Umzingelt von Dummköpfen

Stress, anxiety, and depression are increasing, and have been for years. Studies have shown that the rise in cost of living is closely linked to this deterioration in mental health, while others have attributed it to the widespread use of social media. The financial and social burdens resulting from government Covid restrictions have certainly not helped either. What no one seems to be exploring is the possibility that all these mental problems have something to do with the fact that we are being ruled by tyrants who are increasingly exploiting the working class, while constantly manipulating people’s minds with far-reaching psyops. William Gibson said, „Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, first make sure that you are not, in fact, just surrounded by idiots.“ I have found that many of the problems I previously attributed to flaws in myself and necessary difficulties inherent in human life quickly disappeared from my life when the idiots did too. But even more rewarding than pointing out that many of your presumed mental problems have more to do with being surrounded by idiots is considering the possibility that you are actually being ruled by idiots. By tyrants who make normal people’s lives unnecessarily difficult and psychologically abuse them to make them believe that their situation is normal and appropriate. A popular socialist YouTuber named Second Thought has released a good new video titled „You’re Not Immune To Propaganda,“ in which he looks at the issue from a different perspective than you might be used to. Second Thought emphasizes the everyday nature of propaganda in our society, as opposed to its more shiny, well-known deployments, like manufacturing consent for the Iraq invasion; the way our understanding of who we are and what our values should be is manipulated so that we blame our conflicts on ourselves and not on the neoliberal systems of oppression that undermine people’s morality throughout Western civilization. Think about the impact on mental health of constantly being bombarded with the message that you have to work like a machine, under the conditions your employer deems appropriate, and for the wages they offer you, and that you are the problem if you can’t thrive in this mentally stressful environment, not the system that allows such exploitative relationships. Then consider the possibility that this is exactly what is happening. This uninterrupted propaganda is further reinforced by the just-world belief, a cognitive bias that leads people to mistakenly assume that someone deserves it when something bad happens to them. This common error in human thinking arises from the need to feel that one can control one’s own life. People gain this sense of control by embracing the fallacy that nothing bad will ever happen to them as long as they always make rational decisions. Recently, a Twitter follower named Joe Ligato pointed out to me that this fallacy leads people to blame themselves for problems in their lives that are actually caused by exploitative systems. Some people wonder why overall mental health is so poor, while I wonder why it’s not much worse. It’s actually amazing that in a civilization ruled by exploiters and abusers who dominate the world through far-reaching psychological manipulation, anyone is functioning at all. It’s a testament to human resilience that anyone is sane. When everyone’s mind is constantly bombarded with messages that you are inadequate if you can’t thrive in our oppressive system, that you are flawed if you don’t look, think, and act a certain way, that poverty is normal and military mass murder is acceptable, it’s a wonder that we’re not all going crazy. When everyone’s consciousness is constantly distorted and twisted to suit the interests of the powerful and to make us all think, speak, work, shop, and vote in ways that bring them closer to their goals, it’s surprising that we don’t see more suicides, more mass shootings, more drug abuse, more clinical depression, and anxiety. In a totalitarian dystopia held together by mass psychological abuse, it is completely understandable that people are overwhelmed by despair, alienation, depression, and anxiety. Everything seems unreal, meaningless, and unnecessarily difficult because it is. This is not a statement about human nature or the nature of life, but a statement about the artificially constructed systems in which we currently live. Systems that were built by humans and are maintained by humans. Systems that can also be changed and restructured by humans. In the meantime, please be gentle with yourself. If you struggle to make ends meet, don’t punish yourself for it. If you feel inadequate because you can’t meet the standards of success and worthiness that you apply to yourself, take some time to consider who benefits from these standards. If they are the kind of standards that help make the population productive cogs in the capitalist machinery, then they are probably not the best measure by which to gauge your success as a person. There is no real reason why life has to be so difficult. There is no reason why we cannot take care of everyone as technological progress gives us more and more free time. There is no reason why we cannot learn to live in cooperation with each other and with our ecosystem, rather than in competition for the benefit of a few abusers at the top. It just takes enough of us deciding that we no longer accept it. Times are tough and they will get tougher, but we can turn the tide. In the meantime, please be kind to yourself. We recommend: Better to have a green tea in community than antidepressants alone – don’t despair! You can order the book here: „The First Aid Booklet Against Propaganda: How to Preserve Our Mind in a Crazy World

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Von Idioten umgeben

Stress, Angstzustände und Depressionen nehmen zu, und das schon seit Jahren. Studien haben ergeben, dass der Anstieg der Lebenshaltungskosten viel mit dieser Verschlechterung der psychischen Gesundheit zu tun hat, während andere es mit der weit verbreiteten Nutzung sozialer Medien in Verbindung gebracht haben, wobei die finanziellen und sozialen Belastungen, die sich aus den staatlichen Covid-Beschränkungen ergaben, sicherlich auch nicht geholfen haben. Was niemand zu erforschen scheint, ist die Möglichkeit, dass all diese psychischen Probleme etwas mit der Tatsache zu tun haben, dass wir von Tyrannen regiert werden, die die Arbeiterklasse immer stärker ausschlachten, während sie die Köpfe der Menschen ständig mit weitreichenden Psyops bearbeiten. William Gibson sagte: „Bevor du dich selbst mit Depressionen oder geringem Selbstwertgefühl diagnostizierst, vergewissere dich zuerst

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