Drop anchor, look people in their eyes and calmly say, "my life, my liberty and my pursuit of happiness." The insane ones do not know what to respond with. Educate yourself, understand the US Constitution and recite it back when the heat gets intense. It drives the left crazy. Get used to being disliked. Look up and find your strength, it's there, all you have to do is believe...and thank you for this SubStack...Amen
I read “No” in this context as an action verb, not a mere word of protest. Thanks for this, Phisto, especially following on the heels of our recent exchange. I shared some of what I’m working on, which is reducing those times of reaction.
By and large, my (now) almost constant state of rage propels me to action as nothing else in life has. It was rage that empowered me to leave an abusive husband - the years I spent with that man taught me so many useful lessons. I count the PTSD worth it for the strength and confidence that experience engendered in me, and how it taught me to fight back against bullies (which is all the so-called elites really are).
That was the first of many significant ways I stood up and acted out that “No”. With a hard “No” I refused an injection as a condition of employment, walking away from the best paying job of my life, moving 1,000+ miles from my home, family, and friends to a state I’d never been to, with no guarantees for the future. The list goes on.
As previously discussed, channeling that energy into constructive action is still an imperfect practice for me. There are many moments when I still simply react and feel impotent. However, one of the greatest things about discovering this incredible dissident community has been how much I learn from all of you, and how you remind me of things I know, but sometimes lose sight of. Like the truth of this essay. The timing could not be more perfect. As I read it, I was reminded of the power I already possess.
It seems like our would-be subjugators hold all the power, but they are powerless without our compliance. Doesn’t mean it’s easy, doesn’t mean there isn’t tremendous cost involved, but that’s the truth in its absolute simplicity.
Great comment! Thank you for sharing it. I wish you nothing but growth in this.
Regarding my own inspiration, the French Resistance during WW2 is an esoteric presence behind everything on this site. A big part of that were the countless people that literally walked up into the hills and lived in the woods instead of working for the Nazis.
The Nazis never really came after them because it was too difficult. Eventually, the Allies dropped these people enough supplies and weapons actual armies were formed.
I just want to be left alone... I have said NO since I was in my 20's. I'm now going to be 70.
"The most terrifying force of death, comes from the hands of men who wanted to be left alone. They try, so very hard, to mind their own business and provide for themselves and those they love. They resist every impulse to fight back, knowing the forced and permanent change of life that will come from it. They know, that the moment they fight back, their lives as they have lived them, are over.
The moment the men who wanted to be left alone are forced to fight back, it is a form of suicide. They are literally killing off who they used to be. Which is why, when forced to take up violence, these men who wanted to be left alone, fight with unholy vengeance against those who murdered their former lives. They fight with raw hate, and a drive that cannot be fathomed by those who are merely play-acting at politics and terror. TRUE TERROR will arrive at these people's door, and they will cry, scream, and beg for mercy... but it will fall upon the deaf ears of the men who just wanted to be left alone." ~Soviet Dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Great read! As you put it rage is undervalued so I guess that means faux rage is overvalued? I don’t know but I feel like I am surrounded by the latter and we can’t seem to dig ourselves out of it. I guess what I’m saying is we are consumed by the wrong issues. My parents are the silent generation and I feel like they did so much more with less but they also didn’t grow up with a political/ media that collectively drove that wedge between the elites and everyone else. They let middle class bleed out.
No, the first word many children learn to say, to claim their agency. “Oh! No! I am a distinct person with my own needs and preferences, No, I don’t want that!” One comment, if one reads the revelations from Assange and Snowden, you wouldn’t say “Russian attack” but “Western provocation. . .”
Understood, I get it, I’m starting to work really hard to avoid the phrasing of the Evil Empire. They twist words, inject fear and trigger phrases into the discourse, to elicit that emotional response that shuts down thinking critically, or makes people think they disagree, when they’re talking about different things.
Like what does “public safety” mean? Two extremes: Tanks and militarized ninja turtle cops everywhere, or friendly neighborhoods with windows open and neighbors saying hi and knowing all the kids, like the classic 40s movie sets? First we have to dig past all their implanted divisive definitions, (turns out most of us agree more or less and can go from there).
It’s a small thing, but for the sake of the craft it’s fun to think about. Next time, were I simply trying to be neutral, I might say “conflict in Ukraine.”
Lol neutral schmutral….that’s the road to hell, those days are gone, you’re talking about taking a stand! So first rule of taking a stand is to pick a side, right? Me: against war that is machinated, plotted, and planned by a powerful empire of unchecked psychopaths who are spending all the money to get more power and money, leaving me and mine with zippy do dah.
That’s it right there, not using their terminology or allowing yourself to be manipulated by it. I’m on that path too and trying to encourage others to do the same. It’s a liberating thing and you will feel better in addition to it getting easier to do if you commit yourself to it.
'No' is one of the hardest things to say and most difficult positions to take because it involves: 1) disappointing people you love 2) standing out from the crowd 3) potential isolation. As social beings, that's a tough place to be. But saying 'no' is necessary, even crucial, in times like ours.
The majority of human kind is too controlled by 'peer pressure. My attitude is that I don't really give a flying rats ass what someone "believes" if it flies it the face of reality. One thing I can't stomach are those who read headlines and have no idea what is being written about and yet they will make some ignorant comment that is literally what would have been the opposite if they would have taken the time to read. Reason, logic and common sense are a major issue here. Because of the 10th plank communist manifesto public schools, those three attributes have been removed from our vocabulary...
I was a tall lanky kid who didn't do very well in the physical education class. At the age of 12 I was getting ready to go to Junior high next semester and my PE teacher, a Mr. Blenn decided to give me a going away present. He, in front of my complete PE class told them all they were all going to be able to give me a whack with a paddle he was holding in his hand...My response? I walked up to him and hit him in the face as hard as a lanky 12 year old could! His response was to take me to the office and proceed to try to get me punished. Well to his dismay the principle actually sided with the lanky 12 year old! I was a feisty lanky lion cub, to grow up into one the biggest PITA to "them" that could possibly live. I'm afraid to say, that WE are the minority of the minority. BUT it doesn't take a majority to make a change. Only a small minority willing to light brushfires of FREEDOM in the minds of our fellow human beings. So let's get the word out. Until we hear 8 billion say...WE WANT OUR WORLD BACK, WE WANT OUR LIBERTY, OUR DIGNITY, OUR FREEDOMS AND OUR RIGHTS RESTORED! WE WANT OUR WORLD BACK AND WE AIN'T TAKEN ANY MORE FLACK JACK! WE'RE MADDER THAN HELL NOW AND WE AIN'T GOING TO TAKE IT ANY MORE! http://tinyurl.com/yc55j65u
The culture now tries to monetize everything. I have given up trying to reason with people. Only extremely intelligent people of a certain character can see through the smoke and haze. If they have no idea then it’s no point saying anything. An inkling has to be there. Otherwise they will say conspiracy theories. Biden is doing a great job they will say. You say rents up 40 percent in four years. They say Trump would do the same. It’s like they are clutching at some strange lifeline to avoid reality. Facts don’t matter to them. Truth is as Biden tells them. Clinton said offshore everything and the say Clinton great. Biden says onshore everything Biden is great. It’s like they have no memory so ability to think. It’s like in totalitarian states where the logic is fed to you and you accept it. George Orwells 1984 world is here
Well said. I think an important thing in many situations is also to leave it at “No”. A lot of people are able to say No but then still feel compelled to justify or explain themselves and then often end up compromising on something they didn’t intend to.
It starts with a single, No, followed by a second, and before you know it, an army of noncompliance.
Farmers across Europe all got behind a single, No.
But it is that first No, that is as just as vulnerable as it is courageous.
Drop anchor, look people in their eyes and calmly say, "my life, my liberty and my pursuit of happiness." The insane ones do not know what to respond with. Educate yourself, understand the US Constitution and recite it back when the heat gets intense. It drives the left crazy. Get used to being disliked. Look up and find your strength, it's there, all you have to do is believe...and thank you for this SubStack...Amen
Very nice essay. Agree with all of your points. This part resonated with me especially:
"I engage in national politics and culture war like one watches the weather"
my wife and I call it spectating because we are so far removed from it we are no longer participating in its limbic triggers.
I read “No” in this context as an action verb, not a mere word of protest. Thanks for this, Phisto, especially following on the heels of our recent exchange. I shared some of what I’m working on, which is reducing those times of reaction.
By and large, my (now) almost constant state of rage propels me to action as nothing else in life has. It was rage that empowered me to leave an abusive husband - the years I spent with that man taught me so many useful lessons. I count the PTSD worth it for the strength and confidence that experience engendered in me, and how it taught me to fight back against bullies (which is all the so-called elites really are).
That was the first of many significant ways I stood up and acted out that “No”. With a hard “No” I refused an injection as a condition of employment, walking away from the best paying job of my life, moving 1,000+ miles from my home, family, and friends to a state I’d never been to, with no guarantees for the future. The list goes on.
As previously discussed, channeling that energy into constructive action is still an imperfect practice for me. There are many moments when I still simply react and feel impotent. However, one of the greatest things about discovering this incredible dissident community has been how much I learn from all of you, and how you remind me of things I know, but sometimes lose sight of. Like the truth of this essay. The timing could not be more perfect. As I read it, I was reminded of the power I already possess.
It seems like our would-be subjugators hold all the power, but they are powerless without our compliance. Doesn’t mean it’s easy, doesn’t mean there isn’t tremendous cost involved, but that’s the truth in its absolute simplicity.
Great comment! Thank you for sharing it. I wish you nothing but growth in this.
Regarding my own inspiration, the French Resistance during WW2 is an esoteric presence behind everything on this site. A big part of that were the countless people that literally walked up into the hills and lived in the woods instead of working for the Nazis.
The Nazis never really came after them because it was too difficult. Eventually, the Allies dropped these people enough supplies and weapons actual armies were formed.
I mean, holy shit, right?
History is full of lessons.
“I mean, holy shit, right?”
Hell. YES.
Preach it, brother!
It reminds me of whenever I'm expected to react to anything in regard to whatever the Hivemind is pushing at the moment. "Be angry about this."
In response, I say to myself, "we don't have to do this."
Why do people even remember fictional speeches, such as the "Code Red" rant in A Few Good Men? Because words are eternal if spoken well enough.
I just want to be left alone... I have said NO since I was in my 20's. I'm now going to be 70.
"The most terrifying force of death, comes from the hands of men who wanted to be left alone. They try, so very hard, to mind their own business and provide for themselves and those they love. They resist every impulse to fight back, knowing the forced and permanent change of life that will come from it. They know, that the moment they fight back, their lives as they have lived them, are over.
The moment the men who wanted to be left alone are forced to fight back, it is a form of suicide. They are literally killing off who they used to be. Which is why, when forced to take up violence, these men who wanted to be left alone, fight with unholy vengeance against those who murdered their former lives. They fight with raw hate, and a drive that cannot be fathomed by those who are merely play-acting at politics and terror. TRUE TERROR will arrive at these people's door, and they will cry, scream, and beg for mercy... but it will fall upon the deaf ears of the men who just wanted to be left alone." ~Soviet Dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn
https://www.courageouslion.us/p/i-just-want-to-be-left-alone
I love this quote, thanks CL!
Control your emotions, or they will control you.
The latter does not lead to good results.
I'm scared of swimming in the sea
Dark shapes moving under me
Every fear I swallow makes me small
Inconsequential things occur
Alarms are triggered
Memories stir
It's not the way it has to be
I'm afraid of what I do not know
I hate being undermined
I'm afraid I can be devil man
And I'm scared to be divine
Don't mess with me my fuse is short
Beneath this skin these fragments caught
When I allow it to be
There's no control over me
I have my fears
But they do not have me
Walking through the undergrowth, to the house in the woods
The deeper I go, the darker it gets
I peer through the window
Knock at the door
And the monster I was
So afraid of
Lies curled up on the floor
Is curled up on the floor just like a baby boy
I cry until I laugh
Peter Gabriel, “Darkness”
Great read! As you put it rage is undervalued so I guess that means faux rage is overvalued? I don’t know but I feel like I am surrounded by the latter and we can’t seem to dig ourselves out of it. I guess what I’m saying is we are consumed by the wrong issues. My parents are the silent generation and I feel like they did so much more with less but they also didn’t grow up with a political/ media that collectively drove that wedge between the elites and everyone else. They let middle class bleed out.
Faux rage is like a spoiled child crying.
Real rage stands before it saying, "I'll give you something to cry about."
This.
No, the first word many children learn to say, to claim their agency. “Oh! No! I am a distinct person with my own needs and preferences, No, I don’t want that!” One comment, if one reads the revelations from Assange and Snowden, you wouldn’t say “Russian attack” but “Western provocation. . .”
Regarding your comment, I totally agree.
At the moment of writing "Russian invasion" I chose that as simply the best way to mention the event for the sake of my ultimate point.
Understood, I get it, I’m starting to work really hard to avoid the phrasing of the Evil Empire. They twist words, inject fear and trigger phrases into the discourse, to elicit that emotional response that shuts down thinking critically, or makes people think they disagree, when they’re talking about different things.
Like what does “public safety” mean? Two extremes: Tanks and militarized ninja turtle cops everywhere, or friendly neighborhoods with windows open and neighbors saying hi and knowing all the kids, like the classic 40s movie sets? First we have to dig past all their implanted divisive definitions, (turns out most of us agree more or less and can go from there).
Aye, and I’m glad you said something.
It’s a small thing, but for the sake of the craft it’s fun to think about. Next time, were I simply trying to be neutral, I might say “conflict in Ukraine.”
In any case I’ll leave it as written as monument.
Lol neutral schmutral….that’s the road to hell, those days are gone, you’re talking about taking a stand! So first rule of taking a stand is to pick a side, right? Me: against war that is machinated, plotted, and planned by a powerful empire of unchecked psychopaths who are spending all the money to get more power and money, leaving me and mine with zippy do dah.
That’s it right there, not using their terminology or allowing yourself to be manipulated by it. I’m on that path too and trying to encourage others to do the same. It’s a liberating thing and you will feel better in addition to it getting easier to do if you commit yourself to it.
It also helps in spotting the bias and manipulation in what passes for the news.
Like my mini-bio says, non-violent non-compliance. Just Say No.
People tend to beware the quiet ones. 😉
You get it.
It works well.
'No' is one of the hardest things to say and most difficult positions to take because it involves: 1) disappointing people you love 2) standing out from the crowd 3) potential isolation. As social beings, that's a tough place to be. But saying 'no' is necessary, even crucial, in times like ours.
The irony of of negation is it brings us together. When you say no to the right things, your fellows rally.
Just look at this comment section.
The majority of human kind is too controlled by 'peer pressure. My attitude is that I don't really give a flying rats ass what someone "believes" if it flies it the face of reality. One thing I can't stomach are those who read headlines and have no idea what is being written about and yet they will make some ignorant comment that is literally what would have been the opposite if they would have taken the time to read. Reason, logic and common sense are a major issue here. Because of the 10th plank communist manifesto public schools, those three attributes have been removed from our vocabulary...
I was a tall lanky kid who didn't do very well in the physical education class. At the age of 12 I was getting ready to go to Junior high next semester and my PE teacher, a Mr. Blenn decided to give me a going away present. He, in front of my complete PE class told them all they were all going to be able to give me a whack with a paddle he was holding in his hand...My response? I walked up to him and hit him in the face as hard as a lanky 12 year old could! His response was to take me to the office and proceed to try to get me punished. Well to his dismay the principle actually sided with the lanky 12 year old! I was a feisty lanky lion cub, to grow up into one the biggest PITA to "them" that could possibly live. I'm afraid to say, that WE are the minority of the minority. BUT it doesn't take a majority to make a change. Only a small minority willing to light brushfires of FREEDOM in the minds of our fellow human beings. So let's get the word out. Until we hear 8 billion say...WE WANT OUR WORLD BACK, WE WANT OUR LIBERTY, OUR DIGNITY, OUR FREEDOMS AND OUR RIGHTS RESTORED! WE WANT OUR WORLD BACK AND WE AIN'T TAKEN ANY MORE FLACK JACK! WE'RE MADDER THAN HELL NOW AND WE AIN'T GOING TO TAKE IT ANY MORE! http://tinyurl.com/yc55j65u
Love this, Phisto. I relate 110%...maybe you can write more on “how” to best harness the emotions to power...good stuff .
Noted! I’ll consider the issue further.
I knew you would bring it. Awesome. Fuck em.
The culture now tries to monetize everything. I have given up trying to reason with people. Only extremely intelligent people of a certain character can see through the smoke and haze. If they have no idea then it’s no point saying anything. An inkling has to be there. Otherwise they will say conspiracy theories. Biden is doing a great job they will say. You say rents up 40 percent in four years. They say Trump would do the same. It’s like they are clutching at some strange lifeline to avoid reality. Facts don’t matter to them. Truth is as Biden tells them. Clinton said offshore everything and the say Clinton great. Biden says onshore everything Biden is great. It’s like they have no memory so ability to think. It’s like in totalitarian states where the logic is fed to you and you accept it. George Orwells 1984 world is here
Well said. I think an important thing in many situations is also to leave it at “No”. A lot of people are able to say No but then still feel compelled to justify or explain themselves and then often end up compromising on something they didn’t intend to.