Slaughterhouse Now: Reflections on Huxley, authoritarianism, and the Brave New World being ushered in by a bug

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I think of a dear friend’s response to my dinner invitation tonight – him saying (in the face of the “pandemic”) that he is generally staying home…. Frankly, like many people, he has lost his mind to the media-created hysteria, surrounding a virus that is still far less lethal than the common flu.

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But the trouble is this. He is a typical, “informed”, liberal centrist (who thinks he’s highly aware of everything that matters, like most centrists do, though the reality is they are deeply indoctrinated, like Pavlov’s dogs). In other words, he is the norm. Now that is a truly terrifying thought.

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“In the end, they will beg us to put them in chains.”

Paraphrasing Huxley, recounting the Grand Inquisitor.

Huxley was right. No big stick is needed to bring in a truly scientific fascism. More subtle means work better. The people will line up to be corralled, just like cattle led to the slaughter.

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Let’s hope I am wrong. So far, the public response is almost as worrisome as the extremely dangerous authoritarian response by the elite. Not reassuring.

Restrictions on travel, restrictions on freedom of assembly, general fear-mongering, urging people to avoid social contact: all of this works well if your agenda is to divide and conquer, and prepare the people for the surrender of their freedom – for their own good, of course.

Mass house arrest, anyone?

It’s for your own protection.

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JTR,
March 13, 2020

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(Why WordPress occasionally refuses to cooperate on formatting, I do not know; but my apologies for the oddities beyond my control. It is apparently a WordPress glitch. Hence the stars, to separate paragraphs. When in doubt, improvise. Good to remember.)

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(At last count, the death toll globally from the coronavirus was 1/200th of the annual death toll from the flu. It barely registers above zero compared to the over 20,000 that die a day from poverty and hunger, or the more than 20,000 that die a day from obesity. So: Why the extreme authoritarian measures and media hysteria, in that case, people might want to ask.)

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Further reading – big picture analysis:

Noam Chomsky, Necessary Illusions: Thought Control In Democratic Societies,
Year 501: The Conquest Continues,
Class Warfare,
and
Requiem For The American Dream: The Principles Of Concentration Of Wealth & Power
George Orwell, 1984
Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, and Brave New World Revisited
Yevgeny Zamyatin, We
Jack London, Iron Heel
Naomi Klein, The Shock Doctrine
David C. Korten, When Corporations Rule The World
Susan George, Shadow Sovereigns
John Pilger, The New Rulers Of The World
John Perkins, A Game As Old As Empire, and
The New Confessions Of An Economic Hitman
C. Wright Mills, The Power Elite
Peter Phillips, Giants: The Global Power Elite
Murray Bookchin, The Ecology of Freedom
Erich Fromm, Escape From Freedom
Bertrand Russell, Roads To Freedom
Joanna Macy, World As Lover, World As Self
Ronald Wright, A Short History Of Progress