Lippmann in 1922 called it for what it was - private interest and public affairs merging inside a closed social organism.
Not conspiracy.
Consideration architecture collapsing at the top.
When consideration disappears entirely from a system, it can't maintain appearances - not only because it becomes obvious, but because the social contract holding it together is gone.
H. L. Mencken (1880–1956) was a highly influential American journalist, satirist, and cultural critic. Known as the "Sage of Baltimore," he dominated American literary and political commentary during the 1920s.Core ContributionsCultural Satire: He fiercely attacked American provincialism, puritanism, and middle-class conformity, famously coining the term "Booboisie" to describe the American masses.The American Language: He authored a massive, multi-volume philological study of how the English language evolved uniquely in the United States.The Scopes Trial: He provided legendary national coverage of the 1925 "Monkey Trial," criticizing religious fundamentalism.Literary Champion: As editor of The American Mercury, he championed major writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Theodore Dreiser, and Sinclair Lewis.
Sinclair Lewis pioneered American social critique, dedicating his career to satirizing middle-class complacency, the shallow pursuit of wealth, and institutional hypocrisy. As the first American to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, he fundamentally shaped how the world viewed "Main Street" America.His work systematically targeted various facets of society and professions, mapping out the hidden, darker undercurrents of the American dream:Key Themes & TargetsSmall-Town Conformity (Main Street, 1920): Exposed the claustrophobic provincialism, narrow-mindedness, and stifling social pressures of village life.Business Materialism (Babbitt, 1922): Satirized the empty conformity, Rotary club boosterism, and spiritual poverty of the typical middle-class American businessman.Scientific Ethics (Arrowsmith, 1925): Explored the struggle to maintain scientific and moral integrity in a field increasingly driven by commercialism.Religious Hypocrisy (Elmer Gantry, 1927): Launched a scathing attack on the greed and moral failings within evangelical Protestant leadership.The Role of Journalism & MediaLewis began his career as a newspaper reporter and editor. This background heavily informed how he utilized media in his fiction:The Media as an Echo Chamber: In Babbitt, he highlighted how local newspapers and chambers of commerce operated as propaganda machines to enforce societal groupthink and consumerist values.Journalism as the Last Defense (It Can't Happen Here, 1935): In his dystopian political novel, a charismatic demagogue rises to the presidency and establishes a fascist dictatorship. The primary voice of resistance—and the primary target of state censorship—is Doremus Jessup, a defiant newspaper editor.Real-World Influence: His second wife, Dorothy Thompson, was a prominent foreign correspondent whose firsthand observations of Nazi Germany directly inspired It Can't Happen Here
Sinclair Lewis pioneered American social critique, dedicating his career to satirizing middle-class complacency, the shallow pursuit of wealth, and institutional hypocrisy. As the first American to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, he fundamentally shaped how the world viewed "Main Street" America.His work systematically targeted various facets of society and professions, mapping out the hidden, darker undercurrents of the American dream:Key Themes & TargetsSmall-Town Conformity (Main Street, 1920): Exposed the claustrophobic provincialism, narrow-mindedness, and stifling social pressures of village life.Business Materialism (Babbitt, 1922): Satirized the empty conformity, Rotary club boosterism, and spiritual poverty of the typical middle-class American businessman.Scientific Ethics (Arrowsmith, 1925): Explored the struggle to maintain scientific and moral integrity in a field increasingly driven by commercialism.Religious Hypocrisy (Elmer Gantry, 1927): Launched a scathing attack on the greed and moral failings within evangelical Protestant leadership.The Role of Journalism & MediaLewis began his career as a newspaper reporter and editor. This background heavily informed how he utilized media in his fiction:The Media as an Echo Chamber: In Babbitt, he highlighted how local newspapers and chambers of commerce operated as propaganda machines to enforce societal groupthink and consumerist values.Journalism as the Last Defense (It Can't Happen Here, 1935): In his dystopian political novel, a charismatic demagogue rises to the presidency and establishes a fascist dictatorship. The primary voice of resistance—and the primary target of state censorship—is Doremus Jessup, a defiant newspaper editor.Real-World Influence: His second wife, Dorothy Thompson, was a prominent foreign correspondent whose firsthand observations of Nazi Germany directly inspired It Can't Happen Here
I’ve been a great admirer of your work since I discovered your interview with Glenn Diesen. I was genuinely astonished by the sharpness and clarity with which you articulated many thoughts I had been carrying for years in a much more structured and profound way.
As a self-sufficient farmer living in a small mountain village in the Carpathians, I study psychoanalysis, political philosophy and geopolitics only in my limited free time. That’s why I approach your writings with both deep respect and the eyes of an outsider.
Your theory of Mass Formation is remarkably convincing to me. At the same time, I keep wondering whether the psychological conditions you describe so well — loneliness, free-floating anxiety and meaninglessness — are not themselves systematically produced by what Lewis Mumford called the “Mega-Machine” and what Günther Anders described as the growing “antiquatedness of man”.
Would it be possible that Mass Formation is not only a psychological reaction to modernity, but also a necessary functional element of the technological mega-system itself — one that keeps dependent and uprooted individuals from effectively resisting the very system that creates their suffering?
I would be deeply interested in your thoughts on this possible extension of your theory.
Moral decay, sexual licentiousness, and perversion, etc., are not inventions of the third millennium. All ancient "civilizations" bore the fruit of ruthless and totalitarian power, and its consumers were the ruling elites. And this orgy continues to this day. Many theories can be advanced as to the origins of this universal mechanism, which, beyond all time, stems from absolute totalitarian rule. Wherever there is absolute totalitarian power, a perverse orgy flourishes, even though it occurs at all levels of government, right down to the very bottom. It's pointless to debate such obvious truths as the fact that conspiracy and intrigue are the foundation of "social life" in all civilizations and all times. And if anyone questions this, it's clearly their job (i.e., conspiracy again). The only thing that distinguishes modernity is the almost limitless possibilities of modern totalitarianism, which is an indivisible tool in the hands of a "small handful of tyrants." Thanks to computerized machines, a handful of tyrants control every person. In a short time they are able to implement the most criminal projects and we are witnessing this right now.
It all depends on what you think of international organized crime. Epstein was clearly a fixer for them. I hope you will carefully read Whitney Webb who has spent many years on the Epstein case.
I can see that Mattias is a bit skeptical about the veracity of all those documents. Good point.
But none of that material - whether real or cooked - surprised me very much. Because I've studied Hubbard; one of the earliest cases of modern reputation destruction technology. Today, many of Hubbard's more esoteric findings are being corroborated, while his more useful findings remain ignored. The last thing the "elites" need is a sure fire way to make a person more honest!
Marvelous and thoughtful writing! What do we really know? Indeed.
In its current usage, "conspiracy" is a word that immediately self destructs upon being written or uttered, especially when "theory" gets tacked on. Today, to say something is a "conspiracy theory" is synonymous with saying something is crazy talk. "Conspiracy theories" are now inherently false.
I read somewhere that it was the CIA--to discredit those who failed to believe the Warren report on the JFK assassination-- that twisted the literal meaning of "conspiracy theory" into something wacky. That, itself, sounds like a conspiracy theory, and it might be.
But as you suggest, of course powerful people get together to further their own interests in unscrupulous ways. It is the way of the world.
Where does, say, a "marketing campaign" based on dubious assertions end, and a "conspiracy" begin?
It is fair to say that Jeffrey Epstein's entire life was nothing but a web of conspiracies, ranging from simply self-serving to downright evil.
To connect your essay with my work, the Founders of the USA understood that society was comprised of innumerable groups pursuing their own selfish interests, some lawfully and some illicitly. Even the lawful interests could be dangerous if they could capture the government. Each group - a business, syndicate, industry, labor union, trade organization, religion etc. - "conspires" to further itself, and at some point, each can cross a line that damages the public interest.
The Founders were obsessed with keeping these many self-serving interests in check, but today our system is nothing but a vast conglomeration of interest gorging at the trough of power together. A government much bigger than the one envisioned by the Founders makes this institutionalized conspiracy possible.
So, what do we do about it? That is the big question.
He’s not absent. He is waiting for us to return to him. Not doing so, God brings judgement to his chosen, the Jew and the Christian. His chosen strayed. They forgot what the great I AM did for them leaving Egypt. Crossing the Red Sea. Manna from heaven. Defeating evil. Jericho. Jezebel. David and Goliath. Ezekiel. Daniel. Esther. The War of Independence. The Seven Day War. Follow him its blessings. Do t follow him and its “luck” only. The need to repent is required and so is following the God of Abraham and his laws. Our righteousness of God is through Jesus Christ. We didn’t earn it, Jesus earned it for us. Our countries need to return to the God of Abraham. The moment we do, In a split second, all things can change.
You only have to trace the line of the Canaanites in the Christian Bible to understand where these people originate from. This has been God's crusade throughout our known history. Check it out.
And please, be careful not to cast all Jews under the same net. Just as with every other nation on this good earth, there are good and bad within each culture. Trace the Canaanites through to today, and you'll know who they are.
Wait until you read "Space relations" by Donald Barr, father of William. Barr served as an officer during WW2 in the OSS. The book is about a planet ruled by oligarchs involved in child sex slavery. The book was published in 1973. In 1974 Donald Barr hired Jefrey Epstein
Lippmann in 1922 called it for what it was - private interest and public affairs merging inside a closed social organism.
Not conspiracy.
Consideration architecture collapsing at the top.
When consideration disappears entirely from a system, it can't maintain appearances - not only because it becomes obvious, but because the social contract holding it together is gone.
The names change.
The mechanism doesn't.
Grateful for your lens!
How to Measure Anything is a book.
You saved my sanity a few years ago answering how perfectly intelligent people are in the thrall of a complex so precisely and broadly.
The rest was chaos too but your diligently mapped and articulated focus on the pattern of related conditions is all-time bro.
I recommend the book and hope the first bit about objections provides you some reflection of own thoughts*.
Hope it helps.
📏📏📏📏📏📏📏📏📏📏📏📏📏📏
There are YouTube summaries and epub.
* This message was inspired by your appearance on
https://youtu.be/JVAuT7OjgA4
Britain in 'mass psychosis' ... 'totalitarian digital CONTROL' looms.
Thank you for everything your doing.
I’m from Ottawa
H. L. Mencken (1880–1956) was a highly influential American journalist, satirist, and cultural critic. Known as the "Sage of Baltimore," he dominated American literary and political commentary during the 1920s.Core ContributionsCultural Satire: He fiercely attacked American provincialism, puritanism, and middle-class conformity, famously coining the term "Booboisie" to describe the American masses.The American Language: He authored a massive, multi-volume philological study of how the English language evolved uniquely in the United States.The Scopes Trial: He provided legendary national coverage of the 1925 "Monkey Trial," criticizing religious fundamentalism.Literary Champion: As editor of The American Mercury, he championed major writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Theodore Dreiser, and Sinclair Lewis.
Sinclair Lewis pioneered American social critique, dedicating his career to satirizing middle-class complacency, the shallow pursuit of wealth, and institutional hypocrisy. As the first American to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, he fundamentally shaped how the world viewed "Main Street" America.His work systematically targeted various facets of society and professions, mapping out the hidden, darker undercurrents of the American dream:Key Themes & TargetsSmall-Town Conformity (Main Street, 1920): Exposed the claustrophobic provincialism, narrow-mindedness, and stifling social pressures of village life.Business Materialism (Babbitt, 1922): Satirized the empty conformity, Rotary club boosterism, and spiritual poverty of the typical middle-class American businessman.Scientific Ethics (Arrowsmith, 1925): Explored the struggle to maintain scientific and moral integrity in a field increasingly driven by commercialism.Religious Hypocrisy (Elmer Gantry, 1927): Launched a scathing attack on the greed and moral failings within evangelical Protestant leadership.The Role of Journalism & MediaLewis began his career as a newspaper reporter and editor. This background heavily informed how he utilized media in his fiction:The Media as an Echo Chamber: In Babbitt, he highlighted how local newspapers and chambers of commerce operated as propaganda machines to enforce societal groupthink and consumerist values.Journalism as the Last Defense (It Can't Happen Here, 1935): In his dystopian political novel, a charismatic demagogue rises to the presidency and establishes a fascist dictatorship. The primary voice of resistance—and the primary target of state censorship—is Doremus Jessup, a defiant newspaper editor.Real-World Influence: His second wife, Dorothy Thompson, was a prominent foreign correspondent whose firsthand observations of Nazi Germany directly inspired It Can't Happen Here
Sinclair Lewis pioneered American social critique, dedicating his career to satirizing middle-class complacency, the shallow pursuit of wealth, and institutional hypocrisy. As the first American to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, he fundamentally shaped how the world viewed "Main Street" America.His work systematically targeted various facets of society and professions, mapping out the hidden, darker undercurrents of the American dream:Key Themes & TargetsSmall-Town Conformity (Main Street, 1920): Exposed the claustrophobic provincialism, narrow-mindedness, and stifling social pressures of village life.Business Materialism (Babbitt, 1922): Satirized the empty conformity, Rotary club boosterism, and spiritual poverty of the typical middle-class American businessman.Scientific Ethics (Arrowsmith, 1925): Explored the struggle to maintain scientific and moral integrity in a field increasingly driven by commercialism.Religious Hypocrisy (Elmer Gantry, 1927): Launched a scathing attack on the greed and moral failings within evangelical Protestant leadership.The Role of Journalism & MediaLewis began his career as a newspaper reporter and editor. This background heavily informed how he utilized media in his fiction:The Media as an Echo Chamber: In Babbitt, he highlighted how local newspapers and chambers of commerce operated as propaganda machines to enforce societal groupthink and consumerist values.Journalism as the Last Defense (It Can't Happen Here, 1935): In his dystopian political novel, a charismatic demagogue rises to the presidency and establishes a fascist dictatorship. The primary voice of resistance—and the primary target of state censorship—is Doremus Jessup, a defiant newspaper editor.Real-World Influence: His second wife, Dorothy Thompson, was a prominent foreign correspondent whose firsthand observations of Nazi Germany directly inspired It Can't Happen Here
Will you post anything about your visit in CERN?
Good one, thanks!
Dear Mattias,
I’ve been a great admirer of your work since I discovered your interview with Glenn Diesen. I was genuinely astonished by the sharpness and clarity with which you articulated many thoughts I had been carrying for years in a much more structured and profound way.
As a self-sufficient farmer living in a small mountain village in the Carpathians, I study psychoanalysis, political philosophy and geopolitics only in my limited free time. That’s why I approach your writings with both deep respect and the eyes of an outsider.
Your theory of Mass Formation is remarkably convincing to me. At the same time, I keep wondering whether the psychological conditions you describe so well — loneliness, free-floating anxiety and meaninglessness — are not themselves systematically produced by what Lewis Mumford called the “Mega-Machine” and what Günther Anders described as the growing “antiquatedness of man”.
Would it be possible that Mass Formation is not only a psychological reaction to modernity, but also a necessary functional element of the technological mega-system itself — one that keeps dependent and uprooted individuals from effectively resisting the very system that creates their suffering?
I would be deeply interested in your thoughts on this possible extension of your theory.
With great respect and appreciation,
Michel Jacobi
Moral decay, sexual licentiousness, and perversion, etc., are not inventions of the third millennium. All ancient "civilizations" bore the fruit of ruthless and totalitarian power, and its consumers were the ruling elites. And this orgy continues to this day. Many theories can be advanced as to the origins of this universal mechanism, which, beyond all time, stems from absolute totalitarian rule. Wherever there is absolute totalitarian power, a perverse orgy flourishes, even though it occurs at all levels of government, right down to the very bottom. It's pointless to debate such obvious truths as the fact that conspiracy and intrigue are the foundation of "social life" in all civilizations and all times. And if anyone questions this, it's clearly their job (i.e., conspiracy again). The only thing that distinguishes modernity is the almost limitless possibilities of modern totalitarianism, which is an indivisible tool in the hands of a "small handful of tyrants." Thanks to computerized machines, a handful of tyrants control every person. In a short time they are able to implement the most criminal projects and we are witnessing this right now.
It all depends on what you think of international organized crime. Epstein was clearly a fixer for them. I hope you will carefully read Whitney Webb who has spent many years on the Epstein case.
I can see that Mattias is a bit skeptical about the veracity of all those documents. Good point.
But none of that material - whether real or cooked - surprised me very much. Because I've studied Hubbard; one of the earliest cases of modern reputation destruction technology. Today, many of Hubbard's more esoteric findings are being corroborated, while his more useful findings remain ignored. The last thing the "elites" need is a sure fire way to make a person more honest!
Marvelous and thoughtful writing! What do we really know? Indeed.
In its current usage, "conspiracy" is a word that immediately self destructs upon being written or uttered, especially when "theory" gets tacked on. Today, to say something is a "conspiracy theory" is synonymous with saying something is crazy talk. "Conspiracy theories" are now inherently false.
I read somewhere that it was the CIA--to discredit those who failed to believe the Warren report on the JFK assassination-- that twisted the literal meaning of "conspiracy theory" into something wacky. That, itself, sounds like a conspiracy theory, and it might be.
But as you suggest, of course powerful people get together to further their own interests in unscrupulous ways. It is the way of the world.
Where does, say, a "marketing campaign" based on dubious assertions end, and a "conspiracy" begin?
It is fair to say that Jeffrey Epstein's entire life was nothing but a web of conspiracies, ranging from simply self-serving to downright evil.
To connect your essay with my work, the Founders of the USA understood that society was comprised of innumerable groups pursuing their own selfish interests, some lawfully and some illicitly. Even the lawful interests could be dangerous if they could capture the government. Each group - a business, syndicate, industry, labor union, trade organization, religion etc. - "conspires" to further itself, and at some point, each can cross a line that damages the public interest.
The Founders were obsessed with keeping these many self-serving interests in check, but today our system is nothing but a vast conglomeration of interest gorging at the trough of power together. A government much bigger than the one envisioned by the Founders makes this institutionalized conspiracy possible.
So, what do we do about it? That is the big question.
Why don’t you find a cure in psychiatry. Five percent cure rate in psychiatry. You should be fired.
He’s not absent. He is waiting for us to return to him. Not doing so, God brings judgement to his chosen, the Jew and the Christian. His chosen strayed. They forgot what the great I AM did for them leaving Egypt. Crossing the Red Sea. Manna from heaven. Defeating evil. Jericho. Jezebel. David and Goliath. Ezekiel. Daniel. Esther. The War of Independence. The Seven Day War. Follow him its blessings. Do t follow him and its “luck” only. The need to repent is required and so is following the God of Abraham and his laws. Our righteousness of God is through Jesus Christ. We didn’t earn it, Jesus earned it for us. Our countries need to return to the God of Abraham. The moment we do, In a split second, all things can change.
He is not in psychiatry, on the contrary. There won't be any cure, because the education doesn't work, to the point almost nobody knows how to think.
With the God of Abraham anything is possible.
There is no god, only his absence.
You only have to trace the line of the Canaanites in the Christian Bible to understand where these people originate from. This has been God's crusade throughout our known history. Check it out.
And please, be careful not to cast all Jews under the same net. Just as with every other nation on this good earth, there are good and bad within each culture. Trace the Canaanites through to today, and you'll know who they are.
Wait until you read "Space relations" by Donald Barr, father of William. Barr served as an officer during WW2 in the OSS. The book is about a planet ruled by oligarchs involved in child sex slavery. The book was published in 1973. In 1974 Donald Barr hired Jefrey Epstein