You've Been Played

and

May 01, 2023

Shakespeare was right.

All the world’s a stage. We are merely players. Each of us has our designated entrances, and our assigned exits.

Whether we know it or not.

All around us are prescribed lines, proscribed scripts, and unseen strings. More often than we realize, we‘re unwittingly singing someone else’s song, or dancing to another’s tune.

But sound isn’t the only web regularly woven to deceive. Our vision also gets tangled, particularly when threaded thru the distorted filters of electronic screens.

Smart phones and digital devices are sticky lenses and slippery slopes. They seize our attention and bend our thoughts, becoming funhouse mirrors that manipulate minds. Through them, people we’ve never met become idols to defend, or demons to defy.

How does this happen? Is it incidental, or intentional? And if it’s not by accident, who pulls the wool over our eyes from behind the curtains we’re not supposed to see?

We’re inundated with sly influence campaigns designed to control narratives and preserve power. The lunacy of the last few years affirmed not only how pervasive these tactics are, but the relative ease with which they’re executed.

The population is usually unaware it’s even been swayed. That’s by design. Marketing firms, media outlets, and intelligence agencies (which are often the same thing) use subtle strategies to cultivate secular sacraments and contemporary creeds.

Before long, dissidents and “deniers” are drowned out by relentless recitation of a decreed dogma.

From how many “different” institutions and individuals were such chants as “Weapons of Mass Destruction”, “Russian Collusion”, “Insurrection”, “Safe and Effective”, “Follow the Science”, “MAGA Republicans”, or “Unprovoked Attack” persistently planted in the collective conscience?

And once they took root, like dandelions in the wind, they were incessantly spread by the target audience. In short order, they proliferated into received wisdom that “everyone” knew. Dissidents who dared question common knowledge became dangerous “extremists” purveying deadly “disinformation.”

Despite the apparent coordination, much of this manipulation is less a grand “conspiracy” than a confluence of interests. Like bees in a hive, people tend to know their role without being told to play their part.

This makes sense. Pressure is most effective when applied with minimal force. As with dew upon the earth, it lands so softly we don’t realize we’re wet.

Think about it. The last several years, how many of us mindlessly parroted prevalent lines without being instructed what to say?

All of us are susceptible to this subliminal influence, even those vaguely aware they’re probably being played.

So what is to be done?

The only option is to know the notes so we can anticipate the tune. Once we do, we’ll recognize the rhythm and resist the sound. Otherwise, we’ll continue to be duped by the ambient noise.

But as we understand how the orchestra operates, we’ll be able to turn away and tune it out. Once we see how the music is composed, we’ll be less liable to be lulled by siren songs and false notes.

Recently, members of Doug Casey’s Phyle participated in a workshop where we learned to identify the dirty tricks used to manipulate the masses. And we learned how to make sure we don’t get played again.