviathans swimming in our inner oceans, 
no dragons soaring through our mind's sky.
Sources say you are your body,
and you are your thoughts and your labels
and what you've been told you are since birth.
Sources say that small child's voice within you
whispering your primordial name
is a liar
and you should drown it in a bowl of Netflix and whiskey.
Sources say sources say sources say
look at this shiny thing over here,
look how interesting it is,
keep looking at this,
don't look within,
don't look without,
pay no attention to the gasping biosphere,
pay no attention to our nuclear Russian roulette,
pay no attention to that man starving from sanctions,
pay no attention to that man shivering on the street,
pay no attention to that man behind the curtain,
pay no attention to those angels in the attic,
pay no attention to the swelling music of the forgotten gods,
just look over here,
just stare at this vapid celebrity wankface nothingman,
look look,
he is doing a thing,
ha ha ha ha he is so interesting and so relevant to our present situation.
Sources say don't trust your own Sources.
Trust our sources; they are official and authorized.
The world is predictable and revolution impossible;
stomp down that light that's been emanating from your chest cave.
Your Source is a liar.
Your Source can't take care of you.
Your Source probably doesn't even own any aircraft carriers.

Our sources say no one else will ever love you.
Shut up and get back to work,
sources say.
Ignore your Source
and keep cranking that gear
for as long as your worthless body will let you,
and then get out of the way
and get into the hole
with the rest of the corpses
in our thriving corpse economy
on our spinning corpse planet
as we exterminate our way into paradise,
sources say.
______________________

______________________

______________________

Reading by Tim Foley.

Sources Say

Like Plato, C.S. Lewis believed that the human soul was made up of three parts — the head (the rational, reason-driven part of you), the belly (your appetites and base instincts), and the chest (the seat of virtue-seeking sentiments and well-tuned emotions). In order for your head to make your decisions, particularly the decision to live a virtuous life, rather than your decisions being driven by your belly, the head needs the aid of the chest, of right feeling.

A few months ago, we had Michael Ward on the show to talk about why C.S. Lewis felt that modern life was making “men without chests.” Today, I talk to a guest who can shed light on what Lewis thought was needed to build that chest back up. His name is Louis Markos and he’s a professor of English, as well as the lecturer of the Great Courses course: The Life and Writings of C.S. Lewis. At the start of our conversation, Lou gives us some background on Lewis’ life, including his conversion to Christianity, and how the nature of that conversion influenced his thinking on how to pursue virtue more broadly. We then talk about Lewis’ philosophical argument for there being a universal moral order, and why the chest is so vital for staying grounded in it. We spend the rest of our discussion unpacking the three ways Lewis believed the chest could be “educated”: reading stories and myths, rejecting “chronological snobbery” to learn from the past, and developing friendships that inspire excellence.

#765: C.S. Lewis on Building Men With Chests

It's not that the US elects incompetent leaders who make bad decisions that kill millions of people with warfare, it's that the global US empire is held together with military violence and the threat thereof. It's an intrinsically evil institution and you should always oppose it.

It's not that the US government has done evil, it's that the US government is itself evil. The very way it has set itself up to operate in the world necessarily means it must exert endless violence and oppression to keep populations functioning in its interests. That's evil.

The Mafia hasn't happened to make bad decisions throughout its history that resulted in the unfortunate demise of certain individuals, it's an institution explicitly set up to reap profits by exerting and threatening violent force. The US empire is exactly the same. Same evil.

It's not that the American people keep accidentally electing warmongering thugs, anymore than it's an accident that the Mafia is always led by men who are willing to bully and kill. The US empire is an intrinsically thuggish and violent institution, and needs that kind of leader.

The US empire is just a rich man's mafia. And you should want it gone for the exact same reason you don't want your neighborhood to be tyrannized by violent mobsters.

Reading by Tim Foley.

The US Empire Is Evil And You Should Want It To Fail

On the empire's grand chessboard, Russia is the queen piece, but China is the king. Just as with chess it helps to take out your opponent's strongest piece to more easily pursue checkmate, the US empire would be well advised to try and topple China's nuclear superpower friend and, as Consortium News editor-in-chief Joe Lauria recently put it, "ultimately restore a Yeltsin-like puppet to Moscow."

Reading by Tim Foley.

The US Empire's Ultimate Target Is Not Russia But China

As the Russia-Ukraine war enters a new phase, former Swiss intelligence officer, senior United Nations official, and NATO advisor Jacques Baud analyzes the conflict and argues that the US and its allies are exploiting Ukraine in a longstanding campaign to bleed its Russian neighbor.   

Guest: Jacques Baud. Former intelligence officer with the Swiss Strategic Intelligence Service who has served in a number of senior security and advisory positions at NATO, the United Nations, and with the Swiss military.   

Jacques Baud's article on the Ukraine war: https://www.thepostil.com/the-military-situation-in-the-ukraine/


Support Pushback: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate

US, EU sacrificing Ukraine to 'weaken Russia': fmr. NATO adviser

Nick is joined by RTE, ITV and Racing TV broadcaster Jane Mangan to discuss today's news and events from around the Horseracing world. Jane previews the Irish Classics and Tattersalls Gold Cup this weekend (agent and racing manager Armando Duarte joins to talk about the chances of Alenquer), as well as looking forward to the Grand Steeplechase de Paris and giving her take on the Kieren Cotter cobalt fine and his subsequent reaction. Nick takes a leisurely amble through the Preakness Stakes with his NBC colleague Donna Brothers, who discusses the impact of D. Wayne Lukas on US horseracing and talks about her own TV work as a horseback reporter/interviewer. Later in the show, James Willoughby explains why TRC rankings make Baaeed nearer to Frankel than other ratings organisations and why Modern Games is currently the highest ranked of Charlie Appleby's three year old colts.

Ep 488 - Preaks and Troughs

Lyrics:

oh, play o-on
Don't 

i'm hanging on every word you say
and im so close, to letting go
(letting go)
letting go of you
(you have to understand)
but i can't stand to lose

seething through my bones
it's a crazy thought 
that someone like you could love me
baby
tell you something i don't know
tell you i love you still
and i want to be in

yeah 
baby
i'll never let go 
ohohoh
reaching my bones to the botton
reaching to my soul
and i'm 

baby-eyeyyeyeyeohoyoooo
holding me to the post 
i appreciate you letting me know
wherever i go

Let Go

Polyphonic drone sequence, sounds created in Pure Data.

More on the Disquiet Junto at: https://disquiet.com/junto/

Subscribe to project announcements here: https://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/

Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co: https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0562-sheep-music/

The project’s image was produced using DALL·E 2. “Three sheep floating over a suburban house at night, realistic photograph” was the prompt.

Goodnight (disquiet0562)

Readings of all Caitlin Johnstone's articles, usually by her co-writer Tim Foley.

Maturity Is Realizing That Propaganda Isn't Something That Only Happens To Other People

Caitlin Johnstone

Related tracks