I so agree, Lynn. However, I do not believe Charles is in alignment with our knowledge. Like flat earth and Santa Claus, he believes terrain theory and other evidence that supports true biology to be a conspiracy. Makes it hard for me to feel attunement with his writing when he dismisses fundamental biology. And categorizing Santa Claus with other “conspiracy theories” that have so much evidence feels patronizing to his readers. I think I’m done reading Charles’ work. Too dogmatic.
I don't agree -and find him anything but dogmatic. Charles is not against terrain theory as far as I know...and his commitment to holistic thinking is perfectly in alignment with my own understandings. I think he is also wonderfully au fait with paradox...something more people could consider when they themselves might be dogmatic.
Thanks for your response, Martine. I agree, as far as I know as well, he not against terrain theory. Having said that, he espouses viral theory which was what I was addressing with the original post; the importance of the viral fraud being revealed. Which, naturally, would not come from Charles since he believes it to be accurate. Again, as far as I know.
I’m unclear on the paradox you’re referring to, but do agree that Charles’ literary skills are impressive.
Nice to calmly dialogue with you, especially given we don’t agree on all points!
your comments are interesting. For me what is powerful in Charles's writing is how he steps back from the drama/duality and moves to a place where the heart and neutrality resides... as best as he can, we all bring our particular experiences, perspectives and knowledge to the table and hence we may not agree 100%. In a world where people are quick to divide, judge, not trust etc it is a breath of fresh air for me. (I haven't yet explored terrain or viral theory or whatever you prefer to call it, I do what I can ha. I didn't understand the santa clause hoax, ay yet another thing to research lol). Of course we all must decide where and how to spend our time. :)
Charles suffers from the cognitive dissonance he writes about seeking comfort in the mainstream narratives which are the work of true conspiracy. He is a product of their machinations. His relevance depends on his subtle acquiescence.
It will prove to be important that we finally get a handle on the JFK assassination 60 years ago. Back in 2003, and some might remember this, ABC did a profile on the 40th anniversary of the event, which was hosted by Peter Jennings. He tried in the most flagrant of ways to bring the assassination back to Lee Harvey Oswald. What a joke. I was sickened by the whole charade, which I think is why today we are still so confused. Kennedy was murdered, Mafia style, as a carefully orchestrated public execution. That is why the Zapruder film was locked away for twelve years, and only shown in March 1975, after the Vietnam War had concluded with Vietnam becoming totally Communist. Then, it was shown for the first time that JFK got his brain blown out of his head. This means that 58,000 U.S. soldiers were killed in a meaningless civil war that got ramped to being a kind of world war in southeast Asia. It led to Richard Nixon's decision to bomb Laos and Cambodia in 1972, which would lead to the Khmer Rouge genocide of 1975. Then, and only then, did the public see the brutal assassination of a President. This man had every idea of what was good for the world. Some remember the Spirit working behind the scenes. His brother also bore this kind of spiritual agency. He was going to expose the whole charade of the Vietnam War, but instead was shot with a pistol, just one and a half centimetres behind his right ear, according to Los Angeles coroner, Thomas Noguchi in 1968. Further evidence indicates that it was Thane Eugene Caesar., a security guard, that killed RFK after winning the presidential nomination on June 4, 1968. Remember when he said: It is on to Chicago, and let us win there. I remember my father feeling about as hopeless as possible that night. I was just seventeen years old, and had just graduated from High School. Devastating. Maybe that is why we are having this conversation today in 2023.
You know the arc of evolution. Bad has to take place first before the good, which we are finally seeing take place today. Both Ukraine and Israel Wars are slated to be over in 2024. Why? Because the human spirit wants it. Both Putin and Netanyahu are over with. Humanity does not want these fixtures any more. The world is changing to the good. We have discussed this over the last two years. For example, the people of Ukraine have wanted to affiliate with the EU since November 26, 2013. Yet, the Ukrainian President sabotaged his own people. Ten years later, we have this mess.
Thank you for the piece around Disclosure. The practice of vulnerability bears unspeakable value at a systemic level, yet must begin with individuals who who can take the scary step to see and be seen by one another.
I agree entirely with your thought that healing begins with bringing disease to light: “Evil must be somehow hidden—behind euphemisms, ideologies, justifications, or secrets.) The way to undo the effects of a lie is to reveal it. That is how to remove the pellet and clean the wound.”
Regards the Zionist ethnic cleansing of Palestine, you commented that “Many are singing the same tune now, wanting the carnage to stop and holding that higher than being right.” (https://substack.com/profile/1969644-charles-eisenstein/note/c-44096839?r=2vuer&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action) Which could be read as “undoing lies (e.g. that Israel is defending itself against terrorists in tunnels built by Israel beneath Al Shifa hospital) is a side issue to stopping the carnage.” Which seems contradictory to your point about cleaning the wound (in this case) of Zionist propaganda. The most direct way to stop the murder of wounded children seems to be a ceasefire and prisoner exchange. That is currently taking place. As @aaronmate and others have documented, Hamas proposed that a month ago. Israel rejected the proposal. We shall see what happens after the “humanitarian pause” but however Israel plays it, the optics of wounded children are indelibly printed in the global psyche.
Beautifully written. Charles looks deep and wide fearlessly exposing the hidden corners of the larger picture. The changes will come one heart at a time. The One will become the Many, the Many will become the All. I am responsible for the One that becomes the change I seek. It must start in my heart as a behavior, action, and intention. Charles is one such example to which I am very grateful.
I remember that day. Life would never be the same. Dreams were shattered. Patterns of unacknowledged despair began to infect our collective consciousness. One after the other, the assassinations of the 60s, sidetracked a whole generation that was poised to create a better world. Healing became an impossibility. A silent hopelessness took hold. Today, the aging baby boomers express a kind of blustery false power born of contraction and impotence. Disclosure will shine light into the shadow, give voice to the silence, reveal the wounds, make healing possible. And return truth and beauty to their rightful heights. This grief that pervades humanity can be transmuted. Courage is called for, from all of us.
America is us. It is only as good as we collectively are.. So just shine your brightest self and make America greater in the process. For the dark fears nothing more than the light.
Hmmm, Jason. This is a lot of commentary in just 15 minutes. Some here are even old enough to have seen JFK come into Cheney Stadium, Tacoma, Washington, in 1962. He was real. His response to Diem in the Summer of 1961 to help South Vietnam is real. In fact, it was the 16,000 military advisers from America that would seal the fate of JFK when Diem demanded all withdrawal of U.S. forces in January 1963. Never forget that Diem and his brother were assassinated on November 1, 1963, after being guaranteed safe passage into exile. This came from Henry Cabot Lodge, the U.S. Ambassador to South Vietnam. Twenty-one days later. our POTUS was dead. Equip yourself with facts, and then decide.
In particular "Lies tend to grow over time as further lies are required to maintain the original. Disclosure, then, has revolutionary implications, since revelation of the keystone lie will lead to the crumbling of the entire edifice of lies built around it."
Over the past 4 years, I have become more willing to open to more information and to begin to see the magnitude of lies that have been told - one "rug pull" after another, leaving me with the devastating feeling that everything we have been told was a lie. And that the indoctrination was begun very early in school, which is a whole other discussion.
I was in 6th grade when Kennedy was killed. I didn't know anything about politics and very little about him, but I could still feel the darkness that descended, made worse by all that followed. I found my own ways to disassociate from this sadness and carry on with my life, even through the Vietnam War, which affected me more directly, and other wars that followed. But the lockdowns and oppression that began in 2020 were what really began to open my eyes and my awareness.
Since that time, nothing has been the same for me and I have looked with shock and dismay at the world I had thought I understood, suddenly one lie after another being exposed as I looked deeper and deeper. The magnitude of all of this has felt overwhelming to me, and I have had to withrdaw sometimes to reground myself and breath, to remain connected with nature and all those things which I know to be true.
As I've been following RFK Jr's campaign since April, I've been reading many books about his life and feeling deeply connected to both his father and uncle. I awoke yesterday, feeling a deep sadness and remembering the song "Abraham, Martin and John". I went for a long walk on the beach to be with my feelings.
Later in the day, I discovered this video which a friend had posted on Facebook. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oVpt_I9iQQ and once again more lies were shattered. I don't know about the validity of any of this information, but felt the ring of truth in my soul. I watched only the first 2 hours and will watch the rest now.
So once, again, I'm feeling the deep dismay of all of this. I wonder what's possible and if there's any way to free ourselves from this deep whirlpool of corruption and lies.
It may sound as if I have no hope, but actually that's not true. I do see a great deal of light in the world which is growing ever brighter, and know that many people are gradually waking up.
I also know that It takes only one candle to dispel darkness. The more truth candles that are lit, the brighter the light. It begins with each one of us, learning, listening, opening ourselves to let the sunshine in. And we need to take very good care of ourselves along the way.
As Charles so wisely reminds us, "And make no mistake, it takes courage to break ranks. Others will follow you. You know who you are. It is time."
I hear you. Thanks for sharing this. I think for those of us who grew up in the 60's and 70's, after perhaps a lifetime of believing in the propaganda and that the rot only existed in pockets (as I did), now are experiencing the "shattering cognitive dissonance" as Charles aptly.wrote Those words resonate with me a lot. Certainly the truth will set us free, in the meantime we find our way forward as best we can!
Well said. I feel that in terms of public distrust and anger against authority and the system, one main reason is due to the lies fed to the people by the extremely pro-capitalist, pro-corporation political system.
In general terms, the public were essentially told that they can achieve success and great opportunities based mainly on the premises of meritocracy and hard work, and that they should trust in the free market and the corporations to help improve their lives. But in reality, the political system is working with and beholden to the interests and greed of the corporations and the business class; it's very much one-sided towards this class.
This translates into the government implementing policies that mainly benefit this class and imposing lax regulations and taxation towards them, while the common people endure socioeconomic suffering in terms of low minimum wage, high costs of living, for example housing, education, healthcare, etc........most of which are due to the decisions of the business class to impose such high prices in order to reap greater profits.
As a result, the common people, especially those who're of lower socioeconomic status, become disillusioned and angry towards the political system, whom they can see doesn't prioritize their wellbeing, and is instead mainly concerned with enriching their own circle, including the business class. Additionally, this is one of the main influential factors for people to support more populist leaders, like Trump, who portray themselves to the voters as being anti-establishment and anti-corporations.
Hi Charles. The timing of the shift you point to co-responds with the timing of USA-Zionist ties explained by Noam Chomsky. He points to 1967 as the time when USA's military-industrial machine made a deep bond with the only colonial-settler regime in the middle east. On the same line, RFK Jr. has not hidden his view of Israel, as a blooming of democracy in a desert of values such as democracy and human rights (middle east). In that sense, it is not easy to buy a man with such a twisted view on one of the most critical regions of our time and earth to be able to penetrate beyond the surface of the colonial regime. That image he has of middle east is the heart of colonialism itself. When one value system universalizes itself to a degree that it gets blind to the existence of diverse human value systems, that are not anchored on 'equality' or 'freedom' or 'rights' but a whole different set of values.
Like always, as an observer from middle east I highly appreciate your presence and illuminations coming from your place, through your efforts and words. I have also observed before, buying the image of a decent man like Obama with promisses for a deep change, and then leaving office with lives of two more nations in our region in complete chaos. The recent events around the RFK Jr. campaign shows no sign of a serious change in the mental-model dimension behind colonialism, in fact it shows the opposite. What he sees the middle east for, a place void of values, is the attentional-violence, the mother of all the other layers of violence we see unfolding, from media, to economy, health system, bombing etc... a true change comes from shifting that source, rather than fixing the symptoms of it in the political system.
I think identifying colonialism as a problematic hegemony is important. We are conditioned to believe that western imposition of values/systems is ok because the western values are the best values- equality, freedom, rights.
Could you help me understand, from the perspective of someone in the Middle East, what the basic and fundamental values are there?
First of all, I appreciate your question as it helps to look deeper into the matter. My first answer is, behind every value system is an image of human, an understanding of what a human is in its deepest nature. Out of that image the value system is born. The best way to find them is to look at human developmental models before the modern educational system was imported / imposed.
If we look at apprenticeship to a master as the main pattern of development, you can see respect for elders and respect for wisdom that comes with perfecting a craft. The other is patience, and humbleness, as you will actually never grow ahead of your master even if your craftsmanship is grows more fluent. Another would be to find freedom of expression "within" the boundaries of all that come before and has shaped you, like community, ancestors, traditions, rituals. The other is to be aware that you are embedded within a complex web of relationships, within a meaningful universe that has a direction towards goodness, harmony and beauty.
This is one of those subjects in which words can not easily do justice. One can get a felt experience of it when it touches the image of he human behind the value system. They shine best through the work of sages and wisdom keepers of the cultures, for example the Molana Rumi of Persian / Islamic world.
I highly suggest the works of Wade Davis to get a sense of how diverse human value systems are. Here is a brillinat book, but there is also a series of documentaries that you can find.
In fact, the studies in Sophia Perrennis shows that the only culture / civilization that does not share the metaphysical pattern of most of the wisdom traditions of humanity is the modern man's image. It seems like the image of human behind the western / modern value system is of a being separated from the web of life, evolved within the linear time out of molecules and cells, defined completely within the material realm.
Take this piece by a Palestinian elder/friend Munir Fasheh to contrast between value systems:
The worth of a person - by Munir Fasheh
Over the years, I became increasingly convinced that the British conquered the Palestinians (as well as others) from within, by shifting the locus of the worth of a person from the person and the community to rootless symbols such as grades, degrees, prizes, and symbols that claim to be objective and universal and to bestow real value on the person, and whose source and legitimacy came from London, through licensed professionals, legitimized by official institutions. London matriculation became (in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s) the main measure of the worth of Palestinian youth. Over the years, the virus has gone much deeper.
This triumphant march of arbitrary and rootless symbols was accompanied and supported by some “cherished pillars” of Western civilization, two of which are: the belief that experience can be reduced to theory (i.e. the intellect can completely understand life/ being), and the belief in universals (including the belief in universal meanings and the belief in universal thinking by which I mean a single undifferentiated path for “progress” – the Western path). Western civilization is not the only one that believed in universals. What is distinctive about it, however, is the fact that it is the only civilization that produced universal tools to impose its ways and beliefs on others, one of which is measuring people along a vertical line.
The shift of the worth of a person from the person and the community to vertical measures led to the tearing apart of the person’s “inner world” and of the social-cultural-spiritual fabric in the community. In spite of its destructive impact, we seem to embrace this shift as a savior! In other words, we embrace what robs us of natural capacities and abilities – to learn, think, express, relate, know, play, be healthy, and feels one’s worth.
The well being of people, and of children in particular, is intimately connected to having the source of worthiness come from inner harmony and from the relationship that one has with the world around him/her. What is needed, thus, is shifting the locus of the worth of a person from institutions and symbols back to the person and community. Such a shift has been central in my thinking and work since the early 1970s but had to wait for more than 20 years to find an articulated principle that captured it: a statement by Imam Ali (1400 years ago!) I found in it great insight and inspiration, and it became the guiding principle of the Arab Education Forum, which I have been directing since 1998 (and of al-jame’ah project within it). It is relevant and inspiring in the world today.
Imam Ali’s statement in Arabic is: qeematu kullimri’en ma yuhsenoh قيمة كل امرئ ما يحسنه . According to it, the worth of a person is what s/he yuhsen. Yuhsen, in Arabic, has several meanings, which together constitute the worth of the person: the first meaning refers to how well the person does what s/he does, which requires technical knowledge and skills; the second refers to how beautiful/ pleasing what one does to the senses, the aesthetic dimension; the third refers to how good it is for the community, from the experience of the community; the fourth refers to how much one gives of oneself and not what one transfers from one place to another; and the fifth meaning refers to how respectful (of people and ideas) the person is in discussions.
According to the statement, a person’s worth is not judged by professional committees or official bodies, or by measures that claim to be objective and universal, but by the five meanings embedded in the word yuhsen. It is only in relation to the first meaning – technical knowledge and skills – that professionals and institutions may be needed.
When I realized the wealth and depth of that statement, I realized how ignorant, empty, and criminal the rootless term ‘underdevelopment’ is, and how easily we were deceived by it. In spite of the on-going destruction it has been causing within us and around us, we still cling to it as if it reflects reality! In order to heal from it (as well as from similar words), we need to shift our source of worth back to what we yuhsen.
It is worth mentioning here how the authors of the Arab Human Development Report 2002 treated Imam Ali’s statement. They translated it into English without realizing that it embodies a world that cannot be translated into English! They translated it: “the worth of a person is what he excels at”. The authors are Arabs, yet failed to see the richness in the Arabic word. Instead, they fell victims for the dominant rootless word “excellence”
Whenever I periodically delve into the two Kennedy assassinations I stop because what I find is so disturbing. That happened when I tried to read the Douglass book you referred to. While not directly related, back in the late seventies I had an experience that somehow feels relevant to this.
I had a long layover at the O’Hare Airport in Chicago. I decided to take a walk outside. As I was going along a wave of what I can only describe as satanic evil suddenly washed over me from behind. I turned around and there behind me about 30 feet away was Henry Kissinger and two body guards.I turned right and headed back to the airport building.
Glad that you chose to re-run this piece. Love the sentiment. However, as dramatic as the JFK assassination was (and its impact undeniable), it is certainly not the beginning of the post-WWII lying and secrecy by the state/government. I am now reading a biography of the anthropologist Cora DuBois. Cora was a leader of OSS in Indonesia during the War. She was an expert social scientist and an excellent manager. As a member of the State Dept after the War, she was a passionate voice for NOT supporting the militarization of Southeast Asia. A voice that fell on deaf ears as the OSS-turned-CiA and the rest of the military-industrial complex ramped up military engagement in Vietnam in 1951/52. It wasn't until the Pentagon Papers and Daniel Ellsberg in 1973 that the US government was forced to disclose that the US had boots on the ground there as early as 1955 (now considered the official beginning of American military involvement in Vietnam). Sadly, the alienation of the American political class from the American people predates the JFK assassination
Thanks David for pointing out that the seeds of this go way back. I would posit they go back much further. The connection to the horrible mishandling of the Korean War to the fiasco in Vietnam is obvious and the seeds of the Korean War can be traced directly back to WW ll which can be traced back to WWl when Wilson lied and lied and started the first official governmental office of propoganda to force the american public to support him in entering WWl. It wasn't just the US that had a hand in starting all these wars tho. Much of Europe, Russia, China, Japan and the Ottoman Turks ( who were, oh dearie me, muslim ) all had their parts to play in all this modern warmongering/colonization insanity we are living with today. I have a really hard time with so many here that are labeling only western civilization as colonizer cultures who made all these wars happen. They seem to forget that China and Japan have been total colonizers as were the Ottoman Turks as were the Mongolians, etc etc. as were many, if not all other empires/cultures and races throughout human history. What the Japanese did to the Chinese during the Indochina war and WWll is beyond our modern conception of barbarity and made even Nazi officials blanche and consider disavowing their Japanese allies as 'too barbaric'. My own native tribal ancestors were both colonizers and the colonized, and sometimes even both at the same time. I find the self hatred of our own western civilization that seems to be getting stronger lately, quite disturbing. It is good to review and try to understand our history, but not so good to blame our own ancestors and government for every single bad thing that has ever happened around the world. We live in an indulgent time of self reflection that is going toxic imo. Most of us here have no idea what it is like to really have to fight for survival or what horrible choices our ancestors had to make.
Thanks, Rainbow Medicine-Walker. I consider your eloquent words a completion (in the Vygotskian sense) or a friendly amendment (in the Robert's Rules of Order sense). Our so-called (and actual!) leaders have been failing us for a long time. Hopefully, ordinary people will build a better world that doesn't require war and lying
Another important book is "A Death In November" by Ellen Hammer. It tells the story of how the U.S. State Department conspired throughout 1963 against JFK and his agreement with Ngo Dinh Diem, President of the Republic of Vietnam, to begin to remove the military advisers. The 16,000 American troops was seen as an investment in assuring the security of Vietnam against Communism, and when Henry Cabot Lodge replaced Frederick Nolting as Ambassador to Vietnam in the summer of 1963, it was Lodge who set in motion the military coup that brought down Diem on November 1st. JFK was eliminated just three weeks later. LBJ would escalate the war in Vietnam, rather than end the U.S. involvement. He hated Kennedy.
Yes, full disclosure would lance the boil. But maybe a 'little' disclosure is necessary first before everything is fully exposed.
After all, there is only so much the public can take in altogether. Do you clench your teeth as you rip off the band-aid in one quick action? Or do you ease it gently and slowly away from your skin, maybe pausing several times before it is eventually comes off? The first option might seem better. But are we ready for it? I mean REALLY ready?
I think the gentler option is what we'll actually get. It seems fairer to ease people into the truth, a bit at a time. It's happening already, and, like reading a thriller, those who want a bit more can skip ahead a few pages to find out what happens next. Or, as in a Netflix series released only a few episodes at a time, we can't binge-watch it all in one sitting. The final episode will appear after the intervening twists and turns have prepared our minds for the denouement. Even then I suspect it will be a shocker.
The lies do not stop with the JFK event. Imagine the layers over the last 60 years in every aspect of governmental systems. We are not children anymore. It is time to see what lies under the layers; this is the only way forward as a society. Many have said that society can't take the truth, but I beg to differ. These last four years have opened the doors to the reveal in the mass population because people are starting to question many things. There is an ill wind that blows no good and the medical event certainly was beneficial in opening many eyes. It is time my friend, delay only creates more damage. The healing must begin; it is time to build the new.
This column really spoke to me - and this anniverary was every so important. What a 60th anniversary I have had - and I think you were the catalyst for its resonance.
and then my Jackie doll changed from her pink suit and went with me to a tribute to The Band, which was an awesome way to power thru this dreary, mournful day.
I was thirteen when JFK died, and even then I felt that he was a kind of guiding spirit, like Michael, I suppose. Over these 60 years, much has become known from the initial reports of a lone gunman shooting from behind. The Zapruder film was withheld for twelve years, which was the time it took for Vietnam to be lost to the Communist north of Ho Chi Minh. JFK intended to end the U.S. involvement in Vietnam with his re-election in 1964, but alas, became the victim of a mafia-style assassination perpetrated by his own protective service force, the Secret Service. He was murdered by the driver of the limo he was traveling in; William Greer. A book was written about this in 1974, but remained unpublished for nearly 40 years due to the controversy of implicating government forces in the assassination. "Murder From Within" by Fred Newcomb and Perry Adams.
Jackie is known for admiring her husband's efforts for the good of South America, with his Alliance for Progress project, as well as the Peace Corps, and Profiles in Courage. Yes, the world lost a veritable Michael spirit that day, 60 years ago. Does America have an evil twin? That has been proposed. A Doppelganger out to do no good under the guise of the Spirit of Freedom and Love.
Maybe go back to the very beginning and follow the evidence from there...First nations people have known this, been pointing ti out since the beginning...
The lies about viruses and germ theory also need to be addressed if we are to gain trust in authority.
I so agree, Lynn. However, I do not believe Charles is in alignment with our knowledge. Like flat earth and Santa Claus, he believes terrain theory and other evidence that supports true biology to be a conspiracy. Makes it hard for me to feel attunement with his writing when he dismisses fundamental biology. And categorizing Santa Claus with other “conspiracy theories” that have so much evidence feels patronizing to his readers. I think I’m done reading Charles’ work. Too dogmatic.
I don't agree -and find him anything but dogmatic. Charles is not against terrain theory as far as I know...and his commitment to holistic thinking is perfectly in alignment with my own understandings. I think he is also wonderfully au fait with paradox...something more people could consider when they themselves might be dogmatic.
Thanks for your response, Martine. I agree, as far as I know as well, he not against terrain theory. Having said that, he espouses viral theory which was what I was addressing with the original post; the importance of the viral fraud being revealed. Which, naturally, would not come from Charles since he believes it to be accurate. Again, as far as I know.
I’m unclear on the paradox you’re referring to, but do agree that Charles’ literary skills are impressive.
Nice to calmly dialogue with you, especially given we don’t agree on all points!
your comments are interesting. For me what is powerful in Charles's writing is how he steps back from the drama/duality and moves to a place where the heart and neutrality resides... as best as he can, we all bring our particular experiences, perspectives and knowledge to the table and hence we may not agree 100%. In a world where people are quick to divide, judge, not trust etc it is a breath of fresh air for me. (I haven't yet explored terrain or viral theory or whatever you prefer to call it, I do what I can ha. I didn't understand the santa clause hoax, ay yet another thing to research lol). Of course we all must decide where and how to spend our time. :)
💚
Charles suffers from the cognitive dissonance he writes about seeking comfort in the mainstream narratives which are the work of true conspiracy. He is a product of their machinations. His relevance depends on his subtle acquiescence.
What or who is your source of information on " terrain theory"? Just curious.
Andrew Kaufmann, Tom Cowan, Sam Bailey, to name a few.
Bye!
I'm confused. Are you saying that you believe terrain theory is not true biology?
Sorry I wasn’t more clear. I do find the evidence of terrain theory to not even be a theory, but rather truth as I’ve experienced my life.
Thanks for clarifying Courtney. Sounds like we are on the same page with that!
It will prove to be important that we finally get a handle on the JFK assassination 60 years ago. Back in 2003, and some might remember this, ABC did a profile on the 40th anniversary of the event, which was hosted by Peter Jennings. He tried in the most flagrant of ways to bring the assassination back to Lee Harvey Oswald. What a joke. I was sickened by the whole charade, which I think is why today we are still so confused. Kennedy was murdered, Mafia style, as a carefully orchestrated public execution. That is why the Zapruder film was locked away for twelve years, and only shown in March 1975, after the Vietnam War had concluded with Vietnam becoming totally Communist. Then, it was shown for the first time that JFK got his brain blown out of his head. This means that 58,000 U.S. soldiers were killed in a meaningless civil war that got ramped to being a kind of world war in southeast Asia. It led to Richard Nixon's decision to bomb Laos and Cambodia in 1972, which would lead to the Khmer Rouge genocide of 1975. Then, and only then, did the public see the brutal assassination of a President. This man had every idea of what was good for the world. Some remember the Spirit working behind the scenes. His brother also bore this kind of spiritual agency. He was going to expose the whole charade of the Vietnam War, but instead was shot with a pistol, just one and a half centimetres behind his right ear, according to Los Angeles coroner, Thomas Noguchi in 1968. Further evidence indicates that it was Thane Eugene Caesar., a security guard, that killed RFK after winning the presidential nomination on June 4, 1968. Remember when he said: It is on to Chicago, and let us win there. I remember my father feeling about as hopeless as possible that night. I was just seventeen years old, and had just graduated from High School. Devastating. Maybe that is why we are having this conversation today in 2023.
Hi Kyle,
You know the arc of evolution. Bad has to take place first before the good, which we are finally seeing take place today. Both Ukraine and Israel Wars are slated to be over in 2024. Why? Because the human spirit wants it. Both Putin and Netanyahu are over with. Humanity does not want these fixtures any more. The world is changing to the good. We have discussed this over the last two years. For example, the people of Ukraine have wanted to affiliate with the EU since November 26, 2013. Yet, the Ukrainian President sabotaged his own people. Ten years later, we have this mess.
Thank you for the piece around Disclosure. The practice of vulnerability bears unspeakable value at a systemic level, yet must begin with individuals who who can take the scary step to see and be seen by one another.
I agree entirely with your thought that healing begins with bringing disease to light: “Evil must be somehow hidden—behind euphemisms, ideologies, justifications, or secrets.) The way to undo the effects of a lie is to reveal it. That is how to remove the pellet and clean the wound.”
Regards the Zionist ethnic cleansing of Palestine, you commented that “Many are singing the same tune now, wanting the carnage to stop and holding that higher than being right.” (https://substack.com/profile/1969644-charles-eisenstein/note/c-44096839?r=2vuer&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action) Which could be read as “undoing lies (e.g. that Israel is defending itself against terrorists in tunnels built by Israel beneath Al Shifa hospital) is a side issue to stopping the carnage.” Which seems contradictory to your point about cleaning the wound (in this case) of Zionist propaganda. The most direct way to stop the murder of wounded children seems to be a ceasefire and prisoner exchange. That is currently taking place. As @aaronmate and others have documented, Hamas proposed that a month ago. Israel rejected the proposal. We shall see what happens after the “humanitarian pause” but however Israel plays it, the optics of wounded children are indelibly printed in the global psyche.
Beautifully written. Charles looks deep and wide fearlessly exposing the hidden corners of the larger picture. The changes will come one heart at a time. The One will become the Many, the Many will become the All. I am responsible for the One that becomes the change I seek. It must start in my heart as a behavior, action, and intention. Charles is one such example to which I am very grateful.
It has started in my heart as empathy for the enemy. We need much of it, as there are many of them.
Namaste'.
I remember that day. Life would never be the same. Dreams were shattered. Patterns of unacknowledged despair began to infect our collective consciousness. One after the other, the assassinations of the 60s, sidetracked a whole generation that was poised to create a better world. Healing became an impossibility. A silent hopelessness took hold. Today, the aging baby boomers express a kind of blustery false power born of contraction and impotence. Disclosure will shine light into the shadow, give voice to the silence, reveal the wounds, make healing possible. And return truth and beauty to their rightful heights. This grief that pervades humanity can be transmuted. Courage is called for, from all of us.
America is us. It is only as good as we collectively are.. So just shine your brightest self and make America greater in the process. For the dark fears nothing more than the light.
Happy Thanksgiving All!
https://tritorch.substack.com/p/happy-thanksgiving
Giving thanks for what we’ve been gifted has nothing in common with narcissism.
Believing in yourself is only the first step in solving the world’s problems.
You may be making the mistake of judging a comment meant in good faith like one may judge a book by its cover.
Humility and the folly of summary judgment are among the most difficult lessons to learn
Hmmm, Jason. This is a lot of commentary in just 15 minutes. Some here are even old enough to have seen JFK come into Cheney Stadium, Tacoma, Washington, in 1962. He was real. His response to Diem in the Summer of 1961 to help South Vietnam is real. In fact, it was the 16,000 military advisers from America that would seal the fate of JFK when Diem demanded all withdrawal of U.S. forces in January 1963. Never forget that Diem and his brother were assassinated on November 1, 1963, after being guaranteed safe passage into exile. This came from Henry Cabot Lodge, the U.S. Ambassador to South Vietnam. Twenty-one days later. our POTUS was dead. Equip yourself with facts, and then decide.
In 1988, after 25 years, PBS produced a documentary, "The Men Who Killed Kennedy". Maybe you should especially watch this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0XNiu-yutk
You, literally, have no idea what you are talking about.
Edit: links fixed
Read
Https://tritorch.com/folly
Https://tritorch.com/BeliefTrap
https://tritorch.com/illFaresTheLand
https://tritorch.com/NWO
https://tritorch.com/united
And then read my substack
Humility and modesty is something you lack
Jason, please say more about what you think will solve the world's problems.
I'm also wondering why you are following Charles' Substack. Do some of his ideas resonate with you?
Very well said Charles. Thank you!
In particular "Lies tend to grow over time as further lies are required to maintain the original. Disclosure, then, has revolutionary implications, since revelation of the keystone lie will lead to the crumbling of the entire edifice of lies built around it."
Over the past 4 years, I have become more willing to open to more information and to begin to see the magnitude of lies that have been told - one "rug pull" after another, leaving me with the devastating feeling that everything we have been told was a lie. And that the indoctrination was begun very early in school, which is a whole other discussion.
I was in 6th grade when Kennedy was killed. I didn't know anything about politics and very little about him, but I could still feel the darkness that descended, made worse by all that followed. I found my own ways to disassociate from this sadness and carry on with my life, even through the Vietnam War, which affected me more directly, and other wars that followed. But the lockdowns and oppression that began in 2020 were what really began to open my eyes and my awareness.
Since that time, nothing has been the same for me and I have looked with shock and dismay at the world I had thought I understood, suddenly one lie after another being exposed as I looked deeper and deeper. The magnitude of all of this has felt overwhelming to me, and I have had to withrdaw sometimes to reground myself and breath, to remain connected with nature and all those things which I know to be true.
As I've been following RFK Jr's campaign since April, I've been reading many books about his life and feeling deeply connected to both his father and uncle. I awoke yesterday, feeling a deep sadness and remembering the song "Abraham, Martin and John". I went for a long walk on the beach to be with my feelings.
Later in the day, I discovered this video which a friend had posted on Facebook. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oVpt_I9iQQ and once again more lies were shattered. I don't know about the validity of any of this information, but felt the ring of truth in my soul. I watched only the first 2 hours and will watch the rest now.
So once, again, I'm feeling the deep dismay of all of this. I wonder what's possible and if there's any way to free ourselves from this deep whirlpool of corruption and lies.
It may sound as if I have no hope, but actually that's not true. I do see a great deal of light in the world which is growing ever brighter, and know that many people are gradually waking up.
I also know that It takes only one candle to dispel darkness. The more truth candles that are lit, the brighter the light. It begins with each one of us, learning, listening, opening ourselves to let the sunshine in. And we need to take very good care of ourselves along the way.
As Charles so wisely reminds us, "And make no mistake, it takes courage to break ranks. Others will follow you. You know who you are. It is time."
I hear you. Thanks for sharing this. I think for those of us who grew up in the 60's and 70's, after perhaps a lifetime of believing in the propaganda and that the rot only existed in pockets (as I did), now are experiencing the "shattering cognitive dissonance" as Charles aptly.wrote Those words resonate with me a lot. Certainly the truth will set us free, in the meantime we find our way forward as best we can!
Well said. I feel that in terms of public distrust and anger against authority and the system, one main reason is due to the lies fed to the people by the extremely pro-capitalist, pro-corporation political system.
In general terms, the public were essentially told that they can achieve success and great opportunities based mainly on the premises of meritocracy and hard work, and that they should trust in the free market and the corporations to help improve their lives. But in reality, the political system is working with and beholden to the interests and greed of the corporations and the business class; it's very much one-sided towards this class.
This translates into the government implementing policies that mainly benefit this class and imposing lax regulations and taxation towards them, while the common people endure socioeconomic suffering in terms of low minimum wage, high costs of living, for example housing, education, healthcare, etc........most of which are due to the decisions of the business class to impose such high prices in order to reap greater profits.
As a result, the common people, especially those who're of lower socioeconomic status, become disillusioned and angry towards the political system, whom they can see doesn't prioritize their wellbeing, and is instead mainly concerned with enriching their own circle, including the business class. Additionally, this is one of the main influential factors for people to support more populist leaders, like Trump, who portray themselves to the voters as being anti-establishment and anti-corporations.
Hi Charles. The timing of the shift you point to co-responds with the timing of USA-Zionist ties explained by Noam Chomsky. He points to 1967 as the time when USA's military-industrial machine made a deep bond with the only colonial-settler regime in the middle east. On the same line, RFK Jr. has not hidden his view of Israel, as a blooming of democracy in a desert of values such as democracy and human rights (middle east). In that sense, it is not easy to buy a man with such a twisted view on one of the most critical regions of our time and earth to be able to penetrate beyond the surface of the colonial regime. That image he has of middle east is the heart of colonialism itself. When one value system universalizes itself to a degree that it gets blind to the existence of diverse human value systems, that are not anchored on 'equality' or 'freedom' or 'rights' but a whole different set of values.
Like always, as an observer from middle east I highly appreciate your presence and illuminations coming from your place, through your efforts and words. I have also observed before, buying the image of a decent man like Obama with promisses for a deep change, and then leaving office with lives of two more nations in our region in complete chaos. The recent events around the RFK Jr. campaign shows no sign of a serious change in the mental-model dimension behind colonialism, in fact it shows the opposite. What he sees the middle east for, a place void of values, is the attentional-violence, the mother of all the other layers of violence we see unfolding, from media, to economy, health system, bombing etc... a true change comes from shifting that source, rather than fixing the symptoms of it in the political system.
I think identifying colonialism as a problematic hegemony is important. We are conditioned to believe that western imposition of values/systems is ok because the western values are the best values- equality, freedom, rights.
Could you help me understand, from the perspective of someone in the Middle East, what the basic and fundamental values are there?
First of all, I appreciate your question as it helps to look deeper into the matter. My first answer is, behind every value system is an image of human, an understanding of what a human is in its deepest nature. Out of that image the value system is born. The best way to find them is to look at human developmental models before the modern educational system was imported / imposed.
If we look at apprenticeship to a master as the main pattern of development, you can see respect for elders and respect for wisdom that comes with perfecting a craft. The other is patience, and humbleness, as you will actually never grow ahead of your master even if your craftsmanship is grows more fluent. Another would be to find freedom of expression "within" the boundaries of all that come before and has shaped you, like community, ancestors, traditions, rituals. The other is to be aware that you are embedded within a complex web of relationships, within a meaningful universe that has a direction towards goodness, harmony and beauty.
This is one of those subjects in which words can not easily do justice. One can get a felt experience of it when it touches the image of he human behind the value system. They shine best through the work of sages and wisdom keepers of the cultures, for example the Molana Rumi of Persian / Islamic world.
I highly suggest the works of Wade Davis to get a sense of how diverse human value systems are. Here is a brillinat book, but there is also a series of documentaries that you can find.
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/6373455
In fact, the studies in Sophia Perrennis shows that the only culture / civilization that does not share the metaphysical pattern of most of the wisdom traditions of humanity is the modern man's image. It seems like the image of human behind the western / modern value system is of a being separated from the web of life, evolved within the linear time out of molecules and cells, defined completely within the material realm.
Take this piece by a Palestinian elder/friend Munir Fasheh to contrast between value systems:
The worth of a person - by Munir Fasheh
Over the years, I became increasingly convinced that the British conquered the Palestinians (as well as others) from within, by shifting the locus of the worth of a person from the person and the community to rootless symbols such as grades, degrees, prizes, and symbols that claim to be objective and universal and to bestow real value on the person, and whose source and legitimacy came from London, through licensed professionals, legitimized by official institutions. London matriculation became (in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s) the main measure of the worth of Palestinian youth. Over the years, the virus has gone much deeper.
This triumphant march of arbitrary and rootless symbols was accompanied and supported by some “cherished pillars” of Western civilization, two of which are: the belief that experience can be reduced to theory (i.e. the intellect can completely understand life/ being), and the belief in universals (including the belief in universal meanings and the belief in universal thinking by which I mean a single undifferentiated path for “progress” – the Western path). Western civilization is not the only one that believed in universals. What is distinctive about it, however, is the fact that it is the only civilization that produced universal tools to impose its ways and beliefs on others, one of which is measuring people along a vertical line.
The shift of the worth of a person from the person and the community to vertical measures led to the tearing apart of the person’s “inner world” and of the social-cultural-spiritual fabric in the community. In spite of its destructive impact, we seem to embrace this shift as a savior! In other words, we embrace what robs us of natural capacities and abilities – to learn, think, express, relate, know, play, be healthy, and feels one’s worth.
The well being of people, and of children in particular, is intimately connected to having the source of worthiness come from inner harmony and from the relationship that one has with the world around him/her. What is needed, thus, is shifting the locus of the worth of a person from institutions and symbols back to the person and community. Such a shift has been central in my thinking and work since the early 1970s but had to wait for more than 20 years to find an articulated principle that captured it: a statement by Imam Ali (1400 years ago!) I found in it great insight and inspiration, and it became the guiding principle of the Arab Education Forum, which I have been directing since 1998 (and of al-jame’ah project within it). It is relevant and inspiring in the world today.
Imam Ali’s statement in Arabic is: qeematu kullimri’en ma yuhsenoh قيمة كل امرئ ما يحسنه . According to it, the worth of a person is what s/he yuhsen. Yuhsen, in Arabic, has several meanings, which together constitute the worth of the person: the first meaning refers to how well the person does what s/he does, which requires technical knowledge and skills; the second refers to how beautiful/ pleasing what one does to the senses, the aesthetic dimension; the third refers to how good it is for the community, from the experience of the community; the fourth refers to how much one gives of oneself and not what one transfers from one place to another; and the fifth meaning refers to how respectful (of people and ideas) the person is in discussions.
According to the statement, a person’s worth is not judged by professional committees or official bodies, or by measures that claim to be objective and universal, but by the five meanings embedded in the word yuhsen. It is only in relation to the first meaning – technical knowledge and skills – that professionals and institutions may be needed.
When I realized the wealth and depth of that statement, I realized how ignorant, empty, and criminal the rootless term ‘underdevelopment’ is, and how easily we were deceived by it. In spite of the on-going destruction it has been causing within us and around us, we still cling to it as if it reflects reality! In order to heal from it (as well as from similar words), we need to shift our source of worth back to what we yuhsen.
It is worth mentioning here how the authors of the Arab Human Development Report 2002 treated Imam Ali’s statement. They translated it into English without realizing that it embodies a world that cannot be translated into English! They translated it: “the worth of a person is what he excels at”. The authors are Arabs, yet failed to see the richness in the Arabic word. Instead, they fell victims for the dominant rootless word “excellence”
Whenever I periodically delve into the two Kennedy assassinations I stop because what I find is so disturbing. That happened when I tried to read the Douglass book you referred to. While not directly related, back in the late seventies I had an experience that somehow feels relevant to this.
I had a long layover at the O’Hare Airport in Chicago. I decided to take a walk outside. As I was going along a wave of what I can only describe as satanic evil suddenly washed over me from behind. I turned around and there behind me about 30 feet away was Henry Kissinger and two body guards.I turned right and headed back to the airport building.
True evil personified!
Glad that you chose to re-run this piece. Love the sentiment. However, as dramatic as the JFK assassination was (and its impact undeniable), it is certainly not the beginning of the post-WWII lying and secrecy by the state/government. I am now reading a biography of the anthropologist Cora DuBois. Cora was a leader of OSS in Indonesia during the War. She was an expert social scientist and an excellent manager. As a member of the State Dept after the War, she was a passionate voice for NOT supporting the militarization of Southeast Asia. A voice that fell on deaf ears as the OSS-turned-CiA and the rest of the military-industrial complex ramped up military engagement in Vietnam in 1951/52. It wasn't until the Pentagon Papers and Daniel Ellsberg in 1973 that the US government was forced to disclose that the US had boots on the ground there as early as 1955 (now considered the official beginning of American military involvement in Vietnam). Sadly, the alienation of the American political class from the American people predates the JFK assassination
Thanks David for pointing out that the seeds of this go way back. I would posit they go back much further. The connection to the horrible mishandling of the Korean War to the fiasco in Vietnam is obvious and the seeds of the Korean War can be traced directly back to WW ll which can be traced back to WWl when Wilson lied and lied and started the first official governmental office of propoganda to force the american public to support him in entering WWl. It wasn't just the US that had a hand in starting all these wars tho. Much of Europe, Russia, China, Japan and the Ottoman Turks ( who were, oh dearie me, muslim ) all had their parts to play in all this modern warmongering/colonization insanity we are living with today. I have a really hard time with so many here that are labeling only western civilization as colonizer cultures who made all these wars happen. They seem to forget that China and Japan have been total colonizers as were the Ottoman Turks as were the Mongolians, etc etc. as were many, if not all other empires/cultures and races throughout human history. What the Japanese did to the Chinese during the Indochina war and WWll is beyond our modern conception of barbarity and made even Nazi officials blanche and consider disavowing their Japanese allies as 'too barbaric'. My own native tribal ancestors were both colonizers and the colonized, and sometimes even both at the same time. I find the self hatred of our own western civilization that seems to be getting stronger lately, quite disturbing. It is good to review and try to understand our history, but not so good to blame our own ancestors and government for every single bad thing that has ever happened around the world. We live in an indulgent time of self reflection that is going toxic imo. Most of us here have no idea what it is like to really have to fight for survival or what horrible choices our ancestors had to make.
Thanks, Rainbow Medicine-Walker. I consider your eloquent words a completion (in the Vygotskian sense) or a friendly amendment (in the Robert's Rules of Order sense). Our so-called (and actual!) leaders have been failing us for a long time. Hopefully, ordinary people will build a better world that doesn't require war and lying
Another important book is "A Death In November" by Ellen Hammer. It tells the story of how the U.S. State Department conspired throughout 1963 against JFK and his agreement with Ngo Dinh Diem, President of the Republic of Vietnam, to begin to remove the military advisers. The 16,000 American troops was seen as an investment in assuring the security of Vietnam against Communism, and when Henry Cabot Lodge replaced Frederick Nolting as Ambassador to Vietnam in the summer of 1963, it was Lodge who set in motion the military coup that brought down Diem on November 1st. JFK was eliminated just three weeks later. LBJ would escalate the war in Vietnam, rather than end the U.S. involvement. He hated Kennedy.
Yes, full disclosure would lance the boil. But maybe a 'little' disclosure is necessary first before everything is fully exposed.
After all, there is only so much the public can take in altogether. Do you clench your teeth as you rip off the band-aid in one quick action? Or do you ease it gently and slowly away from your skin, maybe pausing several times before it is eventually comes off? The first option might seem better. But are we ready for it? I mean REALLY ready?
I think the gentler option is what we'll actually get. It seems fairer to ease people into the truth, a bit at a time. It's happening already, and, like reading a thriller, those who want a bit more can skip ahead a few pages to find out what happens next. Or, as in a Netflix series released only a few episodes at a time, we can't binge-watch it all in one sitting. The final episode will appear after the intervening twists and turns have prepared our minds for the denouement. Even then I suspect it will be a shocker.
The lies do not stop with the JFK event. Imagine the layers over the last 60 years in every aspect of governmental systems. We are not children anymore. It is time to see what lies under the layers; this is the only way forward as a society. Many have said that society can't take the truth, but I beg to differ. These last four years have opened the doors to the reveal in the mass population because people are starting to question many things. There is an ill wind that blows no good and the medical event certainly was beneficial in opening many eyes. It is time my friend, delay only creates more damage. The healing must begin; it is time to build the new.
This column really spoke to me - and this anniverary was every so important. What a 60th anniversary I have had - and I think you were the catalyst for its resonance.
This was my day: https://wvmetronews.com/2023/11/22/charleston-woman-marks-60th-anniversary-of-kennedy-assassination/?fbclid=IwAR1l-o-_uOHRiTVh3AcXMlvmheYNREWhUULN5xVgZ1tOe9MaRECutnljW2M
and then my Jackie doll changed from her pink suit and went with me to a tribute to The Band, which was an awesome way to power thru this dreary, mournful day.
I was thirteen when JFK died, and even then I felt that he was a kind of guiding spirit, like Michael, I suppose. Over these 60 years, much has become known from the initial reports of a lone gunman shooting from behind. The Zapruder film was withheld for twelve years, which was the time it took for Vietnam to be lost to the Communist north of Ho Chi Minh. JFK intended to end the U.S. involvement in Vietnam with his re-election in 1964, but alas, became the victim of a mafia-style assassination perpetrated by his own protective service force, the Secret Service. He was murdered by the driver of the limo he was traveling in; William Greer. A book was written about this in 1974, but remained unpublished for nearly 40 years due to the controversy of implicating government forces in the assassination. "Murder From Within" by Fred Newcomb and Perry Adams.
Jackie is known for admiring her husband's efforts for the good of South America, with his Alliance for Progress project, as well as the Peace Corps, and Profiles in Courage. Yes, the world lost a veritable Michael spirit that day, 60 years ago. Does America have an evil twin? That has been proposed. A Doppelganger out to do no good under the guise of the Spirit of Freedom and Love.
Disclosure?
Maybe go back to the very beginning and follow the evidence from there...First nations people have known this, been pointing ti out since the beginning...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Vfznw67kAA