I was going to write another article today about a different topic, but I backed down because I didn’t think I could deliver the kind of fiery, forceful, unmitigated argument it would need to be without risking getting banned from social media and blogging platforms.

The article I was planning on writing, which you’ll just have to imagine now, would have been titled ” ‘Assange Can Leave Whenever He Wants!’ No, Idiot, He Can’t.” The feature image was going to be a screen shot of a blue-checkmarked empire loyalist named Greg Olear tweeting the infuriatingly dopey argument that Assange is free to just waltz out the embassy doors whenever he wants, so therefore he isn’t actually being imprisoned by an Orwellian power establishment for publishing authentic documents about powerful people. Never mind the fact that you can say exactly the same thing about literally anyone under political asylum; they are all free to leave the political asylum they’ve been granted at any time, and pointing this out is just describing the thing that political asylum is. Never mind the fact that a UN panel ruled that Assange is being arbitrarily detained by the threat of imprisonment. Never mind that the same US government which tortured Chelsea Manning is currently openly pursuing Assange’s arrest because of his publications, making the assertion that he’s “free to leave” the same as saying he’s “free” to jump off a cliff. People don’t want to believe that their government imprisons journalists, so whenever Assange is in the news you see this argument making the rounds.

It would have been a firecracker of an article, but when it came time to write it, I backed down. I’d generally rather scrap an article than write something tepid and boring that won’t make any impact, so the risk of losing access to my platforms outweighed my desire to write what I’d planned on writing.

I’ve been self-censoring more and more lately, especially since the latest round of coordinated cross-platform silencing of multiple alternative media outlets the other day. Back in August I had my Twitter account temporarily deleted when I said the world will be better off without John McCain and a bunch of #Resistance accounts mass reported me; Twitter cited “abusive behavior” as its justification. The only reason my account was restored was because there was a large objection from many high-profile journalists and activists who understand the dangers of internet censorship, and I’m not willing to gamble that I’d get that lucky should something similar happen again. Being able to disrupt establishment narratives on a high-traffic website like Twitter outweighs the benefits of speaking in an unmitigated way.

And that ultimately is precisely the point. If the social engineers can make an example of a few dissident voices in the public eye, everyone else will rein in their own speech and behavior to avoid the same fate. The overall effect of this phenomenon is actually far more effective in suppressing dissident speech than the overt censorship is by itself, because self-censorship actually silences exponentially more anti-establishment opinions. For every one voice you crack down on overtly, a thousand more silence themselves out of self-preservation, not saying things they would otherwise say and not doing things they would otherwise do.

Meanwhile empire loyalists know that they can consistently get away with saying anything they want with total impunity. The other day for example I criticized the fawning media accolades that professional Atlantic Council propagandist Eliot Higgins has been receiving lately, and he responded by calling me “Grotbags”, an obese witch character from a nineties children’s television show. The joke being, you see, that I am overweight, and I am also a woman, so I am therefore similar to the character Grotbags. Ha ha ha. Eliot has been repeating this hilarious joke for months with zero consequences. He also made headlines back in June with his repeated public invitation for people who disagree with him on Twitter to suck his balls, also with zero consequences.

After my August Twitter suspension a #Resistance account publicly doxxed me, posting my home address, phone number and other information. I didn’t make a public ordeal out of it at the time because I obviously didn’t want to draw attention to it, but I did report it because I wanted it deleted. I was not expecting Twitter Support to reject my report, especially after they had me jump through a bunch of hoops to prove that I did in fact live where the doxxer was saying I lived, but they did.

“We understand that you might come across content on Twitter that you dislike or find offensive,” Twitter wrote back. “However, after investigating the reported content we found it was not in violation of Twitter’s private information policy. As a result, it won’t be removed at this time.”

I see this routinely across all platforms; some accounts act without any fear of consequences, others seem primed for hair-trigger suspension. The bias is distinctly slanted in the favor of those who support CIA/CNN narratives and attack anyone who speaks out of alignment with the agendas of the US-centralized empire.

So while we are mitigating our speech more and more, the Eliot Higginses of the new media environment consistently get away with all manner of abusive behavior without any repercussions. We’re fighting a media war in which we are not just outnumbered and outgunned, but are increasingly forced to fight with one arm tied behind our backs. The only thing we have going for us at this point is that authenticity is attractive and oligarchic funding can’t buy creativity or inspiration.

So anyway, there’s my confession that I have been caving to self-censorship to avoid being de-platformed. Rather than denying it, I think it’s best that we all admit to it when we do it and call it what it is, because it’s an unseen part of the people’s media rebellion that is generally overlooked and under-appreciated. I haven’t really figured out what to do about it beyond that, but in my experience drawing the light of attention to these things is always a good idea.

________________________

Thanks for reading! The best way to get around the internet censors and make sure you see the stuff I publish is to subscribe to the mailing list for my website, which will get you an email notification for everything I publish. My articles are entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around, liking me on Facebook, following my antics on Twitter, checking out my podcast, throwing some money into my hat on Patreon or Paypal,buying my new book Rogue Nation: Psychonautical Adventures With Caitlin Johnstone, or my previous book Woke: A Field Guide for Utopia Preppers.

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39 responses to “Self-Censorship: Where The Real Damage Is Being Done”

  1. I just went to Caitlin’s website and tried three times to sign up for emails but was not successful! Am I being watched or am I paranoid?!!

    I read Caitlin’s articles on many websites I find comfortable to use. eg tomdispatch, Consortiumnews.com, counterpunch, countercurrents,truthdig, antiwar.com and I find her articles stimulating reading anbd thought-provoking.
    I completely avoid “social media” and do not believe they are necessities of life. The sites I use have plenty of comments, some negative, but at least provide some facts. The idea that Eliot Higgins and Bellingcat have the slightest relation to truth is farcical, but I did not know about his rudeness and ugliness until I read the article here.

  2. I have no connection with any social media. I am opposed to FB because ….. I saw this mewe project; I applied and filled in a few items. Eventually I arrived at the travellers section/comment page; are these real people ? If so spare me.
    I got banned from RT after 3 years. As I tend to be pro Russia in today’s climate and always write with respect, I realised that the banning must be about something else.
    I have twice lived in Palestine and it goes without saying that I saw life firsthand. Yes, I wrote about it whenever the topic came up.
    So I contacted ‘spot’ (dual citizens, Israel/US). They assured me that they only supply the IT platform for RT, not censorship.
    I am but a grain of sand … so I feel sorry for those like Caitin Johnstone who have a large profile and following but are watched minutely by the thought police.
    Caitin, I read between your lines and you have my whole hearted support.

  3. Dear Caitlin,

    I’ll keep this brief but when was checking my email this morning, well, this happened..

    [as I just posted on my facebook page]

    It’s truly scary that facebook and twitter are directly censoring independent media and individuals, who dare to voice true, unbiased, objective facts on the issues affecting us all, and directly under the stewardship of ‘our’ governments (don’t take it from me, its been widely reported EVEN in the mainstream media). N.B. I don’t do conspiracy theories, any more than I believe in fairy tales, FYI !

    Just went into my gmail spam folder and realised that google have now started filtering out emails I actually subscribe to, from the groups and voices I trust to tell me whats going on!

    I knew that ALL the silicon valley tech companies are in on this, but it shows the level of desperation to hide the truth that they’ve reached.

    And its a hugely great thing that they’re so scared of true, unvarnished, unspun facts. It’s the beginning of the end for them, and the start of the revolution of ideas that the late, great Bill Hicks prophesised back in 1992. If only he was alive to see this now.

    My hope grows as the tide begins to turn, and with it my fear for the future slowly shrinks..

    Of course, I follow your advice – “The best way to get around the internet censors and make sure you see the stuff I publish is to subscribe to the mailing list for my website, which will get you an email notification for everything I publish.”

    I just needed to let you know that this is now happening too, although knowing you through your writing I’m sure you either already know or at least aren’t a bit surprised. But it still managed to shock me! Yep, I know, its high time I stopped using webmail!

    Aren’t they running so scared of us, and isn’t that a wonderful thing!

    If you feel inclined, I would be honoured if you cared to follow me on twitter @darkarjay or, if you find time, check out my blog – I’m nowhere near your level as a writer Caitlin, but I’m learning all the time.. https://whisperinginthewind2018.blogspot.com/2018/09/another-angry-voice.html

    One love

    1. I don’t know quite where to put this.
      ‘Those who write hit pieces against Julian Assange’
      This guy needs to be called out on his flagrant Anti-democracy, really Anti-American, ‘pro-government spying on us’, suppress free speech rhetoric!

      Matthew Walther

      Another ‘hit piece’ author hits the deck, claiming outrageous points AGAINST democracy!

      “They are equally ready to appeal to windy nonsense about knowledge, openness, freedom of information.”

      (windy nonsense?)

      And this final statement in his hit piece is truly chilling, that there are Americans like Matthew Walther who think the “privacy” of our government and its information agencies is more important than the privacy of individuals, citizens of a ‘hoped-for’ democracy:

      “The day this vampiric internet pirate is dragged away from his cat-sitting duties in London to appear before an American court to answer for his crimes should be a heartening one for anyone who cares about privacy, security, or the rule of law.”

      Ironically he also says in another The Week article, “Being wrong is the de-facto, if almost universally unacknowledged, vocation of the opinion columnist. Anyone who offers his views regularly in a public forum is bound to be wrong frequently, if not most of the time.”

      https://theweek.com/articles/808105/julian-assange-must-brought-justice

    2. I don’t know quite where to put this.
      ‘Those who write hit pieces against Julian Assange’
      This guy needs to be called out on his flagrant Anti-democracy, really Anti-American, ‘pro-government spying on us’, suppresys free speech rhetoric!

      Matthew Walther

      Another ‘hit piece’ author hits the deck, claiming outrageous points AGAINST democracy!

      “They are equally ready to appeal to windy nonsense about knowledge, openness, freedom of information.”

      (windy nonsense?)

      And this final statement in his hit piece is truly chilling, that there are Americans like Matthew Walther who think the “privacy” of our government and its information agencies is more important than the privacy of individuals, citizens of a ‘hoped-for’ democracy:

      “The day this vampiric internet pirate is dragged away from his cat-sitting duties in London to appear before an American court to answer for his crimes should be a heartening one for anyone who cares about privacy, security, or the rule of law.”

      Ironically he also says in another The Week article, “Being wrong is the de-facto, if almost universally unacknowledged, vocation of the opinion columnist. Anyone who offers his views regularly in a public forum is bound to be wrong frequently, if not most of the time.”

      https://theweek.com/articles/808105/julian-assange-must-brought-justice

  4. Facebook has jailed me–again–this time for 30 days over a benign cartoon. I’ve had enough of that crap, so I’ve explored other social media sites that are trying to rise up to overtake FB as it suicides itself with its fear of government sanctions and drives millions away from its platform. I have joined and started settling into MeWe ( https://mewe.com/myworld ), the most Facebook-like and seemingly most tolerant of the upstarts. I am gradually exporting the most important contents of my personal and writer FB pages to MeWe. I realize it will take some time before I am fully rooted there, but I am determined to break free from this abusive and toxic Facebook relationship once and forever….

      1. I already like it. Moved a lot of my furniture in already. Too bad it sucks for you. Try Gab. Caitlin did, but she hasn’t posted there in about a year. Guess she quickly realized she’d put a toe in Hell and pulled it back out….

  5. “I see this routinely across all platforms; some accounts act without any fear of consequences, others seem primed for hair-trigger suspension.”

    Yes Caitlin. That’s the way gatekeeping works. There’s two types of gatekeepers, namely appointed and self-appointed. Appointed gatekeepers usually have rather specialized gatekeeping duties for which they are paid. They include judges, police and journalists, for example. Self-appointed gatekeepers can be anyone. A self-appointed gatekeeper can be educated or uneducated or stupid, rich or poor, homeless or living in a mansion, your boss or your barista.

    All gatekeepers – those lacking principles and caring only about survival and not ‘how’ they survive – serve to keep the rabble from elites who own and run the world. They do that by hindering, in small or serious ways, those with the wrong political views. What are the ‘wrong’ political views? They are simply views opposed by the powerful whom the gatekeepers have aligned themselves with. And, note, gatekeepers enjoy impunity for consequences to committing crimes that others don’t have impunity from. Just visit The Free Thought Project to get an idea how this applies to cops. Matt Agorist is a veritable font of info on cop misbehavior and you will literally not believe how much cop criminal misbehavior there is. But, when you are supportive of the status quo and the powerful, you often get a free pass.

    https://arrby.wordpress.com/2015/02/10/gatekeepers/

    This site is malfunctioning.

  6. “The overall effect of this phenomenon is actually far more effective in suppressing dissident speech than the overt censorship is by itself, because self-censorship actually silences exponentially more anti-establishment opinions,” which can yammer on all they want, even within a community of like-minded (mostly) people but get mostly ignored. Some invite crickets (through bad writing and/or grammar and/or poorly argued or unintelligble positions). But not all.

  7. In honor of the self-censorship…

    https://postimg.cc/ygvg4QCT

    and the censorship of others!

    Can’t wait to see how long this one will last!

  8. Somebody somewhere should launch a massive online fund-raising to back a legal challenge to Facebook, Twitter et al asserting that they’ve violated the 1995 law that grants them complete immunity.

    That law, oddly dubbed the Decency Act, frees online platforms from any responsibility for their content. Hence all sorts of libelous and injurious stuff can theoretically appear on these sites that would otherwise launch a million defamation lawsuits. But the law was passed with the understanding that sites would serve merely as neutral platforms.

    That, clearly, is no longer the case. The minute these clowns began instituting “norms” and “standards” and purging content they judge to be objectionable, they became publishers, not platforms. As publishers, they should be held to account just like newspapers and broadcast media for their content.

    Of course, this would instantly vaporize their business models. And their business. Good.

  9. Well Caitlin– you’re pretty much telling your readers that you can no longer speak the truth–so should we just expect entertainment from here on out? Looks like you’ve been censored without the censorship:–which is indeed a pretty nice trick. Ron Unz is certainly not taking your tack. There will come a time–when all must speak in unison–as have– so many other nations throughout history:

    https://russia-insider.com/en/politics/dishonesty-hypocrisy-hatred-others-and-subterfuge-jewish-religion/ri24157?ct=t%28Russia_Insider_Daily_Headlines11_21_2014%29&mc_cid=6b4a044415&mc_eid=89b62b13d7

  10. Well… It seems you’re very much in love not only with self-censorship but also with censorship of others!

    My comment… where is it? Deleted?

  11. It’s not just people like Caitlin who self censor; we all do it, and we apparently are doing it more often and about more subjects. The Left has us all living in fear now; imagine how it will be when/if they take complete control over our lives. Geo Orwell would say we got what we deserved if we let them in the door.
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/we-need-the-exhausted-majority-to-speak-up/2018/10/15/160440fa-d090-11e8-83d6-291fcead2ab1_story.html?utm_term=.543913c27e07

  12. Are the people from the left who are complaining about being “forced” into self censorship also the same lefties who support Political Correctness which is the very essence of forcing people to self censorship?

    If it is wrong for social media to censor (and it certainly is) then why is it not equally wrong for Lefties to censor non-left college speakers? “Deplatforming me is wrong but me demanding – often violently – the deplatforming of you is good”.

    Hypocrisy defined.

    1. Christian Larsson Avatar
      Christian Larsson

      “Political correctness” (as used by right-wingers) is a dumb sentence used to mask their agenda in allowing people to be rude assholes towards certain ethnic groups without being criticized or penalized for it.

      Pure hate speeches and threats should not be allowed, as they are crimes that suppresses the victims into silence and annihilation – and also fuels hatred that can lead to even worse situations.

      What Caitlin means by “forced to self-censorship” is by far worse than not daring to call someone something rude for the sole purpose of spreading hate (ESPECIALLY if it’s toward such a broad concept as an ethnic group) – it’s that she any many others on the left (myself included) and the right – feels that we can’t simply state what we consider to be the truth without being afraid of being censored.

      “Deplatforming me is wrong but me demanding – often violently – the deplatforming of you is good” Catilin and many others on the REAL left have stated early that the deplatforming of people like Alex Jones would lead into the deplatforming of others and thus calling it out for the bad move it were.

      We are fully aware that the only threat to the establishment comes from the antiwar-movement (and particularly the left side of it) and that it’s why they are using the deplatforming of such a conman as Jones in order to deplatform what’s really threatening them.

      1. Christian,

        “Political correctness is fascism masking as good manners.” – George Carlin (Note: George was never considered a right winger)

        Can you define “hate” speech beyond any speech you disagree with? Tell you what though, I will meet you half way and agree that there is such a critter as “hate” speech if you will agree to let me be the one to define it and to decide who is guilty of it. Deal?

        Where was the anti-war Left during obuma’s reign?

        Coordinated deplatforming is being launched against conservative sites on a higher scale far more than leftist sites. Alex Jones, like Carlin, has never been considered a “left winger”. (FTR I am not a conservative.)

  13. Why not post the stuff that you feel a need to self-censor on your own site (or Steemit, Minds?) and simply alert people on FB, Twitter, Medium that there’s a new self-censored piece available elsewhere? This will help people migrate away from the censored platforms.

    I get your stuff via e-mail from your own site. You don’t need to self-censor there, do you?

    1. I am not a member of Facebook or Twitter, etc., so I don’t know who they work nor, more importantly, exactly how they generate income for anybody who uses them. But I do know that they do, that this income is important, and that this is probably why self-censorship begins after the owners’ of those sites censorship. In short, Caitlin has this website, but I think that it’s veiwership and resulting donations are not enough on which to survive, but maybe I’m dead wrong on that.,

    2. Kaitlin has been on Steemit for a couple of years and seems to average about 30 steemit coins per post.

      https://steemit.com/@caitlinjohnstone

      In the light of …

      “I’d generally rather scrap an article than write something tepid and boring that won’t make any impact, so the risk of losing access to my platforms outweighed my desire to write what I’d planned on writing.”

      … I do wish she would consider publishing the tougher ones on Steemit and then use Twitter and Facebook as mere introductions to the issue with a “look here for a deeper analysis on Steemit” link. However, I admit I do not how far their censorship algorithms go when it comes to external links

  14. Yes, Passive “EASY” Docile Self Censorship IS EXTREME ~ Best “for the FUTURE” Wishes! ~ Greg

    doc·ile
    ˈdäsəl/
    adjective
    adjective: docile
    1. ready to accept control or instruction; submissive.

  15. Anthony Hawkins Avatar
    Anthony Hawkins

    Dear Caitlin. I do not remember how I came across your written words, but I enjoy your style in a world of media control; actually our lives are so controlled that we have to fight to retain our individual perspective on the way the world is manipulated by the few.
    Instead of the “pen”, I have travelled all my life to experience living with numerous cultures from firsthand experiences. My censorship takes the form of being locked up behind bars and like you, self censorship kicks in and one takes less risks as the years tumble bye.
    I will leave behind my ‘diaries/journals’ and photos with a dear friend. I am too old for the b*llshit which will transpire.
    I have never used any social media except a few comment columns like yours. I want NO followers or money. I will continue reading a few like yourself. Never give up (I am certain that you will not).

  16. Dear Caitlin, You have brought up a collective problem that requires a collective solution. It is not yours to solve, because it is the sort of problem that you yourself, alone, cannot solve. This is because the punishments are set up to single you out personally while the rewards can only be achieved through collective action. The good news is that this is part of the ongoing project of hubristic over-reach. Twitter and FB are hurrying their rush to extinction as they force the development of and migration to alternative, non-centralized, and therefore non-controllable platforms like Sir Tim-Berners-Lee’s plan to reinvent the world wide web, which he invented in 1989. It’s called “Solid,” and offers a way out of the entrapment that those feel who focus on authenticity and creativity. “The power of the Web wasn’t taken or stolen. We, collectively, by the billions, gave it away with every signed user agreement and intimate moment shared with technology.” “For now, the Solid technology is still new and not ready for the masses. The system aims to give users a platform by which they can control access to the data and content they generate on the Web. This way, users can choose how that data gets used rather than, say, Facebook and Google doing with it as they please. Solid’s code and technology is open to all—anyone with access to the Internet can come into its chat room and start coding.” “You don’t have to have any coding skills. You just have to have a heart to decide enough is enough. Get out your Magic Marker and your signboard and your broomstick. And go out on the streets.” In other words, it’s time to rise against the machines.” https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/07/the-man-who-created-the-world-wide-web-has-some-regrets

  17. People used to tell me , when i was young, before citizens united, that you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. So email and facebook reminded me very forcibly of that truism. So these days i leave out all the triggers as well as emotional bad language. One slowly develops a talent for getting ones way using butter and honey.

    1. You’ll slowly, very slowly find out that there are no words, no way, for “getting ones way” in what is to come. Once again, history teaches that lesson. A conversation in the great movie “Conspiracy” illustrates such a situation. It occurs at about 4:25 in the following clip from the movie:
      h……ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AS_ZlbADBXY
      ..
      In short, there will be upcoming “national security threats” that will be so severe that NO alternative narrative to the state-approved one will be allowed. Freedom of speech will be allowed ONLY during peacetime, AFTER the “temporary” war on foreign and, now, domestic “terror” is won.

  18. Don’t be too hard on yourself, Caitlin. What’s far worse than self-censorship is outright selling your soul to the devil, which is exactly what just about every MSM steographer that you see on TV did early on in their careers.
    ..
    What’s truly sad is that those journalists who have integrity and report the truth are not wanted by the MSM. For example, Chris Hedges recently did a promotion of a new book at a bookstore in NYC, I believe. After his speech, he held a Q&A session. One of the people in the audience asked why he chose to work on RT (“On Contact” is his terrific show). Chris answered that he literally could not get a job anywhere else in the US MSM. Again, that’s a truly sad state of affairs for US journalism. You want to tell any lie to support the Elite’s narrative, welcome aboard! You want to expose the lies that the Elite tell 24/7, look for a job elsewhere (or get sent directly to jail like Chelsea Manning was, or seek asylum in Russia like Edward Snowden did). The cream does not rise to the top.
    ..
    I just wonder when the living nightmare that some people are already enduring will inevitably envelop us all. Which is going to come first– economic collapse, all-out nuclear war, climate extinction-level event, or 1984?
    ..
    But there is another possibility for humanity. Hugh Laurie’s character, Governor Nix, in the movie “Tomorrowland” expresses it perfectly.
    ..
    “In every moment there is the possibility of a better future………….. but you people won’t believe it. And because you won’t believe it, you won’t DO what is necessary to make it a reality. So you dwell on this oh, terrible future. You resign yourselves to it for one reason — because THAT future doesn’t ask anything of you TODAY.”
    ..
    The problem is that humanity has been so well indoctrinated by its fatally flawed Matrix that it literally can not even imagine what the details are of a “better future”, let alone take effective action to bring it into being.

    1. I forget to mention something, Caitlin. You could become a modern-day Charles Dickens and criticize whatever you want — for example, by the excoriation and satarization of a “fictional” society that would be astonishingly similar to the “real” one we live in. Make up your own POTUS, SoS, SoD, King, PM, etc., make fools out of them and hang ’em high if you want. The sky is the limit. You could add a standard disclaimer at the end of each of your works — “all characters and events depicted in this book/article/video are entirely fictitious. Any similarity to actual events or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.” I think that you have the writing skill to do this very effectively.

    2. Anthony Hawkins Avatar
      Anthony Hawkins

      Wonderful … so very positive. Did not know about “Tomorrowland” … many thanks.

    3. IMO, the movie “Tomorrowland” it is one of the most important, smartest attempts EVER made at “waking up” both the bewildered herd AND its Elite to the ongoing, worsening human crisis. Here’s Governor Nix’s complete speech near the end of the movie.
      =========

      “Let’s imagine….. if you glimpsed the future; you were frightened by what you saw; what would you DO with that information? You would go to…….the politicians, captains of industry?
      ..
      And how would you convince them? Data? Facts? Good luck. The only facts they WON’T challenge are the ones that keep the wheels greased and the dollars rolling in.
      ..
      But what if….. what if there was a way of skipping the middle man and putting the critical news directly into everyone’s head?
      ..
      The probability of wide-spread annihilation kept going up. The only way to stop it was to SHOW IT—to scare people straight ……….because what reasonable human being wouldn’t be galvanized by the potential destruction of everything they’ve ever known or loved?
      ..
      To save civilization, I would show its collapse.
      ..
      But how do you think this vision was received? How do you think people RESPONDED to the prospect of imminent doom?
      ..
      They gobbled it up like a chocolate eclair! They didn’t fear their demise, they re-packaged it. It could be enjoyed as video-games, as TV shows, books, movies. The entire world wholeheartedly embraced the apocalypse and sprinted towards it with gleeful abandon.
      ..
      Meanwhile, your Earth was crumbling all around you.
      ..
      You’ve got simultaneous epidemics of obesity and starvation. Explain that one!
      ..
      Bees and butterflies start to disappear; the glaciers melt; algae blooms.
      ..
      All around you the coal mine canaries are dropping dead and YOU WON”T TAKE THE HINT!
      ..
      In every moment there’s the possibility of a better future, but you people won’t believe it. And because you won’t believe it, you won’t DO what is necessary to make it a reality. So you dwell on this, oh, terrible future. You resign yourselves to it for one reason…… because THAT future does not ask anything of you TODAY.”
      ..
      So yes, we saw the iceberg and warned the Titanic ……but you all just steered for it anyway, full steam ahead. Why? Because you WANT to sink! You gave up! That’s not the monitor’s fault. That’s yours.”

      1. I can’t tolerate movies with George Clooney in them. Nor do I trust them. It’s bad enough that Hollywood is actually Hollywood/CIA/Pentagon/NSA. But here’s CFR member Clooney, who wants (and is possibly working on) a propaganda piece about the First Responder terrorists known as the White Helmets. I do hope people here know what the White Helmets are about. If you don’t and you’d like to get up to speed, the best go-to source for info on them would be 21st Century Wire. I’ve enjoyed movies with Clooney in them before, but I avoid them now. I can’t stomach Clooney, or Ben Affleck, or Gal Gadot, or Morgan Freeman or many of the ‘stars’ in that cesspool called Hollywood. I’m human and can’t work all the time and never be entertained and so I turn to Hollywood for that. But Hollywood is the enemy. Setting Clooney aside, Tomorrowland was so so.

        1. I agree. I also found that “We are at war with Russia” Freeman video loathsome.

    4. Humans have this big brain which has led to incredible technological advances and yet we can’t seem to translate this to a better world for the majority of the population. So-called human “intelligence” is leading us down the path of self destruction.
      It is compassion that seems to be lacking in our species.

      1. I agree with all but the last sentence. It’s a free universe. A lot of people simply choose to self-modify into being believers in inequality, deceit and violence. But those weaknesses weren’t built into us. No one ‘has to’ simply choose to embrace darkness, even though in this dark world there is lots of compulsion, and the bully principle – it’s easier to support the bully than the bully’s victims – to take the path of darkness.

  19. FaceBook, Twitter, etc – captured by or the captors of government security services.

    I am not going to encourage you to write in any way you do not feel comfortable doing. Let me know when you are doing the turtle (pulling your head in) though! Time to read between the lines heads-up!

    I am about to attend the Invictus Games here in Sydney – a couple of seasons next week while Harry & Meghan are doing business in Fiji (a great grand-father of mine was born there in the mid-1870s) – but the Invictus Games – like our Australian War Memorial in Canberra – both sponsored by the very weapons-manufacturing companies probably responsible for most of the injuries suffered by the men and women who will be attending/participating – all bravely getting their lives back together after little post-injury/post-wartime service government support. I salute those people and their families and friends – I will be watching the sponsors and writing further about THEIR ugliness, however!

  20. I was thrown in Facebook jail today for 30 days because I shared a cartoon of a neighboring couple wearing pro-Trump T-shirts who ask their neighbor if he was going to the Trump Rally. The neighbor responds he would not be because his IQ is too high.

    30 days for that?!!! Obviously somebody got took it personally as portraying Trump supporters as low IQ, so Facebook declared the cartoon hate speech. I never saw that coming. I’ve now accumulated at least 4 Facebook blocks in the last two years.

    What you feel, Caitlin, is being felt even by many other not as prominent as you. And yes, it is frightening….

  21. I get it, your work is still important to legions of people! I have the luxury of being a nobody, and I take full advantage of it. I repost cited articles and Op-eds that expose the duplicity, corruption, and political theatre that passes for politics and news, and I punctuate it with my own editorial flourish. You nailed it; authenticity is our superpower!

  22. I wrote a comment last week but didn’t get it posted. In it I wrote that I expected self censorship to start happening. After all, after a mutiny, lining the men up and shooting every tenth solder is a very old and effective way to enforce discipline. What I think it comes down to is that ultimately you have/there are only 2 choices sell your soul and hope you’re not fired or quit before you are fired.
    Anyway, enough of the metaphors etc., I read you because you write what you think even if I don’t always agree with you. If you can’t write freely, you’ll become just another hack “in service of empire” . Maybe it’s time to leave Facebook and Twitter for alternate platforms? As Laotzu wrote above “If Caitin Johnstone self-censors, perhaps it’s because she has herself become a victim of social media ego-addiction.” If you do jump ship I’ll become a Patron.
    Bill
    PS You need a different verification procedure! I hate having to go through recaptcha every time!

  23. If Caitin Johnstone self-censors, perhaps it’s because she has herself become a victim of social media ego-addiction.
    Facebook, Twitter, Google, Amazon – are all businesses and cannot survive without customers.
    And how necessary are they anyway?
    They can all be dumped and their advertisers boycotted with minimal discomfort.
    The surveillance/censorship/cyber-exploitive industries are vulnernable to rejection.
    It’s not that we don’t still have a choice. They do not control the Internet. But bleating about their abuses will change nothing.
    They flourish, like corrupt government, because they mirror the morality of a culture.
    Critics need to communicate elsewhere – websites etc where truth, trust and tolerance are valued.

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