First of all, a heartfelt thanks to Greg for providing a place like this to read, listen and voice my opinions with like-minded people. There are tragically few of these outside of the social media fishbowls that are Facebook, Youtube, Reddit, and the like. I've been listening to HSC since 2015 and have lurked in the forums as a guest now and then, but for various reasons never felt like I fit the culture enough to contribute as a member.
Now I just don't care - what is going on now is too critical to sit and watch from the sidelines.
I'm sure there are a lot of members like me who are finding themselves surrounded by people who are to some degree buying the mainstream narrative about the virus (personally I do believe it is a virus just like the cold or flu) . And unfortunately these people are also friends, roommates, spouses, relatives and other loved ones whom they don't want to alienate further. People they don't want to call "stupid" or "programmed" or "sheeple" because they know they are not; but rather intelligent people who are trying to form intelligent opinions in an overwhelmingly toxic environment.
But it would be really good right about now to stop sitting around and stroking ourselves for being part of the small percentage of the population who have a clue about the increasing levels of tyranny developing around us. I'm not proud of myself to think I'm part of this small, "exclusive" group. I'm horrified by it. That percentage should be 50%, or 80%! I should be part of the majority! A year or two from now, I don't want to think of myself as a social pariah, sitting in jail for refusing to pay a fine for refusing to submit to a mandatory vaccine - while all I'll have left is the vindication of knowing that I was right, after all. Sorry to sound cliched, but the time to act is now!
And acting is a subjective thing, but I humbly advise you to act with your words at this time. Not words that you type, but those that come out of your mouth. To the ones close to you, those I mentioned above.
Most importantly, listen to them first. They are probably more anxious than you are, and really need someone to listen to them. Go into this with the mindset of sharing information, not winning them over. If there's any cognitive dissonance at all, there will be a point where they will look for validation from you: a pause in the conversation, or maybe they will ask what you think. Maybe that point won't come and they just want to vent - then let them vent and let it go until you talk again. DON'T argue!
But if they are looking for validation, don't give it to them. Ask them for numbers. Ask them for facts. Ask where those facts and numbers came from. Act like you are genuinely interested (and maybe you are - which is totally fine). The questions you ask might get the wheels turning and maybe they will start fact checking themselves.
If they ask for your opinion, be prepared to express it. Consider your sources and who you are talking to. For example, I have a coworker who grew up in Connecticut and told me that he has a childhood friend who lost his son at Sandy Hook. No matter what my personal beliefs are, I probably won't be telling him to listen to John Rappoport. And though I love David Icke to bits I probably won't be mentioning him to many people either. There's a reason why these guys aren't no-platformed yet - they are on the fringes and are not considered a threatening influence.
But there are a lot of people who are more acceptable to the mainstream, brave doctors and scientists with credentials and reputation and letters behind their names that make people feel better about listening to them. Most of those I've seen so far have valid talking points about everything from unreliable tests to corrupted statistics to the absolute stupidity of the government mandated methods of "flattening the curve". I mentioned one in another post and they are becoming easier to find. Hopefully they will soon outshine the charlatans who are playing them on TV. Find one who resonates with you and use their words to supplement your own.
This all applies double - triple! - if some of those loved ones you need to talk to are in the police or military. What kind of world do they want to help build?? Many - defiitely not all, but many- of these people are trying to do good, they want to feel like they are protecting their families and their neighborhood. Do they know at what point they are no longer the protector but the oppressor? Do they understand rule of law and when they are no longer supporting it? Make damn well sure that they know, and know with enough conviction that they will be able to refuse orders when they have to. This will be a challenge and they will need all of the support that they can get.
Talking with those close to us is our first line of defense. If this defense fails, our other options down the line, I guarantee will not be nearly as pleasant. This is the time for diplomacy - polarization is for politicians, and look where they got us!
To those of you who are thinking "screw it, if they are too stupid to see things my way, they deserve whatever they get." Are you aware that whatever reality they will get, you will get too? There is no opt out. We are all making these decisions together and will suffer the consequences together.
Please, let's try this, lets see if it works. If it does, maybe then we can all sit around and think about how brilliant we are and how we saw what was coming and did something about it. If it doesn't... well, maybe I'll save a seat for you in the cafeteria of the county jail.
TL/DR? I know, I write like a middle-aged electrical engineer who reads mostly non-fiction and hasn't written more than three consecutive paragraphs in the past few years. And probably a lot of this is stuff that you already know. So what. Please read it anyway. Thanks.
Now I just don't care - what is going on now is too critical to sit and watch from the sidelines.
I'm sure there are a lot of members like me who are finding themselves surrounded by people who are to some degree buying the mainstream narrative about the virus (personally I do believe it is a virus just like the cold or flu) . And unfortunately these people are also friends, roommates, spouses, relatives and other loved ones whom they don't want to alienate further. People they don't want to call "stupid" or "programmed" or "sheeple" because they know they are not; but rather intelligent people who are trying to form intelligent opinions in an overwhelmingly toxic environment.
But it would be really good right about now to stop sitting around and stroking ourselves for being part of the small percentage of the population who have a clue about the increasing levels of tyranny developing around us. I'm not proud of myself to think I'm part of this small, "exclusive" group. I'm horrified by it. That percentage should be 50%, or 80%! I should be part of the majority! A year or two from now, I don't want to think of myself as a social pariah, sitting in jail for refusing to pay a fine for refusing to submit to a mandatory vaccine - while all I'll have left is the vindication of knowing that I was right, after all. Sorry to sound cliched, but the time to act is now!
And acting is a subjective thing, but I humbly advise you to act with your words at this time. Not words that you type, but those that come out of your mouth. To the ones close to you, those I mentioned above.
Most importantly, listen to them first. They are probably more anxious than you are, and really need someone to listen to them. Go into this with the mindset of sharing information, not winning them over. If there's any cognitive dissonance at all, there will be a point where they will look for validation from you: a pause in the conversation, or maybe they will ask what you think. Maybe that point won't come and they just want to vent - then let them vent and let it go until you talk again. DON'T argue!
But if they are looking for validation, don't give it to them. Ask them for numbers. Ask them for facts. Ask where those facts and numbers came from. Act like you are genuinely interested (and maybe you are - which is totally fine). The questions you ask might get the wheels turning and maybe they will start fact checking themselves.
If they ask for your opinion, be prepared to express it. Consider your sources and who you are talking to. For example, I have a coworker who grew up in Connecticut and told me that he has a childhood friend who lost his son at Sandy Hook. No matter what my personal beliefs are, I probably won't be telling him to listen to John Rappoport. And though I love David Icke to bits I probably won't be mentioning him to many people either. There's a reason why these guys aren't no-platformed yet - they are on the fringes and are not considered a threatening influence.
But there are a lot of people who are more acceptable to the mainstream, brave doctors and scientists with credentials and reputation and letters behind their names that make people feel better about listening to them. Most of those I've seen so far have valid talking points about everything from unreliable tests to corrupted statistics to the absolute stupidity of the government mandated methods of "flattening the curve". I mentioned one in another post and they are becoming easier to find. Hopefully they will soon outshine the charlatans who are playing them on TV. Find one who resonates with you and use their words to supplement your own.
This all applies double - triple! - if some of those loved ones you need to talk to are in the police or military. What kind of world do they want to help build?? Many - defiitely not all, but many- of these people are trying to do good, they want to feel like they are protecting their families and their neighborhood. Do they know at what point they are no longer the protector but the oppressor? Do they understand rule of law and when they are no longer supporting it? Make damn well sure that they know, and know with enough conviction that they will be able to refuse orders when they have to. This will be a challenge and they will need all of the support that they can get.
Talking with those close to us is our first line of defense. If this defense fails, our other options down the line, I guarantee will not be nearly as pleasant. This is the time for diplomacy - polarization is for politicians, and look where they got us!
To those of you who are thinking "screw it, if they are too stupid to see things my way, they deserve whatever they get." Are you aware that whatever reality they will get, you will get too? There is no opt out. We are all making these decisions together and will suffer the consequences together.
Please, let's try this, lets see if it works. If it does, maybe then we can all sit around and think about how brilliant we are and how we saw what was coming and did something about it. If it doesn't... well, maybe I'll save a seat for you in the cafeteria of the county jail.
TL/DR? I know, I write like a middle-aged electrical engineer who reads mostly non-fiction and hasn't written more than three consecutive paragraphs in the past few years. And probably a lot of this is stuff that you already know. So what. Please read it anyway. Thanks.
