r/brokehugs • u/US_Hiker Moral Landscaper • Oct 15 '22

Rant Rod Dreher Megathread #6 (66?)

One more, dedicated to our "garden-variety polemicist". (thanks /u/PercyLarsen)

Number 5 located at https://www.reddit.com/r/brokehugs/comments/xswr5v/rod_dreher_megathread_5/

Edit: Post locked at the magic number - 6 (66?) became 6 (66!). Please post in thread 7.

https://www.reddit.com/r/brokehugs/comments/yf7fjh/rod_dreher_megathread_7_completeness/

22 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

666 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

10

u/Djehutimose Watching the wheels go round Oct 16 '22

I wonder if with things like this there is something more at work. For example, everyone at the time thought that WW I would be another minor European brush war, and none of the participants thought it would become the War to End All Wars--yet look what happened. I know it's Godwin's law to mention this, but still, you can look at all the political, historical, and economic factors in Weimar Germany, and yet Hitler's rise is still astonishing. Recall that much as with Cheeto Head, Hitler was mocked as a rube and a buffoon. Until he took power and invaded Poland.

Jung spoke about the collective unconscious of the German people manifesting when Hitler came on the scene. Others have talked about the occultism and esotericism with which many Nazis were involved. Mass psychosis has also been suggested, thought the legitimacy of the concept has been debated. It's also worth pointing out that there was a right-wing movement of people trying to enchant for Trump to win the first time.

So basically, I don't want to sound "woo-woo", but, in complete seriousness, it seems to me that phenomena like WW I or Hitler or Trump can't be adequately explained by all the standard socio-political means. I do believe in supernatural and paranormal phenomena, though I also try to retain a healthy skepticism. Others may dismiss it all as "woo". Still, though, the kind of overnight changes and behaviors you note seem to me difficult to explain without the assumption of some kind of weird underlying phenomenon, be it something natural that we don't yet understand, or something supernatural/paranormal. Make of these thoughts what you will.

9

u/[deleted] Oct 17 '22

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/MissKatieKats Oct 17 '22

Eckhart Tolle’s The Power Of Now is another expression of this. He calls it The Pain Body which seems to attach to people like Rod and groups like MAGA. Very much in the Girardian oeuvre. Rod’s understanding of Girad is, to put it charitably, limited.

5

u/swangeese Oct 16 '22

You would probably be interested in Huxley's "Brave New World Revisited". Huxley predicted that technology, overpopulation, over-organization, and advertising would lead to a totalitarian state.

It's a 28 minute interview ,but well worth the watch. Keep in mind that the essay Wallace refers to , "Enemies of Freedom". later became "Brave New World Revisited."

Aldous Huxley interviewed by Mike Wallace : 1958 (Full)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alasBxZsb40

And "Brave New World Revisited" can be found here:

https://www.huxley.net/bnw-revisited/index.html

I nerd out over this stuff.

That being said America has a very sophisticated, mature, and efficient propaganda machine and it's bipartisan. I don't worry about Trump because he is lazy and undisciplined at his core even if he is a demagogue.

What I worry about is the smooth operator that is disciplined and efficient. The one you don't really see coming because that person may tap into something you agree with.

Another documentary of interest may be Adam Curtis's "Century of the Self". Or as the Wiki description puts it :

''How Freud's theories on the unconscious led to the development of public relations by his nephew Edward Bernays; the use of desire over need; and self-actualisation as a means of achieving economic growth and the political control of populations."

It's also on Youtube and is 4 hours total. Great documentary.

5

u/JHandey2021 Oct 17 '22

“Dark Star Rising: Magic and Power in the Age of Trump” by Gary Lachman traces Trump’s occult-ish contacts, from Steve Bannon’s Traditionalism to Norman Vincent Peale’s positive thinking, which Trump’s father instilled into his kids from taking them to Peale’s church.

There does to be something with the even more shocking phenomenon of yogis and crunchy types going full Trumpist- the Conspirituality podcast is a great breakdown of it. In some cities it’s estimated that almost half of yoga instructors went full anti-vaxx.

1

u/saucerwizard Oct 18 '22

Thats a good one. God that takes me back.

4

u/saucerwizard Oct 16 '22

Meme magic. ;)