Something is heaving through the public sensibility, as spring marches north in America. It feels like a sharp change in attitude, a refusal to continue acting like a reality-optional society. It’s crackling through the air like a rumor of liberation in a hostage crisis. Can you hear it?”
I do hear it, but I don’t think it’s being caused by any release of information, no matter how completely that information destroys the narrative and no matter how irrefutable it may be.
I can’t be bothered to look it up right now, but I read a while back about an experiment carried out in the Soviet Union, where they knew a thing or two about indoctrination. They found that when they’d successfully indoctrinated someone by means of constant repetition of a given (false) narrative, when presented with undeniable proof that the narrative was false, they would not believe it and would continue to stick to the lie that had been implanted. They would do so no matter how clear it was that their belief was false, and would cling to it even if punished for doing so.
I noticed this method being used when Trump came to prominence and began to be a possible threat to the establishment’s plans. The 24 hour news that so many people listen to all day (it’s turned on as background in the houses of all my relatives) never mentioned Trump’s name without attaching the word “liar” to it. If you had this turned on as background noise, you heard “Trump” and “liar” countless times through the day and night.
I began to see the results in my relatives’ attitudes, where – every time Trump spoke – they’d say he was lying. If I inquired why they thought that, they were completely unable to give any answer, not a single fact. If I pressed and asked what information they had that indicated it was a lie, they became angry and outraged, and just repeated that it was a lie.