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I’ve tried to understand the increasingly cult-like liberal mindset. I’ve asked questions of friends but have seen that asking questions is now akin to calling them names or spitting on their dogs. I’ve seen my close, super intelligent friends hold these ever-changing talking points (totally upside down from one week to the next) as their bible. The faithful do not question. When did being a liberal also require that you turn your brain off?

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The "New Left" America that was born in the 60s was based on the ideas of intellectuals who were utterly traumatized by WWII. Germany had been the apotheosis of Western Rationalism/Enlightenment. The takeaway by New Left thinkers such as Herbert Marcuse or Erich Fromm was that Western Rationalism ultimately leads to genocide. An offshoot of New Left thinking was post-modernism. This school of thought "Deconstructs" the entirety of Western Rationalism in favor of "lived experiences" and "personal truths."

In answer to your question, you are NOT imagining things. There has been a deliberate attempt by academia (especially at the Ivy League) and corporations managed by Ivy League graduates to attack the Rationalist tradition of Western thought in favor of relative truth. That is correct, the universities that Americans have been borrowing money to attend are purposely turning them away from logical thought toward personal feelings. The end result is the society you see around you, one that began to metastasize around the 2016 election.

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Going back to the sixties isn't necessary in order to figure this out.

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I am a liberal Democrat, and I am against all the "woke" stuff. Although it is only liberals who are going in for the "woke" stuff, there are probably just as many liberals pushing back against it. All those feminists who are opposed to trans women in their spaces are liberals.

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"there are probably just as many liberals pushing back against it..."

I live in the UK, so a different milieu, but I've yet to encounter any of these 'pushback' enthusiasts among the liberals of my acquaintance.

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Agree! The vast majority of liberal people I know think I've gone nuts (if they follow me at all, which hopefully most don't.) Though did you see the John Boynan apology to Graham Linehan? I think the cultural elites are a slightly more brave here, and it is TERF island after all! overall the Brits are a bit more disagreeable than the Yanks -- generalisation, obvs -- and it shows.

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founding

I desperately wish I felt the same (that there are “just as many liberals pushing back.” While there are a few brave feminists, they’re still excoriated at “terfs” and worse- assaulted physically and every other way, and have zero support in mainstream media, academia or even K-12 educational brainwashing.

In popular culture, Bill Maher and Jon Stewart seem to be somewhat cognizant, but that have very solid standing as somewhat controversial truth-tellers. Even someone as “huge” as Dave Chapelle is in the sights of the cancel mob.

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I agree with you sort of on Maher -- Jon Stewart has 100 percent sold his soul to the devil. See what he did to Andrew Sullivan (hardly a fire-breathing Trump fan) -- one of the most disgusting things I have watched on TV. And I find Sullivan immensely irritating!

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Totally fair point - I wasn’t saying either one of them are leading any kind of brave battle - just that at times they have been liberal outliers and have recognized/admitted seeing some of the incredibly illiberal things going on.

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I recently tried to explain the way I feel to a friend living abroad who takes the media at face value. You did a better job in your last paragraph that I did in a series of emails to that person. It all feels very dark right now. And the threat to “democracy” is coming from the people that use that phrase constantly. It’s all the cult tactics all the time, coming from the far left.

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Fantastic, absolutely fantastic. I cannot thank you enough for mentioning the Time Magazine article which was published in February 2021. Every time someone talks about election deniers I mention that it’s all written out in that article. They look at me like I’m crazy because clearly they haven’t ever read it. And yes it was all in plain site. Brilliant that you pointed it out!

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Stated simply, they have transformed Trump from a narcissistic billionaire into Nelson Mandela. The democrats and RINOs have misjudged the public’s trust in the system, and every indictment is more proof that he is the enemy of a corrupt establishment.

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Even if he's not a committed enemy, he obviously scares them, in that they feel their grip on power loosening.

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"[T]o me it looks more like the continuation of a slow-moving coup to protect powerful, unelected and corrupt officials from the coming wrath of the regular American voter." I agree completely, and it scares the shit out of me what is going on now in the US (and other Western "democracies"). Even now, though (oddly enough), I still carry a sense of hope. My hope is not rooted, however, in our current political system, but in the power of the individual. I have no confidence in the voting system of the U.S. anymore. It's too easy to hack into all the electronic voting machines. For the first time in my life, during the last presidential election, I didn't vote (for all the other past presidential elections, I'd always voted for the Democrat). For the 2020 election, I was too disgusted by both Biden and Trump; however, now I see Trump as the "lesser of two evils." I thought, for sure, that Trump was going to win the last election (and perhaps he would have if the Hunter Biden laptop story had not been covered up). If I had known that the laptop story was legit, I would have voted for Trump. This election, I may vote for Trump, in order to protest the Biden Administration; however, even if Trump were to receive the most votes in our next election, I doubt that the "Deep State" would allow him back in the White House. I do feel that, in the end, Goodness will prevail; however, I don't think that will happen until individuals stop looking to "authority figures" to tell them what to do. Humans need to learn how to listen to and trust their own hearts, and to utilize their brains by doing their own thinking and reasoning.

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The future is local. Get active locally. Do it today.

https://lorendean.substack.com/p/the-future-is-local-afghanistan-the

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Your last two points are what I think get referred to as 'the conscious soul', and we need lots and lots of these types of souls right now.

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Last two sentences are where people need to start (it’s exactly where I started), but I found I couldn’t stay there because it seemed there was always the possibility of being deceived. Several years ago I read a few Christian apologetic books focused on rational arguments for several truth claims made by Christians. Once I began to distinguish the use of language as a tool for logical discourse compared to a tool for rhetoric, I started to really wake up. Just searching around using keywords like “rhetoric and language” and “rhetoric vs logic” led me to researching “relativism” and “humanism”.

So for me, it seems when you begin to move away from “seeking truth outside yourself” to “seeking truth within yourself” it leads you to a relativistic/humanism type of worldview. And for me, I just don’t think that worldview can withstand real scrutiny (at least if you think about it on the timeline of a persons life). Everyone sees the fallibility inherent in us all, so to me that suggests truth cannot truly come from within us, but from something outside us. We obviously have capability to distinguish truth, but we also have capability to be deceived.

So, for several years now, I have started to try and distill information down to what is true, and what is false, and it’s exhausting! You see the exhaustion in people everywhere- people being completely disillusioned, people getting so angry, people getting so scared, etc. because I think they are so tired trying to distinguish what is true and what is false. Just stripping away the bombardment of rhetoric that people wrap around their “statements of truth” is exhausting, let alone digging into their sources being used to support their stated “truth”.

All that to say, I agree that putting your faith in authority figures will ultimately lead you astray, and thinking for yourself is essential. However, I (personally) have found putting my faith within myself kept leading me down the same path as faith in someone else. So, I asked myself what I should be using as my source for knowledge, found the term epistemology, read several truth claims of people whose worldview was based on something outside themselves, and landed on the statements of truth found in the Bible. Started with CS Lewis’s ‘Mere Christianity’ (learned he was an atheist who became a Christian with some help from JRR Tolkien!?) then Francis Schaeffer’s ‘How Should We Then Live’ and a few other books like ‘Evidence that Demands a Verdict’.

Again, not trying to push my worldview on anyone, but I thought this article was really great (it reminded me of my thought process that led me to where I am today), and I sorta felt compelled to share. I really appreciate these honest questions, and hope you are able to find some peace!

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You bring up a really good point, and you've helped me to realize that when I talk about "turning within" rather than looking outside myself to authority figures, I'm actually attempting to tune in to a power greater than my own small and limited mind. You can refer to this greater power as "God," ... or "that of God within me" (to borrow from the Quakers), or "the Force" (to borrow from Star Wars), or the "Collective Unconscious" (to borrow from Carl Jung). I feel like/believe there's an Intelligence, greater than my small limited human mind, that I can only access it via quiet contemplation/meditation, and that "It" (this greater intelligence) knows more than I do. However, thanks to you, I now realize that I, too, am turning to an Authority Figure, it's just not a human authority figure.

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Your final two sentences are the truth and the way. Unfortunately, the chance of people thinking for themselves, rationally, is very slim.

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Jenny Holland: I have never read nor heard of you. I will now! What you've written here is platinum level prose. Your conclusion, that we could use a hero, is apt in that we are all down to our last years as the most successful republic of all time, and if (by miracle) this person comes along, even he/she cannot repair what's been damaged. The damage to the ship is catastrophic, the Great Reset is here. Kudos to you! Just don't wait for that hero too long, it be the Four Horsemen that are coming.

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Thank you!! And welcome. 😀

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yep. as a former Dem myself, I could have written this essay.

I hope that many others feels the same way.

the uncertainty and confusion are twisting me up inside.

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Thank you for this. We are in a second revolutionary period of American History, Trump is just the messenger. We don't get to choose our messengers they are always messy and complicated, because they are human. There are no superhero's, Hope and Change left the building after his first term and became more of the same. Go back and look at all of Trumps old interviews. There is one thing you will consistently and constantly see, and it's the only thing that matters. He loves this country. Love is all you need.

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YES!! I was listening to a history podcast about pre-Revolution America (a period I've never studied in school, having grown up outside the US) and I thought the exact same thing. Same elite incompetence making enemies out of loyal friends.

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Very good article. I think you are right on target!

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I liked this essay because it is authentic, direct, insightful and compelling. I think it represents what tens of millions of Americans are feeling. That the Trump - Tucker interview had about 200 million views. Can you imagine Biden getting even one tenth that many?

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Jenny, you continue to hit the nail on the head. Must be a product of thinking and having an open mind to explore the depth of what's presented.

Accept nothing, Question everything.

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Thanks Joe!

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Jenny, I fear like so many other Democrats, you were brain-washed into believing Hillary Clinton was a decent political person. The folks in Arkansas who actually KNEW her and Bill knew better. Bill's teenage confidante and later paramour Dolly Kyle revealed him and her for what they are, first in a novel - the Administration did everything in their power from seeing the light of day, then in a memoir. Whitewater partner Jim McDougal revealed him as just another Arkansas good old boy on the take, but described her as a conniving, manipulating con artist. Former prosecutor David Schippers, who headed the House Judiciary Committee investigation of Bill Clinton, laid out why he was corrupt and should have been removed from office. In short, the info was out there, you just didn't see it.

The Fulton County case is pure old dee crap, as we say in the South. You have a prosecuting attorney, originally from California and Washington, DC, raised by a Black Power activist and a Democrat partisan who is the DA in one of the most crime-ridden counties in the world, yet she's devoting her time to building a spurious case against Trump. She should be impeached for failing to do her job and wasting taxpayer money in a political crusade. It should be obvious to anyone with an open mind that ALL of the investigations are merely political theater and election interference. Smith charged Trump under the Espionage Act, which was written to address spying for Germany during a time of war. It DOES NOT apply to mishandling of classified information. While government agencies have regulations pertaining to mishandling of documents, they are not covered by the Espionage Act. Like Willis, Smith is a political hack. So, it appears, is Judge Chutka, who is Jamaican by birth and raising and seems to have no compunction about the concept of free speech and the First Amendment, as evidenced by her rulings in the trials of January 6 defendants. She repeatedly doled out excessive sentences that prosecutors didn't even ask for.

There is no doubt these relentless prosecutions are backfiring and now it is coming out that Biden has been on the take, and that he and his family have been receiving bribes from Ukrainian as well as Chinese companies. He's going to be impeached. Of course, Democrats will keep him in office because they hold the Senate.

As far as what has happened to the Left, it's really nothing new. The Left has been aiming to remake the United States into their own image since 1860, back when progressives were the Republicans, particularly the Radicals, and Democrats were on the Right.

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Trump's mugshot is reminiscent of the old pictures of Churchill in Churchillian defiance against the forces of tyranny. I am not a mindless cheerleader for Trump (I'm not pleased with his many criticisms of DeSantis, for example) but he was a very good President in many ways, and the transparently political indictments are disgusting. You mentioned that this would be a good time for a hero to come along and I and many others believe that one soon will when Jesus Christ raptures his true followers and removes them before the great tribulation to come, and when, after the tribulation, he returns to rule over the Millennial Kingdom. There will still be a chance to choose to follow Christ during the tribulation for those who are still alive, but it will be a terrible thing to go through. The best thing is to choose to follow Christ now before the rapture of true followers of Christ occurs. There is a lot of misinformation out there about all of this, so I recommend christinprophecy.org and olivetreeviews.org for biblically based information.

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Jesus can't run for president--born outside the U.S. to foreign parents.

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Yes, I know what the Constitutional requirements for the presidency are. I also know that, although we should do everything that we can to get a decent President, we are far beyond the point where even a good President is going to solve the decay as we race toward the culmination of history as we know it.

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Dear Cary, you have to admit that his beard, his "dark" features, and his tirades against the rich and powerful will appeal to self-hating white liberal Millennials. Ironically, he may get the majority of the Democrat establishment behind him :)

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I remember his popularity among a certain kind of young people in the late '60s, which I suspect was largely inspired by the beard and long hair. Maybe today he'd appeal to college kids more if he died his hair purple or had a man-bun, and wore hipster skinny pants. Instead of walking on water, he could ride an electric scooter.

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Many have tried over the years to make Jesus Christ into their favorite thing, however superficial. What is needed is finding out about the real Jesus Christ and the Bible is the place to do that. He was predicted by Hebrew prophets of old. He revealed himself during his brief public ministry. His death and resurrection impacted those close to him to the point where they were willing to be martyred to get his message out to the world. Two thousand years later, people are looking forward to his return which could be at any moment since all of the signs of his soon coming are now here.

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Various prophets have been saying for centuries that all the signs are aligned for Jesus to return any moment. I, for one, don't relish this happening any time soon. I still have things to do. I hope he waits at least twenty-five years or so.

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People have thought that they were in end times in previous historical periods, but the signs were not there in the way that they have converged in recent years. Many would like more time on this earth, but it could happen at any time. Nobody knows the day or the hour and, if they pretend to, they are fakes, but any informed person can recognize the signs of the times.

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Not much chance of getting the Democrat establishment behind him. He would not pretend that they are without sin.

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Nothing a little time in the tanning booth and a tangle teezer couldn't fix.

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Nicely done.

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I like these substack articles, but did a double-take on 'a seasoned, cool-headed pro like Hillary Clinton'. The author must have missed the 'basket of deplorables' bit. A reveal every bit as good as the curtain coming back on the Wizard of Oz.

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Hi! And thanks! I think my point was that at the time, I was still living in the matrix (so to speak) and still believed at least some of what the media was telling me. So while I remember wincing at that remark because it was terrible, I ultimately shrugged it off because I had bought into the narrative that HRC and Obama etc were decent, grown up leaders.

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This was very articulated and helped straighten out some of my thinking about this exceedingly important issue. Thx, Jenny. But I'm still lost.

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Thank you!!

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Embarrassing to read this again with my bad grammar. "very well* articulated." I hope that's better.

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I hadn't noticed!! Probably because I also need an editor, as my mother often points out. 🤣🤣🤣

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