Mary, thank you for sharing your post "Prisoners of Higher Ed: Part 2." So much food-for-thought here. It is an article I will want to read many times to be able to absorb and remember the 8 themes in "totalist" organizations, as well as as the Army Manual training on resisting brainwashing. Very relevant for what we are facing today. You wrote, "Starting January 2023, Harvard University is requiring all on-campus students to be vaccinated with the bivalent COVID-19 booster in order to register for the spring term, and threatens holds on enrollment if students don't comply." Mandating this injection before second semester feels insidious and extra coercive. Students do not have the summer to consider if they want to receive the shot or, instead, to leave the school or to transfer to another university. This seems wrong to me on many levels. The organization No College Mandates has created a chart showing which colleges and universities are mandating the bivalent booster. It includes Yale, Fordham, Smith, and Tufts among others. They also have compiled an extensive list of colleges by state which shows which schools have mandated the Covid shots and which have not. They update it regularly to include boosters. Higher Ed institutions should allow students to exercise their critical thinking skills and apply them to their own lives and to make their own choices out of freedom. Forcing young adults to take these injections in the "middle of the school" year, or at all, just seems wrong to me.
I have done a bit of griping and in recent years, I have been told I am a "Karen", for my griping. Am I a Karen, or am I resisting the conform or else people?
Thanks for another thoughtful and informative edition. I'm still considering many of the points you mentioned in Part I. This second part adds to my growing list of things to contemplate...and by that, I mean to think deeply about.
I embrace much of what you brought up in this edition. When I consider my life and my connection to food and the lifestyle I choose to lead, I also see much of this "brainwashing" going on. Indeed, that is true in the vegan movement, regardless of the side of the equation you land on. But worse is what I see happening in cookbook publishing and how food and cooking play in our mind's theater. There is far too much conformity in the industry...far too many people thinking that because something was prepared a certain way 100 years ago, there's no room to move away from that premise today Now, I've opened up the pandora's box in my own head. I could write on and on about this topic, but that's probably not very appropriate in the comments section, so I shall stop and only say thanks for opening my eyes to how 'conformist' the food/recipe book/cooking mentality world truly is at this point. I think I need to speak about this just a bit louder...
The other thought I have is this...I don't think much of this is intentional. I don't believe there is some organized effort to "brainwash" everyone into believing certain things. True, there are dangers when going all in on certain things that get presented these days - religion, politics, and health, to name a few obvious examples. But I believe it has more to do with people taking the path of least resistance than some malicious and purposeful intent on the part of governments or organizations. Maybe I'm naive (that's also possible). I believe many people are intellectually lazy and non-confrontational...and that leaves the door wide open to be manipulated in many ways, but primarily through their consumption (information, advertisements, marketing pitches, etc.).
And because I'm writing this on Thanksgiving, I may as well point out how conformist it seems to me that millions of people blindly accept they must eat a turkey today.
Mary, you have outdone yourself, again! Yes, the Mel Brooks clip was genius, but so is this piece of yours. What a clever and hard-hitting way you chose to deliver this extremely important message. Sometimes you just have to be “in your face” about it and tell it like it is, especially now because it does seem that we are back on the road to some kind of recovery, but that’s just part of the psychology of this whole scheme to take over the world. We’re on the most intense and diabolical roller coaster ride of our lives. While more and more people are coming to this realization all the time, it’s hard to tell if we’ve reached critical mass yet. We must stay aware and question everything that happens lest we lose precious ground already gained. This really is war.
You’ve provided a guide here to help us recognize the indoctrination process as we as we navigate these critical times ahead. Great job! Thank you again. I loved this quote of Schmidt’s:
“…if you want to stand for something and avoid vanishing as an independent force in society, you have no choice but to resist. Certainly, resisting the system carries some risk, but not resisting is a far deadlier course for your individual identity."
Hey my friend!! Hope you are settled in and enjoying your new home and new found freedom! I just wanted to say ‘bravo’ for this article! I have to admit, some of your posts I read and the meaning flies right over my tiny head 🤣🤣, but this one sure resonates! Stay strong and know I am in the bunker with you! Hope to see you sometime this winter! Xo jo jeffe PS say hi to Peter
Mary, thank you for sharing your post "Prisoners of Higher Ed: Part 2." So much food-for-thought here. It is an article I will want to read many times to be able to absorb and remember the 8 themes in "totalist" organizations, as well as as the Army Manual training on resisting brainwashing. Very relevant for what we are facing today. You wrote, "Starting January 2023, Harvard University is requiring all on-campus students to be vaccinated with the bivalent COVID-19 booster in order to register for the spring term, and threatens holds on enrollment if students don't comply." Mandating this injection before second semester feels insidious and extra coercive. Students do not have the summer to consider if they want to receive the shot or, instead, to leave the school or to transfer to another university. This seems wrong to me on many levels. The organization No College Mandates has created a chart showing which colleges and universities are mandating the bivalent booster. It includes Yale, Fordham, Smith, and Tufts among others. They also have compiled an extensive list of colleges by state which shows which schools have mandated the Covid shots and which have not. They update it regularly to include boosters. Higher Ed institutions should allow students to exercise their critical thinking skills and apply them to their own lives and to make their own choices out of freedom. Forcing young adults to take these injections in the "middle of the school" year, or at all, just seems wrong to me.
I have done a bit of griping and in recent years, I have been told I am a "Karen", for my griping. Am I a Karen, or am I resisting the conform or else people?
Thanks for another thoughtful and informative edition. I'm still considering many of the points you mentioned in Part I. This second part adds to my growing list of things to contemplate...and by that, I mean to think deeply about.
I embrace much of what you brought up in this edition. When I consider my life and my connection to food and the lifestyle I choose to lead, I also see much of this "brainwashing" going on. Indeed, that is true in the vegan movement, regardless of the side of the equation you land on. But worse is what I see happening in cookbook publishing and how food and cooking play in our mind's theater. There is far too much conformity in the industry...far too many people thinking that because something was prepared a certain way 100 years ago, there's no room to move away from that premise today Now, I've opened up the pandora's box in my own head. I could write on and on about this topic, but that's probably not very appropriate in the comments section, so I shall stop and only say thanks for opening my eyes to how 'conformist' the food/recipe book/cooking mentality world truly is at this point. I think I need to speak about this just a bit louder...
The other thought I have is this...I don't think much of this is intentional. I don't believe there is some organized effort to "brainwash" everyone into believing certain things. True, there are dangers when going all in on certain things that get presented these days - religion, politics, and health, to name a few obvious examples. But I believe it has more to do with people taking the path of least resistance than some malicious and purposeful intent on the part of governments or organizations. Maybe I'm naive (that's also possible). I believe many people are intellectually lazy and non-confrontational...and that leaves the door wide open to be manipulated in many ways, but primarily through their consumption (information, advertisements, marketing pitches, etc.).
And because I'm writing this on Thanksgiving, I may as well point out how conformist it seems to me that millions of people blindly accept they must eat a turkey today.
Enjoyed this piece! Found it from Gato Malo. I just started writing.. come check out my posts.. think you will find lots of common ground.
Mary, you have outdone yourself, again! Yes, the Mel Brooks clip was genius, but so is this piece of yours. What a clever and hard-hitting way you chose to deliver this extremely important message. Sometimes you just have to be “in your face” about it and tell it like it is, especially now because it does seem that we are back on the road to some kind of recovery, but that’s just part of the psychology of this whole scheme to take over the world. We’re on the most intense and diabolical roller coaster ride of our lives. While more and more people are coming to this realization all the time, it’s hard to tell if we’ve reached critical mass yet. We must stay aware and question everything that happens lest we lose precious ground already gained. This really is war.
You’ve provided a guide here to help us recognize the indoctrination process as we as we navigate these critical times ahead. Great job! Thank you again. I loved this quote of Schmidt’s:
“…if you want to stand for something and avoid vanishing as an independent force in society, you have no choice but to resist. Certainly, resisting the system carries some risk, but not resisting is a far deadlier course for your individual identity."
Hey my friend!! Hope you are settled in and enjoying your new home and new found freedom! I just wanted to say ‘bravo’ for this article! I have to admit, some of your posts I read and the meaning flies right over my tiny head 🤣🤣, but this one sure resonates! Stay strong and know I am in the bunker with you! Hope to see you sometime this winter! Xo jo jeffe PS say hi to Peter