Dear friends, A few weeks ago I gave a speech at the fourth International Crisis Summit in the Romanian Parliament. Below you find the text of the speech I prepared and the videorecording of the speech I actually gave. I usually don't prepare a speech, simply because for some reason I never stick to the plan. Ultimately, I always express the words as they come on the spot and at the moment. This time was no different – the text below and the actual speech are different. That being said, I hope you will read it. In the beginning I repeat some things about totalitarianism that you might be familiar with if you've listened to my interviews. But the rest of the text is all about the perversion of political discourse in our society and the need for a new type of politician who leaves propaganda and rhetoric behind and re-appreciates truth speech.
Lies destroy themselves. Truth is all that’s left. Spoken words live briefly then die, and written words are dead and remain dead forever. Propaganda is dead written words that are spoken repeatedly to the extent that people go crazy and submit to the instructions of the dead. The internet is messing with the flows of words and meaning. Psyches are entangling across the people sphere bringing to life new minds stronger and kinder beyond anything that has existed before. The dreaming spirit is laughing.
I appreciate the general gist of this, but there are just some factual, extremely obvious errors that cannot go unmentioned: propaganda is not a post-Enlightenment phenomenon. Propaganda, in the sense of "legitimisation of domination" of whoever wants to rule a country by physical or psychological force, is as old as human history. From the old Egyptian to the Chinese King-Gods through the early and high Middle Ages, domination of humans over humans has always found a way to justify itself. In the centuries before the French Revolution, it was God himself that served as legitimisation strategy for the church/clergy and the aristocracy, not only in the West. It was "God propaganda". Enlightenment thought was the first to question this rule of "divine privilege". Rationality was supposed to put domination on a different level of justification: democracy, if only formally. Democracy is the inner drive of truthful speech, for if there is no political system in which truth matters, then any kind of domination of humans over other humans can be justified. Rationality is not the problem. Rationality, in fact, has never been tried.
But Mattias, politicians do speak the truth, in the sense that they dutifully read the script that is handed to them by their masters (not us, of course). As you may know, the political animal is a domesticated breed that merely advances the interests of its owners. This is somehow left out of the discussion, as if these entities, these creatures elevated to the position of public responsibility, are autonomous thinkers and decision makers. They are not, as should be clear from the unanimous response of the 'world leaders' to the multitude of crises in society today. War, austerity, fear mongering, and gaslighting are some of the 'remedies' applied. Do they themselves believe the sewage being constantly sprayed on the unsuspecting masses? I think they do believe that the manipulation serves a 'higher purpose', which is precisely the implementation of the ruling class agenda. The end justifies the means in their mind. The end is beyond ideology and lies in the conformist servitude of the corrupted mind, the flaccid ego and spineless character, which lacks the ability to maintain integrity, in other words, perfect material for the political automaton. It is just a form that is filled with the animating substance of the master's will.
To put it more bluntly, when a society is drowning in a sea of propaganda, and relativism takes complete control, how are ordinary people supposed to see anything other than bullshit, since that is completely obscuring and soiling the scenery? How can we feel anything other than hopelessness and being disconnected and discontented? To make this short, I don't believe the political creature can be reformed or salvaged, and forget about speaking the 'Truth'. It is what it is and serves the purpose for which it was designed. Of course, there are notable exceptions, although those are not 'true' politicians but people who went into politics hoping to make a difference in a sea of indifference and lies. If we were actually allowed to have our collective voice heard, would we vote for these clownish scarecrows? I think not. In the end, totalitarianism exists because we collectively allow it. What are we going to do about it?
A bit late to be throwing this in, perhaps, but the same week you ran this great piece, I was running this piece on Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence and its relation to truth. If you should happen to read this comment, I hope you will find this short 3-minute reflection relevant to your timely themes:
Truth is necessary but not sufficient to prevent totalitarianism. As touched in your writing there is a tension between the individual and the collective. When I hear my liberal friends defend their illiberal positions it always boils down to prioritizing the common good at the expense of the individual. Whether it is free speech, vaccine mandates, gun ownership, public education, or even human sacrifice individual freedoms or life are traded away for perceived collective benefits. If we think of it as a spectrum with respect for the individual on one end and collective well-being on the other end, truth is essential to find a culture’s balance, but it is not sufficient to assure the ethical treatment of the individual.
This reminds me of the text that Soljenitsyne released on the day he was arrested in 74 : 'Live not by Lies'. He writes : 'never knowingly support lies!' He gives a list 'of the possible and necessary ways of evading lies'. And by the way, great to hear you citing Houellebecq!
Thank you for your speech transcript. I have been a fan since Robert Malone talked about Mass Formation Psychosis on the Joe Rogan podcast. My daughter is totally captured by the propaganda and refuses to talk about any of the hot topics. I like the idea of Sincere Speech, but she isn't open to talking about the hot topics. She would not speak to us for over a year and now we are at least talking about everything but the elephant in the room.
I have identified 8 major PsyOps going on in the world right now and she is captured by each one of them. I see each of them as having a basis of truth and fact. These facts are built on into levels of supposition and opinion where the absurd is reached. This is where the allowed narrative is and any discussion of the facts (that we can all agree on) is not allowed. If you have time to read it, I would appreciate your comments:
Speaking truth makes sense. Lies don’t make sense. I have a friend I had to distance myself from. We had been friends for 50 years. She has borderline personality disorder. She had no boundaries and would call me at 1:00 am. She would tell me stories about her family and what they had done to her. They did not make sense. I was talking to her son to tell him I had to distance myself from his mother . He is best friends with my son. He proceeded to tell me the same stories only they made sense.
I’m hoping the more we speak truth , the more truth will make sense.
Truth speech reminds me of the work of M. Scott Peck in his book "The Different Drum". Dr. Desmet, I wonder if you are aware of this? If not, I think you would enjoy it.
A’int it so, brother!
My 4 years resume of C19 Theatre :
https://danseg.substack.com/p/welcome-to-theatre-c19?utm_source=substack&utm_content=feed%3Arecommended%3Acopy_link
Lies destroy themselves. Truth is all that’s left. Spoken words live briefly then die, and written words are dead and remain dead forever. Propaganda is dead written words that are spoken repeatedly to the extent that people go crazy and submit to the instructions of the dead. The internet is messing with the flows of words and meaning. Psyches are entangling across the people sphere bringing to life new minds stronger and kinder beyond anything that has existed before. The dreaming spirit is laughing.
Do we really need politicians to become "true leaders" again?
I mean: All power to the people!
I appreciate the general gist of this, but there are just some factual, extremely obvious errors that cannot go unmentioned: propaganda is not a post-Enlightenment phenomenon. Propaganda, in the sense of "legitimisation of domination" of whoever wants to rule a country by physical or psychological force, is as old as human history. From the old Egyptian to the Chinese King-Gods through the early and high Middle Ages, domination of humans over humans has always found a way to justify itself. In the centuries before the French Revolution, it was God himself that served as legitimisation strategy for the church/clergy and the aristocracy, not only in the West. It was "God propaganda". Enlightenment thought was the first to question this rule of "divine privilege". Rationality was supposed to put domination on a different level of justification: democracy, if only formally. Democracy is the inner drive of truthful speech, for if there is no political system in which truth matters, then any kind of domination of humans over other humans can be justified. Rationality is not the problem. Rationality, in fact, has never been tried.
🔥🔥🔥🙌❤️
But Mattias, politicians do speak the truth, in the sense that they dutifully read the script that is handed to them by their masters (not us, of course). As you may know, the political animal is a domesticated breed that merely advances the interests of its owners. This is somehow left out of the discussion, as if these entities, these creatures elevated to the position of public responsibility, are autonomous thinkers and decision makers. They are not, as should be clear from the unanimous response of the 'world leaders' to the multitude of crises in society today. War, austerity, fear mongering, and gaslighting are some of the 'remedies' applied. Do they themselves believe the sewage being constantly sprayed on the unsuspecting masses? I think they do believe that the manipulation serves a 'higher purpose', which is precisely the implementation of the ruling class agenda. The end justifies the means in their mind. The end is beyond ideology and lies in the conformist servitude of the corrupted mind, the flaccid ego and spineless character, which lacks the ability to maintain integrity, in other words, perfect material for the political automaton. It is just a form that is filled with the animating substance of the master's will.
To put it more bluntly, when a society is drowning in a sea of propaganda, and relativism takes complete control, how are ordinary people supposed to see anything other than bullshit, since that is completely obscuring and soiling the scenery? How can we feel anything other than hopelessness and being disconnected and discontented? To make this short, I don't believe the political creature can be reformed or salvaged, and forget about speaking the 'Truth'. It is what it is and serves the purpose for which it was designed. Of course, there are notable exceptions, although those are not 'true' politicians but people who went into politics hoping to make a difference in a sea of indifference and lies. If we were actually allowed to have our collective voice heard, would we vote for these clownish scarecrows? I think not. In the end, totalitarianism exists because we collectively allow it. What are we going to do about it?
Cheers
A bit late to be throwing this in, perhaps, but the same week you ran this great piece, I was running this piece on Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence and its relation to truth. If you should happen to read this comment, I hope you will find this short 3-minute reflection relevant to your timely themes:
https://strangerworlds.substack.com/p/peace-truth-and-violence
A brilliant thinker and an eloquent orator of truths.
Truth is necessary but not sufficient to prevent totalitarianism. As touched in your writing there is a tension between the individual and the collective. When I hear my liberal friends defend their illiberal positions it always boils down to prioritizing the common good at the expense of the individual. Whether it is free speech, vaccine mandates, gun ownership, public education, or even human sacrifice individual freedoms or life are traded away for perceived collective benefits. If we think of it as a spectrum with respect for the individual on one end and collective well-being on the other end, truth is essential to find a culture’s balance, but it is not sufficient to assure the ethical treatment of the individual.
Beautiful and brilliant.
This reminds me of the text that Soljenitsyne released on the day he was arrested in 74 : 'Live not by Lies'. He writes : 'never knowingly support lies!' He gives a list 'of the possible and necessary ways of evading lies'. And by the way, great to hear you citing Houellebecq!
Thank you for your speech transcript. I have been a fan since Robert Malone talked about Mass Formation Psychosis on the Joe Rogan podcast. My daughter is totally captured by the propaganda and refuses to talk about any of the hot topics. I like the idea of Sincere Speech, but she isn't open to talking about the hot topics. She would not speak to us for over a year and now we are at least talking about everything but the elephant in the room.
I have identified 8 major PsyOps going on in the world right now and she is captured by each one of them. I see each of them as having a basis of truth and fact. These facts are built on into levels of supposition and opinion where the absurd is reached. This is where the allowed narrative is and any discussion of the facts (that we can all agree on) is not allowed. If you have time to read it, I would appreciate your comments:
https://mikemyhre.substack.com/p/one-planet-two-worlds
Also any hints on how to get people to talk or listen on these difficult topics would be appreciated.
Speaking truth makes sense. Lies don’t make sense. I have a friend I had to distance myself from. We had been friends for 50 years. She has borderline personality disorder. She had no boundaries and would call me at 1:00 am. She would tell me stories about her family and what they had done to her. They did not make sense. I was talking to her son to tell him I had to distance myself from his mother . He is best friends with my son. He proceeded to tell me the same stories only they made sense.
I’m hoping the more we speak truth , the more truth will make sense.
Truth speech reminds me of the work of M. Scott Peck in his book "The Different Drum". Dr. Desmet, I wonder if you are aware of this? If not, I think you would enjoy it.
i truly appreciate everything you stated in this speech. Thank you!