In 2007, a college student, Andrew Meyer, attended a town hall forum led by U.S. Senator John Kerry at the University of Florida campus in Gainsville, FL.
Meyer had asked John Kerry if he was a member of the secret society The Skull and Bones. Promptly Meyer was forcibly ejected by campus police. While he struggled with the police, he begged them not to taser him.
They did not comply with his request.
"Don't tase me, bro" quickly became an online sensation. It gained so much popularity that Meyer had it trademarked following the millions of views the incident received on social media.
Now, Meyer was fortunate in one regard. His opposition used actual physical force and a taser gun. Anyone who has read George Orwell's magnum opus 1984 will be able to tell you the critical error in doing such.
Meyer was immortalized by the incident. His legendary question to John Kerry still remains. He asked the question as a heretic and he was tasered as a heretic and walks around proudly today unrepentant in his heresy.
Today we deal with a much more sinister style of combat. It is fought primarily on a psychological battlefield and leaves no traces. There are no proud martyrs walking to the firing squad with a head full of rebellion.
Fear not, the weasels may be closing in, but we are on to them and we will expose their methods here:
THE BOILING FROG
The boiling frog metaphor was coined by author Daniel Quinn in his novel The Story of B. Make no mistake about it, we are losing our liberties. We are living under a tyrannical government.
We are only "free" to do as we are told. The ruling class has dominion over our lives, everything we say and do is monitored and surveilled. They vie for worldwide submission to their will. This is not some movie or crazy tabloid, this is reality.
Why aren't people noticing this and fighting back?
As the metaphor suggests, if you tried to toss a frog into a boiling pot of soup, he would quickly panic and struggle to escape the source of the pain. He would become too conscious too quickly that he was going to be boiled alive.
To prevent the frog from becoming too aware too quickly, they give him a nice warm bath. As he lays comfortable in the bath they begin to increase the heat. Oblivious to the fact that someone is trying to kill him, his muscles relax as the heat increases even further.
Eventually, he falls into a pleasurable stupor and loses consciousness, then, and only then, will they set the water to boiling temperatures, and the poor frog never even realizes it. Alas, it's too late at that point.
The authoritarians take away freedom so meticulously and carefully that most humanity does not realize it.
MANUFACTURING CONSENT AND CONSENSUS
As Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky pointed out in 1988, the mass communication system in the U.S. serves as a propaganda model that reinforces support for the system as well as creates self-censorship among the people.
Since those in power can only do what the people allow them to do, they have manufactured their consent to be governed and ruled. Likewise, they have been psychologically intimidated to regard their own instinctual feelings of being violated and trespassed against as fallacious.
What's more, with the advent of social media, the ability to control information has given the ruling class access to the most powerful institutions of propaganda on earth.
They can also suppress and censor dissenting and opposing positions to the point where it appears as if there is a consensus among professionals, experts, and the public.
All that's left is how to handle those pesky freethinkers who just won't wrap big brother in a warm, loving embrace.
GASLIGHT THE MAN WHO QUESTIONS
As we pointed out above with the Andrew Meyer case, the authorities cannot just start swinging clubs and tasering people to get their way. They can eventually get to this point, but first, they have to make their enemies appear to be crazy.
When they do start using force against the rebellious few, the court of public opinion has already given its blessing to carry out the attacks.
The way to best demonize the freethinkers is to, as we said, make them look insane. They will regard every piece of evidence they have, no matter how compelling, as mere fiction. As outlined in 1984, the evidence of your own eyes and ears is wrong. Accept only what the ruling parties declare as a fact, even the facts that are contradictory and illogical.
If they go against the official narrative, it is because they are delusional and paranoid. There is absolutely no chance that those in power are fabricating information or conspiring to carry out an agenda. All evidence that points to foul play should be considered baseless.
Build strawmen arguments utilizing the most nonsensical conspiracy theories pulled out of someone's ass to deflect honest skepticism. Engage in reductio ad absurdum. Be relentless in your mockery and denial.
Deny that there is an agenda. Deny that anybody is attempting to take away their freedom. Deny that anyone is treading on them. Deny their pain and suffering. Deny the abuses against them. Deny that they are being gaslighted. Mock them for being skeptical. Shame them for wanting their freedom. Laugh at them for feeling that they have been wronged.
Then, without ever actually earning a shred of trust or affection, those in power have a vehemently loyal army at their bidding. Without ever the slightest hint of scrutiny, their narrative emerges as being supreme and irrefutable.
Only the ruling class has the cures, the answers, the solutions, the correct opinions, the proper perspectives, and the noble goals for the future of humankind.
Don't buy into their bullshit. Don't let them gaslight you, bro.
Attempting to call us crazy for being skeptical, attempting to derail our investigations into powerful institutions, governments, and the media, and attempting to silence our opposition will not work forever.
As Edward Snowden said, "Truth is coming and it cannot be stopped."
If you enjoyed this article, check out You Can Understand History or You Can Trust Your Government, You Can't Do Both.