Back in 2001, I was in a social work masters program at NYU, assigned to an adolescent ward at a mental hospital for my field training.
My placement did not go well, because after a few weeks of listening to the teenage girl to whom I was assigned - diagnosed as oppositional-defiant and other things — and also listening to my social worker supervisor, I though the girl’s aggressive responses to the threatening world in which she actually lived when outside the hospital (and possibly when inside it) made a lot more sense than the social worker’s efforts to get her to stop fighting.
I thought it would be useful to provide kids with more effective tools to fight back against their abusers and escape, and harmful to teach them to suppress their self-protective responses altogether.
Only lasted that one semester in the program, but learned a lot about social control mechanisms.
Someday I will tell the story of when I trained to be a psychiatric aide in NYC. I fled the training during a big-budget pharma presentation in which they explained how we could have "cured" pretty much all of my artistic role models with medication.
Hey, didn't they do something like that in One Flew over the Cuckoo's nest? Randal Patrick McMurphy was docile as a lamb in that final scene, a fine outcome.
I was thrilled to see the Corona Investigative Committee *finally* interviewed you as I recommended you to them when they invited me several months ago. I love that you and Catherine did this together and am looking forward to listening to what is sure to be an engaging discussion.
The Corona Investigative Committee was not created for the purpose of launching a lawsuit. It was designed to serve as a fact-finding panel that would collect evidence regarding the various crimes ranging from fraud to mass murder, which the thousand-plus attorneys they are connected with can then use in cases around the world—Leslie Manookian’s Health Freedom Defense Fund’s (https://healthfreedomdefense.org/) recent victory against the federal mask mandate being but one example.
Because of the complexity of international laws and the need to fight many of the injustices at the national level, it is not possible to have a one-and-done Nuremberg 2.0–type trial. Understanding that many courts/judges are corrupted and captured, Reiner, his team, and the attorneys they are connected with have attempted to identify judges and courts where lawsuits are likely to succeed and have launched individual lawsuits strategically for the greatest chances of success.
Mike Yeadon participated in that filing and has been disappointed to see that it and numerous other lawsuits he has been involved with have gone nowhere due to the degree of corruption in the courts. That is why he and Reiner have been focusing on raising awareness through the “public” court via the Grand Jury and similar activities. If we gain a groundswell of public outrage and support for action, we may have a better chance of bringing perpetrators to justice.
He has addressed his naïveté about that numerous times. In specific instances throughout his career where he became aware of malfeasance, he voiced his opposition and quit. His integrity is unassailable, and he has more than made up for his lack of awareness about the severity of the crimes since leaving Pfizer.
because talking talking talking with guests and keep their viewers on the hook forever with promisess got him a lot of donation money....he is gone now out of the commiteee,i think they kicked him out
Well CJ, you have a new fan! Unlike some other substacks you came through on the good side! And I am getting older so I really appreciate when people leave an impression that they hate to waste time! Cheers mate. Out of rainy Zagreb in tiny Croatia, home land of Nikola Tesla
As I drive down the street near my home in Istanbul, the early fall morning sunlight glinting off of cars’ passing windshields and store windows, I realize just how much trauma we were exposed to and targeted by these past two years. What we went through was literally like a tunnel of horror, and everyone who made it through mentally unscathed, or scathed, deserves a pat on the back. What *really* strikes me is how manufactured the horror of it all was; the enforced closures of schools and businesses, the enforced masking of citizens, here in Turkey the enforced digital passes to gain entry to malls and markets: all designed to instill a sense of panic and fear in people. And it worked. And now we are like all people who were at a giant party that got invaded by armed intruders who threatened us and made us lie on the floor while waving enormous guns over our bodies. And then they suddenly left and slowly slowly the party comes back to life, but the music sounds different now.
Look, I'm no PhD psychologist or anything, but I've come to my own conclusions about the mass embrace of the blatant lies the covid propaganda operation. And I'm 70 years old, so I'm admittedly getting a little crotchety - maybe in part because even at my age I still think I know "what a woman is" - in a society that seems to have suddenly found this somehow a rather challenging task. Go figure.
I call my theory: "Mass Formation Idiocy." Regular, everyday, good, honest, hardworking people simply become "hypnotized" into "idiocy" as a "mass" - basically because when it comes to critically thinking for themselves (rather than following the herd) they simply - "couldn't find their own ass if they used both of their hands." I know, I know, my "theory" doesn't seem all that complex or psychologically sophisticated, but trust me, it explains everything from the American people's acceptance of the "magic bullet" to explain how JFK "wasn't killed in a conspiracy," to my same "fellow American's" later accepting that steel and concrete buildings can simply pulverize into dust in mid-air - because, well, the "authorities" said so.
My theory of "Mass Formation Idiocy" accurately predicts that if trusted societal "authorities" tell people it is impossible to "define what a woman is" - that a significant segment of the population - that segment that "couldn't find their own ass if they used both their hands" - will suddenly have a really really hard time "defining what a woman is." See how this works?
The words Charles de Gaulle spoke to one of his assistants after returning from JFK's funeral still seem the best concise summary of the "mass" phenomenon of people simply "accepting the official story - because." De Gaulle believed that elements within the American CIA and military were behind JFK's assassination, and these same forces had participated in attempts to assassinate de Gaulle himself, coordinating with similar forces in France. But, De Gaulle had no faith whatsoever that the American people had the stomach to actually want to know the truth of who publicly murdered their president. Of the American people de Gaulle told his assistant the following: ("They don't want to know. They don't want to find out. They won't let themselves find out.")
In the immortal words of Yogi Berra - "It's deja vu all over again."
CJ draws a hard, fundamental distinction between a mental state of "hypnosis" vs. simply obeying the demands of totalitarian political order. I'll have to meditate on that some more, because it isn't a distinction I've arrived at on my own. I DO perceive my family as living in a trance-like state. The repetition of slogans like "masks work" and "follow the science" DOES seem to whip them into a state of un-thinking compliance with absurdities. Hypnosis as metaphor (if not actuality) has also been a useful construct for me insofar as it helps depersonalize my family's rejection: their disinvitation from holidays, disinvitation to be a part of the kids' lives, etc.
I'll keep thinking about the distinctions between mass-formation and cult-formation. The significance isn't clear to me as yet.
I find it easier to think of as propoganda..really good propoganda...I think that most people do not LIKE to think. It's hard, it requires work and research, and there's not much fun in it, especially when you have to revise even a part of your world view. It is uncomfortable in the extreme.
And as my sister says ""I can't do anything about it anyway" when I ask her if she worries about the coming inflation and economic crash.
I sometimes think people like my sister may have a wisdom I do not possess...or common sense.
Your perceptions about your own family's behavior and apparent reasons echo my own. I judge there is a "consensus trance" aspect to how (conforming) people bring themselves to comply with unreasonable rituals like airport "security". The want to conform, and it helps if they believe, so they talk themselves into believing. A kind of trance?
"(p.39) The premise of consensus trance is that “normal” waking consciousness is actually a trance state. One of its implications is that people believe what they are indoctrinated to believe — and that this mass hallucination is powerful, often impervious to our own direct experience and critical thinking."
Hypnosis and psychotic are being used as pejoratives. Personally, I prefer the term 'sheep'.
There is plenty of literature on mass formation and totalitarianism if you're interested in those topics. Plenty of literature, lots of theories, and zero solutions.
but also you see the same sheep behavior on the alternative side of the group ...for instance the cult believers,and followers of their messiah desmet...whenever somebody puts himself on a throne and calls himself a expert or is put in the position of a authority figure..... the sheep put their faith and belief and seek guidance in that authority figure
Except that Desmet has no guidance to offer. When he was interviewed, he was asked "okay, so what do we do?". His answer wasn't something we hadn't heard before.
he also said that totalitarian regimes eventually will self destruct ...which is bullshit . he probably says it to bring some conformt to his sheep followers
Yeah~Some of his replies way too harsh and unkind.
It seems like it is a question of semantics and personal interpretation.
Hypnosis/ Hysteria/ Group think/ Sheep/ Whatever.
Going along to protect yourself from the negative consequences doesn't excuse you from being kind or rational.
It doesn't explain the cruelty towards those that don't comply.
I just know that too many people, especially those that I know and that I love, have lost the ability to think critically or have any conversation/debate on anything pertaining to the pandemic.
The behavior of many throughout this mess has been so difficult to understand.
To have people share theories that give some sort of explanation has helped.
I was shocked by CJ's crude and unkind words to people who entertain a point of view different from his. Like you, it makes me suspicious of him. I'm cancelling my subscription to his substack.
Good. Why would you "trust" me? Because you read something I wrote? I'm not your friend. You don't even know me. I might be an even bigger asshole than the asshole you think I am.
After reading your replies in this article, I decided to order your book on amazon. There was a big scary warning that I should seek my covid propaganda... uh... info from the CDC directly. I deftly dodged the hypnosis effect and came over here to the comments section to blow off a little freely floating anxiety. Feeling pretty good to be honest.
I've just upgraded my subscription to paid. Take my money. I was somewhat onboard with the Desmet theory for a while, but hearing you eloquently (and not eloquently sometimes haha) refute it made me think. I like thinking, it's nice. So, thank you.
On an entirely unrelated note, you talk about the new normal a lot. Did you know that Russians say "normal" to mean good? For example you could ask, how are you? And a Russian might reply, everything is normal. Всё нормально, как у тебя?
This is neither here nor there, just an interesting tidbit of information. From the Russian language point of view, the WEF crowd is really carrying on about "The new good." That's kind of funny, and fitting, in a way.
Hi CJ, I have no problem holding different theories in my mind, recognizing that all are probably false in some ways and true in others. So you/they/you all/eir/vous/ustedes/boomboom have to try harder to make me hate you or Desmet or Malone or Berenson. You're all cool and make me feel less insane. I don't hold any of you to full consistency either. Stretch those meanings! That's what the handles are for!!
You are right. Your mail was extremely boring. Some dragons aren't worth slaying.
Whew, I have to say I'm really put off by the personal attacks elicited by your dislike (envy?) of Desmet. It appears that your mind is closed to any genuine intellectual exchange on the merits of his research. I am reminded of the flaws in human nature that prevent most dissident groups from putting up a united front against any sort of tyranny. I am currently reading your book, principally because it was banned and I generally enjoy your substack with the exception of the anti-mass formation rants, and I will follow it with reading Desmet's book if I can find the time.
Greatly enjoyed your latest conversation (Session 120) with Catherine Austin Fitts. Wanted to add my 2pworth on the Buddha's teaching of impermanence, after 40 years of effort to get to the bottom of it -- b/c it's generally not well understood.
The Buddha said, exactly, that all samskaras are impermanent & full of suffering, whereas all dharmas are empty of self-existence. He didn't say, as often misquoted that everything is (or all forms are) impermanent, full of suffering, and empty / not self.
It's taken me the longest time to begin to understand the distinction between fabricated samskaras (confected things, works of conditioning, works of conditioned karma, karmic formations, constructs, fictions) and empty dharmas (real happenings).
A real happening, like - say - a theatre production, is empty of self-existence. As such it has no beginning or end, and is beyond impermanence. The same is true of all dharmas. Happenings are empty of self-existence and therefore beyond impermanence.
This teaching of the Buddha finds its echo in the findings of physicist Carlo Rovelli, who uses the metaphor of things like stones vs happenings like kisses. Carlo says that at the level he studies what happens, there are no things like stones, only happenings like kisses.
The Buddha's point is that we shouldn't think of the latter as impermanent. The fiction of separately-existing stone is impermanent. As an empty happening, a theatre production (or indeed a stone) is beyond impermanence.
Probably you speak of "forms" as shorthand for samskaras, and I am preaching to the converted. Probably you know this distinction already. But just in case anybody didn't.... here endeth my 2pworth.
Why do you think Desmet was pushed on the scene to propose this theory? Dr. Malone is another dissident voice who eye warily. Kory, McCullough, Yeadon, Cole, among others, I trust, but something seems off about Malone. That Malone endlessly trumpeted Desmet's theory made me very suspicious.
I have no suspicions that a worldwide totalitarian movement is underway; I am absolutely certain of it. It is demoralizing to try and warn others, only to be greeted with derision and even anger. At this point in the game, I have nearly as much contempt for those who refuse to see what's going on as I do for those masterminding this inhumanity. That's probably the response they were trying to provoke from me.
watch this interview with PETER BREGGIN about desmet and his book,he also talks about malone... https://www.bitchute.com/video/b3kluNaX96XY/ it should end the discussion about this sneaky manipulative professor from ghent with guru cult aspirations
Back in 2001, I was in a social work masters program at NYU, assigned to an adolescent ward at a mental hospital for my field training.
My placement did not go well, because after a few weeks of listening to the teenage girl to whom I was assigned - diagnosed as oppositional-defiant and other things — and also listening to my social worker supervisor, I though the girl’s aggressive responses to the threatening world in which she actually lived when outside the hospital (and possibly when inside it) made a lot more sense than the social worker’s efforts to get her to stop fighting.
I thought it would be useful to provide kids with more effective tools to fight back against their abusers and escape, and harmful to teach them to suppress their self-protective responses altogether.
Only lasted that one semester in the program, but learned a lot about social control mechanisms.
Someday I will tell the story of when I trained to be a psychiatric aide in NYC. I fled the training during a big-budget pharma presentation in which they explained how we could have "cured" pretty much all of my artistic role models with medication.
Hey, didn't they do something like that in One Flew over the Cuckoo's nest? Randal Patrick McMurphy was docile as a lamb in that final scene, a fine outcome.
I was thrilled to see the Corona Investigative Committee *finally* interviewed you as I recommended you to them when they invited me several months ago. I love that you and Catherine did this together and am looking forward to listening to what is sure to be an engaging discussion.
LOVED this discussion.
He has covered that unfortunate misconception extensively in numerous interviews, this being but one example:
• https://rumble.com/v1b1zyq-dr.-reiner-fuellmich-update-on-actual-trials-for-crimes-against-humanity.html
The Corona Investigative Committee was not created for the purpose of launching a lawsuit. It was designed to serve as a fact-finding panel that would collect evidence regarding the various crimes ranging from fraud to mass murder, which the thousand-plus attorneys they are connected with can then use in cases around the world—Leslie Manookian’s Health Freedom Defense Fund’s (https://healthfreedomdefense.org/) recent victory against the federal mask mandate being but one example.
Because of the complexity of international laws and the need to fight many of the injustices at the national level, it is not possible to have a one-and-done Nuremberg 2.0–type trial. Understanding that many courts/judges are corrupted and captured, Reiner, his team, and the attorneys they are connected with have attempted to identify judges and courts where lawsuits are likely to succeed and have launched individual lawsuits strategically for the greatest chances of success.
Thanks! I wondered about that. Best of luck to them with this. Best of luck to us too!
Mike Yeadon participated in that filing and has been disappointed to see that it and numerous other lawsuits he has been involved with have gone nowhere due to the degree of corruption in the courts. That is why he and Reiner have been focusing on raising awareness through the “public” court via the Grand Jury and similar activities. If we gain a groundswell of public outrage and support for action, we may have a better chance of bringing perpetrators to justice.
He has addressed his naïveté about that numerous times. In specific instances throughout his career where he became aware of malfeasance, he voiced his opposition and quit. His integrity is unassailable, and he has more than made up for his lack of awareness about the severity of the crimes since leaving Pfizer.
because talking talking talking with guests and keep their viewers on the hook forever with promisess got him a lot of donation money....he is gone now out of the commiteee,i think they kicked him out
Well CJ, you have a new fan! Unlike some other substacks you came through on the good side! And I am getting older so I really appreciate when people leave an impression that they hate to waste time! Cheers mate. Out of rainy Zagreb in tiny Croatia, home land of Nikola Tesla
As I drive down the street near my home in Istanbul, the early fall morning sunlight glinting off of cars’ passing windshields and store windows, I realize just how much trauma we were exposed to and targeted by these past two years. What we went through was literally like a tunnel of horror, and everyone who made it through mentally unscathed, or scathed, deserves a pat on the back. What *really* strikes me is how manufactured the horror of it all was; the enforced closures of schools and businesses, the enforced masking of citizens, here in Turkey the enforced digital passes to gain entry to malls and markets: all designed to instill a sense of panic and fear in people. And it worked. And now we are like all people who were at a giant party that got invaded by armed intruders who threatened us and made us lie on the floor while waving enormous guns over our bodies. And then they suddenly left and slowly slowly the party comes back to life, but the music sounds different now.
Manufactured is the word. Or, in four words, Made to Happen On Purpose.
The most effective strategy in the world, for good or ill.
Surpassed only by LIHOP, also for good or ill.
With our loss of innocence, will good LIHOP in due course sound better than ever?
the cocksuckers who were responsible for it also in the government ,got away with it and are still in charge..like nothing happened
Look, I'm no PhD psychologist or anything, but I've come to my own conclusions about the mass embrace of the blatant lies the covid propaganda operation. And I'm 70 years old, so I'm admittedly getting a little crotchety - maybe in part because even at my age I still think I know "what a woman is" - in a society that seems to have suddenly found this somehow a rather challenging task. Go figure.
I call my theory: "Mass Formation Idiocy." Regular, everyday, good, honest, hardworking people simply become "hypnotized" into "idiocy" as a "mass" - basically because when it comes to critically thinking for themselves (rather than following the herd) they simply - "couldn't find their own ass if they used both of their hands." I know, I know, my "theory" doesn't seem all that complex or psychologically sophisticated, but trust me, it explains everything from the American people's acceptance of the "magic bullet" to explain how JFK "wasn't killed in a conspiracy," to my same "fellow American's" later accepting that steel and concrete buildings can simply pulverize into dust in mid-air - because, well, the "authorities" said so.
My theory of "Mass Formation Idiocy" accurately predicts that if trusted societal "authorities" tell people it is impossible to "define what a woman is" - that a significant segment of the population - that segment that "couldn't find their own ass if they used both their hands" - will suddenly have a really really hard time "defining what a woman is." See how this works?
The words Charles de Gaulle spoke to one of his assistants after returning from JFK's funeral still seem the best concise summary of the "mass" phenomenon of people simply "accepting the official story - because." De Gaulle believed that elements within the American CIA and military were behind JFK's assassination, and these same forces had participated in attempts to assassinate de Gaulle himself, coordinating with similar forces in France. But, De Gaulle had no faith whatsoever that the American people had the stomach to actually want to know the truth of who publicly murdered their president. Of the American people de Gaulle told his assistant the following: ("They don't want to know. They don't want to find out. They won't let themselves find out.")
In the immortal words of Yogi Berra - "It's deja vu all over again."
Thanks from me for your patience and eloquency. Huge fan.
Peace. Love. Freedom.
PL&F back at you.
CJ draws a hard, fundamental distinction between a mental state of "hypnosis" vs. simply obeying the demands of totalitarian political order. I'll have to meditate on that some more, because it isn't a distinction I've arrived at on my own. I DO perceive my family as living in a trance-like state. The repetition of slogans like "masks work" and "follow the science" DOES seem to whip them into a state of un-thinking compliance with absurdities. Hypnosis as metaphor (if not actuality) has also been a useful construct for me insofar as it helps depersonalize my family's rejection: their disinvitation from holidays, disinvitation to be a part of the kids' lives, etc.
I'll keep thinking about the distinctions between mass-formation and cult-formation. The significance isn't clear to me as yet.
I find it easier to think of as propoganda..really good propoganda...I think that most people do not LIKE to think. It's hard, it requires work and research, and there's not much fun in it, especially when you have to revise even a part of your world view. It is uncomfortable in the extreme.
And as my sister says ""I can't do anything about it anyway" when I ask her if she worries about the coming inflation and economic crash.
I sometimes think people like my sister may have a wisdom I do not possess...or common sense.
Common sense except that it leads to murder by psychopaths, in today's case.
Your perceptions about your own family's behavior and apparent reasons echo my own. I judge there is a "consensus trance" aspect to how (conforming) people bring themselves to comply with unreasonable rituals like airport "security". The want to conform, and it helps if they believe, so they talk themselves into believing. A kind of trance?
"(p.39) The premise of consensus trance is that “normal” waking consciousness is actually a trance state. One of its implications is that people believe what they are indoctrinated to believe — and that this mass hallucination is powerful, often impervious to our own direct experience and critical thinking."
https://newrepublicoftheheart.org/voices/the-consensus-trance/
Hypnosis and psychotic are being used as pejoratives. Personally, I prefer the term 'sheep'.
There is plenty of literature on mass formation and totalitarianism if you're interested in those topics. Plenty of literature, lots of theories, and zero solutions.
you mean sheep like believe evryhting the government says is true and believe evrything the media says...correct!
Sheep trust their shepherd, and they obey the sheepdog.
CJ the morally good shepherd blaming the victims to be covid idiots.
good one!
but also you see the same sheep behavior on the alternative side of the group ...for instance the cult believers,and followers of their messiah desmet...whenever somebody puts himself on a throne and calls himself a expert or is put in the position of a authority figure..... the sheep put their faith and belief and seek guidance in that authority figure
Except that Desmet has no guidance to offer. When he was interviewed, he was asked "okay, so what do we do?". His answer wasn't something we hadn't heard before.
Staged theatre on an old sea clipper is one way to go.
he also said that totalitarian regimes eventually will self destruct ...which is bullshit . he probably says it to bring some conformt to his sheep followers
That's cold comfort to the victims of such regimes.
The shortest totalitarian regime may have been the Khmer Rouge. Or the Rwandan Hutu government.
zero solutions?
how about 1789 or 1917?
Those solutions caused more problems. Violence also has its true believers.
okay, i get it.
so now you come up with a solution to the problem.
If killing people were a solution, we wouldn't be here.
i was challenging you to come up with a solution, not to come up with criticism of a solution.
so let's have it...
You forgot the part where you told us all to go fuck ourselves.
Yeah~Some of his replies way too harsh and unkind.
It seems like it is a question of semantics and personal interpretation.
Hypnosis/ Hysteria/ Group think/ Sheep/ Whatever.
Going along to protect yourself from the negative consequences doesn't excuse you from being kind or rational.
It doesn't explain the cruelty towards those that don't comply.
I just know that too many people, especially those that I know and that I love, have lost the ability to think critically or have any conversation/debate on anything pertaining to the pandemic.
The behavior of many throughout this mess has been so difficult to understand.
To have people share theories that give some sort of explanation has helped.
It is but one theory.
He needs to lighten up.
Exactly. CJs bizarre over-reaction just serves to make me suspicious of HIM. Ugh.
I was shocked by CJ's crude and unkind words to people who entertain a point of view different from his. Like you, it makes me suspicious of him. I'm cancelling my subscription to his substack.
I mean, we all know he's an asshole. But an asshole for OUR side! I will continue to read his essays but, I admit, I won't be as trusting...
Good. Why would you "trust" me? Because you read something I wrote? I'm not your friend. You don't even know me. I might be an even bigger asshole than the asshole you think I am.
Good one.
Yep - these days trust no one :(
Nah, I pretty much got that part. There's only one knower of things and his name is CJ.
desmet is a pfraud
After reading your replies in this article, I decided to order your book on amazon. There was a big scary warning that I should seek my covid propaganda... uh... info from the CDC directly. I deftly dodged the hypnosis effect and came over here to the comments section to blow off a little freely floating anxiety. Feeling pretty good to be honest.
I've just upgraded my subscription to paid. Take my money. I was somewhat onboard with the Desmet theory for a while, but hearing you eloquently (and not eloquently sometimes haha) refute it made me think. I like thinking, it's nice. So, thank you.
On an entirely unrelated note, you talk about the new normal a lot. Did you know that Russians say "normal" to mean good? For example you could ask, how are you? And a Russian might reply, everything is normal. Всё нормально, как у тебя?
This is neither here nor there, just an interesting tidbit of information. From the Russian language point of view, the WEF crowd is really carrying on about "The new good." That's kind of funny, and fitting, in a way.
Thank you for your support, and the Russian lesson!
Hi CJ, I have no problem holding different theories in my mind, recognizing that all are probably false in some ways and true in others. So you/they/you all/eir/vous/ustedes/boomboom have to try harder to make me hate you or Desmet or Malone or Berenson. You're all cool and make me feel less insane. I don't hold any of you to full consistency either. Stretch those meanings! That's what the handles are for!!
You are right. Your mail was extremely boring. Some dragons aren't worth slaying.
You're the cat's pyjamas!!
Whew, I have to say I'm really put off by the personal attacks elicited by your dislike (envy?) of Desmet. It appears that your mind is closed to any genuine intellectual exchange on the merits of his research. I am reminded of the flaws in human nature that prevent most dissident groups from putting up a united front against any sort of tyranny. I am currently reading your book, principally because it was banned and I generally enjoy your substack with the exception of the anti-mass formation rants, and I will follow it with reading Desmet's book if I can find the time.
It’s pretty bloody simple. Avoid humourless people at all costs.
Greatly enjoyed your latest conversation (Session 120) with Catherine Austin Fitts. Wanted to add my 2pworth on the Buddha's teaching of impermanence, after 40 years of effort to get to the bottom of it -- b/c it's generally not well understood.
The Buddha said, exactly, that all samskaras are impermanent & full of suffering, whereas all dharmas are empty of self-existence. He didn't say, as often misquoted that everything is (or all forms are) impermanent, full of suffering, and empty / not self.
It's taken me the longest time to begin to understand the distinction between fabricated samskaras (confected things, works of conditioning, works of conditioned karma, karmic formations, constructs, fictions) and empty dharmas (real happenings).
A real happening, like - say - a theatre production, is empty of self-existence. As such it has no beginning or end, and is beyond impermanence. The same is true of all dharmas. Happenings are empty of self-existence and therefore beyond impermanence.
This teaching of the Buddha finds its echo in the findings of physicist Carlo Rovelli, who uses the metaphor of things like stones vs happenings like kisses. Carlo says that at the level he studies what happens, there are no things like stones, only happenings like kisses.
The Buddha's point is that we shouldn't think of the latter as impermanent. The fiction of separately-existing stone is impermanent. As an empty happening, a theatre production (or indeed a stone) is beyond impermanence.
Probably you speak of "forms" as shorthand for samskaras, and I am preaching to the converted. Probably you know this distinction already. But just in case anybody didn't.... here endeth my 2pworth.
Why do you think Desmet was pushed on the scene to propose this theory? Dr. Malone is another dissident voice who eye warily. Kory, McCullough, Yeadon, Cole, among others, I trust, but something seems off about Malone. That Malone endlessly trumpeted Desmet's theory made me very suspicious.
I have no suspicions that a worldwide totalitarian movement is underway; I am absolutely certain of it. It is demoralizing to try and warn others, only to be greeted with derision and even anger. At this point in the game, I have nearly as much contempt for those who refuse to see what's going on as I do for those masterminding this inhumanity. That's probably the response they were trying to provoke from me.
God help us all from what's coming.
Thank you for saying this John Henry Holliday. Makes me feel less alone.
Desmet didn't invent the theory, so what does it matter who talks about it?
Mass formation is a valid explanation for the behavior of true believers.
watch this interview with PETER BREGGIN about desmet and his book,he also talks about malone... https://www.bitchute.com/video/b3kluNaX96XY/ it should end the discussion about this sneaky manipulative professor from ghent with guru cult aspirations