Two themes I have previously addressed over years:
1) Every aspect of modern life is a snare that is binding you into behavior that does or will violate your conscience. (I am sure I've never put it quite like that). The longer you wait to escape, the more it will cost you to do so.
2) The foundations of our way of life have been removed, no one seemed to notice, and the consequences of their removal will only be apparent as situations arise that expose their absence. Every pillar of society is now a hollow tree whose rotten core will only be noticed by normal people when a wind gust knocks it onto their house.
Each day I see these themes playing out, and while some people are waking somewhat to their reality, most are walking towards greater blindness.
One thing I like doing is reading comments, either on YouTube or news sites. It gives you a usually scary insight into what people are thinking.
I was listening to a snippet of Joe Rogan on YouTube this morning on the topic of Jordan Peterson having his license threatened to be removed over his criticism of the Canadian government. It's a good example of the themes I've mentioned.
Theme 1
Here are some comments and some commentary:
Comment: "The issue isn't him being able to continue to practice the issue is them trying to discredit him. If they take his license away every single news channel and tabloid will refer to him as disgraced former psychologist and their default response to anything he says will be 'oh well Jordan had his license to practice revoked he is hardly an authority on these things.'"
Commentary: Bingo. There is a playbook, and it is followed. If you look at any "debunk" attempt on any unpopular position that ended up being right, you will find the same exact tactics employed. One of those is to pursue means that will yield barriers between normal people and the message you share. They seek to increase reasons for which normal people will dismiss you out of hand without ever hearing what you have to say. I say normal people here because wise people do not succumb to such tactics. If they see someone being tarred and feathered, their first assumption is not that you are not worth hearing, but actually quite the opposite. If the mob is after you, you probably have something valuable to say!
Comment: "The problem with the actions they are taking against Jordan Peterson is, yea he’s gonna be fine because he’s an accomplished author and a sought after guest speaker and has other revenues of income, but what happens when it’s not Jordan Peterson accomplished author. What happens when it’s a young man or woman trying to make a name and have a career that supports their family? After years of work and debt and struggles, to have your license pulled for retweeting something is asinine."
Commentary: There were many other comments to this end, and I'm very glad to see normal people waking up to this fact. If they can do this to people like Jordan Peterson, what are they going to do to you? He has powerful friends, lots of money, and millions of devoted fans to support him. What do you have?
Theme 2
Joe's guest was Bret Weinstein, an evolutionary biologist who was cancelled from Evergreen College because he wrote a letter providing gentle resistance to a colleague's suggestion that white faculty should remain off campus for one year in the name of racial equity (or something).
Bret is an interesting fellow. After his illustrious career was taken from him, he managed to springboard into a podcast that earned him enough money to pay his bills...until he dared have an international expert on his show, whose mild comments about COVID (which were later proven correct) triggered demonetization.
Bret had this to say: "You know, ultimately, anybody who remains inside an institution is going to be up against disciplinary hearings if they insist on seeing reality and discussing it."
I want you to think long and hard about his statement, because it is true, and I have yet to meet anyone who believes it other than, apparently, me and Bret Weinstein.
Your job, your church, your family--any institution you are a member of right now is not founded on the love of truth above all else. There is only one such institution--the kingdom of God. All others will shake and fall apart as the end times roll forward. They will divide as greater light manifests in some people within them. They will collapse under the weight of the expanded exposure to consequence. Those parts that remain intact will be reorganized under the banner of truth. This happens in jolts and happens in gradations.
Takeaways
You really need to take stock of your life. Examine what institutions you are part of.
Consider what meaning they provide. Think about what changes you would need to make to go more directly to the source. How can you refactor what that institution provides in a way that prioritizes truth above all else?
Consider how much you rely on these institutions, especially financially or legally. What I mean by financially is how could you pay your bills without it? And can you reduce your bills somehow? What I mean by legally is that these people do not believe in justice or the rule of law. How will you protect yourself from spurious allegations? The answer is probably only by distancing yourself, since all legal protections rely on the principles once forming the bedrock of our nation, but long absent from the hearts of modern people. Good luck being protected by a judge or jury of people who can't or won't state basic, obvious, objective facts, let alone the many who feed on external absurdities to sooth internal cognitive dissonance.
Consider how exposed you are to the many snares that surround you. Be aware of the many situations you could be put into that would exceed your willingness to hold to your principles. Understand just how many ways they could entice you to violate your conscience through compulsion and force. Take active steps to reduce their power over you. You can no longer pretend this is something that would never happen to you.