Entries by Jan

Michael Crichton | You don’t play ball with the power structure

in

"…Whoever has the power in society determines what can be studied, determines what can be observed, determines what can be thought. Scientists fall in line with the dominant power structure. They have to, because the power structure pays the bills. You don’t play ball with the power structure, you don’t get money for research, you don’t get an appointment, you don’t get published, in short you don’t count anymore. You’re out. You might as well be dead."

Michael Crichton

Ayn Rand | you may know that your society is doomed

in

"Money is the barometer of a society’s virtue. When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion- When you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing- when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors- when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you- when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice – you may know that your society is doomed."

Ayn Rand

Napoleon Bonaparte | The Jesuits are a MILITARY organization

in

"The Jesuits are a MILITARY organization, not a religious order. Their chief is a general of an army, not the mere father abbot of a monastery. And the aim of this organization is power – power in its most despotic exercise – absolute power, universal power, power to control the world by the volition of a single man [i.e., the Black Pope, the Superior General of the Jesuits]. Jesuitism is the most absolute of despotisms and at the same time the greatest and most enormous of abuses…"

Napoleon Bonaparte

Edward Bernays | The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions

in

"The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. …We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society. …In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons…who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind."

Edward Bernays

Noam Chomsky | The smart way to keep people passive and obedient

in

"The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow a very lively debate within that spectrum – even encourage the more critical and dissident views. That gives people a sense that there’s free thinking going on, while all the time the presuppositions of the system are being reinforced by the limits put on the range of debate."

Noam Chomsky

Gore Vidal | The corporate grip on opinion

in

„The corporate grip on opinion in the United States is one of the wonders of the Western world. No First World country has ever managed to eliminate so entirely from its media all objectivity – much less dissent. „Of course, it is possible for any citizen with time to spare, and a canny eye, to work out what is actually going on, but for the many there is not time, and the network news is the only news even though it may not be news at all but only a series of flashing fictions…“

Gore Vidal

John Kozy | As such, they exist merely to sell snake oil

in

"America’s journalists are not 'newshounds'. They are nothing more than salesclerks, hocking the products their employers want to sell. The pretty faces that now function as most television news anchors are no different than the pretty models used to sell other products. The American “free” press is comprised of nothing more than a number of retail outlets which sell stories slanted to please their target audiences. As such, they exist merely to sell snake oil."

John Kozy

Prof. Dr. Markus Gabriel | massive misalignment in our current worldview

in

"I actually see a massive misalignment in our current worldview because natural science and technology, represented these days by virology and computer simulations, have taken the former place of religion. In short, essentially at the end of the day, engaging in unsubstantiated metaphysics. However, based on facts. Yes, the natural sciences are now part of the standard realm of ideology, and ideology today means, that you can lie with the facts..."

Prof. Dr. Markus Gabriel

Sergei Petrowitsch Kapiza | state of deep hypnosis

in

“Society sees nothing because it is kept in a state of deep hypnosis. People have never been so manipulated as they are now. A human being is not given a chance to stop and understand what is happening. Endless series, one more stupid than the other, vulgar pop music, lustful or aggressive films that gently affect the subconscious, cultivate a spirit of selfishness and violence. A normal person quickly becomes an unprincipled animal that leads an absolutely meaningless life.”

Sergei Petrowitsch Kapiza

Prof. Dr. Knut Löschke | how natural science is turned into a whore of politics

in

"I'm fed up, or to put it even more clearly: I'm fed up with the permanent and increasingly religious climate gibberish, with energy turnaround fantasies, with electric car worship, with scary stories about doomsday scenarios from Corona to conflagrations to weather catastrophes. I can no longer stand the people who shout this into microphones and cameras every day or print it in newspapers. I suffer from having to witness how natural science is turned into a whore of politics.

I am tired of being told what to be ashamed of by abused, pubescent children. I am tired of being told by some deranged people that I am to blame for everything and everyone - but especially as a German for the past, present and future misery of the whole world. [....]"

Prof. Dr. Knut Löschke ( 28. September 2021 via Facebook )