The Power Of No

“Call me whatever you want, I’m not going to participate in this.”

In a recent long-form essay on New Discourses (newdiscourses.com/2020/12/psychopa…totalitarianism/), James Lindsay explained the origins of totalitarianism in a single word: psychopathy. There, he explained that totalitarianism arises from people who cannot cope with reality as it is, and yet who are content to manipulate others, constructing a “pseudo-reality” in service to a vision of the world that serves their needs. That pseudo-reality holds as its North Star a Utopian vision that aligns with artificial resolutions to their inability to cope with reality as it is, and it thereby attracts others who have similar issues. By constructing a false logic (a paralogic) and a false morality (a paramorality) to define and enforce the pseudo-reality, they can gather supporters in a cult-like fashion. In the end, those ensnared lose the ability to distinguish reality and pseudo-reality almost entirely and become functionally psychopathic, and if they gain enough social, cultural, economic, and political power, they can hold hostage entire societies that are, in effect, on the march to totalitarianism and, eventually, total catastrophic collapse.
 

[…] in this podcast, he begins the process of linking the concept of “ideological pseudo-reality” to more familiar examples, not least Wokeness. Critical Race Theory, for example, is a pseudo-reality that positions racism as the ordinary state of affairs in society, not an immoral aberration from them. Queer Theory is a pseudo-reality in which being normal with regard to sex, gender, and sexuality is a problem while being in some way deviant (which is not the same as being gay or even trans) is elevated as normal. Communism is a pseudo-reality that deems socially engineered command economies as effective and efficient ways to maximize human flourishing. Covid-19 is a pseudo-reality built to enact control around a genuine and serious virus called SARS-CoV-2. These topics and more are presented in this episode of the New Discourses podcast to help people understand and, hopefully, able to see reality for itself again.

Grab a coffee. You’ll recognize much of what he describes immediately.

h/t RP

25 Replies to “The Power Of No”

    1. ABSOLUTELY awesome..that was hilarious. Managing to get a revised “Mein Kampf” Published…??

      Thats Majestic Class trolling for certain..!! And downright Scary to boot

  1. It would seem that one must be intelligent to avoid falling for the con as it were, because in a word, it is a con.

  2. “ James Lindsay explained the origins of totalitarianism in a single word: psychopathy.”

    Exhibit A: Nancy Pelosi.

  3. I am only 10% of the way through the piece and already have in the back of my mind (and in flashing all-caps) the words ‘CLIMATE CULT’—that totalitarian psychopathy in which one presumes the weather/climate would be ‘perfect’ if not for humans. So…many…examples. Ok—back to the essay. Have a great weekend, all!

  4. If you have teenagers in your circle over which you have any influence, share these podcasts and essays with them.

  5. That’s why our masters closed the lunatic asylums and made it impossible to have lunatics committed against their will BEFORE they succeeded in harming other people.

    The only place psychopaths can be an asset to society—rathet than the source of all its problems—is in a closed institution under 24/7/365 surveillance, where, using a strict system of rewards and punishments, they can be trained to be model prisoners.

    Any sane society would haul our psychopathic masters off to the loony-bins, lock them up and throw away the keys. That’s where they belong.

    Of course, we’re here because our masters have a problem with that.

    1. Whatever helps you sleep at night.

      Have fun denying reality and substituting your own when a Chinaman is using you to test the latest product of Wuhan’s bioweapon labs.

      Maybe that will help while you’re foaming at the mouth and convulsing as an airborne lyssavirus destroys your brain.

    2. I noted the same as I listened– we all are working our though life with one arm through some life preserver. I believe in morals as written on my soul by a creator I have accepted and now try to follow. The podcast takes comfort in assuming the bounds of human experience help define the good morals over the para-morals.

      I’ve listened twice and will now go back and read the essay.

      This in 1h distilled what I have observed and been baffled by for so long.

    3. Daniel Ream uttered on January 16, 2021 at 10:59 am

      “He’s bought into a fair few pseudo-realities himself, ironically.”

      To which I reply “Which are? Please enlighten us…”

      Extra points for describing exactly how many “a fair few” is, with examples of each one.

      Answers on a postcard please (as they used to say in Blighty). But bet you can’t 😉

  6. “By constructing a false logic (a paralogic) and a false morality (a paramorality) to define and enforce the pseudo-reality, they can gather supporters in a cult-like fashion.”

    I indeed do recognize much of what he describes: million of people who believe Trump won the 2020 election, that there’s a vast cabal of satanistic pedophiles ruling the world, SpyGate, etc.

    1. Get a mirror dude, he’s talking about you and yours. How far up where the sun never shines does your head have to be shoved to miss that?

      1. He thinks he is but he ain’t. I’m not the one pretending the capitol riot was actually ANTIFA or that Trump was cheated out of re-election.

        1. You’re right for once. James identifies groups other than the woke.

          I suspect he doesn’t want to distract from his target by pointing out Qanon and Trump worshippers.

    2. @ UnMe trolling on January 16, 2021 at 12:53 pm…

      You are the Lizard Person Hillary and I claim my $10 !

  7. I can think of an example of “ideological pseudo-reality” a lot closer to hand than Critical Race Theory.

    The end of a review of Lindsay’s magnum opus:

    I’ll conclude by considering a recent tweet by Lindsay: “The Woke approach really only does the same things over and over again: uncharitable readings, call people names, take things out of context, erase nuance, call people names again. Takedowns of it are exceptionally tedious and require a lot of lengthy explanations.”
    If this is right, Cynical Theories carries out the Woke approach to perfection. A full takedown of all its bullshit—in the serious, philosophical sense of ‘bullshit’ discussed by Harry Frankfurt—would indeed be exceptionally tedious, so I have, for the time being, restricted my most in-depth analysis to chapter eight, where I already have plenty of experience studying the relevant academic literature. But a full takedown of Cynical Theories is a worthwhile project, and it’s one I plan to take up soon.
    https://www.liberalcurrents.com/the-cynical-theorists-behind-cynical-theories/
    The Cynical Theorists Behind Cynical Theories
    Samuel Hoadley-Brill·August 19, 2020

  8. Comment: This lecture is IMHO the best description that I have heard of how we are at the current state of things.
    Previously I knew what the whole woke thing “was”, but this is the “why” it is.
    Keep up the good work Kate & team. Needed now more than ever 🙂

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