Overcoming Anti-paranoia

A Therapy Script for Europeans

The renowned British psychiatrist R. D. Laing discovered that some of his paranoid schizophrenic patients were not entirely irrational in thinking that someone was out to get them - they had merely misidentified the source of the danger they were in.

Laing called this complementary malady anti-paranoia. Anti-paranoia occurs when a person is under psychological attack - usually from a close family member - but is not consciously aware of it. Such patients would correctly feel themselves to be under threat, but project the threat outwards to Jews, gypsies, or some other outgroup, either due to loyalty to their family, or simply because it was too scary to admit that someone so intimately close wanted to harm them.

Laing found that the only way he could help this particular group of paranoid schizophrenics heal was to assist them in recognizing how one or more close family members - typically a parent or a sibling - was engaged in efforts to sabotage or psychologically destroy the patient.

Only when the patient was able to correctly identify the toxic agents in their immediate family circle could that patient take the necessary steps required to heal fully.

I would argue that much of the population of Europe - and virtually all of its leadership - is suffering from classic anti-paranoia.

If I were to offer a therapy script to such Europeans, here is what I would say:

1) I know you think Russia is your enemy, but Russia provided you with inexpensive oil and gas very dependably for decades. That cheap Russian oil and gas meant that Europe was able to hold on to a surprisingly high proportion of its manufacturing base despite being a high-wage jurisdiction. Cheap Russian gas and oil meant that Europe has been de-industrializing much more slowly than America. Trade with Russia was immensely beneficial for Europe for a very long time.

2) Russia continued to supply you with gas even after broke your promise not to expand NATO Eastward. Even after you placed Russia under economic sanctions. Even after you banned Russian tennis players and Russian cats. Even after you sent weapons to Ukraine, Russia continued to provide you with oil and gas.

3) You cut yourself off from Russian oil and gas. This was self-harm. You did it to yourself. It's not Russia's fault.

4) Russia is not your enemy. Despite everything that Europe has done to try to 'punish' Russia, Russia has utterly no interest in attacking Berlin, Paris or Amsterdam. In your heart of hearts, you already know that.

5) You are correct is sensing that Europe is under threat. But the malevolent agency you're sensing is not Russia. The real threat to Europe comes from the United States of America.

6) Which country was most deeply threatened by Europe's mutually-beneficial trade relationship with Russia? The United States of America. What country had a massive trade deficit with Europe, year after year, as a result of Europe's access to cheap energy? The United States of America.

7) Victoria Nuland, the former US Ambassador to Ukraine, bragged about spending five billion US dollars to overthrow the democratically-elected Government of Ukraine in 2014. Over the next eight years, the USA armed, trained and funded thousands of Ukrainian neo-Nazis, and then used the resulting civil war in Ukraine to drive a wedge between Russia and Europe.

9) In February of 2022, the United States Government actively encouraged Ukraine to massively attack the Donbass republics, in direct contravention to the Minsk Accords. The US also remained notably silent when Ukraine claimed they were being actively considered for NATO membership, despite knowing that both of the above actions would cross Russia's clearly-stated red lines for intervention.

10) After the Russian army entered Ukraine, what country vociferously argued that Europe needed to stop all Russian oil and gas imports, despite the clear likelihood that doing so would harm Europe far more than it harmed Russia? The United States of America.

11) Back in April, roughly 200,000 dead and wounded Ukrainian soldiers prior to today, Turkey had brokered a tentative peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine. Under that deal, Ukraine would agree to be politically neutral in perpetuity. The borders of Luhansk and Donetsk would return to what they had been before the war. The deal was remarkably favourable to Ukraine; Russia would voluntarily withdraw from all the territories it had captured. Then Joe Biden called President Zelenskyy. British Prime Minister Boris Johnston visited Ukraine. Reportedly Biden and Johnston both threatened to cut off all support to Ukraine unless Ukraine walked away from the deal.

12) The end of the war would likely have meant the end of sanctions. The US didn't want that. Yes, America wanted to bleed Russia with a long war. But they also wanted Europe to continue voluntarily destroying its international competitiveness.

13) On the 26th of September, someone sabotaged both Nordstream pipelines. Given where the sabotage took place - 60 meters under water - and the amount of explosives involved - several hundred kilograms - it is clear this was not the work of rogue Isis terrorists. It had to involve a state actor with a high level of technical sophistication.

14) Many in the American and British media have argued that Russia blew up its own billion-dollar pipelines. Given that destroying those pipelines also destroyed Russia's primary leverage to get Europe to remove its sanctions on Russia, I would humbly suggest to you that believing that Russia sabotaged their own pipelines is clear evidence of a delusional state.

15) There is clear, publicly-sourced evidence indicating that an American Poseidon P-8 torpedo bomber overflew the Nordstream pipelines just at the exact time the 'sabotage' explosions took place. If you find yourself wanting to believe that this was just a coincidence, I would submit this is more evidence of your difficulty accepting the reality of what occurred that night.

16) Maybe it's tempting to dismiss the above as 'Russian dis-information,' but if it wasn't terrorists and it wasn't Russia, then who would or could have blown up the Nordstream pipelines? It is virtually certain that, if America didn't blow up the pipelines themselves, they know who did, and that the American Government okayed the sabotage. You know in your heart that the above sentence is true. Allow yourself to take it in.

17) If you're still having trouble admitting the truth to yourself, take a moment to consider the words of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. The attacks on the pipelines were an act of war against Germany, an act of war that will have devastating consequences for the German economy in the months ahead. Did Blinken say the pipeline attacks were a heinous crime that cried out for justice? Did he express sympathy for Germany's plight? No, Anthony Blinken described them as a 'tremendous opportunity' for America. Europe has just been sucker-punched to the gut, and America's response is one of barely-disguised glee and exaltation. Ask yourself, is this how a friend would respond to your misfortune?

18) I know a great many Europeans still feel a debt of gratitude to the United States for rescuing Europe at the depths of World War 2. Don't allow gratitude for the past to prevent you from seeing the present. Back then, America was Europe's friend. Now, it is not. Allow yourself to feel the sadness of that.

19) If you find yourself saying this guy must be a "Russian sympathizer" or a "Putin puppet" or perhaps even a Kremlin agent, ask yourself: If the information above is true, does it matter where it came from? Shooting the messenger is a way to try to avoid receiving a message that is painful.

20) I realize that most of the people you know think that Russia is Europe's enemy and America is Europe's friend. There's a name for that kind of collective delusion; a mania. Manias don't last forever. They end slowly, one person at a time, as individual sufferers awaken to the truth of their situation.

21) Russia is not your enemy. America is not your friend. If you realize that but the people around you do not, it means you have a lot of work to do.

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PS: Please feel free to pass on this post to any Europeans you know. I'd also like to put in a strong recommendation for two incredibly insightful posts by fellow Substacker Big Serge. Politics by Other Means and The War Has Just Begun are both well worth your time.