I watched this recent MSNBC interview with Madeleine Albright, and I didn't know whether to laugh or cry; for she's written a Book entitled: 'Fascism: A Warning.
Ms. Albright is one of a long list of observers who have spotted the universal identifying characteristics of totalitarianism/fascism in the administration of President Donald J. Trump.
Unfortunately, the evidence demonstrates that, in recent years, Ms. Albright has been unable to recognise another form of totalitarianism even when it has fallen on her head.
That said, with an irony close to exquisite, the apparent central theme of Ms. Albright's recent book is that totalitarianism/fascism is enduring, but its camouflage is ephemeral.
It is a matter of public record that Madeleine Albright's company, 'Albright Stonebridge Group,' has received at least ten millions dollars from the gang of 'Multi-Level Marketing' cultic racketeers hiding behind the fake direct selling company known as 'Herbalife.' Furthermore, Ms. Albright has never responded to my written concerns about her paid role in the 'Herbalife' racket.
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| Josef Korbel (1909-1977) |
In return for a pile of stolen cash, Ms. Albright has betrayed every single value that she (and her late father, Josef Korbel) ever claimed to have stood for.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeleine_Albright
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Korbel
In the case of Ms. Albright, it beggars belief that someone with her background and achievements can have fallen for a kitsch 'capitalist' adaptation of the age-old totalitarian Utopian fairy story.
Several years ago, I published some common-sense questions which I had previously sent to Madeleine Albright :
- Before you became associated with 'Herbalife,' exactly what quantifiable evidence did you see which proved that a significant number of people have actually earned an overall net-income lawfully from regularly retailing 'Herbalife' products to the general public for a profit (based on value and demand)?
- Do you have any idea how much profit 'Herbalife's' mass-rallies have generated over the years?
- Who has profited from this mountain of cash?
- Why do unquestioning core-'Herbalife' adherents feel the need to keep paying through-the-nose-to attend, and participate in, what are essentially the same ritual performances, time after time?
- In your opinion, do the critical, and evaluative, faculties of persons attending, and participating in, 'Herbalife' mass-rallies, appear to be fully-functioning?
- What do you think would happen if anyone attending, and participating in, a 'Herbalife' mass-rally attempted to show dissent from the group's totally 'positive' controlling scenario?
- In recent history, what other centrally-controlled, non-democratic mass-movements (occulted by labyrinths of legally-registered corporate structures) have secretly raised mountains of tax-free cash for their self-appointed sovereign leaders, by obliging their unquestioning adherents to keep buying publications, recordings, tickets to meetings, esoteric accessories, uniforms, badges, etc., on the pretext that, by doing so, they can eventually build, and enter, a future, exclusive, secure Utopian existence?
- What do you understand by the term 'useful idiot?'
- When was the last time you read George Orwell's 'Animal Farm?'
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In 1945, whilst most, contemporary mainstream commentators were unable to look beyond the ends of their noses, with a perfect sense of irony, Eric Arthur Blair a.k.a. George Orwell (1903-1950) presented fact as fiction in an insightful 'fairy story' entitled, 'Animal Farm.' He revealed that totalitarianism is merely the oppressors' Utopian fiction mistaken for fact by the oppressed.
In the same universal allegory, Orwell described how, at a time of vulnerability, almost any people's dream of a future, secure, Utopian existence can be hung over the entrance to a totalitarian deception. Indeed, the words that are always banished by totalitarian deceivers are, 'totalitarian' and 'deception.'
Sadly, when it comes to examining the same enduring phenomenon, albeit with an ephemeral 'Capitalist' label, most contemporary, mainstream commentators have again been unable to look further than the ends of their noses. However, if they followed Orwell's example, and did some serious thinking, this is the reality-inverting nightmare they would find.
'Multi-Level Marketing' Warning
The following deconstructed analysis has been formulated to sharpen the critical and evaluative faculties of all unwary persons approaching 'Multi-Level Marketing' from the dangerous (subjective) point of view that it must be a business, rather than from the safe (purely-objective) point of view that they don't really know what it is.
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More than half a century of quantifiable evidence, proves beyond all reasonable doubt that:
- the widely-misunderstood phenomenon that has become popularly-known as 'Multi-Level Marketing' (a.k.a. 'Network Marketing') is nothing more than an absurd, non-rational, cultic, economic pseudo-science maliciously-designed to lure unwary persons into de facto servitude, dissociate them from external reality and not only steal their money, but also deceive them into unconsciously acting the role of bait to lure other unwary persons (particularly their friends and family members) into the same trap.
- the impressive-sounding made-up jargon term, 'MLM,' is therefore, the misleading title for an enticing structured-scenario of control which has been developed, and constantly acted out as reality, by the instigators, and associates, of various copy-cat, major and minor, ongoing organised crime groups (hiding behind labyrinths of legally-registered corporate structures) to shut-down the critical, and evaluative, faculties of victims, and of casual observers, in order to perpetrate, and dissimulate, a series of blame-the-victim 'Long Cons*' - comprising self-perpetuating rigged-market swindles**, a.k.a. pyramid scams (dressed up as 'legitimate direct selling income opportunites') and related advance-fee frauds (dressed up as 'legitimate: training and motivation, self-betterment, programs, recruitment leads, lead generation systems,' etc.).
- Apart from an insignificant minority of shills (whose leading-role in the 'Long Con' has been to pretend that anyone can achieve financial freedom simply by following their unquestioning example and exactly-duplicating a step-by-step-plan of recruitment and self-consumption), the hidden overall net-loss/churn rate for participation in so-called 'MLM income opportunities,' has always been effectively 100%.
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*A 'Long Con' is a form of fraud maliciously designed to exploit victims' existing beliefs and instinctual desires and make them falsely-believe that they are exercising a completely free-choice. 'Long Cons' comprise an enticing structured-scenario of control acted out as reality over an extended period. Like theatrical plays, 'Long Cons' are written, directed and produced. They involve leading players and supporting players as well as props, sets, extras, costumes, script, etc. The hidden objective of 'Long Cons' is to convince unwary persons that fiction is fact and fact is fiction, progressively cutting them off from external reality. In this way, victims begin unconsciously to play along with the controlling-scenario and (in the false-expectation of future reward) large sums of money or valuables can be stolen from them. Classically, the victims of 'Long Cons' can become deluded to such an extent that they will abandon their education, jobs, careers, etc., empty their bank accounts, and/or beg, steal, borrow from friends, family members, etc.
_________________________________________________________________________
** The enticing structured-scenario of control fundamental to all 'rigged-market swindles' is that people can earn income by first contributing their own money to participate in a profitable commercial opportunity, but which is secretly an economically-unviable fake due to the fact that the (alleged) opportunity has been rigged so that it generates no significant, or sustainable, revenue other than that deriving from its own ill-informed participants. For more than 50 years, 'Multi-Level Marketing' racketeers have been allowed to dissimulate rigged-market swindles by offering endless-chains of victims various banal, but over-priced, products, and/or services, in exchange for unlawful losing-investment payments, on the pretext that 'MLM' products/services can then be regularly re-sold for a profit in significant quantities via expanding networks of distributors. However, since 'MLM' products/services cannot be regularly re-sold to the general public for a profit in significant quantities (based on value and demand), 'MLM' participants have, in fact, been peddled infinite shares of their own finite money (in the false expectation of future reward).
Thus, in 'MLM' rackets, the innocent looking products/sevices' function has been to hide what is really occurring - i.e The operation of an unlawful, intrinsically fraudulent, rigged-market where effectively no non-salaried (transient) participant can generate an overall net-profit, because, unknown to the non-salaried (transient) participants, the market is in a permanent state of collapse and requires its non-salaried (transient) participants to keep finding further (temporary) de facto slaves to sustain the enticing illusion of stability and viability.
Meanwhile an insignificant (permanent) minority direct the 'Long Con' - raking in vast profits by selling into the rigged-market and by controlling/withholding all key-information concerning the rigged-market's actual catastrophic, ever-shifting results from its never-ending chain of (temporary) de facto slaves.
Although cure-all pills potions and vitamin/dietary supplements, household and beauty, products have been most-prevalent, it is possible to use any product, and/or service, to dissimulate a rigged-market swindle. There are even some 'MLM' rackets that have been hidden behind well-known traditional brands (albeit offered at fixed high prices). Some 'MLM' rackets have included 'cash-back/discount shopping cards, travel products, insurance, energy/communications services' and 'crypto-currencies' in their controlling scenarios.
No matter what bedazzling product/service has been dangled as bait, in 'MLM' rackets, there has been no significant or sustainable source of revenue other than never-ending chains of contractees of the 'MLM' front companies. These front-companies always pretend that their products/services are high quality and reasonably-priced and that for anyone prepared to put in some effort, the products/services can be sold on for a profit via expanding networks of distributors based on value and demand. In reality, the underlying reason why it has mainly only been (transient) 'MLM' contractees who have bought the various products /services (and not the general public) is because they have been tricked into unconsciously playing along with the controlling scenario which constantly says that via regular self-consumption and the recruitment of others to do the same, etc. ad infinitum, anyone can receive a future (unlimited) reward.
I've been examining the 'MLM' phenomenon for around 20 years. During this time, I've yet to find one so-called 'MLM' company that has voluntarily made key-information available to the public concerning the quantifiable results of its so-called 'income opportunity'.
Part of the key-information that all 'MLM' bosses seek to hide concerns the overall number of persons who have signed contracts since the front companies were instigated and the retention rates of these contractees.
When rigorously investigated, the overall hidden net-loss churn rates for so-called 'MLM income opportunites' has turned out to have been effectively 100%. Thus, anyone claiming (or implying) that it is possible for anyone to make a penny of net-profit, let alone a living, in an 'MLM,' cannot be telling the truth and will not provide quantifiable evidence to back up his/her anecdotal claims.
Although a significant number of 'MLM' front-companies (like 'Vemma', 'Fortune Hi-Tech Marketing', 'Wake Up Now') have been shut-down by commercial regulators, some of the biggest 'MLM' rackets (like 'Amway' ,'Herbalife', Forever Living Products' ) have continued to hide in plain sight whilst secretly churning tens of millions of losing participants over decades.
The quantifiable results of the self-perpetuating global 'Long Con' known as 'Multi Level Marketing,' have been fiendishly hidden by convincing victims that they are 'Independent Business Owners' and that any losses they incurred, must have been entirely their own fault.
Blog readers should observe how (in the above linked-videos) chronic victims of 'MLM' cults are incapable of describing what they were subjected to in accurate terms. Even though they are no longer physically playing along with the 'Long Con's' controlling-scenario, they unconsciously continue to think, and speak, using the jargon-laced 'MLM' script - illogically describing themselves as 'Distributors.'
Chronic victims of blame-the-victim cultic rackets who have managed to escape and confront the ego-destroying reality that they’ve been systematically deceived and exploited, are invariably destitute and dissociated from all their previous social contacts. For years afterwards, recovering cult victims can suffer from psychological problems (which are also generally indicative of the victims of abuse):
depression; overwhelming feelings (guilt, grief, shame, fear, anger, embarrassment, etc.); dependency/ inability to make decisions; retarded psychological/ intellectual development; suicidal thoughts; panic/ anxiety attacks; extreme identity confusion; Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder; insomnia/ nightmares; eating disorders; psychosomatic illness, fear of forming intimate relationships; inability to trust; etc.
David Brear (copyright 2018)
** The enticing structured-scenario of control fundamental to all 'rigged-market swindles' is that people can earn income by first contributing their own money to participate in a profitable commercial opportunity, but which is secretly an economically-unviable fake due to the fact that the (alleged) opportunity has been rigged so that it generates no significant, or sustainable, revenue other than that deriving from its own ill-informed participants. For more than 50 years, 'Multi-Level Marketing' racketeers have been allowed to dissimulate rigged-market swindles by offering endless-chains of victims various banal, but over-priced, products, and/or services, in exchange for unlawful losing-investment payments, on the pretext that 'MLM' products/services can then be regularly re-sold for a profit in significant quantities via expanding networks of distributors. However, since 'MLM' products/services cannot be regularly re-sold to the general public for a profit in significant quantities (based on value and demand), 'MLM' participants have, in fact, been peddled infinite shares of their own finite money (in the false expectation of future reward).
Thus, in 'MLM' rackets, the innocent looking products/sevices' function has been to hide what is really occurring - i.e The operation of an unlawful, intrinsically fraudulent, rigged-market where effectively no non-salaried (transient) participant can generate an overall net-profit, because, unknown to the non-salaried (transient) participants, the market is in a permanent state of collapse and requires its non-salaried (transient) participants to keep finding further (temporary) de facto slaves to sustain the enticing illusion of stability and viability.
Meanwhile an insignificant (permanent) minority direct the 'Long Con' - raking in vast profits by selling into the rigged-market and by controlling/withholding all key-information concerning the rigged-market's actual catastrophic, ever-shifting results from its never-ending chain of (temporary) de facto slaves.
Although cure-all pills potions and vitamin/dietary supplements, household and beauty, products have been most-prevalent, it is possible to use any product, and/or service, to dissimulate a rigged-market swindle. There are even some 'MLM' rackets that have been hidden behind well-known traditional brands (albeit offered at fixed high prices). Some 'MLM' rackets have included 'cash-back/discount shopping cards, travel products, insurance, energy/communications services' and 'crypto-currencies' in their controlling scenarios.
No matter what bedazzling product/service has been dangled as bait, in 'MLM' rackets, there has been no significant or sustainable source of revenue other than never-ending chains of contractees of the 'MLM' front companies. These front-companies always pretend that their products/services are high quality and reasonably-priced and that for anyone prepared to put in some effort, the products/services can be sold on for a profit via expanding networks of distributors based on value and demand. In reality, the underlying reason why it has mainly only been (transient) 'MLM' contractees who have bought the various products /services (and not the general public) is because they have been tricked into unconsciously playing along with the controlling scenario which constantly says that via regular self-consumption and the recruitment of others to do the same, etc. ad infinitum, anyone can receive a future (unlimited) reward.
I've been examining the 'MLM' phenomenon for around 20 years. During this time, I've yet to find one so-called 'MLM' company that has voluntarily made key-information available to the public concerning the quantifiable results of its so-called 'income opportunity'.
Part of the key-information that all 'MLM' bosses seek to hide concerns the overall number of persons who have signed contracts since the front companies were instigated and the retention rates of these contractees.
When rigorously investigated, the overall hidden net-loss churn rates for so-called 'MLM income opportunites' has turned out to have been effectively 100%. Thus, anyone claiming (or implying) that it is possible for anyone to make a penny of net-profit, let alone a living, in an 'MLM,' cannot be telling the truth and will not provide quantifiable evidence to back up his/her anecdotal claims.
Although a significant number of 'MLM' front-companies (like 'Vemma', 'Fortune Hi-Tech Marketing', 'Wake Up Now') have been shut-down by commercial regulators, some of the biggest 'MLM' rackets (like 'Amway' ,'Herbalife', Forever Living Products' ) have continued to hide in plain sight whilst secretly churning tens of millions of losing participants over decades.
The quantifiable results of the self-perpetuating global 'Long Con' known as 'Multi Level Marketing,' have been fiendishly hidden by convincing victims that they are 'Independent Business Owners' and that any losses they incurred, must have been entirely their own fault.
Blog readers should observe how (in the above linked-videos) chronic victims of 'MLM' cults are incapable of describing what they were subjected to in accurate terms. Even though they are no longer physically playing along with the 'Long Con's' controlling-scenario, they unconsciously continue to think, and speak, using the jargon-laced 'MLM' script - illogically describing themselves as 'Distributors.'
Chronic victims of blame-the-victim cultic rackets who have managed to escape and confront the ego-destroying reality that they’ve been systematically deceived and exploited, are invariably destitute and dissociated from all their previous social contacts. For years afterwards, recovering cult victims can suffer from psychological problems (which are also generally indicative of the victims of abuse):
depression; overwhelming feelings (guilt, grief, shame, fear, anger, embarrassment, etc.); dependency/ inability to make decisions; retarded psychological/ intellectual development; suicidal thoughts; panic/ anxiety attacks; extreme identity confusion; Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder; insomnia/ nightmares; eating disorders; psychosomatic illness, fear of forming intimate relationships; inability to trust; etc.
The quantifiable results of the self-perpetuating global 'Long Con' known as 'Multi Level Marketing,' have been fiendishly hidden by convincing victims that they are 'Independent Business Owners' and that any losses they incurred, must have been entirely their own fault.
Blog readers should observe how (in the above linked-videos) chronic victims of 'MLM' cults are incapable of describing what they were subjected to in accurate terms. Even though they are no longer physically playing along with the 'Long Con's' controlling-scenario, they unconsciously continue to think, and speak, using the jargon-laced 'MLM' script - illogically describing themselves as 'Distributors.'
Chronic victims of blame-the-victim cultic rackets who have managed to escape and confront the ego-destroying reality that they’ve been systematically deceived and exploited, are invariably destitute and dissociated from all their previous social contacts. For years afterwards, recovering cult victims can suffer from psychological problems (which are also generally indicative of the victims of abuse):
depression; overwhelming feelings (guilt, grief, shame, fear, anger, embarrassment, etc.); dependency/ inability to make decisions; retarded psychological/ intellectual development; suicidal thoughts; panic/ anxiety attacks; extreme identity confusion; Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder; insomnia/ nightmares; eating disorders; psychosomatic illness, fear of forming intimate relationships; inability to trust; etc.
David Brear (copyright 2018)
David --
ReplyDeleteIt's always amazing the way you find this information outside of the U.S. The media outlets here are criminally devoid of all information and happenings outside of the country. We barely know about what is happening in our own government, let alone the attacks in Syria (I'm a bit unnerved).
Thank you for point to the hypocrisy of Albright, and her conveniently timed book. I'm not sure anyone can honestly buy into this narrative. I'm stunned at how easily she can be manipulated for the "left's" agenda in my country. She truly has lost her way.
John - As you know I am non-political, but I am for the re-establishment of the rule of law in respect of 'MLM' cultic racketeering.
DeleteThus, Madeleine Albright is yet another politician pretending moral and intellectual authority, when the evidence clearly shows that she possesses neither and that she has, therefore, forfeited any right to comment on certain matters.
If Ms. Albright sincerely believes that 'Herbalife' is an entirely lawful enterprise, then she is probably far too stupid to be held to account, but she cannot still be that ignorant of reality - whilst she has remained supiciously silent on these serious matters for years.
The sad thing is, that (from what I gleaned from her recent MSNBC interview) Madeleine Albright's observations/warning regarding the totalitarian/fascist characteristics exhibited by the Trump administration, appear to be accurate, but her book is revealed as rank hypocrisy when you know that she (just like Donald Trump) has been paid stolen money to play along with a fictitious, and essentially totalitarian, controlling-scenario.
David --
DeleteI suppose the question with Ms. Albright, and every other association that promotes "Herbalife", is, at what price can you sell your soul? I can't imagine the concept of MLM and "Herbalife" going over her head, therefore the only logical conclusion is -- she is corrupt. It's sad, especially since she has been a pioneer for women, but when it comes to politics in the U.S., everyone seems to have a price or they cannot play the game. The malleability of her morals, much like the other D.C. politicians, has probably gotten worse as she has gotten older. These people have an extreme level of narcissism, as exhibited by Hillary and her refusal to go away, and they continue to use any avenue to get their desired result. That result being the need to be relevant, gain power, or gain money.
I can't agree with your perspective on the Trump regime having characteristics resembling "totalitarian/fascist" principles. The biggest reason is the "media" we hold in the highest regard, or give the strongest value, is so corrupt at this point, it should all be thrown out. The media has been dominated by the left, including MSNBC, that Trump has to fight back and discredit them. I don't believe media in Europe has ever run 24 hour cycles against their leaders, and yet CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, and NBC, have pulled this off since he was elected. At some point the Trump has to take a stand and not let these organizations continue to sling mud freely without recourse.
I would highly recommend looking into "Project Veritas" on YouTube. James O'Keefe has done an excellent job infiltrating these organizations and exposing them.
I don't believe President Trump thinks he is above the law. She needs to provide evidence for this statement. If anything, it was Obama that routinely broke the law, including the infamous DACA order that completely violated our immigration policy. As far as I can tell, Trump has actually been trying to play it very squarely and has been getting slammed at every turn. Now, to be fair, Trump is a disgusting person and has said and done some very terrible things. Some of which includes, routinely cheating on his marriages, Trump University, cheating immigrant workers out of pay, screwing other real-estate leaders in New York, flip-flopping on important issues, such as gun control, and passing this unbelievably awful 1.3 trillion dollar omnibus package. However, since he has been POTUS he hasn't done anything to violate, or potentially mentioned violating the law.
Her final point about slogans is completely bizarre and inaccurate. Trump's slogans have been designed to unify people. He does give people he doesn't like stupid nicknames, but as far as his actual slogans and campaign messages go, he has done the opposite. It's usually the "left" that designs specific catchphrases that are designed to isolate people from particular groups.
The beginning of this clip, where Ms. Albright blatantly fabricates reality, was the point in which I didn't take the rest of the interview seriously. She is completely corrupt, and she is another talking head for the "left".
John - The Trump administration will be judged by history. It exhibits many totalitarian characteristics, in that President Trump steadfastly pretends moral and intellectual authority, but possesses neither. His entire adult life has been that of man who imagines that the law, and generally-accepted standards of behaviour, do not apply to him.
DeleteI would remind you that persons who set up the American Republic were considered to be radical thinkers who were far to the left of centre.
The mechanisms which were originally designed to prevent absolutist rule in the USA, include freedom of the press.
John - I have to say that, in general, the mainstream media has not been trying to discredit Donald Trump. Journalists have only been trying to hold him to account. However, for all his adult life, Donald Trump has been trying to discredit anyone trying to hold him account.
DeleteThe fact that there is a significant minority in the USA who will not take heed of any 'negative' information challenging Donald Trump's own 'positive' version of reality, is an extremely worrying situation.
Despite this situation, I think that eventually Donald Trump will go down in history as a man who had far too many skeletons in his closet to have ever been allowed to run as US president. These skeletons have made him an easy target for blackmail and manipulation.
Perhaps the most dangerous type of skeleton in Trump's closet are those concerning his financial dependence on foreign banks which are connected to the Putin regime.
David --
DeleteI don't think any leader, in the history of ever, has not tried to portray themselves with moral and intellectual authority. Obama, Bush, Clinton, all did this, and they all had significant issues. I don't think that can be a persuasive argument to suggest that Trump is different and potentially a totalitarian. I would actually argue the other three leaders were all interested in growing the government's influence and forming a global empire with other leaders.
Again, I think he has definitely been a bad person and has broken the law before his presidency, but none of this has happened while he has been president. This is where I have the issue, and why I believe the media's 24/7 anti-Trump news cycle has poisoned reality and made people into non-critical anti-Trumpers. If you want to say he's a bad person because of the stuff I previously mentioned, then I'm on board with that, but nobody has shown a shred of evidence to suggest he has totalitarian tendencies. Heck, I'll even add that he has had some rhetoric that was not good about certain ethnicities.
I absolutely agree there should be a freedom of the press, but I completely disagree that they haven't been trying to discredit him. The media, aside from Fox, has gone above and beyond to run the anti-Trump news cycle, the likes of which have never been seen before. Again, I highly encourage you to look into "Project Veritas" and their actual investigatory reports on CNN, The New York Times, Twitter, and The Washington Post. All of these esteemed news agencies have completely lost their way. I would also like to add that Fox is by no means an adequate news source. They are just as bad, if not worse, and regularly shill for the "right".
I'm not sure which "minority" you are referring to, but the US seems pretty evenly split on their opinion of Trump. Since his election, most polls show his support has increased because of his policies, in spite of the constant negative rhetoric. It's honestly astounding to watch this happen.
I'm not sure I understand what you mean by "allowed" to run for president. He is someone with significant issues, much like the rest of our extremely powerful leaders, but that shouldn't bar him from being able to run. Hillary has MUCH worse skeletons in her closet, and she almost won. I also don't see much blackmail or manipulation yet, but that could come out later. At this point, given his use of Twitter, he seems more like a rabid dog that's off his leash.
I can't comment on whether Putin owns Trump, but so far, Trump doesn't seem to have a problem screwing with Russia's interests.
John - I am of the opinion that Trump never actually intended to become US President. He was engaged in a publicity stunt that backfired.
DeleteThat said, which character would you compare Donald Trump to, in George Orwell's 'Animal Farm?'
In order to get elected, would-be political leaders are obliged to pretend moral and intellectual authority (to a greater or lesser extent), but would-be dictators pretend absolute moral and intellectual authority and paint their critics as evil.
As far as I'm aware, no US president has ever behaved like Donald Trump and publicly bragged about: how much more financially independent, richer, smarter, more articulate, more sexually attractive/potent, more skilled in business, skilled in legal matters, more popular, healthier, wealthier, more patriotic, better educated, braver, skilled in miltary strategy, taller, more honest, well-endowed between his legs, etc. etc., he is compared with the rest of us ordinary mortals.
There seems to be a un-critical minority of the US electorate (less than 30%) who have swallowed, and who continue to swallow, Trump's grandiose BS and who believe that all quantifiable evidence challenging Trump's own puerile narrative, to be a pack of outrageous lies being concocted by an evil Washington establishment allied to a biased left-wing media.
As an independent outside observer, the available quantifiable evidence indicates that Donald Trump is life-long con-artist and self-obsessed womaniser who is also, without a shadow of a doubt, the biggest security risk ever to been elected US President.
Many independent observers look at the USA and ask: How is it possible that Trump has never faced serious criminal charges/convictions in the past, and thus, was allowed to pass himself off as this messianic billionaire patriotic saviour figure, in a US presidential election against a truly feeble opponent?
You're right David. Everyone knows "Trump University" was a total fraud so why wasn't Trump charged with fraud?
DeleteAnonymous - Trump's fake 'University' seems to have morphed out of his fake 'Business Opportunity' the 'Trump Network' which itself was a front for a 'Amway' copy-cat blame-the-victim 'MLM' racket.
DeleteThe USA has been like a great building becoming quietly infested with these 'MLM' termites, to a point where they now cannot be destroyed without severly damaging the structure they've been allowed to gnaw their way into.
David --
DeleteI agree that Trump's presidential run was probably a publicity stunt. I also believe, according to his own words, that he is an undercover Democrat that ran as a Republican because it would be easier for him to win the primary. People from his campaign associated his strategy with a runaway train, and there was little to no planning. His interests and relationships also suggest he is much more aligned with the left than he is with the right, take the omnibus bill, the actual immigration stance, the rhetoric on gun ownership. He is one of the world's, if not the world's greatest charlatan, and I would argue he is the greatest because he can wear it publicly as a badge of honor. His skeletons come out, the mud gets slung, he makes a bad comment or lie, and he still emerges stronger on the other side. It's completely bizarre.
I would consider Trump to be similar to "Squealer".
I agree that Trump is more vocal about his "gifts". Most of his attributes are routinely proven false as well
If you are trying to make me sound like a conspiracy theorist about our "biased left-wing media", then I would suggest you take the time to look at them more closely. They do not provide sources for their information, they do not critically investigate their claims, they do not provide the audience with counter-points to their claims. They have been the ultimate propaganda machine against Trump, and they are not held to a standard of objective journalism from days past. I have asked you twice, and I will ask a third time for you to look into "Project Veritas" and what they have found about these media groups. You can also find lots of other evidence online to support the media is a left-wing echo chamber, and it is not fairly reporting on the news in America.
I'll grant that you are an outside observer, since you aren't in the states, but you are making comments that suggest you are independent.
Statements like the following, "un-critical minority of the US electorate (less than 30%) who have swallowed, and who continue to swallow, Trump's grandiose BS and who believe that all quantifiable evidence challenging Trump's own puerile narrative, to be a pack of outrageous lies being concocted by an evil Washington establishment allied to a biased left-wing media.", or "Journalists have only been trying to hold him to account. However, for all his adult life, Donald Trump has been trying to discredit anyone trying to hold him account.", or "Madeleine Albright's observations/warning regarding the totalitarian/fascist characteristics exhibited by the Trump administration, appear to be accurate". Show you have a strong bias to the left. This is fine, but let's not suggest you are somehow independent of either side.
I believe Hillary Clinton would be a far greater security risk, and as a terrible choice between the two, America picked the correct candidate.
I can't understand why Trump hasn't faced criminal charges either. He is a terrible person and has done terrible things. I don't think anyone would consider him "messianic", except maybe himself, but the people knew Hillary was worse and voted accordingly.
I believe Trump was chosen to go against Hillary and that both parties wanted Hillary to win. They thought Trump was the most non-electable candidate from the slew of Republicans that ran. This clearly backfired, and Hillary was the worst candidate of all time. Even after she stole the election from Bernie, and even after she used all of her resources to push her agenda, and even after she had all of the media raving about her, she still lost. That was not by Trump's design, that was a problem with the idiots in Washington.
Squealer's not bad, but I would compare Donald Trump to one of the sleazy well-fed human profiteers who appear at the end of 'Animal Farm' and who start to do business with the sleazy well-fed pig leaders whilst the poor starving farm animals, whose work has produced all the farm's wealth, are left out in the cold. The animals look through the windows of the farm house and suddenly realise that they cannot distinguish between these humans and the pigs.
DeleteSorry to contradict you John, but the suggestion that I have a left wing bias could not be further from the truth. I'm trying to stand back and describe this whole two-dimensional 'us vs them' , 'Democrat vs republican', left vs right, tragicomic illusion in multi-dimensional terms. Personally, if I was an American, I couldn't have cast my vote for either Trump or Clinton.
Ms. Clinton was a shocker of a candidate, but she's now ancient history. The Clintons wouldn't be too hard to place in 'Animal Farm.'
One only has to look at the evidence to discover that sitting US president, Donald Trump, lives in a parallel world in which only he has a handle on the truth and any coverage in the media challenging his truth, has been systematically labelled as 'fake news.'
There remains a significant minority of the US electorate who do not trust the media and who will cling to Trump's parallel version of reality, no matter what transpires. These are the unquestioning core-followers whom Donald Trump has been addressing. The more they believe his BS, the more he believes it himself.
The above are classic indentifying characteristics of a totalistic cult.
David --
DeleteI appreciate your attempt to remove yourself from the situation, but I believe some of your previous comments reflect a blind spot. The major media outlets in the U.S. are garbage at this point, and the idea that they do anything resembling real journalism is a mistake. It would actually be unusual to run into someone in the States, whether they are Republican, Democrat, or other, and have them take these agencies as unbiased and impartial groups. Their biases and refusal to acknowledge the opposing voices has been an issue for the past two decades. That is why I pointed to your comment before.
I will concede that labeling these news groups as "fake news" is not good, but they also are far from reliable. I believe he could choose his words more wisely. They routinely do not report the full scope of a story, make aggressive accusations that aren't substantiated, use anonymous or unsubstantiated sources, and select certain stories over others to push their agenda. It has gotten so bad that people don't hear anything about the events in the rest of the world, and they do not hear the events that are happening within the rest of the government outside of Trump.
I haven't personally run into people that both, do not trust the media and cling to Trump's rhetoric. I may be in a bubble, but those people don't really exist. The vast majority of people hate the mainstream news agencies and hate every member of our government (especially Trump). Aside from "Infowars", there aren't many people swooning over Trump. I also don't think Trump needs others to believe his own BS. He's pretty good at fueling himself on his own BS, and he has made himself a celebrity from this trait.
John - From what you have read of my work, do you not think that I am quite capable of examining the evidence and applying my critical faculties to all media-coverage; particularly, US media-coverage of the two main US political factions and their apologists.
DeleteOne of the main themes in my work has been the mainstream US media's far-from-intellectually-rigorous coverage of the 'MLM' phenomenon. To date (with a few notable exceptions), the media has been a significant part of the 'MLM' enigma, not the solution to it.
For many years, I have been explaining how the 'MLM' phenomeon is itself a two-dimensional 'us vs them' illusion and that anyone repeating any part of this illusion (without detailed qualification or heavy irony) demonstrates that he/she remains at a pathetically low-level of understanding of how the illusion functions.
David --
DeleteI believe you are quite capable of removing yourself from any biases when it comes to the topic of MLM. You have been one of my greatest influences for improving my writing and critical thinking abilities. I only wanted to explain that "journalists" (it's hard to even call them that) in the main stream US media are not holding Trump to account, but rather slinging mud for the sake of ratings. It has come out of their own leadership that they utilize the negative Trump agenda to help boost their ratings and to increase the sales of advertising. That isn't what the US needs or deserves from its media outlets. To suggest that they are simply holding Trump to account is not accurate in my opinion.
The fact that you have been working diligently to expose the US media's lack of coverage and investigative journalism in MLM reinforces the point that they are just as bad at covering politics as a whole. They are a business first and a media outlet second. They do not care who they hurt, what details they leave out, or what stories get suppressed if it makes them money.
My goal was to show you may not be as impartial on the subject of Trump as you are with your analysis of MLM.
John - You and I will have to agree to disagree about this, because, in general, the US media has most-certainly not been merely 'slinging mud' at Donald Trump just to obtain ratings. The fact that many people are interested by these serious matters, doesn't make these matters any less true or any less worthy of being publicly broadcast.
DeleteThe US, and international, media has been endeavouring to report the Mueller investigation which has evidently been digging up the sordid truth about Donald Trump's:-
- Hidden dealings with financial institutions linked to the Putin regime and which could potentially make him (and anyone party to these hidden dealings) liable to criminal prosecution for money laundering, conspiracy, etc., as well as financially dependent on a vindictive and corrupt foreign leader hostile to freedom and the rule of law.
- Hidden dealings with individuls linked to the Putin regime.
The US, and international, media has reported the results of investigations into the sordid truth about Tump's:-
- Historic sexual assaults on at leat 15 women.
- Involvement in secret hush-money payments (in the lead up to the presidential election) to at least 2 women with whom he has had extra-marital sexual adventures, which could potentially make him (and anyone party to these secret payments) liable to criminal prosecution under laws which limit campaign contributions.
This is just a sample of what is already public knowledge thanks to the media, but Trump pretends all this to be 'fake news.'
Personally, I would have preferred the FBI and the US media to have made a far more thorough investigation/analysis of Trump's paid connections with 'MLM' rackets in general and with the 'MLM' racket known as 'ACN,' in particular.
Hi David. Do you know if Albright is still involved with HLF?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - Until Ms. Albright makes a public statement in which she freely accepts that she was tricked and that she was wrong to have endorsed Herbalife, she will remain involved with this dissimulated criminal organisation.
DeleteIf 'tens of millions of losing participants' is the case why don't we hear more from them (in blogs, social media, news comments etc)?
ReplyDeleteUnknown - The reasons why relatively few 'MLM' victims have come forward are many and various, but lately more have been appearing.
DeleteMany 'MLM' victims have been recruited by a friend or a family member, which make it very difficult for them to face the truth.
The 'MLM' syndicate has spent many decades constructing the big lie that 'MLM' is your own 'business' and that anyone complaining of losing money, has only him/herself to blame.
etc.
Why do so few 'MLM' victims ever complain?
DeleteThe short answer to these frequently-asked question, is that the overwhelming majority of all the countless millions of victims who continue to get burned by individual 'MLM Income Opportunity/Prosperity Gospel' cults, will remain silent and continue (unconsciously) to form part of the overall lie: whilst, as a direct result of the passivity of the overwhelming majority of the victims, all casual observers of individual 'MLM income opportunity/Prosperity Gospel' cults (including, law enforcement agents, regulators, academics, legislators, judges, journalists, etc.) will also remain passive and continue (unconsciously) to form part of the overall lie.
Today, it is very difficult to determine exactly how many people in total around the world have already been churned through the pay-through-the-nose-to-play 'MLM Income Opportunity/Prosperity Gospel' cultic game of make-believe, since it was first peddled as reality under the name of 'Nutrilite Inc. /Mytinger and Casselberry Inc.' back in the late 1940s. It is also important to distinguish between short-term and chronic 'MLM' losing-players. In general, the overwhelming majority of fraud victims never complain, but, right from the outset, the self-perpetuating 'MLM Income Opportunity/Prosperity Gospel' lie was maliciously designed to implicate its victims - loading them with shame and guilt, and, thus, prevent them from ever facing reality. Classically, the quantifiable evidence proves that, without exception, chronic 'MLM' losing-players have been subjected to co-ordinated devious techniques of social, and psychological, persuasion designed to shut down their critical, and evaluative, faculties. In this way, they have been conditioned (unconsciously) to think of themselves, not as the victims of a cruel deception or as brainwashed cult adherents, but as 'Independent Business Owners' exercising free-will. What has made external reality even more unacceptable, is the ego-destroying fact that a large proportion of 'MLM' victims were deceived by a close friend or relative (acting under the guided-delusion that 'MLM' has been of great benefit to its participants) and, in turn, these victims then deceived, or tried to deceive, their own close friends and relatives (acting under the same guided-delusion that 'MLM' has been of great benefit to its participants). The few, destitute, chronic former 'MLM' losing-players who have managed to recover fully their critical, and evaluative faculties, and who have filed well-informed civil lawsuits against the corporate fronts of 'MLM' cultic racketeers, have invariably been obliged to settle out of court. Although a number of isolated civil investigations, and successful prosecutions, have been pursued by the Federal Trade Commission against some smaller 'MLM' front-companies in the USA, no co-ordinated official effort has ever been made to face wider-reality and identify, let alone tackle, the overall criminogenic/cultic phenomenon that has lurked behind all the shielding layers of structural, and pseudo-economic/scientific, mystification, reality-inverting 'direct selling/commercial' jargon and kitsch capitalist/Utopian/American Dream imagery
When John Oliver tore into HLF he almost couldn't believe Madeleine Albright had endorsed it. She's lost all credibility with a lot of folks because of this but in the end what's it matter to her? She's retired from Capitol Hill. She's crying all the way to bank.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - For obvious reasons, I started to look more closely at Madeleine Albright's life when I discovered that she'd been co-opted by the 'Herbalife' mob. I have to say that, in view of her accomplishments and reputation, it beggars belief that she can have got so deeply-involved with this form of cultic racketeering.
DeleteMs. Albright deserves to be held up to public ridicule, because I can find no trace of her making any public statement about 'Herbalife' in the light of the FTC investigation/ruling.
What were her accomplishments?
DeleteAnonymous - I presume you are asking a rhetorical question about Madeleine Albright's actual accomplishments, as opposed to the positions in government that she achieved.
DeleteAbove all, Ms. Albright represented the USA on the world stage (as US Ambassador to the UN then as the first woman US Secretary of State) with dignity and calm.
Ms. Albright was very well-chosen by the bosses of the 'Herbalife' racket - a highly-educated and respected world-celebrity, as well as a motherly-figure with liberal views, who would shut-down the critical and evaluative faculties of both victims and casual observers.
If Ms. Albright could be so easily duped/bought by this gang of smiling crooks, it makes me wonder how easily she might have been duped/bought when she was in government?
US media IS the gatekeeper of every Long Con!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - 'MLM' cutlic rackets have been operating right under the noses of US journalists for decades. Some of the easiest persons to fool, have been financial journalists, because they have followed their training, and approached the 'MLM' fairy story on the false-assumption that because it has been written in the language of business, it must be reported as some sort of business.
DeleteIn respect of 'MLM,' almost without exception, US financial journalists have been the equivalent of a flock of equestrian experts describing the exterior of a Trojan horse.
If you think that the membership of the US media has been capable of recognising Long Cons, and deliberately protecting them, then you are perhaps over-estimating the intellectual capacity of the membership of the "US media."