Kevin Duffy on GameStop narratives

The GameStop frenzy has struck a nerve with so many because it represents a morality play: David vs. Goliath, outsiders vs. insiders, the downtrodden upending the corrupt financial elites. To many long-time critics of bailouts, the Reddit crowd who made out like bandits signifies the beginning of a long-awaited populist revolt. To the young and tech savvy, this is the passing of the old guard which offers a glimpse of the future. 

Lost in all of the hysteria and spin is the real struggle taking place on Wall Street, that between bulls and bears. After 12 years of nonstop Federal Reserve-abetted asset inflation, the bulls have been winning so often, their ranks have swelled while those of the bearish community have dwindled. The short seller, that most extreme expression of skepticism, has nearly gone extinct. It was he who the Reddit crowd targeted and whose grave they’re now dancing on.

~ Kevin Duffy, "Game Over," LewRockwell.com, February 1, 2021

Tom Woods on the changing Covid narrative

Maybe you've noticed the same phenomenon I have.  There's a sudden and distinct ratcheting down of the COVID hysteria in some quarters.  My old friend Steve Deace, the radio host, even compiled a bunch of them. 

For example: 

NPR headline the day before the inauguration: 

"As Death Rate Accelerates, U.S. Records 400,000 Lives Lost to the Coronavirus" 

NPR headline the day after the inauguration: 

"Current, Deadly U.S. Coronavirus Surge Has Peaked, Experts Say" 

Then, too: 

The governor of Kansas lowered the PCR testing threshold (it's still too high, but that's a step in the right direction). 

Washington, D.C., is reopening bars and restaurants, and Massachusetts is easing restrictions. 

In Chicago, the mayor is calling for bars and restaurants to reopen as soon as possible, and unionized teachers are being punished for not returning to in-person instruction. 

The so-called Republican governor of Maryland is suddenly demanding the return of in-person schooling, arguing that there is absolutely no scientific justification for any further delay. 

I've already written to you about the governor of New York urging that the state must reopen or "nothing left to open." 

And then the World Health Organization issued a document, one hour after Biden was sworn in, explaining that PCR cycle thresholds were too high, and our obsession with asymptomatics too great. 

Now look: this could all just be an amazing coincidence.  I do not rule that out.  I am saying only that it's interesting.  Because it is, isn't it?

~ Tom Woods, January 22, 2021

Bretigne Shaffer on official narratives

Some very powerful and very deep narratives have been crafted and fed to us over generations.  What are those narratives?  Primarily, that freedom is dangerous and that the state is a benign entity that acts for the good of “the people”, and that we, “the people,” control it. 

This narrative is deadly.

~ Bretigne Shaffer, "Letter to My Grandchildren from Inside a Cult," LewRockwell.com, November 18, 2020

Jason Riley on the race industry in America

We're not post-racial, but I'd argue that the Left has no interest in being post-racial. They claim they want to be post-racial, but they really don't. They want to keep race front and center in our national conversations, because it serves their agenda that racism is the all-purpose explanation for what ails black America. There are a lot of people making a lot of money on that narrative, and they want to keep it out there. There are political parties who gain and keep political power with that narrative out there, and they want to keep talking about it.

~ Jason Riley, "Black Americans Failed by Good Intentions: An Interview with Jason Riley," 17:22 mark, Reason TV, September 3, 2014

Bionic Mosquito on the destructive narratives of 2020

People live in and act on a narrative, not in an idea – and for sure not in the most obscure and hidden reaches of an idea.  If this isn’t obvious today – with the narrative of destruction and evil that turns ordinary men into sycophants demanding mask wearing and abnormal men into burning and looting everything in sight – then it will never be obvious.

~ Bionic Mosquito, "The Ideal of Humility," LewRockwell.com, July 2, 2020

Vasko Kohlmayer on the twilight zone of official narratives in the Soviet Union

The narrative of the twilight zone of my youth went roughly as follows: Socialism was the greatest socio-economic system ever devised while capitalism was very, very bad. The Soviet Union was a paradisiacal land of freedom, opportunity, prosperity and happiness. The United States, on the other hand, was a country of exploitation and oppression where most people were bound, destitute and miserable. This official narrative was constantly and relentlessly promulgated from every quarter of our twilight zone: television, radio, textbooks, arts, newspapers, magazines, etc. Needless to say, the narrative ran in complete contravention of reality. The actual truth was that socialism was no good. On the other hand, most people in the United States were free, quite prosperous and reasonably happy while the Soviet Union was pretty much an all-around hellhole.

Those who attempted to point out the truth or question the authorized storyline were promptly silenced, suppressed and punished. As a result of the swift and efficient censorship the false narrative prevailed and took a deep hold on the societal mind. And because it served as the paradigm for reality, it distorted and turned upside down almost every aspect of life: the good was bad and bad was good; white was black and black was white. The values and ethics in the twilight zone became inverted.

~ Vasko Kohlmayer, "Twilight Zone USA," LewRockwell.com, June 19, 2020

H.L. Mencken on the wisdom of the average citizen

I am suspicious of all things the average citizen believes.

~ H.L. Mencken

Caitlin Johnstone on official narratives

It’s much easier to continue believing the official narratives than to sort through everything you’ve been told about your society, your nation and your world since grade school and work out what’s true and what’s false. Many don’t have the time. Many more don’t have the courage.

~ Caitlin Johnstone, "Propaganda is the Root of All Our Problems," LewRockwell.com, June 14, 2019