The Secret of Seamless Tyranny
How the powerless are made to serve the interests of the powerful
Smart tyrants know to keep their iron fist hidden within a velvet glove. When you send mounted police charging through unarmed protesters, it's painfully obvious who has power, and who does not. When Governments freeze the bank accounts of those who oppose Government policies, it is also a little too clear who has the power, and who does not. It creates resistance, and bad press.
So smart tyrants have learned how to make the powerless do their bidding. They do this by creating scapegoats. In the Middle Ages, it was witches who were responsible for all of the world's evils. In Nazi Germany, it was the Jews.
During the pandemic, it was the unvaccinated. No, the problem wasn't massively expensive and minimally effective lock-downs. No, the problem wasn't an abject failure to seek out early treatment options for two long years. No, the problem didn't have anything to do with vaccines that were leaky and temporary and completely ineffective at slowing the spread of the Omicron variant.
None of that mattered. The whole problem was that a selfish and irresponsible minority refused to get vaccinated. They were racists, even though a lot of them were black. They were misogynists, even though a lot of them were women. They were ignorant and misinformed, even though many of them were highly-trained doctors and nurses.
All of our problems would have gone away if only the unvaxxed had just gotten vaccinated.
Never mind that Israel, that poster child nation for vaccines and boosters, has a higher rate of COVID cases and fatalities than Canada.
Never mind that Gibraltar, having reached that promised land of 100% vaccination, has a death rate from COVID several times that of Canada.
The unvaccinated were the source of all evil. It was an article of faith. Anything that challenged that belief was misinformation. Anyone who challenged that belief was an alt-right, Trump-loving anti-vaxxer.
As the COVID pandemic began to wind down, those in power recognized that a new scapegoat would be needed. Vladimir Putin kindly offered up himself and the Russian people as the new scapegoats for all the evils of the world.
The powerful have done their job well this time. They don't even need to lift a finger.
Sports Federations kick out Russian teams. Liquor stores throw out Russian Vodka. Universities send Russian exchange students packing. Apple cancels Russian smart cards. Shipping companies refuse to deliver Russian goods. Russian actors face exile from Hollywood if they fail to denounce Vladimir Putin. The mainstream media races to find horrifying new examples of Russian perfidy.
Vladimir Putin is an evil dictator, full stop. The source of all the world's evil. No questions asked. No questioning allowed.
Look around you.
There is now an immense gap in wealth, power and influence between the uber-rich and the rest of us. Did the Russians cause that?
Housing is unaffordable and becoming more so. Did the Russians cause that?
Runaway inflation is making it harder and harder for ordinary Canadians to feed their families. Did the Russians cause that?
Governments in Canada and the United States have run up huge and unsustainable debts. Did the Russians cause that?
Does a new and out-of-control Cold War with both Russia and China serve your real interests?
Would World War Three serve your real interests?
Before you act, ask yourself this question: Whose interests will my actions serve?
As always follow the money. Who gets money if Ukraine joins NATO? Hint to join they must have all the right weapons.
well, we have to have demons, or we can't act. that's the way of the world. we do it, Putin does it, everyone else does it. what if there were no demons? what if....?