23 Comments
Mar 25, 2022Liked by The 21st Century Salonnière

Thanks for a really interesting article. It's not hard to see why our government wants to push the idea that Putin has simply gone crazy. That stops any serious discussion that our own policies have anything to do with the current situation - especially the green energy agenda. But it has been amazing to see how quickly the entire country has gone full-blown neocon.

We've been heading in this "groupthink" direction for years. It's the logical culmination of the idea that free speech is dangerous, that "misinformation" should be surpressed, and that the elites should control what are considered acceptable views. We bought into the idea that debate and persuasion are unnecessary, it's better and safer to shut down the offending arguments.

I never agree with Kamala Harris, but when she said recently that the American people are "getting exactly what they ordered" in the election, she is absolutely correct. Ideas have consequences.

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Apr 3, 2022Liked by The 21st Century Salonnière

No doubt we're not getting the "whole story" about Ukraine. Doubt the American public got the whole story about Japan before or after Pearl Harbor, either. (I've been around for a while, but I wasn't quite "around" back then.)

That we seem more easily psychologically influenced and persuadable now than perhaps in the past is not a surprise, if you have a little understanding about the human psyche and take into account the advent of the digital age. I mean, a whole new occupation has recently become popular because of that fact...the "influencers" that permeate social media platforms. As to whether or not we truly have free will because of that, well I don't know (although I know what I believe.) And if I do decide one way or the other, how am I to know if that's actually my own inner decision or something totally "influenced" from without? Bit of a Catch 22, no?

I like regular fries. Curly fries...eehh. So I'm probably not nearly as smart as I think I am. On the other hand, I've never spent so much as a nano second on Twitter, and eschew all social media as if it were the plague. So, while not a genius by any means, how dumb can I possibly be?

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Apr 3, 2022Liked by The 21st Century Salonnière

Should we really call them Nazis for having far right views?

The word gets thrown around so easily nowadays, that I doubt people realize how much weight this word carries and how many horrible views are necessary to reach this.

I might be biased due to German perception and somehow a different understanding of what this word means compared to the rest of the world.

Otherwise once again a very interesting article, which brought up many important points to keep a neutral view in these times.

Thanks and have a great day

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Mar 31, 2022·edited Mar 31, 2022Liked by The 21st Century Salonnière

I'm having trouble getting the "labels" thread to display properly, so I will just write a new comment.

I understand why people object to labels that tend to put groups of people and viewpoints in separate little boxes. In reality, hardly anyone fits completely in one labeled "box". But language is important. We always tell kids to "use your words". I fear that is something we are losing. We don't seem to be able to agree on definitions of words anymore, and I think that is dangerous for a culture. Can't define "woman" if you are not a biologist?

Maybe political ideas have become like a kaleidoscope that has fallen into a new pattern. Then we need a way to describe the new pattern.

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