Caitlin Johnstone

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Be Suspicious Of Everyone Who Habitually Defends The Powerful From The Weak

Teenage Palestinian civil rights icon Ahed Tamimi was released from an Israeli prison yesterday. Viral images of Tamimi standing up to the Israeli armed forces who’ve brutalized her family have made her a powerful symbol of the greater Palestinian struggle for justice against a vastly more powerful oppressor. The Palestinian issue is not complicated, and it is…

Caitlin Johnstone
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Teenage Palestinian civil rights icon Ahed Tamimi was released from an Israeli prison yesterday. Viral images of Tamimi standing up to the Israeli armed forces who’ve brutalized her family have made her a powerful symbol of the greater Palestinian struggle for justice against a vastly more powerful oppressor.

The Palestinian issue is not complicated, and it is not difficult to see who is in the wrong in the debate about it. Anyone who says otherwise is advocating for the powerful against the disempowered.

In addition to being an extremely well-funded military and nuclear power whose immense network of allies includes the United States, which has the most deadly military force the world has ever seen, the Israeli government also enjoys support from virtually all mainstream political and media voices in the western world. And what do the Palestinians have? Kites. Kites and rocks.

There is a very clear and undeniable power discrepancy here. Generally speaking, whenever you see people loudly and habitually advocating for the powerful side of a power discrepancy, they are showing you that they are servants of power. Their interest is not in truth, justice or compassion, but in helping power maintain itself. Being aware of this gives you a very useful tool for navigating a confusing media landscape that is immersed in propaganda, spin, and disinformation.

This applies across the board. When you see anyone advocating on behalf of the US empire against the latest Official Bad Guy Nation, when you see them advocating on behalf of the plutocrat-owned mass media machine against alternative media outlets, when you see them advocating on behalf of the Pentagon, the CIA and the Democratic Party against Julian Assange, when you see them advocating on behalf of fossil fuel companies against indigenous protesters, when you see them advocating on behalf of America’s increasingly militarized police force against unarmed black men, when you see them advocating on behalf of the wealthy against the poor, when you see them advocating on behalf of the status quo against activists and organizations pushing for change, they are giving you valuable information about themselves.

So watch them. Keep track of who makes a habit of advancing narratives which favor the powerful side of any power discrepancy, and apply a level of distrust to them in proportion to the extent to which they do so.

It is as true now as it was in medieval times that the best way to get ahead in the world is to get on the good graces of the lords and royalty; the only thing that’s changed is what lords and royalty look like. Now the most powerful forces in the world are western plutocrats, and the way to get on their good graces is to support the political/military/intelligence establishment upon which they have built their corporate empires and the momentum of that establishment’s agendas.

The last thing power needs is more defenders, and the last thing the world needs is more defenders of the powerful. It is self-evident that anyone who habitually defends power is a servant of power, and that while they may be employing a sound personal strategy by staying on the king’s good side, they’re not a very good source of information. If you can see this basic, common sense fact, then the process of sorting out the good sources of information from the bad ones for yourself becomes very simple. Just follow these three basic steps:

Step 1: Look at the various conflicts and disputes in the world and, by your own research, assess which side has more power, influence, and/or military might. This can get a little weird since empowered sides often attempt to paint themselves as the poor widdle victim in order to keep people from seeing the power dynamics clearly, but power discrepancies are easy to spot once you start looking for them.

Step 2: Note which political and media voices defend the side of power, and how consistently they do so. The ones who advocate for the powerful against the weak most often are the ones whose versions of reality you should most reject and distrust. The less a particular voice advocates on the behalf of the powerful across the board in each observable instance, the more useful and trustworthy a source of information it is.

Step 3: Use this to get a big-picture understanding of where the advocates for power are and how they tend to behave. Once you’ve got a clear picture of this you can see the defenders of power as effectively one solid group, and you can watch it and describe how its different parts behave and how they help each other almost like you’re observing the movements of an organism.

Once you’ve got this down, understanding what’s happening in the world becomes much less confusing. You know which way’s up and which way’s down, you know who you can and cannot trust to give you information that isn’t skewed by a self-serving desire to get on the king’s good side, so new events are easier to understand and interpret for yourself. Then you’re much less fooled by the sycophants and lackeys, and much better equipped to help others see clearly as well.

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16 responses to “Be Suspicious Of Everyone Who Habitually Defends The Powerful From The Weak”

  1. e r italy Avatar
    e r italy

    Of all diseases of man, the least possible to transmit is will-to-truth.

    So, Mrs. or Miss Johnstone, I enjoy reading your posts, full of words that the well-adjusted never use because no-one names Gods they really worship: “power” for one.

    And then I enjoy all the “analyze and you will see”, “compare and it will surface”,…
    It’s nice — it’s nice to meet another truth-oriented vagrant; we are so few that one always wonders if it’s just a mirage or a real fellow wanderer.

    There is no further purpose to it though, for, as you must know, the “powerful” are powerful as they are on account of the general human nature, rather than their supposedly especially devious one.

    “The narrative,” you say. The dominant narrative is nothing but a product that comes on top of the competition, within a free market scenario.
    The mainstream traditional media. The mainstream new media. The corporations. All — all of them, do nothing but obey the (unconscious, of course) leanings, mental complexion, and liking of the vast majority of humans.

    Who deceives less (or less adroitly) is pushed out of the market, be it the processed foods market political market or “narrative market”.
    In a recent post you speak of the pack.
    The best (only?) pack-climbing device was physical force, and is now deceit. Isn’t this some progress?

    🙂

    1. e r italy Avatar
      e r italy

      Moreovet, isn’t it lovely, the word “sociopathy”, how it is used?

      Human mainstream cultures having to be mirrorings of the regular person’s psychological complexion, they have to name things counter to what they are actually, believe they don’t want what they actually desire and viceversa, and so on.

      Therefore nigh everyone who rises high in organizations is a “sociopath”. That is: they are the best liked among their group (or their rising would not happen, nor last in time) but if they (that is, the group’s actual desires) are described, it must be named (socio)pathology.
      “Pathology” coming to be no more nor less than a tag for psychological normality that is repressed and denied.

      1. R.W. Emerson II Avatar
        R.W. Emerson II

        I strongly disagree with this rank pessimism and cynicism. I notice that most human beings are in good health, and, similarly, that most countries are at peace — so the norm is fitness not pathology and peace not war. Yes, of course, there are diseases and disasters, but we have found cures to many of these diseases, and have recovered from many of these disasters.

        Diseases come in spiritual forms — the genocidal misanthropic god of the Old Testament, for example. And diseases come in political and economic forms — fascism, capitalism. These diseases make society vulnerable to the rise of sociopaths. Our vaunted elections provide these misanthropes and criminals with a conveyor belt straight to the top.

        Fortunately, these diseases can be cured. Not all religions are based on dehumanizing beliefs; some are based on rehumanizing practice. Not all economic systems make human beings a slave to profit. Alternatives exist, and have been tried, and have worked better than we allow ourselves to believe. Not all political systems foster hatred for other ethnic groups and races; some allow these diverse groups to develop naturally, in cooperative confederation. And we are not limited to democracy-killing elections: There are genuinely democratic alternatives.

        But we see none of these possibilities when we overdose on cynicism, one of the main drugs the current system uses to keep us all enslaved.

  2. Bichara Sahely Avatar
    Bichara Sahely

    “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.” – Archbishop Desmond Tutu

  3. R.W. Emerson II Avatar
    R.W. Emerson II

    The physical damage the Xionists have inflicted on the native people of Palestine over the last 70 years is horrific, but the spiritual damage the Xionists have inflicted on themselves is also chilling. What person of conscience would want to trade places with these pitiful dead-enders?

    Power corrupts — but more than that, it drives the powerful insane. Those who like to play god soon convince themselves that they are god — not the loving god of the New Testament but the childish vindictive jealous genocidal tyrant of the Old. The Powers that Be in the Establishment come to regard us human beings as pawns on a chessboard — disposable “Useless Eaters”.

    For the most part, “We the Sheep” lack a political conscience. We naively idolize the demented “Wolves” at the top and treat them as our “Protectors”. Big mistake! The “Wolves” gave us World Suicide I — 18 million of us were fed to the ovens of Mammon and Moloch. And because we did not bother to find the cause and hold the Wolves accountable, they came back and give us World Suicide II — 40 million of us dismembered in the European region alone. And because we failed to properly identify the cause and hold all of the Wolves accountable, they are now on the verge of giving us World Suicide III.

    We are done in by our intellectual inertia — our failure to contest the sweet diet of lies we have been spoon-fed. We really need to get to the root of the vast binges of death and destruction — and hold our domestic devils accountable. Why do we idolize these big, ruthless, cynical killers? Is it Stockholm Syndrome?

    1. Wilfred Avatar
      Wilfred

      Yes +1!
      But as Ms Johnstone writes. “It is as true now as it was in medieval times that the best way to get ahead in the world is to get on the good graces of the lords and royalty; the only thing that’s changed is what lords and royalty look like.” This is so true! Further it is probably the answer to your closing question.

      This is because it actually means the rational thing to do for any individual is to not fight the system – an oppressive brutal system even more so. In the west the system is even more insidious as we are constantly told we are “free”, “democratic” and “liberal”. I suppose we are to an extent but step outside the increasing narrow space between the lines then – well not so much. Even on the rare occasions when I raise such issues with family and friends I invariably get “shut down” – they just don’t want to know.

  4. Jared Avatar
    Jared

    Very nice analysis.
    It seems people have lost perspective and thier humanity.
    How can it be acceptable what we have abetted in libia and syria? How can what the isrealis are doing to the palestinians be ok? The most troubling and infuriating aspect for me is not the lies but rather to silence – dark running.

    Long after I have forgotten the harsh words of my enemies I will remember with pain the silence of my friends.

    I was in major airport in us today. There was a flight to isreal. It was from remote gate and nearby gates closed and entire area cordoned off.

  5. chucknobomb Avatar
    chucknobomb

    BDS. Stop the War with Iran for Israel.

  6. Diane4Peace Avatar
    Diane4Peace

    I agree with everything that you state. Great article!

    In addition to what you write, I have to say that believe that every one of my blood relatives and a few life-time friends advocate for one, or some, powerful interest group(s). I can’t personally see these friends/family members classified as knowingly being “Defenders of the Powerful”. If I were to accuse them of that they would, with all sincerity, deny that accusation. These people do not willfully advocate for the powerful. They sincerely believe they are right and that I am wrong. They do that because they are not like me, a skeptic, to whom MSNBC, CNN & FOX have fallen out of favor and could never compete with the indie journalists whom I so highly revere. I’m done trying to convince my family members to change where they get their news because it does nothing but draw lines of dissent. They believe I’m the one who refuses to see reason; and there are more of them than me. If I continue sharing articles and debating those who gang up on me, I’d just go crazy doing the same thing over and over again, expecting the same results.

    1. R.W. Emerson II Avatar
      R.W. Emerson II

      The struggle is spiritual, before it is political. Count your blessings! — your relatives are missing out on life. They cannot even imagine the things you have come to know.

      Most of us have been absorbed into the war machine. The machine dehumanizes us and turns us into zombies. When we secede from the machine and begin the quest to recover our lost humanity, we gain access to a world of delight. Standing alone, we connect with the universe and become part of the grand human struggle. We gain a vibrant purpose that transcends space and time. We gain the ability to empathize with courageous people in other times and places. We stand outside the system and develop an independent moral sensibility. We discover what it means to be alive! We learn the meaning of freedom!

      Make this transition from a somnolent machine-like subsistence to a fully human state of being — and you will be rejoicing every day. And your outrageous happiness will begin to have an effect on your relatives — on some of them, at least. Attitudes are contagious. The system has built an Iron Information Curtain against truth, but it cannot wall out happiness!

  7. Bob Brister Avatar
    Bob Brister

    Clear thinking from Caitlin. Thank you!

  8. Susan Siens Avatar
    Susan Siens

    And apply this same critique to comics. Are they making fun of ordinary people, disabled people, women, people of color, or are they making fun of our politicians, banksters, corporate mobsters, media moguls?

    And your brilliant comment about American propaganda I think also held true for Nazi Germany. On the one hand, they were the most powerful nation on earth and on the other hand they were the most persecuted nation on earth. Rationality is not a component of national exceptionalism.

  9. Scott Avatar
    Scott

    And it’s also extremely important to remember that the ‘powerful’ will often play both sides of the game where they will create entities that ‘claim’ to be against their own policies to control the narrative, don’t you think? This is where we see the 1. Problem, 2. They then manage the Reaction to that Problem and then 3. Provide the Solution, all the time making it look like it was all organic and provided democratically by the people.

    1. luhrenloup Avatar
      luhrenloup

      i.e. Q anon

      1. luhrenloup Avatar
        luhrenloup

        Q is a CIA operation, a psyop

  10. Catherine M Splane Avatar
    Catherine M Splane

    The power of your words. Do you worship this?

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