We all showed up naked, slimy and clueless in a world of inexplicable sensory input we couldn’t make head or tail out of. We were then taught what’s what by people who showed up under the exact same circumstances a blink of an eye earlier.

The amniotic fluid is barely washed from our tiny naked bodies before we find ourselves in a marriage and a day job, staring down at a small pair of eyes looking up to us for guidance.

This is not a good environment for developing mental sovereignty, the ownership and authorship of your own cognitive relationship with life.

Stepping into the world as a small person is like stepping completely unarmored onto a battlefield with live ammunition flying in all directions, except instead of bullets, it’s narrative.

On one side of the battlefield you’ve got your family with rifles and side-arms firing their stories about what’s important in life, what the world is like, how people should deal with problems, and what society ought to look like.

On another side you’ve got teachers and preachers armed with shotguns spraying buckshot about the beliefs that various power structures want you to have about your experience on this earth.

On another side you’ve got the advertisers, armed with machine guns, hammering anything that moves with narratives about inadequacy and problems you never knew you had.

And, raining bombs from above, you’ve got the mass media propagandists.

You’re not going to make it off of that field without sustaining significant damage. You never stood a chance, really. At best you’re going to spend a long time picking slugs, bullets and shrapnel out of your flesh and stitching up the wounds that they caused, and that’s assuming you’re one of the lucky few who makes it off the field at all. Most just absorb the beliefs that get blasted into them in the frenzy of living and keep almost all of them.

Becoming a mentally self-sovereign human being means undoing all that damage, and protecting yourself from absorbing more. It means completely renouncing everything you’ve been told to believe about what’s happening on these strange shores you washed up on small, sticky and confused, and setting off to find out for yourself instead. It means making it to the swamps of Dagobah and looking where the wise old muppet is pointing when he suggests “You must unlearn what you have learned.”

Being a mentally sovereign human means constructing your own understanding of this weird reality based on your own investigations and your own reasoning, which means constructing it from the ground up. Even your most basic assumptions about reality itself must be rigorously cross-examined with complete skepticism. Nothing must be taken on faith.

Most people believe that they are truly free thinkers. Most people are wrong. Most people are controlled by unworthy, unquestioned ideas that were put in their heads long ago by other people.

To attain a truly self-sovereign mind, you need to put truth above all else in every waking moment. You need to constantly dedicate yourself to learning what’s true and what’s real, and to living in alignment with the truth that has been discovered.

Wanting true mental sovereignty means wanting to know the truth in all areas of your experience, come what may.

It means wanting to know the truth about what’s really happening in your world, and how it contrasts with what you’re being told to believe about what’s happening in your world by confident-sounding voices on the screens that you see.

It means wanting to know the truth about your family and your relationships and the various unconscious, unquestioned dynamics that are at play there.

It means wanting to know the truth about the various aspects of yourself that you keep hidden and compartmentalized out of sight.

It means wanting to know the truth about reality itself, and how you might have been misperceiving various aspects of your own field of consciousness this entire time.

It means wanting to know the truth, even if very powerful people don’t want you to know the truth.

It means wanting to know the truth, even if it hurts.

It means wanting to know the truth, even if it is terrifying.

It means wanting to know the truth, even if it means being wrong.

It means wanting to know the truth, even if it means discovering that you’ve been completely wrong about everything your whole life.

It means wanting to know the truth, even if it crumbles every belief you’ve ever had about what you are and what the world is.

It means wanting to know the truth, even if it tears your life apart.

It means wanting to know the truth, even though you know you’ll never have all of it.

Most people are content to sit in various degrees of untruth, accepting unexamined assumptions as true because it is much easier and more comfortable than confronting reality on reality’s own terms. They’re happy to let the lies that have been put in their heads by other people rule their experience of this world.

The mentally sovereign human does not do this. The mentally sovereign human looks at life through lenses constructed out of an uncompromising dedication to unrelenting honesty, on all levels and facets of human experience.

Mental self-rule is not for everyone. It is not for cowards. It is not for the lazy or complacent. It’s not for those who do things only because there’s some material or egoic reward in it for them. These people are destined to have their minds ruled by others.

Mental sovereignty is for those who put truth above all else, and who see truth as its own reward. Their dedication to learning what’s true never ceases. These people rule their own minds.

_____________________________

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73 responses to “How To Be A Mentally Sovereign Human”

  1. This is highly idealistic, individualistic, and moralistic. Individuals do not exist in politico-economic, social, cultural, and mass psychological vacuum. The macro-level forces, ultimately originating in the political economy, condition the mass psychology, ideas, feelings, and culture of overwhelming majority in a given society. Under capitalist and imperialist political economy, false consciousness, dehumanization, alienation, and reification are created on massive levels. These are the subjective reflections of the objective processes. People are not even aware of these processes. They consider these to be normal, as everyone around them is like that. It is beyond the ability of most people to comprehend the nature of their false consciousness, much less to replace false consciousness with true consciousness in such societies. That can only happen through social revolutions, by replacing the political economy of capitalism and imperialism with that of socialism. Certainly, there are always exceptions and rare individuals, who become aware of these processes and become relatively authentic, with relatively true consciousness. However, in the overwhelming majority, it can only happen during and after the social revolutions.

    Karl Marx had understood these processes around 170 years ago. The following passage contains his insights into this matter.

    “The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas, i.e. the class which is the ruling material force of society, is at the same time its ruling intellectual force. The class which has the means of material production at its disposal, has control at the same time over the means of mental production, so that thereby, generally speaking, the ideas of those who lack the means of mental production are subject to it. The ruling ideas are nothing more than the ideal expression of the dominant material relationships, the dominant material relationships grasped as ideas.”

    ― Karl Marx, The German Ideology / Theses on Feuerbach / Introduction to the Critique of Political Economy

  2. “To attain a truly self-sovereign mind, you need to put truth above all else in every waking moment.”
    Bulls-eye, dead center! And I can vouch from experience that it will “crumble every belief you’ve ever had about what you are and what the world is.” That just goes to show you how false the narrative has been, right from the moment we were born, exactly like you stated.

  3. Hi Caitlin – thank you so much for this – it was beautifully conceived and written – you have a great soul.

  4. assuming that we’re talking about social-historical “truth,” not biological or mathmatical “truth”, and that “truth” is interchangeable with “understanding” or “knowledge”, we as individuals are no island and thus don’t have to find every / entire “truth” on our own. our particular social reality is not fundamentally unique. our direct experiences don’t immediately or necessarily translate into an understanding, never mind the same understanding, without a perspective. advanced degrees in phylosophy or history aren’t necessary to obtain, or don’t always guarantee, a productive, incisive perspective. most of us can, and have been able to, pretty much figure out what the “truth” is, with our gut feelings from personal experiences. we need to trust ourselves more, and act on our “truth”.

  5. Placing teachers alongside preachers? I don’t think so. The best teachers and teaching practices especially humanities and arts aim for critical thinking, questioning, examining hidden agendas. The system of educating may work against them, but fine teachers are doorways to free thinking. Teachers come to us all through life in many guises- friends, mentors, those we respect and share experiences with. Open minds can learn.
    Preaching and dogma come in many forms too.

  6. Truth is one; sages call it by various names. [Rig Veda].

    Why do you run around looking for the truth? Be still, and there it is – in the mountain, in the pine, in yourself. [Lao Tzu].

    Aham Brahmasmi (I am the Supreme Principle). [Upanishad].

    When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be. [Lao Tzu].

    It is better to win over self than to win over a million enemies. [Mahavira].

    Truth undermines the self to which we so desperately cling. The truth is not hidden from us, we are hiding from it. [Kabbalah].

    ———————————————————

    Where I found truth, there I found my God, who is truth itself. [Augustine].

    There is no God higher than truth. [Gandhi].

    And do not mix the truth with falsehood or concel the truth while you know it. [Quran, 2:42].

    The truth is not always beautiful, not beautiful words the truth. [Lao Tzu].

    The words of truth are always paradoxical. [Lao Tzu].

    There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting. [Buddha].

    ————————————————————-

    Satyameva Jayate. [Truth always wins].

    For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought into the open. [Luke, 8:17].

    Truth has come and falsehood has vanished. Indeed! Falsehood is ever bound to vanish. [Quran, 17:81].

    And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free. [John, 8:32].

    Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth. [Buddha].

  7. Wow! What a beauty! Truly a rare find.
    The word ‘truth’ is used 21 time in the article if my count is correct, and who knows how many times more in the discussion.
    I wonder if the brilliant author, or any of the contributors to the discussion, could possibly offer their definition of this magic word?
    I shall hold my breath …

  8. I used to uncritically accept the ideas that others said are true. Those people seemed so smart so, confident, so authoritative, they had to be right. And what did I know? But then I found that these authoritative people could be so wrong that even I could see it. I realized that I had to trust my own sense of the truth no matter how limited my powers may seem to be. It was one of the most important decisions I have made in my life.

  9. The search for truth.

    Someone asked: How many people does it take to make a loaf of bread?

  10. There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting.

    Buddha

  11. Sometimes I think wanting to know the truth is a curse. It seems so much easier to be oblivious.
    Not really.

  12. The Truth Is Not Pretty!
    On December 1 the New York Times told us that “an American drone strike on a car carrying a woman who had just given birth in south-eastern Afghanistan left five people dead, including the mother, three of her relatives and the driver .. The woman, Malana, 25, had given birth to a son, her second child, at home. But her health had deteriorated soon after and relatives had been taking her to a clinic.
    On their way home, their vehicle was hit.” Out trotted the usual hogwash from a United States spokesman that “We are aware of the allegations of civilian casualties and working with local authorities to determine the veracity of these claims.” And ever afterwards – silence. The dead womans new baby was not in the car that was blasted to bits by the drone-fired missile, and will no doubt grow up a lover of Western culture. Please read this important article here:
    https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2020/01/21/drone-strikes-leave-innocent-widows-and-orphans/

    1. Assuming this event did in fact take place (not suggesting it didn’t) doesn’t hiding it help enable it in the first place? Which is what I gather is the point of the post, no? Also, doesn’t truth boil down to perspective, whereas facts help give shape to one’s truth?

  13. Michel Bélisle Avatar
    Michel Bélisle

    For example, when you are a mentally sovereign human and you hear president Trump saying that climate change advocates are “prophets of doom”, you know that doom is already here with all the freaky weather we have now, the volcanoes waking up etc…

    And you know that doom is here when you see millions of people homeless, food banks unable to provide for all the people needing assistance, ruling elites being against a society where everyone has a decent life and against a universal income etc…

    It was the same in the days of Noah; people were not able to see that doom was already there. Our days being the return of the days of Noah, our hope is that it means the return of Jesus is very near. I pray the Rosary to hasten His return because I do have seen enough bullshit.

    1. When you make that remark about Trump and the climate change…do you KNOW the TRUTH about it ? I don’t think you really understood about what this article is all about. What do you know about climate changing or not ? How many years have you studied about climate or even Trump ? Are you a scientist ? How many years in the field studying climate do you have ? How many scientific papers about climate have you written ?
      How many scientists pier reviewed your studies and what was their conclusion ?
      Do you personally know Trump ? Have you had any personal interactions with the man ? Have you ever talked to him personally and tried to find what are his personal views on things ? How much do you realky know about all his life and endeavours in order to be able to sketch his character ?
      If you did not do any of these…than everything in your head was put there by someone else. Please read the article again and really meditate on it.

      1. Michel Bélisle Avatar
        Michel Bélisle

        I know for example that I have never seen footage of airplanes wreckages in the Pentagone and in a field in Pennsylvania on 9/11. Did you?

        Days of Noah all over again.

        The good news is that it means the return of Jesus is very near and I pray the Rosary to hasten His Glorious return because I have seen enough of all the current bs.

    2. You must be kidding! “Praying the Rosary to hasten His return….”
      If you haven’t seen the bullshit that is religion, then truth will never be found.

  14. Remember we are spirit on a human journey not a human on spirit journey….

  15. Beautifully written – thank you Caitlin! Mental sovereignty requires awakening from the demons of animal agriculture and going vegan, and that’s just the beginning of the glorious adventure!

  16. If their object had really been to abolish slavery, or maintain liberty or justice generally, they had only to say: All, whether white or black, who want the protection of this government, shall have it; and all who do not want it, will be left in peace, so long as they leave us in peace. Had they said this, slavery would have necessarily have been abolished at once; the war would have been saved; and a thousand time nobler union than we have ever had would have been the result. It would have been a voluntary union of free men; such a union as will one day exist among all men, the world over, if the several nations, so called, shall ever get rid of the usurpers, robbers, and murderers, called governments, that now plunder, enslave, and destroy them.
    – Lysander Spooner, No Treason [1870]

    1. You thought the Civil War was about slavery? Noooooooo ……
      It was the usual cuprits.
      This is exactly what is meant by narratives …

      1. Exactly! Doing the same thing they are now. Using their puppet show (newspaper/media) to run a false narrative. Lincoln would have wise to destroy the media and hung everyone involved. Russia suffered greatly for assisting Lincoln and the Rothschild’s swore revenge which came in the form of the fake Russian revolution. The Bolsheviks should’ve all been convicted of war crimes in Russia. They would do heinous things such as killing a priest and making a soup from his brains and making the congregation eat it, they would line people up and make the 2nd person in line cut open the living person’s skull in front of him and eat of his brains and on down the line. The things done to the women and children I won’t say but they would also boil people’s hands and cut around the wrists and peel the skin off like a glove.

    2. Giant Meatier Impact Avatar
      Giant Meatier Impact

      “A man is none the less a slave because he is allowed to choose a new master once in a term of years. Neither are a people any the less slaves because permitted periodically to choose new masters. What makes them slaves is the fact that they now are, and are always hereafter to be, in the hands of men whose power over them is, and always is to be, absolute and irresponsible.6”
      ― Lysander Spooner, No Treason: The Constitution of No Authority

  17. Thank you once again Caitlin Johnstone for telling us the truth.
    This is beautiful and inspired.
    In fact I am curious : what inspired this particular piece ?

  18. Michel Bélisle Avatar
    Michel Bélisle

    I hope one day people will be mentally sovereign enough to notice that there were no airplanes wreckages to be seen on 9/11 in the Pentagone and in a field in Pennsylvania.

    I think you cannot miss the evidence but, as I said before, to protect their social status and your assets, a lot of people are more than willing to ignore evidence and facts. In short, they are of bad faith.

    It is the return of the days of Noah. In those days, everybody was of bad faith, except for Noah and his family. But the good news is that it means the Second Coming of Jesus is very near and I pray the Rosary to hasten His Glorious Return because I am more than fed up.

    1. Michel Bélisle Avatar
      Michel Bélisle

      Correction:

      “to protect their social status and THEIR assets, a lot of people are more than willing to ignore evidence and facts. In short, they are of bad faith.

  19. Great article and the irony of it all:
    “You’ve got the alternative media using the same old ‘war analogy’ in order to drive a point home while sustaining the mindset it is built upon” (big wink) HA!

  20. Michel Bélisle Avatar
    Michel Bélisle

    My take on it is that mainstream medias propaganda and lies fit many people goals in order to maintain their social status and assets.

    Truth is unwelcome not only among ruling elites but among many ordinary folks as well.

    It is the return of the days of Noah so people want lies and are of bad faith. The good news is that the return of Jesus in near and I pray the Rosary to hasten His return because I have seen enough bullshit.

  21. If you like subject matter like this, then you’ll love Jon Rappoport’s blog. Check this one out: https://blog.nomorefakenews.com/2020/01/17/the-individual-vs-staged-collective/

  22. The Dawn of a new Groundhog Day!
    .
    Does this “mentally sovereign human” vote? Do millions or billions of mentally sovereign humans vote?
    ..
    Let’s do a little “make-believe”. Make believe that every single human in the US of A is mentally sovereign TODAY. Are they going to vote in the upcoming election and, if so, for just exactly WHOM or WHAT will they vote? If they’re not going to vote, just exactly WHAT will these millions do (how will they behave) differently than they did before they became mentally sovereign? I’m not being facetious. I really want to hear some logical speculation.

    1. A truly mentally sovereign person would withdraw from the fallacy of this world and not foolishly try to change it.

      1. Giant Meatier Impact Avatar
        Giant Meatier Impact

        Absolutely.

        You can’t fix stupid and you can’t fix evil.

        Average IQ throughout the world: 82, percentage of people who want government : 99%.

        Add in that the emotional thinkers outnumber abstract logical thinkers about 25 to one and you see why man is still in the animal world while his technology is in the space age.

        1. Yep, the article touches on one layer of a multi-layer cake.

    2. Revolt and Revolution.
      A few Public Hangings of prominent representatives of the NeoLibCon Elites together with the mass incarceration of Bankers, Wall Street Traders, the Top Tier Managers of the entirety of all Listed Public Companies, Police Chiefs, Military Chiefs and the placing in Manacles, in Stocks, in the Public Squares of the Nation the entirety of the mass Propaganda Machines that are the NY Times, WaPo, LA Times, NBC, MSNBC, CNN, Fox, ABC, CBS and any others that spring to mind with all Talk-show Hosts and their well-padded “expert” Guests who fill our screens both day and night destined to fill our Prisons for the rest of their Natural (and unnatural) Lives accompanied by ALL Members of Congress, ALL supposed Representatives of the People in all States of the Union together with the entirety of their Political Party Mass Propaganda Machines where all will be placed under Guard by an Elite group of Lifers and inhabitants of Death-Row.
      While this is being achieved all Doctors, Lawyers, Judges, Accountants, Tax Advisers, Economists, University Lecturers & Professors together with their Gatekeeper Registrars and Presidents of Law, Business and Finance Schools together with the entire of the Nation’s Media Hacks shall be banished to the wide open expanses of northern Alaska where they will live in the Gulag for terms of between 5 and 50 years, dependent on age and tasked with ensuring the turning back of Global Warming and Climate Change!!
      Finally, all Farmers & Food Producers will be banned from the possession or use of even a single pesticide or insecticide or GM seed in the cultivation of food while all Agriculture and Food conglomerates will be dismembered.
      Future governance will begin from the bottom by means of public meetings of Citizens who will decide the future of society having first had their bank a/c’s emptied, the $$$ extinguished and all or any paper or imaginary wealth or debt derived from or dependent upon the markets disappeared forever. Trade will be governed by barter between people.
      No one person will ever be allowed to amass wealth in excess of 10 x times the average and gradually, over time, society will rebuild.
      The Army and Police shall be extinguished and all Laws removed from the Statute Book to be replaced by simple sets of Rules set by local groups of residents.
      War and all thought of War whether by imposition of Sanctions or actual killing shall be banned forever with anyone thinking of inflicting harm on another by any means punishable by immediate incarceration in the Gulags of the far North.
      Only by beginning again will the outrageous society in which we are forced to live be changed. All present-day Models extolled by “expert” Economists, Philosophers and/or paid Thinkers will be expunged from human memory so that mankind can rethink its entire existence.
      Only by this does humanity have any chance of survival.

      1. There are appoximately 2.3 million people in US jails today. It costs somewhere around $32,000 to keep each one of them alive, guards paid, etc.
        .
        Two quick, easy, practical questions.
        .
        First, approximately how many people do you think there will be in jails and gulags of various sorts “for the rest of their natural lives” after the upcoming revolution by mentally soveriegn human beings; how much is it going to cost to keep them there and how many mentally-sovereign guards will be needed to operate those places, protect inmates from each other, etc.?
        .
        Second, considering the amount of human and natural resources that it will likely take to imprison all the people you mention, wouldn’t it make much more economic sense to simply chop thier heads off, burn or bury their corpses and avoid the hassle and cost of keeping them alive forever?
        .
        BTW, I suggest that the time for mankind to “rethink its entire existence” is BEFORE a revolution, not after. I think it’s safe to say that things might get pretty chaotic and complicated the day after Washington DC “falls”. Better to plan beforehand who’s going to be doing what in order to keep mentally sovereign human beings and their old and new prisoners fed, housed, warm, clothed, educated, etc.
        .
        The post-revolutionary agenda is going to be lengthy, so let’s all get cracking on a detailed plan right now. Are there going to be large-scale, fully-mechanized farms and factories in the New World Order, or are the mentally sovereign going to go the Full DIY route? If the latter, you big-city mentally sovereign folks are going to have also become pretty imaginative in order to live long and prosper with each other.

  23. Tomo Stojanovic Avatar
    Tomo Stojanovic

    What you describe is exactly how I have always felt.
    When I was a kid in Yugoslavia – this is what teachers taught us in primary school.
    the first ever story they taught us was I think from 1001 Nights – You cannot please Everyone
    A guy and his son are traveling – the son pulls the donkey and father sits on it. Everyone they bump into complains that they do it wrong – so they swap places…only to find themselves in the exact configuration they were in originally. Moral of the story – you cannot please everyone. So don’t ever try.
    I think the biggest cause for the mentality you describe in this article (Emperor’s New Clothes) – is to do to children being very early basically abused to fear imaginary ‘masters’:
    If you are a good slave all your life, self-hating, insecure and disoriented…you will lie AFTER you die…
    Religion is the original TOTALITARIAN and the original enforcer of fraud.
    I think the moral of the story of Cervatnes’ Don Quixote is making fun of this idiocy – believing such nonsense.
    It took me reading it maybe 5 times to figure this out. The stupid books of chivalry which turn even intelligent people into dumb fools is a metaphor for BIBLE.
    There is so many little indicators throughout the book where he sheds light on the deceiving nature of priests and religion (but it’s done very subtly and with humor – he was a genius).
    I recommend the Penguin translation – I’ve read a few and this one is by far the best.
    The main reason for widespread sheeple syndrome is this very child abuse where the attention of children is diverted from reality (parents helping kids to deal with what’s real) to predatory child abuse brainwashing and fearmongering them into stupid slaves – who glorify stupidity and unreality.

    1. Tomo Stojanovic Avatar
      Tomo Stojanovic

      PS
      I meant ‘you will live after you DIE’ not ‘lie’
      Also I think if you don’t go through predatory religious lobotomy – you are much less likely to believe any other BS like commercials, CNN etc

      Another trick totalitarian mafia uses is brainwash sheeple to believe in fake permanence of things:
      if you so much as kiss a man – you MUST remain gay, and buy Prada bags etc forever. There is no way back!
      And the concept of ‘celebrities’ is basically the same thing ‘saints’ were in the past – their function is to make you feel insecure and inadequate – you obviously can never bee like them – so shut up and give up – be a good, fearful, stupid slave – you have no other choice….
      Preventing any empowerment is what they are trying to achieve in their victims.

      1. What’s so wrong with “above all, love one another” and “forgive” ??
        This is the problem with being a Messiah. “Apostles” come after you and “interpret” what you said and add their own spin. That’s religion.

        We all know in our heart of hearts that all the shit they throw at us is a pack of lies, it just takes courage and the honesty of that child within to shout that the Emperor has no clothes.

        1. Tomo Stojanovic Avatar
          Tomo Stojanovic

          Love another and forgive only works with normal people – not PSYCHOPATHS who rule us.
          That’s the problem – you can forgive psychos all you want – it will only encourage them to exploit you and destroy us and the world in their greed and mentally damaged mind-frame of evil, exploration and destruction.
          Religions and other totalitarian frameworks conveniently promote unconditional (and unsustainable) forgiveness, because it suits psychopaths who own and control the religion to have this kind of response from their victims.
          I agree with you – forgive and forget is often a good approach – but only with normal people. Definitely not with psychopaths.

    2. Against popular opinion and belief, man is not the center of the universe but simple the center of a world of his own imaginings.

    3. I remember Yugoslavia, the country was torn apart and it’s people murdered because socialism was working.

  24. Great, great article, Caitlin. Thank you! I love this quote:

    It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. Aristotle

    What’s really funny is that someone can be intelligent, educated, talented, successful, wealthy and well-respected, and still have it all wrong (and they usually do).

    1. Foolish people come in all types and colors.

  25. Thanks Caitlin, I now understand how tough it is for most people.
    Me–well, I kind of knew they were lying to me as soon as I was old enough to think. Schools. Newspapers. TV. Religion. All of it. Other people too, too often. Call it a superpower or a disability–the latter is what it felt like as I was growing up. But it wasn’t until many years later, after I’d absorbed enough information to put it all together in my head, that I finally grasped that the entire world was built upon lies.
    It’s a lonely place. But it’s the only place.

    1. I’d just like to add: Great piece, and some great comments! I’d like to respond to many of them, but giving yourselves a hearty recommend will have to suffice.

    2. I feel the same way, and so do many others.
      Don’t feel lonely … you are not alone.

  26. It’s impossible to always know the truth, to recognize it in this formidable ocean of lies in which we struggle to keep afloat every minute of every day. And even if we do know the truth,, we sometimes lie because we’re afraid of the pain it may cause another human being or even ourselves. It takes tremendous courage to always tell the truth – to be a sovereign individual and to disregard the consequences of your actions, as long as truth and honesty become your irrevocable priorities.

    To always strive to know the truth should be as essential as the air you breathe, but what you do with this knowledge must be determined by your capacity for empathy and concern for the welfare of your fellow travellers, especially those who might not be able to handle the brutalities of unmitigated reality, i.e. do no harm.

    Instead of sovereignty perhaps benignity and rectitude are attributes to strive for.

    1. The best way to do no harm is to live a quiet and simple life.

  27. if mind can be enlightened
    mind is enlightened
    if not now – slowly, slowly
    it will be
    – IS the incredible journey

  28. THE TRUTH IS…most people read at an 8th grade level but seldom bother to read; most people think about things very little; most people do not want to know; most people are too concerned about themselves to move beyond that; most people just do not care.

  29. Surely you must have noticed the irony that your piece is yet another narrative, as are “truth” and “sovereignty”. While I agree wholeheartedly with everything you say, it should be noted that words, high-minded or otherwise, cannot encapsulate reality.

    Music and the other arts don’t either, but they bring helpful perspectives.

    We’ll never know; the best we can hope for is to be honest and humble and do the best we can.

  30. A fundamental untruth: Civilization requires the existence of an entity which has a monopoly on violence, and a divine right to use that violence to force a person to do whatever that entity determines is “right”, or not to do whatever that entity determines is “wrong”. Given the undeniable fact that this entity is populated by sociopaths, whether sooner or later, civilization in fact not only requires no such entity, but is hindered by it. Govern ourselves, or be governed by monsters.

  31. You have nailed it Caitlin. For some of us our dedication to truth trumps every other consideration. Even when it hurts, and brings new problems into our life, we continue to embrace truth – our true love in this tormented life.

  32. Caitlin Johnstone:
    .
    “To attain a truly self-sovereign mind, you need to put truth above all else in every waking moment. You need to constantly dedicate yourself to learning what’s true and what’s real, and to living in alignment with the truth that has been discovered.”
    .
    .
    Bertrand Russell (from “Dear Bertrand Russell: A Selection of His Correspondence with the General Public, 1950-1968”):
    .
    “I believe that the main object of education should be to encourage the young to question and to doubt those things which have been taken for granted. What is important is independence of mind. What is bad in education is the unwillingness to permit students to challenge those views which are accepted and those people who are in power. It is necessary for new ideas to emerge, that young people have every encouragement to fundamentally disagree with the stupidities of their day. Most people who are respectable, and most ideas which are considered to be fundamental are barriers to human achievement.”
    .
    .
    Julian Assange:
    .
    “You have to start with the truth. The truth is the only way that we can get anywhere. Because any decision-making that is based upon lies or ignorance can’t lead to a good conclusion.”
    .
    “Our No. 1 enemy is ignorance. And I believe that is the No. 1 enemy for everyone — it’s not understanding what actually is going on in the world.”
    .
    “If wars can be started by lies, peace can be started by truth.”
    .
    “Truth, ultimately, is all we have.”
    .
    .
    Jiddu Krishnamurti:
    .
    “It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.”
    .
    “When you once see something as false which you have accepted as true, as natural, as human, then you can never go back to it.”
    .
    “It is truth that liberates, not your effort to be free.”
    .
    “It is only when the mind is free from the old that it meets everything anew, and in that there is joy.”

    1. Amen to all of these great teachers!

    2. Thank you. Truth is the foundation. Understanding, compassion and love are the civilising effects.

  33. Nick Kouyoumdjian Avatar
    Nick Kouyoumdjian

    Know what you you’re saying. Probably about quarter of the way there!

  34. My grandfather was swindled out of millions on a land deal by senators John Tower (R-TX) and Lloyd Benson (D-TX) in 1972. Story was covered briefly in the local press, covered up by statewide press. I’ve known for my entire adult life that the lawless ruling elite owned the crooked judiciary and the fake news press.
    We live in a false paradigm reality, bounded by faux science, fake history, filtered news, financed by a fiat currency and directed by demonic warlords. Find and share Truth, help end this feudal nightmare.

  35. Ms. Johnstone has outdone herself again! She is 100% correct. (And the only environment which allows all of us humans access to the truth is absolute freedom.

  36. This should be compulsory reading in all schools

  37. Brilliant. You are to the heart of what’s wrong with us and what must be done. Thank you Caitlin

  38. Thank you Caitlin for putting into words what I’ve been dedicated to for the last forty years, i.e., my entire adult life. Did you mention that there is zero status or acclaim or recognition for this project? More likely, one will face accusations of being a “conspiracy theorist,” a “Debbie Downer,” and the like.

  39. Sovereignty is a form of self-control – we decide what makes sense and therefore is true. This is infinitely better than remaining a product of familial and cultural scripting. But beyond self-control is alignment with the priorities of your own unique, authentic life compass, which may not care at all about your priorities. And unless you give up your sovereignty to its priorities you will stay isolated from flow – how life wants to express itself through you.

  40. Great essay, it started so smooth I was thinking it could be transformed into a spoken song. Speaking of minds I’ve noticed that within a time span of some 60 years, at least here in the USA people, the vast majority, have gone from imperfect humans to out and outright psychopaths; it is the new norm here.

  41. One thing you missed, you have to want the truth even if it leaves you completely demoralized and destitute of any kind of a safe haven. Once you know the truth need need to fight the onset of demoralization with every fiber of your being. You win that battle by striving to be the very best person you have ever met so you will be able to tell demoralization to go to hell when it comes knocking on your door.

  42. Kudos for yet another sword of truth cutting through the web of programming. Have just reposted at http://nowickgray.com/how-to-be-a-mentally-sovereign-human/ , with the following introduction:
    This article by Caitlin Johnstone–in my opinion currently the most relevant and insightful voice on the Internet today–perfectly sums up the challenge and quest I encountered in my early life, as depicted in my just-published memoir of the baby boom, My Generation. We are programmed from birth from a bombardment of powerful forces; and to find one’s own way, to truth about the world and faithfulness to one’s own inner light, can indeed make a journey of a lifetime. May all humans in the making, young or old, take courage from this manifesto.

  43. Thank you. Made me realize just how lucky I’ve been in this life. First, the place where I was a young ‘un was so obviously absurd that it was easy to turn my back on them. The Christians who did snake handling and speaking in tongues. When the TV-show “The X-Files” did an episode on a snake handling preacher, it was set in the next town up the highway from where I’d grown up. And the more mainline Christians of that place were the thugs under the white hoods of the Ku Klux Klan. It was easy to disbelieve them.
    Then, I was lucky in that it was the late 1970’s and there was still a counter-culture out there. And that there were people and music that could teach me oh so very much.
    So, I was dropped into a place that was so absurd that they were easy to disbelieve, and there were kind, loving, knowledgeable people willing to greet me with open arms and teach a poor boy.
    Yes, I was so very, very lucky. : ) Thank you!
    Thank you Tim and Caitlin, for reminding me. 🙂
    And one key thing we can do is to try to recreate, both online and in real world, those groups of people who believe in Peace and Love and are kind and willing to welcome and teach those who want to learn.

  44. G-R-E-A-T JUST G-R-E-A-T

    Thanks and warm regards

    Mohan

  45. sovereign makes me think ( freely ! ) of so called king’s & religious gangsters counting their bags of it and waving it at the so-called underclass that got short changed ….
    Thank You for your words & thoughts Caitlin , I’ll practice a bit more of my autonomous thinking who knows perhaps i could sell a thought for thirty pieces of silver

  46. The ugliest truth, is better than all the most beautiful lies….

  47. When I find myself getting upset about some news story I try to ask myself how it happened. Was it really from inside, or was someone telling me what I wanted to hear? Does this person who is trying to get me to hate Venezuela have a hidden motive, or do they really spend their valuable time getting people to hate things by handing out objective truth? Basically, I treat the news people like used car salesmen.

    1. For my lifetime, ‘journalists’ have usually ranked right down there with ‘used car people’ in polls of professions people mis-trust. But somewhere along the way, the media seemed to stop telling us that.

      1. They used to be called “reporters” … the truth, nothing but the truth.
        Now a “journalist” for the mainstream media skews his report to guide us how to think. Avoid.

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