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This War Is A Propaganda Campaign Wrapped In A Psyop: Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix
CAITLINJOHNSTONE.com ^ | APRIL 17, 2022 | CAITLIN JOHNSTONE

Posted on 04/17/2022 8:26:48 PM PDT by SoConPubbie

The country with the worst elections in the western world, whose government intervenes in foreign elections more than any other government on earth, is waging a dangerous proxy war to save democracy in Ukraine, a nation which is not a democracy by any reasonable definition.

Anyone who trusts any government is a fool. Anyone who trusts the world’s most powerful government is a damn fool. Anyone who trusts the world’s most powerful government while it runs massive propaganda ops for a dangerous proxy war should be forbidden to use the grown-up scissors.

It’s impossible to overstate how completely blanketed by propaganda distortion the Ukraine war is. US spooks saying they’re leaking disinfo to the press, Ukrainian war propaganda, the blackout on Ukrainian losses, the uncritical media acceptance of allegations against Russia, etc. This war is a propaganda campaign wrapped in a psyop.

There are only two possibilities: you either (A) accept the fact that the information ecosystem around this war is too polluted to know very much of anything for certain and adjust your perceptions accordingly, or (B) you believe false things about this war. That’s it.

Propaganda only works on people who don’t know they’re being propagandized. If you’re acutely aware that a historically unprecedented effort is going into manipulating your understanding of what’s happening in a strategically crucial war in the digital age, you’re more grounded.

And of course the propaganda cuts both ways. Obviously it does. Uncritically believing Russia-aligned sources about this war is just as sure to give you an inaccurate picture of events as uncritically believing US/NATO/Ukraine-aligned sources (i.e. all mass media). It’s psyops all the way down.

One thing that helps is rather than forming hard beliefs about what’s going on in this war, assign probabilities instead. Label different narratives zero, low, moderate, high or very high confidence like a spook analyzing intelligence. Might as well, because spooks are distorting it all anyway.

This is one of those situations where your own best guess about what’s happening is infinitely superior to what you’re told by the news media, because at least you know your own best guess is assembled in good faith while you know news media narratives are rife with propaganda distortion. If you’re genuinely interested in understanding what’s going on with this war, get as much information from as diverse an array of sources as possible, preferencing those who don’t appear aligned with any power structure and aren’t egoically or financially invested in any side.

Complain less about linguistic changes around gender pronouns and complain more about linguistic changes like "weapons" becoming "arsenal of democracy". pic.twitter.com/WzgD4YbCOP

— Caitlin Johnstone ⏳ (@caitoz) April 16, 2022

Zelensky, man. The last time a powerful empire poured this much PR and perception management into the image of a foreign Jewish leader it involved stained glass and crucifixes.

It was clear we’d reached a whole new level of Orwellian doublethink when it turned out liberals will call literally anyone in the world a Nazi except actual, literal Nazis.

You know capitalism is totally working when there are people getting paid millions to help start wars by people who make billions from wars while Silicon Valley megacorporations are censoring those who try to end wars and everyone’s praying the world’s richest man will stop this.

There are no “private” companies worth billions of dollars. In a corporatist system it is impossible to grow that big without becoming intertwined with ruling power structures. This is especially true for corporations of immense political consequence, like social media platforms.

We are surrounded by propaganda at all times. Our entire civilization is saturated with it. When you say you support internet censorship to stop “Russian propaganda”, what you are really saying is that you only want your own rulers propagandizing you.

The notion that some opinions are Russian is one of the most mind-destroying beliefs ever circulated in a secular society.

This is the real goal behind all the punditry advocating hot war with Russia: to move the Overton window of acceptable debate so far toward warmongering extremism that entirely moderate peace advocacy like supporting a negotiated settlement becomes a fringe lunatic position. https://t.co/eXV9Xi4WUs

— Caitlin Johnstone ⏳ (@caitoz) April 17, 2022

All the shitlibs yelling “Don’t listen to Chomsky!” for his comments about Ukraine will soon be yelling “Listen to Chomsky!” when it’s time to wheel him out again to tell everyone they need to vote Democrat.

 

The weirdest thing about interacting with Ukraine flag accounts online is how seriously they expect to be taken while saying ridiculous bullshit. No I’m not an evil demonic monster for opposing nuclear brinkmanship and online censorship and saying the US lies about wars. Shut up, idiot.

If you look at their responses to criticisms of the establishment line on Ukraine it’s always like ten percent MSM propaganda and ninety percent empty outraged sputtering. Just vapid emoting. And they sincerely seem to expect you to take that seriously and treat them like adults.

A mainstream news reporter is someone who uncritically publishes information provided by government agencies like it’s news and does investigative pieces on Twitch streamers who say wrong things about Ukraine and then wins three Pulitzers for their fearless hard-nosed journalism.

Watching Hollywood movies is weird when you’re acutely aware that everyone on the screen loves Biden and supports internet censorship and wants a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

____________________


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; Russia
KEYWORDS: antisemitism; bloggers; desperate4putinlove; ibtz; ifitsontheinternet; iloveshirtlessputin; itmustbetrue; kremlinpropaganda; notanewsarticle; notanewssite; putininvadedukraine; putinpuffers; putinsbuttboys; thisaintstormfront; ukraine; whypostthiscrap; zot
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To: Bruce Campbells Chin

Climb a tree and play with your nuts. You must be a lefty too.


41 posted on 04/17/2022 9:35:30 PM PDT by Equine1952
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To: Radix
Are we the ones who should ‘head for the hills?’
42 posted on 04/17/2022 9:38:29 PM PDT by Kevmo (Give back Ukes their Nukes https://freerepublic.com/focus/news/4044080/posts)
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To: SoConPubbie

Putin has to be in on it too.


43 posted on 04/17/2022 9:47:18 PM PDT by ifinnegan (Democrats kill babies and harvest their organs to sell)
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To: Radix

I do think that prudent people should be thinking about the
near future, and what they would do if certain scenarios were
to crop up.

I’ve become somewhat of a preper, and I’m working on a way
to remain mobile, and grow my own necessities.

I’m alone these days, and that makes it a lot easier. I
wouldn’t want to have to try and reason with a spouse who
couldn’t quite grasp what’s going on. I’d rather not have
children to expose to all this either.

Radix, as followers of the Christian God, we know that we
will be take care of over time. We may not like what happens
to us along the way, but if we live right, we will be
compensated in the end.

I try to balance my faith in God, with what I believe is
prudence on my part. I shouldn’t close my eyes to things
that are going on, then ask God to protect me because I
didn’t take precautions.

It is a balancing act. I do not want to go overboard. I
do want to be prudent.

Each of us has to consider these things.

Living in a massive metropolitan area, I have to consider
how things would go if major water, food, and energy
shortages did come about. My area would probably go postal
in short order. Even if I did prepare in advance, others
would find out and that would be threatened.

It wouldn’t be a good place to be.

These are probably the thoughts running through your mind
and the minds of a lot of other people these days.


44 posted on 04/17/2022 9:50:46 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (I pledge allegiance the flag of the U S of A, and to the REPUBLIC for which it stands.)
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To: Equine1952

LOL!

You seem to interpret bored dismissal of you as some kind of political statement. But sometimes, people are just damn boring, predictable, and inconsequential.

Good Night!


45 posted on 04/17/2022 9:51:18 PM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: Jamestown1630

That’s sweet. Pleasant dreams


46 posted on 04/17/2022 9:53:28 PM PDT by Equine1952
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To: DoughtyOne

Your prepping should probably include getting away from large populations. If things go south, it’ll be the worst place to be. Be safe. Regards.


47 posted on 04/17/2022 9:59:29 PM PDT by Equine1952
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To: SoConPubbie

Great article, thanks for posting... It pretty much fits with what I have been saying all along. I have no idea what is really going on over there, but I know if both sides are putting out fake videos, it is not what either is claiming...
I also think the Biden administration is involved up to their necks just like we were with the Obama admin when he was VP for the Ukraine coup of 2014.
Biden and many other career politicians have used Ukraine in their money laundering operation. I think there is a good chance the sanctions are letting them know their secret accounts have been seized, why else sanction them, what are they going to get?


48 posted on 04/17/2022 10:10:38 PM PDT by AzNASCARfan
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To: Equine1952

Thanks Equine1952.

I agree and appreciate your thoughts.


49 posted on 04/17/2022 10:11:30 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (I pledge allegiance the flag of the U S of A, and to the REPUBLIC for which it stands.)
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To: Equine1952

I’d also like to wish you a safe course over the coming
years. Much appreciated...


50 posted on 04/17/2022 10:13:34 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (I pledge allegiance the flag of the U S of A, and to the REPUBLIC for which it stands.)
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To: SoConPubbie

51 posted on 04/17/2022 10:21:35 PM PDT by Charles Martel (Progressives are the crab grass in the lawn of life.)
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To: libh8er

52 posted on 04/17/2022 10:34:04 PM PDT by BookmanTheJanitor
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To: SoConPubbie
As stated....”It's impossible to overstate how completely blanketed by propaganda distortion the Ukraine war is”....... It's beyond ‘control of the message’ as many have stated they've never seen before. It's an outright shutting down of communicating anything but favor about Ukraine - and a distinct propaganda war against Russia and any nation that doesn't tow the line for Ukraine. Worse this 'collective punishment' against Russia AND it's citizens which is expressly i forbidden by the Geneva Conventions.
53 posted on 04/17/2022 10:58:45 PM PDT by caww ( )
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To: DoughtyOne

Well, its a matter of probabilities, as she says. One can assign probabilities reasonably well if one has a background in the subject. In the case of the Moskva, for instance, historically it is quite rare that a major warship has been lost to fire through an accident. And especially rare for it to happen to a fully manned ship engaged in operations in wartime. It does happen of course, but the odds of it happening to a particular ship within range of the enemy coast is extremely low, and I cant think of a single case in modern naval history.

Now, being shot at and destroyed is much more likely. The Ukrainian story here is much more probable than the Russian one. And etc.


54 posted on 04/17/2022 11:09:41 PM PDT by buwaya (Strategic imperatives )
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To: Charles Martel
"Lights. cameras, action".....that's what Zelensky is and does.


55 posted on 04/17/2022 11:19:08 PM PDT by caww ( )
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To: SoConPubbie
The last, dying gasp of a propagandist who has lost virtually all credibility: "Well, in that case: Believe no one!"

"Game over! I'm taking my ball and going home - so now no one can play!"

Regards,

56 posted on 04/17/2022 11:26:53 PM PDT by alexander_busek (Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.)
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To: Chad C. Mulligan

Putin is no angel.

That said, anyone who believes a single word from that Satanic liar Zelensky is an imbecile.

There are far too many people out there who take that psychopath seriously.

All of those “donations to the Ukraine” will all ultimately end up on the black market and the cash from those sales goes to Zelensky’s hidden offshore accounts.

Like I said, only an imbecile takes that Satanic psychopath seriously.


57 posted on 04/17/2022 11:34:34 PM PDT by Prole
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To: SoConPubbie
accept the fact that the information ecosystem around this war is too polluted to know very much of anything for certain and adjust your perceptions accordingly

It's almost as if she's been reading my posts because that's been my position from the beginning.

58 posted on 04/17/2022 11:36:15 PM PDT by Jeff Chandler (THE ISSUE IS NEVER THE ISSUE. THE REVOLUTION IS THE ISSUE.)
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To: buwaya

Thank you for your thoughts on that. They sound reasoned. I’m
just not in a hurry to decide. In time we’ll know pretty much
for sure, I think. You’re probably of the same mind on this.

I do appreciate you bringing up that line of reasoning.

It is something I’m interested in.


59 posted on 04/17/2022 11:43:25 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (I pledge allegiance the flag of the U S of A, and to the REPUBLIC for which it stands.)
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To: buwaya

Why does it matter how it sunk? A crew screw up or a missle. Shit happens at sea. John McCain damNed near burnt down the Ariskani,off the coast of Vietnam. 💩happens. How it sunk is irrelevant. How Putin gets even that’s the rub.


60 posted on 04/18/2022 1:12:06 AM PDT by Equine1952
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