America's Obedient Narcissists

From my "I Protest" Substack ( May 2022) at donaldjeffries.substack.com

This is another in a continuing series of previously published articles. New articles are posted regularly at my primary “I Protest” Substack here: donaldjeffries.substack.com

We’ve all seen the 1976 film Network, my friend John Barbour’s favorite. The angry newscaster played by Peter Finch urged the audience to declare “We’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore!” I don’t even recall what Finch was that mad about. 1976 sure looks pretty good in retrospect. But we all ought to be very, very mad.

This whole Monkeypox thing has pushed me further towards the edge. Further down the rabbit hole. Exactly when are they going to stop? America 2.0 has become a nightmarish theme park of fear. One crisis after another. Viruses. Shortages. Wars. Frightening weather. Orwell’s fictional Oceana is beginning to look good by comparison. Can we at least get a fifteen minute break from all the fear porn, like the millions of criminally underpaid blue-collar workers enjoy?

How did this country manage to avoid Monkeypox, or really any pox, for so long? Weren’t we told that these were diseases of the past, or maladies that still effected only the poorest nations? What blockbuster classic will be the next to literally go viral- yellow fever? Consumption? Diphtheria? Leprosy? And we have to be concerned for our children now being susceptible to heart disease. Nothing to do with them being “warp speed” vaccinated. Combined with the “Woke” agenda turning them into sexual creatures as soon as they walk, it’s goodbye childhood innocence.

Lost in all this barrage of terrifying news is the role our stupendously bad Medical Industrial Complex plays here. Let’s laughably assume that all these viruses and plagues are just as real and dangerous as the state controlled “journalists” tell us. Why isn’t our sinfully expensive “healthcare” system able to deal with them? To protect us from dying from antiquated diseases? How come this bloated and corrupt monstrosity never gets scrutinized or criticized? They are the third leading cause of death in America, and they have shown themselves to be utterly ineffective against the real maladies we already were facing, let alone any new ones.

How many trillions have been spent on “researching” cancer, which is a “pandemic,” if anything can be called that, lasting for more than a century now? As I detail in my book Crimes and Cover-Ups in American Politics, 1776-1963, cancer was virtually unheard of until the early twentieth century. Several doctors at the time questioned the connection between the explosion of cancer and the introduction of vaccines. We have made little progress in fighting this disease that has impacted every family in America. It’s a disgrace that childhood cancer rates have skyrocketed in recent years.

Do you hear anyone in the public eye pointing out these valid concerns? Holding “healthcare professionals” feet to the fire for their abysmal failures? The cost of “healthcare” in this country, for everything, is so shockingly high that the least we could expect is that we get what we overpay for. But we don’t. “Medical care” killed my very healthy brother in two weeks. It’s killed lots of others, far more than it has saved. Life expectancy here, in the country spending the most on “healthcare,” has dropped now for the past several years. Whatever they’re doing, it’s not working.

But no one is examining this awful system, which we’re all more dependent on than ever, given the stress produced by the rigged and rotten economy, and the fact we’re turning into an obese eyesore, thanks to processed foods, corn syrup, unnecessary preservatives and chemicals, and the fact healthy eating choices are often out of the price ranges of the masses. Instead, most are doubling down in support of it. And, of course, now all food prices are soaring. Why? Well, shortages. Even though we’ve been paying farmers not to grow crops, and/or to destroy them, for decades, somehow we still don’t have enough to go around. Baby Formula. Fertilizer. Blame Russia. It’s a Putin thing, you wouldn’t understand.

I reached my tipping point about forty years ago. Most Americans clearly don’t have a tipping point. Out leaders are literally copying Orwell at this point, and just cavalierly announcing a new shortage of something, without any explanation whatsoever. No Victory gin, comrades! Right after proclaiming that we need to be prepared to confront yet another virus or pox. For which there will thankfully be yet another vaccine for us to take. More “healthcare” from the folks who are responsible for more deaths than anything other than cancer and heart disease, and are tenaciously slashing life expectancy rates. And charging ever more for it, while lapping up nonstop undeserved praise.

If the Medical Industrial Complex was doing its job, was remotely worth even a fraction of what it costs, then shouldn’t they be able to quickly combat any virus or pox? What with all that advanced technology they’re constantly bragging about. What does this technology do, exactly? It hasn’t helped to eradicate cancer, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease (and where did that come from- did Gehrig invent it?), hemophilia, Down Syndrome, Multiple Dystrophy, Multiple Sclerosis, Cerebral Palsy, and so many other tragic ailments. And yet this system- which has failed miserably- is the one running the COVID narrative, and the one we’re all urged to go to when we’re feeling bad. Or not. My brother was only one of millions who were “asymptomatic” only to be told, by these same failures, that they were actually deathly sick. Ask your doctor!

Probably every family in this country has had at least one bad experience with the Medical Industrial Complex. I’ve heard many horror stories about incompetent and insensitive doctors and nurses, mindless mistakes, shameful medical bills. Yet the country as a whole still trusts these people with their lives. Would you keep going back to the same car dealer if you kept getting lemons? Our “healthcare” system sells nothing but lemons.

It’s not just the Medical Industrial Complex by any measure. Our political “representatives” are front and center, as always. They have shut us down, and terrorized us with draconian, unconstitutional measures for the past two years, and the public has the chance to take them to task at the polls. Uh….no. The electoral system is hopelessly corrupted. They aren’t counting the votes. And if they are counting them, well….that would be far worse. That would mean that the voters are wildly approving of their “performance” in office. Because you can bet the farm that over 90 percent of incumbents will be reelected in November. That never varies.

America has turned amazingly narcissistic, and whatever anger they might feel at the many inconveniences and injustices they’ve been subjected to during the “pandemic,” can quickly be assuaged with a nice selfie, or a word of encouragement from their BFFs. “You rock in that mask!” supersedes any questions about why the mask is being worn. The same crowd addicted to amusement park thrills that astronauts were subjected to during training, grew fearful enough of a dubious “virus” to give up what was left of their civil liberties, and cut ties with their closest loved ones. Not scared to go from 0-100 in five seconds, but terrified of hugging grandma. Makes sense.

Again, this Monkeypox thing really has me down. Maybe it will be a head fake, like Ebola and potential asteroid strikes. But after COVID, I think all bets are off. The rules have changed. Any Armageddon scenario seems possible now. We may get that fake alien invasion. And most will believe it’s real. They’ve seen Mars Attacks and Independence Day. They know the script. That’s the problem- Americans have absorbed so much cultural decadence over their lifetimes, they are incapable of thinking for themselves. Questioning the narrative makes you a “conspiracy theorist.”

If Peter Finch’s Howard Beale was mad as hell, how mad should present-day Americans be? We ought to be madder than hell over record-setting inflation, which is crushing the vast majority of Americans, who were already struggling from paycheck to paycheck in our pre-COVID casino economy. Those of us old enough to remember the “space age,” and all the glowing optimism about the fantastic future advancements, ought to be outraged at the Banana Republic we’ve been bequeathed instead. Watching the things predicted at the New York World’s Fair, compared to the cold bleakness of 2022, makes one want to cry. Or to be a lot angrier than Howard Beale ever was.

America, despite the hidden history of corruption, truly was once the hope of all the world. The only ones who still think it’s the hope of the world are those in countries who haven’t been “occupied” by it in the name of “freedom,” or those who’ve never been here in this century. For those of you who don’t know, there is literal crap in the streets of major American cities. Human crap. And the authorities don’t even try to clean it up. To think they used to make fun of India.

If Monkeypox becomes the next thing, the new COVID with a bullet, it will be brought to you by the same usual suspects. “Science,” the Medical Industrial Complex, our embarrassing politicians, and the state-controlled media. Oh, and there are certain to be some dire posts from our celebrity friends. Get your Monkeyvax! “Science,” led by noted nonscientist Bill Gates, will tell you what to do. You don’t need to think at all. Just follow instructions. They know you’re really good at that.

Maybe they’ll back off the Monkeypox panic. Still waiting to see if they decide to go with World War 3. Doesn’t really look that way now. Hard to sell a war when insidious rock star/Foundation mogul Bono is giving a concert in the midst of the conflict. Or the aforementioned fake alien invasion. Congress just held hearings on UFOs. After decades of ridiculing the millions who’d seen them, there has to be some reason for this abrupt change. I’m guessing Project Bluebeam.

So buckle up. Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water. Or the trees. Or take off your mask. Or hug another human. Think again. To paraphrase the Hall of Fame conspirator Franklin D. Roosevelt, the only thing we have is fear itself. Be afraid. Be very afraid. No one gets out of here alive. They aren’t taking their feet off of the accelerator. It’s full speed ahead into the Great Unknown. No one’s going to stop the madness. The inmates are running the asylum. We tried to warn you. Now life is imitating the most apocalyptic science fiction.