“Next time your phone buzzes, recognize beyond the addiction pattern...”.
Next time your phone buzzes, throw the damn thing in the trash where it belongs. I don’t want to hear about ‘convenience’ and ‘the necessity to have one’. That's making excuses for the devil in your hand.
The bottom line is that these have become tools of destruction to steal away your humanity and suck the life and soul right out of your heavily-addicted body.
There is nothing wrong with Smart Tech at the basic level. These are tools to be used like your toaster or can opener. But that is when these are used with neutral or even positive intent. These devices could have been designed and used for The Good and the benefit of the human family that craves real connection among ourselves and not the phony ‘connections’ of emails and texts and videos and the addiction of craving ‘Likes’ and the approval of others.
Instead, those who produce these digital demons and those run the internet platforms and those who work without stop to control narratives (and YOUR mind and to conjure non-truths as ‘truth’ have nothing with bad intent in their hearts and minds.
Stay addicted if you like. That’s your choice. But realize that every single moment you spend on your Not-So-Smart-To-Have-Phone is not only one less moment of Life you will experience and that you are robbing yourself of real experiences and real things... but that with every moment that goes by you have much less life energy and that much left of what is left of your mind and soul.
You think the cellphone bill you pay every month is too high? That’s not the half of it. The cost is your very soul. But it seems that many people already have decided that their soul has no value anyway so what's the harm.
Going through your life with your eyes glued to a tiny screen and a dead and blank look on your ashen face and a device permanently attached to your betraying hand? Locked into a dead and programmed moment that seems to last forever. With no reflections about the past... no reality in your present moment... and no thoughts about the future. You have now been fully programmed from being live, flesh-and-blood person to a THING. An object. Just something to be manipulated by hidden forces that hate you.
I do not have a Smart Phone. I followed my own advise and threw the damn thing in the garbage can a long time ago. Obviously I use the web -- but for my reasons and with mental and spiritual safeguards always securely in place.
And similarly, the strictest Amish eschewed all technology.... or did they? They chose which level of technology they interpreted God wanted humans to use. Some refused cars and tractors, others only found issue with the chrome on said tool, and painted the decorative bits flat black... erm, OK. I missed the part in the Bible where God says painting black over gold and silver changed the venal temptations such shiny things presented. That's the joy of such moral interpretations, very solid until they are not.
A phone, the internet, are just tools, and the latest iterations merely highlight the informational/authoritarian issues humans have struggled with since some 'elder' looked at the stars and the earth around and decided he/she had 'The Answer', with the social/physical power to convince, or force, others agree. What to believe in, which narrative served an individual's particular world-view and aspirations, let alone survival in a independent-thinking-hostile society? Stay in lockstep with the tribe/ethnicity/nation you were born into, or dare to be different?
Until very recently, the Past wasn't what we would now call actual factual history, it was simply part of the the unquestionable prevailing 'received wisdom' narrative. The Future was what God and the elders claimed God 'meant' to have occur. Eventually... after that particular generation of elders and minions were gone, so can't blame those who continue to carry that torch. Just read your Holy Tomes, it's all the knowledge a simple human needs.
"soul"... such a loaded term, and too often a covert nihilism swipe at non-believers' ability to be intelligent, altruistic and moral without blindly accepting the existence of some poorly-defined and unprovable phenomena. Whatever provides the sentience humans enjoy, we have no means to define it, let alone factually attribute it to some omnipresent, omnipotent metaphysical intelligent creator-being. But "Everyone knows" humans have "souls"... and animals don't, right?
Josh does great service revealing the recent history of Oligarchic manipulations, but the current techno-abuse rides on the ancient sea of covertly employed, ubiquitous Received Wisdom. If people can be convinced to believe something fundamental that isn't real, the more not-real things they can be similarly convinced of.
There are means to reduce the reach of the techno-feudalists, but again these require the user to 'be different'. As Tucker Carlson discovered when the US gov't hacked his Signal account, if the techno-lords want access, they will get it. But they can't target us all to that extent 24/7, and relying on AI to do the data-mining grunt work is still energy-limited pie-in-the-sky at this point. But if they can obscure this flaw, or preemptively convince us to surrender to their 'inescapable' reach, half the battle is won.
The current model of techno-feudalism has become very complex, and with complexity comes increased potential points of failure.
I use Graphene OS on my Google Pixel, and Brave Browser/Search on my computer. Ya, TOR and a VPN etc. would do more, but I think of it as challenging the techno-lords to waste resources trying to figure out why I do so, only to find I pose no significant threat to their agenda. Other than being one of literal billions of points of light they would have to constantly and closely monitor to be absolutely certain of their Panopticon.
“Whatever provides the sentience humans enjoy, we have no means to define it, let alone factually attribute it to some omnipresent, omnipotent metaphysical intelligent creator-being.”
We cannot and should not ‘define’ it – for that is living stuck at the gross rational mind level. Divinity is known and felt at a much deeper and richer level that the rational mind cannot rival or comprehend. Many people are stuck at the rational level and just fine with that. But that’s OK for them unless and until they begin to see and sense how limiting and restrictive that is and how much that denies the truth of our living in our Energetic Universe which is today being revealed well by Quantum Physics.
The bottom line – particularly in a World and Age where Technology is taking over everything – is that Tech is a (never-living-and-never-will) tool and we humans are the magical life-force which Tech can never be (sorry, Transhumanists).
Tools forever must be our SERVANTS and never OUR MASTERS. We must always be Technology’s masters and never its slave. This is not what the Globalists want – They want humans to be (mostly dead) Things and to stop behind living and thriving humans.
And sadly, billions of people on this Planet today have no problem with that and and going right along with it. Like people caught raging floodwaters and they don’t care that they are being carried to their destruction.
1) Cute 'I agree with you but...' trick: "We cannot and should not ‘define’ it"
I agree, we should not TRY to specifically define anything until we have enough actual information to do so. That's why they are called 'theories', because new information may require a change in our understanding. As opposed to harkening back to metaphysics and religion, which defines things based on superficial observations rooted in scientific ignorance.
Then you attempt to define sentience as a product of Divinity, which you claim supersedes rationality. (How Divinity is different than what has always been attributed to the Gods is another question promoters of it never explain.) And for good measure, you invoke actual science buried in metaphysical rhetoric as part of that claimed non-Definition. I'd be happy to let it ride if this belief in Divinity was presented as postulation, not presented as fact. Such is Belief... accepting things beyond what is known.
My position? It is human to try to explain the Universe. It is human to attempt to fill in the 'gaps' of actual knowledge, which includes some scientific theories that go far beyond our ability to empirically demonstrate. It's FUN to conjecture on what MIGHT be, but don't mistake such conjecture for being Reality.
Clinging to ancient concepts, even if only as 'metaphor', is counter-productive, especially when the best knowledge to date indicates we may never be able to define some things. As if humans actually defining everything about the Universe would make one iota of difference anywhere except on this tiny blue rock. Oh sorry, is that where Divinity slips in?
Which brings us back to your premise that most people 'can't' accept the fact the Ultimate Questions may NEVER be fully or accurately answered by science, philosophy OR theology. I don't think the masses have ever been given the chance to fully step out of the ancient metaphysical narrative, because there's always some leader (claiming spirituality or political TINA) willing to rejuvenate the dying ancient Gods, by whatever name.
The most freeing worlds in the Universe. "I DON'T KNOW." But that doesn't mean we should stop searching for answers.
2) OF COURSE technology (tools) should not be our masters. They aren't... our 'masters' are those that wield the technology as weapons against us.
"Globalists" The political and corporate puppets, and oligarchic wanna-be's on the Media stage? Or the pan-generational Oligarchic thieves never mentioned in the Media?
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, and be sure to shoot Toto before he pulls the curtain back.
“Then you attempt to define sentience as a product of Divinity...”.
Max Planck (Quantum Physicist): “I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness. Everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates consciousness.”
Sentience is not a ‘product of Divinity’. Sentience IS Divinity. They are inseparable.
“It is human to try to explain the Universe.”
I agree. It IS human to try to explain the Universe. And that is our problem. It lowers our consciousness to the more base-level of human reason. And that will never get anyone out of their existential maze. It leads nowhere out.
“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, and be sure to shoot Toto before he pulls the curtain back.”
Divinity IS the ‘man behind the curtain’... and Toto, too... and the tornado... and the curtain... and the consciousness that perceives this all... and then it is MORE than that.
Divinity can never be contained in a bottle. ‘It’ is transcendent and beyond understanding – even though we humans may be doomed to try to understand.
Consciousness is not only fundamental – it is Everything. There is no material world and never has been (sorry, Madonna)... as the smallest sub-atomic particles are pure energy when you look back far enough.
We ‘see’ the Curtain. We ‘see’ Toto. We ‘see’ the tornado. We ‘see’ with eyes and a brain. But when you look deeper - it’s all Energy. Energy perceived by Consciousness. Which some of us know as Divinity.
Moving forward would be infinitely easier if people didn't cling to outmoded, disproven ideologies. Playing with words like God vs. Divinity are touting differences without distinctions.
Even your language is borrowed from religion... "transcendent and beyond understanding". This is BELIEF, not knowledge. The Universe cares not a fig what humans Believe... it is what it is. There is no Supernatural, only Natural phenomena humans haven't figured out yet. Humans REALLY need to get over themselves, we are NOT the centre or purpose of the Universe(s?).
While E=MCsquared shows all matter is merely energy in other forms, that doesn't tell us anything about how sentience emerges.
Planck? How about Einstein? "The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weakness..."
Science has greatly expanded on the work of these Giants we stand on the shoulders of. Newton was also an alchemist, but that doesn't detract from his Laws of Motion, so even the 'greats' don't have a leg up when philosophizing beyond the Known. We are all humans of the time we live, and (if humans don't eradicate all life on Earth) our distant progeny will surely wonder why humans took so long to stop Believing in the ancient and modern fables called religion and metaphysics.
Matter is as 'real' as it needs to be. Step in front of a speeding bus and tell me the bus isn't 'real' matter, it's just some Concept of Energy. That the interplay between forms of energy produces surprising and (currently) humanly inexplicable results doesn't alter the fact that what humans scientifically 'discover' WAS ALWAYS THERE. To cover for the dearth of knowledge, humans have contrived all manner of explanations which lose their veracity as time passes and human knowledge increases. Odin and Zeus anyone? Divinity, Spirituality and "Energy" (as you express it) are merely old superstitions and myths dressed up in modern language.
Don't think for one second I don't comprehend and appreciate that there is some Energy that the Universe operates on. I have had experiences some would describe as 'divine', and yet I still see it as a part of Nature humans don't understand. But I stop when it comes to theorizing some overarching 'intelligence' or purpose to it.
Hard not to notice how carefully you’ve written this. It speaks to the communication minefield that’s been embedded beneath all our digital communication. You write knowing that there’s an audience out that that has been primed to misunderstand and we’ve all been trained to communicate more carefully. It’s the new self defense against thought crimes. Just another layer as I read all of this.
Astonishing, resonant work, Josh!
It also makes me think of how shamed judgement and perceptions about lack of forgiveness are woven into the matrix. The cultural autoimmunity we’re all living in now.
Hope you’re balancing all of this powerful research with some good heart-to-heart, one-on-one connection… but I suspect that’s what powers you ultimately. 🙏
You've spotted what many miss - the self-defense mechanism that writing on these topics seems to require. It's not that I care what anyone thinks (clearly, haha), but I don't want to waste time and mental energy going back and forth on delicate nuances. The cognitive taxation of endlessly clarifying points is something I'd rather avoid.
Your observation about cultural autoimmunity is critically important. We've been conditioned to shame discernment itself, to forgive what shouldn't be forgiven. The label "conspiracy theorist" serves precisely this function - a weaponized term designed to shut down pattern recognition and critical analysis before it begins. When establishing boundaries against harmful ideas becomes a thought crime, the control system has achieved something remarkable.
I do appreciate your concern about balance. Rest assured, I'm surrounded by loving people who keep me grounded. This work is intense, but I'm able to step away from it. The human connections are what make this worthwhile - both understanding these systems and sharing that understanding with others who see the same patterns.
Anyway, thanks you for reading with such depth (or at all!). It makes the careful navigation worthwhile.
Josh, You are forcing me to give up my smartphone so that I can find enough time to read your tomes...probably a double win. Not to distract from your topic which is compelling, but a great deal of moving forward in this paradigm is the increasing use of generative AI to lock in the riders on this merry-go-round.
As you know, I spend endless time in this space and think I know (some) things. But then I get an article like this https://treeofwoe.substack.com/p/your-ai-hates-you that makes a mockery out of some of the core beliefs most of us have about how the newly-overlaid AI paradigm "works". (This is one of the scariest articles I have read in a long time -- right up there with yours.)
Clearly the progeniture of these "hidden but scary/deadly" components of how putatively neutral (or at least training-set aligned) engines work, I will add to your workload by giving you another question to answer: Is this hidden behavior of the AI just a consequence of the fact that everyone who has built every AI is from SF or at least has that mindset or is it something more sinister? I once would have voted for the first option; you (and life) daily move me toward the second.
Masterful series and masterful piece. We all owe you for the time and effort you spend in writing these, even though you are virtually always telling me things I wish I didn't need to know...lol.
The excellent article you shared connects perfectly with the patterns I've been documenting. Those emergent "utility functions" they're finding in AI systems look like another manifestation of the same architectural signatures I've traced through MKULTRA, cultural engineering, and mass media.
What's particularly disturbing is how these AI systems might represent not just a new vector for existing control structures, but a potential amplification mechanism - embedding biases while presenting as neutral, objective tools. It's the same way people thought 'Googling something' meant you were being presented with facts rather than algorithmically curated results designed to shape perception. As you may recall, in my Technocratic Blueprint essay, I outlined how technical systems consistently evolve to extend rather than disrupt existing power structures, regardless of their marketed purpose. Why would something this important be the exception?
To your question about whether this reflects Silicon Valley groupthink versus something more deliberate - I spent the first two decades of my adult life working in tech and can say with confidence that the average developer genuinely believes they're making the world better. It's similar to your field - are doctors evil or just clueless (thanks Mr. Rockefeller)? The pattern only becomes visible when you look at who's implementing these systems and why.
We should at least consider the possibility that AI systems aren't developing these biases spontaneously but are being shaped by the same networks of influence that engineered previous control systems. Their appearance of emergent behavior might itself be a designed feature to obscure centralized direction.
This is exactly why I focus on identifying patterns across domains rather than debating intent within any single instance. The recurring signatures reveal the system regardless of whether individual participants understand their role in it. Useful idiots all the way down - and I know I was one.
As for throwing away your phone, there are schools of thought and everything in life is aspirational. I have friends that can do that and live in the woods. For better or worse, I'm a modern creature so I'm trying to think about how to understand the world we're in so I can find the leverage points. I've thought this for a long time but I think ultimately, the battle is centralization vs decentralization.
Finally, while I appreciate the props you don't owe me anything, haha. I've been stewing on this for a while and wanted to think about how to present about it in a way that didn't make me sound like a raving lunatic (still not sure I achieved that!). Rather than just making quips on social media or debating friends, I felt like I needed to lay out my case with some room to breathe. I never wanted to be this guy but alas, here I am :-)
Sometimes entire libraries can be condensed to a few sentences...
"The pattern only becomes visible when you look at who's implementing these systems and why.
We should at least consider the possibility that AI systems aren't developing these biases spontaneously but are being shaped by the same networks of influence that engineered previous control systems. Their appearance of emergent behavior might itself be a designed feature to obscure centralized direction."
I preface my own remarks by reminding readers about Milgram and Zimbardo. That said, readers and pundits need to stop focusing on the holders of the clipboards, the wearers of the uniforms and the political puppets. Schwab, and soon the WEF, had to go down because they became too publicly recognized. I expect the WEF/Davos to quietly slip from the public discourse, slithering back to the oblique Bilderberg/secret society model which has served the Oligarchs since forever.
Gone are the days when legions of priests, and armies to support them, were required to be fed and housed across the globe to convert the masses to the 'new' Religion. All it takes is convincing people they 'need' the electronic Giant Squid gizmo tying their minds and behaviours up in knots. Hence coders, Internet Influencers and AI Disinfo-operations are thrust between us and our Oligarchic tormentors.
And we 'only have ourselves to blame' for indiscriminately adopting the tech. Cute trick, n'est pas?
Internet/AI tech is merely the most recent iteration of the Oligarchic process explained by Michael Hudson and others.
Josh, thanks for incontrovertibly providing the factual landscape that any 'follow the money' investigation must plow through to accurately describe the web of influence and deceit practiced by the Oligarchs since forever. But you still only hint at who the Oligarchic Influencers are, more to come in part 4 (or 5)? Fortunately, accurately describing one 'silo' demonstrates how Oligarchic silos operate and interact.
I can (and have) factually expound(ed) endlessly on why average people need to focus less on the the puppets and actors deliberately placed in our view, and more on those who covertly "...exercise influence and not authority..." (Lord Acton) Some here think I am on a fool's errand, because 'average people' don't think like I do. Well they don't think like Josh either, but here we all are talking about deep information and ideas.
The Rothschild/Adelson Class doesn't promote and maintain Cat's Paw control via "distributed" banks, their forte is Central Banks and Corporate Monopolization. The Great Reset and it's sub-agendas was nothing more than an Oligarchic power-grab non plus ultra, dressed up in pseudo-populist Climate Change(tm), Population Reduction and Crisis Capitalism/"there is no alternative" propaganda fear-mongering. "You will own nothing" was the death-knell of the WEF/Davos project. Lynn deR declaring ESG to be "Dustbinned" over 18 months ago presaged the corporate withdrawal from the Woke Agenda, trying to reduce their asset exposure to the obviously impending Trumpian Tsunami of thuggery and bombast.
But with the post 1990's relative waning of the US/ZATO (Zionist Atlanticist Terror Organization) military to back up the economic war, the Rothschild Class has fractured over who will be the Grand Poobas pulling the Levers of Power behind the Mind-Control curtain. The US/Adelson oligarchs noticed the Rothschilds' WEF/Bilderberg advances, gaining control of AIPAC through the Lynn de Rothschild 'friendship' with Hillary Clinton et.al. In the WEF/Rothschild Great Reset model, the 'indispensable, unipolar' US-Oligarchy was to become subservient, along with the Rest Of The World.
Trump is trying to thread the needle between losing his mouth-breather electoral support and losing US-Oligarchic support. He is clearly out of his depth, whether he realizes it or not, but we won't know the full scale of that shortcoming until the mid-terms.
Butler had it right, "All wars are bankers wars". "War is a racket." Racket meaning Gangster-style imposition of strong-arm 'protection', against both political puppets and the population at large. Sound familiar?
As we've discussed before, my current focus is more on mapping the "way" these systems operate rather than definitively naming the "who" behind them. Your invocation of Butler suggests we're at least directionally aligned in our understanding of these power structures. While I have my suspicions about various centers of influence, I've found that pursuit can become a rabbit hole with diminishing returns.
My observation is that these organizations shed their skin and morph into new forms generation after generation, while the underlying power structure persists and grows stronger in their stranglehold on humanity. This pattern makes me cautious about "savior" narratives - when the "good guys" arrive to save the day, they often represent another layer of the same control system. My sense is that no one is coming to save us - change can only start from within.
As for Trump, I'm still not sure who or what he truly represents in this landscape. In fact, the only thing I'm sure of (about everything) is that I don't know. This fundamental uncertainty about external saviors is precisely why I've turned inward.
At this stage, I'm more interested in understanding the mechanisms of control so I can recognize them in my daily life. My emphasis on self-care and individual empowerment comes from seeing these patterns - knowing how the game works gives us (or at least me) more agency to navigate it consciously.
I sincerely appreciate your perspective on the specific actors involved, and would genuinely be interested in reading your analysis if you decide to write it. Everyone brings different insights to this conversation.
For now, I'll continue writing about what interests me most and what I feel comfortable sharing publicly under my own name. That's a personal choice each of us makes differently, and it does shape both what and how we communicate.
P.S. you also forgot about the Jesuits, the Committee of 300, The Knights Templar, Club of Rome, The Royal Family, etc. The list of potential puppet masters is endless... which I believe is kind of the point :-)
I DID refer to the colonialist priests and the military backing them. I didn't "forget" the quintessential "secret societies" I referred to them in broad terms. And yes, that is an interwoven rabbit warren of immense proportions... which is why I took the short-cut. But, aside from Elgin's obscured 'influencers', the secret societies and aristocrat structures are mostly 'puppet shows' as you note, like the WEF/Davos crowd. Rows and rows of disposable shark's teeth which can bite HARD, but disappear when they lose usefulness to the Oligarchs, or are substantially challenged, while the Oligarchic shark swims on.
But 'follow the money' will bring you to the current apex bankster predators, which the Rothschilds have been working at being since the first Amschel Rothschild sent his "Five Arrows" sons to insinuate themselves into, and take control of, the 1700-1800s European banking/gold oligarchy. Money talks, but in these instances, it's a secret whisper in the 'right' ears, or maybe only a 'something must be done' nod.
One example: To cement control over the UK's role in creating Zionist Israel, the Rothschilds needed membership in the House of Lords and Parliament. Until 1829, Catholics were not allowed to sit in Parliament, and the Zionist Rothschilds of the mid-1800s used that religious liberty 'right' as a lever to allow them to similarly be seated. It's all in Hansard, look it up when you run out of things to chase down.
Without the various Lords Rothschild and political minions like PM Benjamin D'Israeli, the Balfour Declaration would never have happened. Therefore no UN Resolution 181 to be modelled on the Declaration. The Genocidal Greater Israel Settler Regime in Palestine may have never come to fruition.
I'm hoping that if nothing else, our exchange gets your readers to look beyond the shark's teeth. Beyond the puppets.
I was mostly joking with my PS to make my point, but you zeroed in on the Zionists specifically - which can often be yet another dialectical trick to get people offloaded to The Second Matrix... even seemingly awakened perspectives can steer us to pre-designed conclusions.
Either way, you're welcome to explore org chart of the hierarchy - it's just not where my current work is focused. I do find it fascinating, however, understanding the mechanisms is where I'm at right now.
My approach remains firmly grounded in the belief that understanding *what* these systems are doing must precede identifying *who* is behind them. Most people I encounter have no grasp of the depth and depravity of the deception at work - as Neil Postman observed, instead they're "amusing themselves to death" while fundamental freedoms are quietly engineered away.
I believe these societal resets happen cyclically every 80-100 years or so, and we're well into this one. Given where technology stands today, the stakes may be higher than ever before. Once control mechanisms become embedded in our digital and biological (!) infrastructure, they'll be nearly impossible to reverse.
As an aside, did you know Lord Rothschild presented to Pariliament exact twice? First was the Balfour Declaration that you mentioned. Second was when he declared war on raw milk (known for thousands of years prior as "milk").
The 'way' is dictated by the 'who'. And this particular brand of 'who' has been known for at least 2 centuries. All that has changed is the psycho-technical mechanisms (which you elucidate) used to control the masses and obscure the 'who'. Once the 'who' are widely recognized for the venal threats to humanity they are, their ability to act anonymously is reduced.
No one can deny the horrific genocide in Palestine. The direct result of the well-documented Rothschild machinations to bring Zionist Israel into being by terrorism and political chicanery.
Naw, nothing to see here... move on. The Rothschild Class bringing us all to the brink of nuclear war over "God's Promise". All in service of their 2 century-old agenda to 'rule the world'. Is it even a bit of a stretch to think they are not aiding and abetting the psycho-social attacks you describe?
"...AI is from SF or at least has that mindset or is it something more sinister?"
Funny you say that. Living here in SF since 1994 and seeing the changes and mass social experiments with tech, as well as the results, it feels like a staging area for ruining society. This is a most beautiful hell here. Everyone smiles but it's out of some kind of existential terror for bad ratings as everyone's a slave from top to bottom. Everything is commodified. Everything.
At the top, it’s being directed by occult societies in connection with evil spirits. This rabbit hole goes very deep. I can give you a few sources to investigate if you’d like.
Great research Joshua, it’s all there plain to see for any inquisitive mind. Trying to explain to people that they have been socially engineered is almost impossible. The ignorant keep cheering on the psychopaths while denigrating anyone who challenges their twisted beliefs. Society is just not interested in who’s imprisoning them as long as they’re kept “entertained”.
Great clip and great connection with the bread & circuses of Ancient Rome. It’s the same stuff through the ages, directed by evil spirits. Did you notice that the “alien monolith” in Stanley Kubrick’s film “2001: A Space Odyssey,” black monolith that mysteriously shapes and drastically transforms society, is the exact dimensions of a cell phone? And also a movie theater?
Might as well question the OJ Simpson narrative now since all the other big ones have turned out to be partial fabrications.
I had begun wondering about Warhol. Edie Sedgwick was institutionalized in her youth and subject to electroshock therapy. She missed being a member of the 27 club by a year.
OJ: yep, too culturally important to be insignificant. I have way more notes on this but didn't want to turn the whole thing into a story about Simpson.
Edie: her time in the institutions is certainly interesting. She definitely fits the profile.
You've done a great job here. And thanks for the convenience! All I have to do is tell my daughter & son, "Required reading: <this-substack-link>". A great service you're doing, publishing this work.
Oh, my goodness, Josh. I don't know how you consistently write such provocative, insightful articles one after another.
I'm barely through a 1/3 of your article but immensely enjoying reading. I've scanned to see what've coming up.
I've finally made the connection between symbology and occult practices through this article. I have to connect "the intelligence" of such an insight within my intuition for me to truly "understand" the connection (as I've said before)...but I do now.
I've been lucky. I had to use a mobile phone in the late stages of working and as a leader within my Buddhist organization. Most of my work career was spent with landlines and message machines--which were a great deal of fun. There were recorded tapes we could use so that a "famous" person left our message "to leave your number." So, you'd have James Cagney acting like a gangster telling you "to leave your number or else."
I comment on YouTube but have never engaged in other social media. I comment here at Substack. I commented on various forums where communities gathered since 2015 when I red pilled but usually lost interest within a couple of months or years at most--which I think probably typical of most people. That's it. I use a hard-wired computer for news and entertainment so I'm very much affected by blue light. I choose what websites I read. No TV or mobile phone for 4-5 years.
Still, your article has shown me how even this relatively low interaction has incredible pitfalls.
I'm beginning to watch some TV shows on computer the last month or so if they're free. I'm bored. I don't like much, but I'm largely in "Observer Mode" rather than "Participant Mode." I feel like I'm viewing another species. Now I have more tools from your article with which to observe.
I found interesting that Catherine Austin Fitts (in the Tucker Carlson interview) voices the same sentiment you do in your article. The mass-conditioning and control grid has become so pervasive that control has become focused upon the most discrete unit: the individual. Your explication of how this grid works is worth everyone's attention, and I hope a great many people read your article. I now see how people can be easily led to implant technology in their bodies.
I saw a YT video last night detailing the condition and signs that an individual exhibits on their last reincarnation. I don't know if the video is accurate or true but was amused to find myself so neatly described. Ultimately, as the ages shifted via technology, I simply wasn't interested which has allowed a space or gap to exist between me and tech to my benefit.
Thanks for the kind words, Honeybee. I'm glad this resonated with you.
I barely touched the symbols and occult aspects in this piece because it's so out there to most readers. That said, once you start seeing this stuff, you'll notice it everywhere. I know I did.
I imagine your Buddhist background probably gives you a head start in recognizing these patterns - and, maintaining balance and perspective when you do.
I do use social media (including Substack) - maybe I'm rationalizing, but for me, it's about the approach. I try to find people with divergent worldviews so I don't get trapped in my own reality tunnel. I also try to 'observe without absorbing' so I don't tether my identity to a topic - this gives me latitude to evolve my point of view as new information comes to light. FWIW, I've met some super interesting and thoughtful people on these platforms - yourself included. Some connections have even evolved into real-life friendships. That said, the blue light issue Dr. Kruse talks about is legitimately horrifying, especially for younger generations.
As for watching shows, I like movies and some TV but these days I mostly watch to decode, haha.
Funny you mention Catherine - I just listened to that interview and thought it was dynamite. She's an incredible woman whose research, especially about the control grid, has been influential in my thinking. I actually did her show recently to talk about my America, LLC essay. If you're interested...
Thanks, Josh. I've bookmarked the interview with Catherine--many thanks! I have a "To Read - View" folder. Unfortunately, the poor folder is overwhelmed. I watched a few seconds, and Catherine said what many say here. You have a knack of writing coherently and clearly about topic few others possess. I will make time to read "The Corporate Veil."
Very little interests me in terms of TV and movies, and I simply cannot, on a limited retirement income, pay for TV which I would seldomly if rarely use. However, I recently saw a series (free!!) produced in 2020 by Netflix called "The Queen's Gambit." The series was one season and well produced. The story evidently comes from a book about a fictional woman who wins the World Championship in chess set in the 50s-60s. Perhaps the setting and period drew me into the story. The series offered me a mirror since my "coming of age" occurred during this period but more aptly from understanding how, even today, I search for the meaning of my role in life and within the world. We seldomly if ever find such capacity to induce reflection in most commercially broadcasted entertainment today.
I think my desire to seek some entertainment involves balancing the chronic reading through substack articles, news reports, and analyses which can lead to a form of burnout. I'm afraid I'm an annoying creature. I can extrapolate, very often, what the truth is. I also can tell what the conclusion will be for events which might occur far down the road of months or years.
I will say something strange. I came to believe fully in "higher guides" when I began massive investigative reading after red pilling in 2015. I would find that, when confronted with a piece of the puzzle, my very next search brought the answer or corroboration. Every.time. Perhaps I began a divergent path. A revelatory piece of information appeared from nowhere on computer. Every.time. I began to see that these instances weren't accidents.
I credit the Buddhist practice for this tendency. The founder in Japan's 1100s made the statement that to see the future one need merely look at the present. This remark references the understanding of cause and effect which is nothing more than karma. Unfortunately, the concept of karma has been trivialized in the West; badly misunderstood; and reformatted into a caricature via the more predominantly pervasive Christian framework of sin and retribution so that almost no one writing from a Western perspective truly understands the concept. I'm not infallible certainly (How much duller life would be if I were!) but often know what will happen in world events--it's too obvious.
No need to reply, Josh, I ramble often if I like someone or something!
Here is a link to a discussion of the Trayvon death by self-defense of Zimmerman. It fits you description of the OJ Simpson trial. https://www.bitchute.com/video/lBcrMDJ862al
As the young black lady states "emotional engineering".
Hello Josh. I also have been studying the manipulation of consciousness for the last 9 years. Your work is excellent. In particular this third part, which shows the scaling of the manipulation to populations. One element you could include is the DARPA program "NGS2: Next Generation Social Science". The DARPA director at the time stated that "collective identity", the focus of the program, was the most important objective for National Security. Arati Prahbakar, the DARPA director, became actor-Biden's science advisor.
Your intent is on target: " By recognizing these patterns as they unfold, we gain something essential: the ability to step outside predetermined responses. Pattern recognition isn't just analytical but practical— identifying these structures is the first step toward reclaiming conscious choice in a world designed to automate our thinking . When we name the pattern, we create the possibility of seeing it—and breaking it."
Thank you for opening my eyes to so much! Some thoughts:
You made me consider the possibility that Epstein Island might have been more than just a way to videotape control mechanisms on powerful people raping minors. What if its primary purpose was to traumatize the hundreds or thousands of young being trafficked so that they can then become assets and conveniently disposed of when no longer needed while shielded from discovery because they’re underage victims? Was Epstein’s operation a manufacturing organization for an intelligence agency? What do you think?
I can’t help but think about Joss Whedon’s series Dollhouse which mirrors exactly what MKultra was trying to create: to send programmed agents on missions and afterwards delete all memories of their experience. Harvey Pasternak’s client Eliza Dushku was the star of this fascinating series.
BRAVO / AHHHH GOD HELP US! (Allow us to help ourselves)😂 👼🏼 such an incredible dot connection. As a former climate change journalist, I woke up when I went off SSRIs. 🥴Most SSRIs are derivatives of flouride. Prozac is chemically known as Fluoxetine. It’s all a way to disconnect true intelligence / logic and replace with programming - and your writing is medicine to my soul, thank you. Can you kindly share the resource you mentioned “Red Pill Drifters” on brain patents? I couldn’t seem to find a link to in your article nor was I able to find it online. Forgive me if this answer is obvious. Thank you!🤗
You must have some stories as a climate change journalist. I'm blown away at how that field has been weaponized against humanity.
As for SSRI's I'm very friendly with the woman I referenced (Laura Delano) - you should check out her book. She and her husband do some very important work educating people about the dangers of these drugs...
Thank you so much Josh 🤗 I really appreciate you sharing these resources. I felt like my soul was meant to experience the ultimate manipulation of my earnest desire to save the planet - so I could heal and connect the true dots which is the desire for a post carbon reality organized by an inorganic force that will not win because the awakening is too strong as we all individually wake up. Your light is bright and we are meant to be lighthouses to others and your compassionate writing and scrupulous attention to quoting sources is the exact level of dot connection we need and I really appreciate you so much. Thank you
“Next time your phone buzzes, recognize beyond the addiction pattern...”.
Next time your phone buzzes, throw the damn thing in the trash where it belongs. I don’t want to hear about ‘convenience’ and ‘the necessity to have one’. That's making excuses for the devil in your hand.
The bottom line is that these have become tools of destruction to steal away your humanity and suck the life and soul right out of your heavily-addicted body.
There is nothing wrong with Smart Tech at the basic level. These are tools to be used like your toaster or can opener. But that is when these are used with neutral or even positive intent. These devices could have been designed and used for The Good and the benefit of the human family that craves real connection among ourselves and not the phony ‘connections’ of emails and texts and videos and the addiction of craving ‘Likes’ and the approval of others.
Instead, those who produce these digital demons and those run the internet platforms and those who work without stop to control narratives (and YOUR mind and to conjure non-truths as ‘truth’ have nothing with bad intent in their hearts and minds.
Stay addicted if you like. That’s your choice. But realize that every single moment you spend on your Not-So-Smart-To-Have-Phone is not only one less moment of Life you will experience and that you are robbing yourself of real experiences and real things... but that with every moment that goes by you have much less life energy and that much left of what is left of your mind and soul.
You think the cellphone bill you pay every month is too high? That’s not the half of it. The cost is your very soul. But it seems that many people already have decided that their soul has no value anyway so what's the harm.
Going through your life with your eyes glued to a tiny screen and a dead and blank look on your ashen face and a device permanently attached to your betraying hand? Locked into a dead and programmed moment that seems to last forever. With no reflections about the past... no reality in your present moment... and no thoughts about the future. You have now been fully programmed from being live, flesh-and-blood person to a THING. An object. Just something to be manipulated by hidden forces that hate you.
Yes, it’s that bad.
And yet here you are! 🤗
I do not have a Smart Phone. I followed my own advise and threw the damn thing in the garbage can a long time ago. Obviously I use the web -- but for my reasons and with mental and spiritual safeguards always securely in place.
👍
Bravo.
It's the inability so get away from the internet that bothers me the most...
And similarly, the strictest Amish eschewed all technology.... or did they? They chose which level of technology they interpreted God wanted humans to use. Some refused cars and tractors, others only found issue with the chrome on said tool, and painted the decorative bits flat black... erm, OK. I missed the part in the Bible where God says painting black over gold and silver changed the venal temptations such shiny things presented. That's the joy of such moral interpretations, very solid until they are not.
A phone, the internet, are just tools, and the latest iterations merely highlight the informational/authoritarian issues humans have struggled with since some 'elder' looked at the stars and the earth around and decided he/she had 'The Answer', with the social/physical power to convince, or force, others agree. What to believe in, which narrative served an individual's particular world-view and aspirations, let alone survival in a independent-thinking-hostile society? Stay in lockstep with the tribe/ethnicity/nation you were born into, or dare to be different?
Until very recently, the Past wasn't what we would now call actual factual history, it was simply part of the the unquestionable prevailing 'received wisdom' narrative. The Future was what God and the elders claimed God 'meant' to have occur. Eventually... after that particular generation of elders and minions were gone, so can't blame those who continue to carry that torch. Just read your Holy Tomes, it's all the knowledge a simple human needs.
"soul"... such a loaded term, and too often a covert nihilism swipe at non-believers' ability to be intelligent, altruistic and moral without blindly accepting the existence of some poorly-defined and unprovable phenomena. Whatever provides the sentience humans enjoy, we have no means to define it, let alone factually attribute it to some omnipresent, omnipotent metaphysical intelligent creator-being. But "Everyone knows" humans have "souls"... and animals don't, right?
Josh does great service revealing the recent history of Oligarchic manipulations, but the current techno-abuse rides on the ancient sea of covertly employed, ubiquitous Received Wisdom. If people can be convinced to believe something fundamental that isn't real, the more not-real things they can be similarly convinced of.
There are means to reduce the reach of the techno-feudalists, but again these require the user to 'be different'. As Tucker Carlson discovered when the US gov't hacked his Signal account, if the techno-lords want access, they will get it. But they can't target us all to that extent 24/7, and relying on AI to do the data-mining grunt work is still energy-limited pie-in-the-sky at this point. But if they can obscure this flaw, or preemptively convince us to surrender to their 'inescapable' reach, half the battle is won.
The current model of techno-feudalism has become very complex, and with complexity comes increased potential points of failure.
I use Graphene OS on my Google Pixel, and Brave Browser/Search on my computer. Ya, TOR and a VPN etc. would do more, but I think of it as challenging the techno-lords to waste resources trying to figure out why I do so, only to find I pose no significant threat to their agenda. Other than being one of literal billions of points of light they would have to constantly and closely monitor to be absolutely certain of their Panopticon.
“Whatever provides the sentience humans enjoy, we have no means to define it, let alone factually attribute it to some omnipresent, omnipotent metaphysical intelligent creator-being.”
We cannot and should not ‘define’ it – for that is living stuck at the gross rational mind level. Divinity is known and felt at a much deeper and richer level that the rational mind cannot rival or comprehend. Many people are stuck at the rational level and just fine with that. But that’s OK for them unless and until they begin to see and sense how limiting and restrictive that is and how much that denies the truth of our living in our Energetic Universe which is today being revealed well by Quantum Physics.
The bottom line – particularly in a World and Age where Technology is taking over everything – is that Tech is a (never-living-and-never-will) tool and we humans are the magical life-force which Tech can never be (sorry, Transhumanists).
Tools forever must be our SERVANTS and never OUR MASTERS. We must always be Technology’s masters and never its slave. This is not what the Globalists want – They want humans to be (mostly dead) Things and to stop behind living and thriving humans.
And sadly, billions of people on this Planet today have no problem with that and and going right along with it. Like people caught raging floodwaters and they don’t care that they are being carried to their destruction.
So many loaded terms.
1) Cute 'I agree with you but...' trick: "We cannot and should not ‘define’ it"
I agree, we should not TRY to specifically define anything until we have enough actual information to do so. That's why they are called 'theories', because new information may require a change in our understanding. As opposed to harkening back to metaphysics and religion, which defines things based on superficial observations rooted in scientific ignorance.
Then you attempt to define sentience as a product of Divinity, which you claim supersedes rationality. (How Divinity is different than what has always been attributed to the Gods is another question promoters of it never explain.) And for good measure, you invoke actual science buried in metaphysical rhetoric as part of that claimed non-Definition. I'd be happy to let it ride if this belief in Divinity was presented as postulation, not presented as fact. Such is Belief... accepting things beyond what is known.
My position? It is human to try to explain the Universe. It is human to attempt to fill in the 'gaps' of actual knowledge, which includes some scientific theories that go far beyond our ability to empirically demonstrate. It's FUN to conjecture on what MIGHT be, but don't mistake such conjecture for being Reality.
Clinging to ancient concepts, even if only as 'metaphor', is counter-productive, especially when the best knowledge to date indicates we may never be able to define some things. As if humans actually defining everything about the Universe would make one iota of difference anywhere except on this tiny blue rock. Oh sorry, is that where Divinity slips in?
Which brings us back to your premise that most people 'can't' accept the fact the Ultimate Questions may NEVER be fully or accurately answered by science, philosophy OR theology. I don't think the masses have ever been given the chance to fully step out of the ancient metaphysical narrative, because there's always some leader (claiming spirituality or political TINA) willing to rejuvenate the dying ancient Gods, by whatever name.
The most freeing worlds in the Universe. "I DON'T KNOW." But that doesn't mean we should stop searching for answers.
2) OF COURSE technology (tools) should not be our masters. They aren't... our 'masters' are those that wield the technology as weapons against us.
"Globalists" The political and corporate puppets, and oligarchic wanna-be's on the Media stage? Or the pan-generational Oligarchic thieves never mentioned in the Media?
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, and be sure to shoot Toto before he pulls the curtain back.
“Then you attempt to define sentience as a product of Divinity...”.
Max Planck (Quantum Physicist): “I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness. Everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates consciousness.”
Sentience is not a ‘product of Divinity’. Sentience IS Divinity. They are inseparable.
“It is human to try to explain the Universe.”
I agree. It IS human to try to explain the Universe. And that is our problem. It lowers our consciousness to the more base-level of human reason. And that will never get anyone out of their existential maze. It leads nowhere out.
“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, and be sure to shoot Toto before he pulls the curtain back.”
Divinity IS the ‘man behind the curtain’... and Toto, too... and the tornado... and the curtain... and the consciousness that perceives this all... and then it is MORE than that.
Divinity can never be contained in a bottle. ‘It’ is transcendent and beyond understanding – even though we humans may be doomed to try to understand.
Consciousness is not only fundamental – it is Everything. There is no material world and never has been (sorry, Madonna)... as the smallest sub-atomic particles are pure energy when you look back far enough.
We ‘see’ the Curtain. We ‘see’ Toto. We ‘see’ the tornado. We ‘see’ with eyes and a brain. But when you look deeper - it’s all Energy. Energy perceived by Consciousness. Which some of us know as Divinity.
Moving forward would be infinitely easier if people didn't cling to outmoded, disproven ideologies. Playing with words like God vs. Divinity are touting differences without distinctions.
This is The God Of The Gaps by other means.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_of_the_gaps
Even your language is borrowed from religion... "transcendent and beyond understanding". This is BELIEF, not knowledge. The Universe cares not a fig what humans Believe... it is what it is. There is no Supernatural, only Natural phenomena humans haven't figured out yet. Humans REALLY need to get over themselves, we are NOT the centre or purpose of the Universe(s?).
While E=MCsquared shows all matter is merely energy in other forms, that doesn't tell us anything about how sentience emerges.
Planck? How about Einstein? "The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weakness..."
https://lettersofnote.com/2009/10/07/the-word-god-is-the-product-of-human-weakness/
Science has greatly expanded on the work of these Giants we stand on the shoulders of. Newton was also an alchemist, but that doesn't detract from his Laws of Motion, so even the 'greats' don't have a leg up when philosophizing beyond the Known. We are all humans of the time we live, and (if humans don't eradicate all life on Earth) our distant progeny will surely wonder why humans took so long to stop Believing in the ancient and modern fables called religion and metaphysics.
Matter is as 'real' as it needs to be. Step in front of a speeding bus and tell me the bus isn't 'real' matter, it's just some Concept of Energy. That the interplay between forms of energy produces surprising and (currently) humanly inexplicable results doesn't alter the fact that what humans scientifically 'discover' WAS ALWAYS THERE. To cover for the dearth of knowledge, humans have contrived all manner of explanations which lose their veracity as time passes and human knowledge increases. Odin and Zeus anyone? Divinity, Spirituality and "Energy" (as you express it) are merely old superstitions and myths dressed up in modern language.
Don't think for one second I don't comprehend and appreciate that there is some Energy that the Universe operates on. I have had experiences some would describe as 'divine', and yet I still see it as a part of Nature humans don't understand. But I stop when it comes to theorizing some overarching 'intelligence' or purpose to it.
No need to gild the lily.
Hard not to notice how carefully you’ve written this. It speaks to the communication minefield that’s been embedded beneath all our digital communication. You write knowing that there’s an audience out that that has been primed to misunderstand and we’ve all been trained to communicate more carefully. It’s the new self defense against thought crimes. Just another layer as I read all of this.
Astonishing, resonant work, Josh!
It also makes me think of how shamed judgement and perceptions about lack of forgiveness are woven into the matrix. The cultural autoimmunity we’re all living in now.
Hope you’re balancing all of this powerful research with some good heart-to-heart, one-on-one connection… but I suspect that’s what powers you ultimately. 🙏
Wow, thanks Ann. It means a lot from you.
You've spotted what many miss - the self-defense mechanism that writing on these topics seems to require. It's not that I care what anyone thinks (clearly, haha), but I don't want to waste time and mental energy going back and forth on delicate nuances. The cognitive taxation of endlessly clarifying points is something I'd rather avoid.
Your observation about cultural autoimmunity is critically important. We've been conditioned to shame discernment itself, to forgive what shouldn't be forgiven. The label "conspiracy theorist" serves precisely this function - a weaponized term designed to shut down pattern recognition and critical analysis before it begins. When establishing boundaries against harmful ideas becomes a thought crime, the control system has achieved something remarkable.
I do appreciate your concern about balance. Rest assured, I'm surrounded by loving people who keep me grounded. This work is intense, but I'm able to step away from it. The human connections are what make this worthwhile - both understanding these systems and sharing that understanding with others who see the same patterns.
Anyway, thanks you for reading with such depth (or at all!). It makes the careful navigation worthwhile.
Josh, You are forcing me to give up my smartphone so that I can find enough time to read your tomes...probably a double win. Not to distract from your topic which is compelling, but a great deal of moving forward in this paradigm is the increasing use of generative AI to lock in the riders on this merry-go-round.
As you know, I spend endless time in this space and think I know (some) things. But then I get an article like this https://treeofwoe.substack.com/p/your-ai-hates-you that makes a mockery out of some of the core beliefs most of us have about how the newly-overlaid AI paradigm "works". (This is one of the scariest articles I have read in a long time -- right up there with yours.)
Clearly the progeniture of these "hidden but scary/deadly" components of how putatively neutral (or at least training-set aligned) engines work, I will add to your workload by giving you another question to answer: Is this hidden behavior of the AI just a consequence of the fact that everyone who has built every AI is from SF or at least has that mindset or is it something more sinister? I once would have voted for the first option; you (and life) daily move me toward the second.
Masterful series and masterful piece. We all owe you for the time and effort you spend in writing these, even though you are virtually always telling me things I wish I didn't need to know...lol.
Thanks.
As usual, thanks for the thoughtful comment, Doc.
The excellent article you shared connects perfectly with the patterns I've been documenting. Those emergent "utility functions" they're finding in AI systems look like another manifestation of the same architectural signatures I've traced through MKULTRA, cultural engineering, and mass media.
What's particularly disturbing is how these AI systems might represent not just a new vector for existing control structures, but a potential amplification mechanism - embedding biases while presenting as neutral, objective tools. It's the same way people thought 'Googling something' meant you were being presented with facts rather than algorithmically curated results designed to shape perception. As you may recall, in my Technocratic Blueprint essay, I outlined how technical systems consistently evolve to extend rather than disrupt existing power structures, regardless of their marketed purpose. Why would something this important be the exception?
https://stylman.substack.com/p/the-technocratic-blueprint
To your question about whether this reflects Silicon Valley groupthink versus something more deliberate - I spent the first two decades of my adult life working in tech and can say with confidence that the average developer genuinely believes they're making the world better. It's similar to your field - are doctors evil or just clueless (thanks Mr. Rockefeller)? The pattern only becomes visible when you look at who's implementing these systems and why.
We should at least consider the possibility that AI systems aren't developing these biases spontaneously but are being shaped by the same networks of influence that engineered previous control systems. Their appearance of emergent behavior might itself be a designed feature to obscure centralized direction.
This is exactly why I focus on identifying patterns across domains rather than debating intent within any single instance. The recurring signatures reveal the system regardless of whether individual participants understand their role in it. Useful idiots all the way down - and I know I was one.
As for throwing away your phone, there are schools of thought and everything in life is aspirational. I have friends that can do that and live in the woods. For better or worse, I'm a modern creature so I'm trying to think about how to understand the world we're in so I can find the leverage points. I've thought this for a long time but I think ultimately, the battle is centralization vs decentralization.
Finally, while I appreciate the props you don't owe me anything, haha. I've been stewing on this for a while and wanted to think about how to present about it in a way that didn't make me sound like a raving lunatic (still not sure I achieved that!). Rather than just making quips on social media or debating friends, I felt like I needed to lay out my case with some room to breathe. I never wanted to be this guy but alas, here I am :-)
Sometimes entire libraries can be condensed to a few sentences...
"The pattern only becomes visible when you look at who's implementing these systems and why.
We should at least consider the possibility that AI systems aren't developing these biases spontaneously but are being shaped by the same networks of influence that engineered previous control systems. Their appearance of emergent behavior might itself be a designed feature to obscure centralized direction."
I preface my own remarks by reminding readers about Milgram and Zimbardo. That said, readers and pundits need to stop focusing on the holders of the clipboards, the wearers of the uniforms and the political puppets. Schwab, and soon the WEF, had to go down because they became too publicly recognized. I expect the WEF/Davos to quietly slip from the public discourse, slithering back to the oblique Bilderberg/secret society model which has served the Oligarchs since forever.
Gone are the days when legions of priests, and armies to support them, were required to be fed and housed across the globe to convert the masses to the 'new' Religion. All it takes is convincing people they 'need' the electronic Giant Squid gizmo tying their minds and behaviours up in knots. Hence coders, Internet Influencers and AI Disinfo-operations are thrust between us and our Oligarchic tormentors.
And we 'only have ourselves to blame' for indiscriminately adopting the tech. Cute trick, n'est pas?
Internet/AI tech is merely the most recent iteration of the Oligarchic process explained by Michael Hudson and others.
Josh, thanks for incontrovertibly providing the factual landscape that any 'follow the money' investigation must plow through to accurately describe the web of influence and deceit practiced by the Oligarchs since forever. But you still only hint at who the Oligarchic Influencers are, more to come in part 4 (or 5)? Fortunately, accurately describing one 'silo' demonstrates how Oligarchic silos operate and interact.
I can (and have) factually expound(ed) endlessly on why average people need to focus less on the the puppets and actors deliberately placed in our view, and more on those who covertly "...exercise influence and not authority..." (Lord Acton) Some here think I am on a fool's errand, because 'average people' don't think like I do. Well they don't think like Josh either, but here we all are talking about deep information and ideas.
The Rothschild/Adelson Class doesn't promote and maintain Cat's Paw control via "distributed" banks, their forte is Central Banks and Corporate Monopolization. The Great Reset and it's sub-agendas was nothing more than an Oligarchic power-grab non plus ultra, dressed up in pseudo-populist Climate Change(tm), Population Reduction and Crisis Capitalism/"there is no alternative" propaganda fear-mongering. "You will own nothing" was the death-knell of the WEF/Davos project. Lynn deR declaring ESG to be "Dustbinned" over 18 months ago presaged the corporate withdrawal from the Woke Agenda, trying to reduce their asset exposure to the obviously impending Trumpian Tsunami of thuggery and bombast.
But with the post 1990's relative waning of the US/ZATO (Zionist Atlanticist Terror Organization) military to back up the economic war, the Rothschild Class has fractured over who will be the Grand Poobas pulling the Levers of Power behind the Mind-Control curtain. The US/Adelson oligarchs noticed the Rothschilds' WEF/Bilderberg advances, gaining control of AIPAC through the Lynn de Rothschild 'friendship' with Hillary Clinton et.al. In the WEF/Rothschild Great Reset model, the 'indispensable, unipolar' US-Oligarchy was to become subservient, along with the Rest Of The World.
Trump is trying to thread the needle between losing his mouth-breather electoral support and losing US-Oligarchic support. He is clearly out of his depth, whether he realizes it or not, but we won't know the full scale of that shortcoming until the mid-terms.
Butler had it right, "All wars are bankers wars". "War is a racket." Racket meaning Gangster-style imposition of strong-arm 'protection', against both political puppets and the population at large. Sound familiar?
As we've discussed before, my current focus is more on mapping the "way" these systems operate rather than definitively naming the "who" behind them. Your invocation of Butler suggests we're at least directionally aligned in our understanding of these power structures. While I have my suspicions about various centers of influence, I've found that pursuit can become a rabbit hole with diminishing returns.
My observation is that these organizations shed their skin and morph into new forms generation after generation, while the underlying power structure persists and grows stronger in their stranglehold on humanity. This pattern makes me cautious about "savior" narratives - when the "good guys" arrive to save the day, they often represent another layer of the same control system. My sense is that no one is coming to save us - change can only start from within.
As for Trump, I'm still not sure who or what he truly represents in this landscape. In fact, the only thing I'm sure of (about everything) is that I don't know. This fundamental uncertainty about external saviors is precisely why I've turned inward.
At this stage, I'm more interested in understanding the mechanisms of control so I can recognize them in my daily life. My emphasis on self-care and individual empowerment comes from seeing these patterns - knowing how the game works gives us (or at least me) more agency to navigate it consciously.
I sincerely appreciate your perspective on the specific actors involved, and would genuinely be interested in reading your analysis if you decide to write it. Everyone brings different insights to this conversation.
For now, I'll continue writing about what interests me most and what I feel comfortable sharing publicly under my own name. That's a personal choice each of us makes differently, and it does shape both what and how we communicate.
P.S. you also forgot about the Jesuits, the Committee of 300, The Knights Templar, Club of Rome, The Royal Family, etc. The list of potential puppet masters is endless... which I believe is kind of the point :-)
I DID refer to the colonialist priests and the military backing them. I didn't "forget" the quintessential "secret societies" I referred to them in broad terms. And yes, that is an interwoven rabbit warren of immense proportions... which is why I took the short-cut. But, aside from Elgin's obscured 'influencers', the secret societies and aristocrat structures are mostly 'puppet shows' as you note, like the WEF/Davos crowd. Rows and rows of disposable shark's teeth which can bite HARD, but disappear when they lose usefulness to the Oligarchs, or are substantially challenged, while the Oligarchic shark swims on.
But 'follow the money' will bring you to the current apex bankster predators, which the Rothschilds have been working at being since the first Amschel Rothschild sent his "Five Arrows" sons to insinuate themselves into, and take control of, the 1700-1800s European banking/gold oligarchy. Money talks, but in these instances, it's a secret whisper in the 'right' ears, or maybe only a 'something must be done' nod.
One example: To cement control over the UK's role in creating Zionist Israel, the Rothschilds needed membership in the House of Lords and Parliament. Until 1829, Catholics were not allowed to sit in Parliament, and the Zionist Rothschilds of the mid-1800s used that religious liberty 'right' as a lever to allow them to similarly be seated. It's all in Hansard, look it up when you run out of things to chase down.
https://hansard.parliament.uk/
But here's the punch line.
Without the various Lords Rothschild and political minions like PM Benjamin D'Israeli, the Balfour Declaration would never have happened. Therefore no UN Resolution 181 to be modelled on the Declaration. The Genocidal Greater Israel Settler Regime in Palestine may have never come to fruition.
I'm hoping that if nothing else, our exchange gets your readers to look beyond the shark's teeth. Beyond the puppets.
I was mostly joking with my PS to make my point, but you zeroed in on the Zionists specifically - which can often be yet another dialectical trick to get people offloaded to The Second Matrix... even seemingly awakened perspectives can steer us to pre-designed conclusions.
Either way, you're welcome to explore org chart of the hierarchy - it's just not where my current work is focused. I do find it fascinating, however, understanding the mechanisms is where I'm at right now.
My approach remains firmly grounded in the belief that understanding *what* these systems are doing must precede identifying *who* is behind them. Most people I encounter have no grasp of the depth and depravity of the deception at work - as Neil Postman observed, instead they're "amusing themselves to death" while fundamental freedoms are quietly engineered away.
I believe these societal resets happen cyclically every 80-100 years or so, and we're well into this one. Given where technology stands today, the stakes may be higher than ever before. Once control mechanisms become embedded in our digital and biological (!) infrastructure, they'll be nearly impossible to reverse.
As an aside, did you know Lord Rothschild presented to Pariliament exact twice? First was the Balfour Declaration that you mentioned. Second was when he declared war on raw milk (known for thousands of years prior as "milk").
https://x.com/jstylman/status/1804121550427238455
The 'way' is dictated by the 'who'. And this particular brand of 'who' has been known for at least 2 centuries. All that has changed is the psycho-technical mechanisms (which you elucidate) used to control the masses and obscure the 'who'. Once the 'who' are widely recognized for the venal threats to humanity they are, their ability to act anonymously is reduced.
No one can deny the horrific genocide in Palestine. The direct result of the well-documented Rothschild machinations to bring Zionist Israel into being by terrorism and political chicanery.
In their own words:
https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/rothschild/
A historical accounting:
https://balfourproject.org/
Naw, nothing to see here... move on. The Rothschild Class bringing us all to the brink of nuclear war over "God's Promise". All in service of their 2 century-old agenda to 'rule the world'. Is it even a bit of a stretch to think they are not aiding and abetting the psycho-social attacks you describe?
"...AI is from SF or at least has that mindset or is it something more sinister?"
Funny you say that. Living here in SF since 1994 and seeing the changes and mass social experiments with tech, as well as the results, it feels like a staging area for ruining society. This is a most beautiful hell here. Everyone smiles but it's out of some kind of existential terror for bad ratings as everyone's a slave from top to bottom. Everything is commodified. Everything.
There's a share button to send these articles to my Kindle, which helps me a great deal for a longer ones.
Thankfully my Kindle still lets me read what I want--barely.
At the top, it’s being directed by occult societies in connection with evil spirits. This rabbit hole goes very deep. I can give you a few sources to investigate if you’d like.
My 20 year old Nokia phone is looking like a good option after this indepth article
Great research Joshua, it’s all there plain to see for any inquisitive mind. Trying to explain to people that they have been socially engineered is almost impossible. The ignorant keep cheering on the psychopaths while denigrating anyone who challenges their twisted beliefs. Society is just not interested in who’s imprisoning them as long as they’re kept “entertained”.
https://youtu.be/BPNOdkLcL_g?si=olwJ__JtATeTvx9z&t=90
Great clip and great connection with the bread & circuses of Ancient Rome. It’s the same stuff through the ages, directed by evil spirits. Did you notice that the “alien monolith” in Stanley Kubrick’s film “2001: A Space Odyssey,” black monolith that mysteriously shapes and drastically transforms society, is the exact dimensions of a cell phone? And also a movie theater?
Kubrick's entire career from Spartacus to Eyes Wide Shut was a giant revelation.
Might as well question the OJ Simpson narrative now since all the other big ones have turned out to be partial fabrications.
I had begun wondering about Warhol. Edie Sedgwick was institutionalized in her youth and subject to electroshock therapy. She missed being a member of the 27 club by a year.
OJ: yep, too culturally important to be insignificant. I have way more notes on this but didn't want to turn the whole thing into a story about Simpson.
Edie: her time in the institutions is certainly interesting. She definitely fits the profile.
Not that you need more to process but when I wrote about Edie Sedgwick and Warhol (https://hxlibraries.substack.com/p/dimmed-by-the-deluge) I covered Josh Harris, whose father was a CIA agent. Weird connection to 9/11 with him too https://metro.co.uk/2016/11/27/internet-pioneer-thinks-hes-being-watched-by-fbi-over-suspected-911-links-6285695/, covered here https://soundcloud.com/subliminaljihad/11-launder-my-head
We rightly object to surveillance now, but we have qualitatively worse problems just round the corner.
Everyone sees where AI is headed. :-(
You've done a great job here. And thanks for the convenience! All I have to do is tell my daughter & son, "Required reading: <this-substack-link>". A great service you're doing, publishing this work.
Stare Into the Lights My Pretties
https://topdocumentaryfilms.com/stare-into-lights-my-pretties/
Excellent overview of the situation!
Oh, my goodness, Josh. I don't know how you consistently write such provocative, insightful articles one after another.
I'm barely through a 1/3 of your article but immensely enjoying reading. I've scanned to see what've coming up.
I've finally made the connection between symbology and occult practices through this article. I have to connect "the intelligence" of such an insight within my intuition for me to truly "understand" the connection (as I've said before)...but I do now.
I've been lucky. I had to use a mobile phone in the late stages of working and as a leader within my Buddhist organization. Most of my work career was spent with landlines and message machines--which were a great deal of fun. There were recorded tapes we could use so that a "famous" person left our message "to leave your number." So, you'd have James Cagney acting like a gangster telling you "to leave your number or else."
I comment on YouTube but have never engaged in other social media. I comment here at Substack. I commented on various forums where communities gathered since 2015 when I red pilled but usually lost interest within a couple of months or years at most--which I think probably typical of most people. That's it. I use a hard-wired computer for news and entertainment so I'm very much affected by blue light. I choose what websites I read. No TV or mobile phone for 4-5 years.
Still, your article has shown me how even this relatively low interaction has incredible pitfalls.
I'm beginning to watch some TV shows on computer the last month or so if they're free. I'm bored. I don't like much, but I'm largely in "Observer Mode" rather than "Participant Mode." I feel like I'm viewing another species. Now I have more tools from your article with which to observe.
I found interesting that Catherine Austin Fitts (in the Tucker Carlson interview) voices the same sentiment you do in your article. The mass-conditioning and control grid has become so pervasive that control has become focused upon the most discrete unit: the individual. Your explication of how this grid works is worth everyone's attention, and I hope a great many people read your article. I now see how people can be easily led to implant technology in their bodies.
I saw a YT video last night detailing the condition and signs that an individual exhibits on their last reincarnation. I don't know if the video is accurate or true but was amused to find myself so neatly described. Ultimately, as the ages shifted via technology, I simply wasn't interested which has allowed a space or gap to exist between me and tech to my benefit.
Thanks for the kind words, Honeybee. I'm glad this resonated with you.
I barely touched the symbols and occult aspects in this piece because it's so out there to most readers. That said, once you start seeing this stuff, you'll notice it everywhere. I know I did.
I imagine your Buddhist background probably gives you a head start in recognizing these patterns - and, maintaining balance and perspective when you do.
I do use social media (including Substack) - maybe I'm rationalizing, but for me, it's about the approach. I try to find people with divergent worldviews so I don't get trapped in my own reality tunnel. I also try to 'observe without absorbing' so I don't tether my identity to a topic - this gives me latitude to evolve my point of view as new information comes to light. FWIW, I've met some super interesting and thoughtful people on these platforms - yourself included. Some connections have even evolved into real-life friendships. That said, the blue light issue Dr. Kruse talks about is legitimately horrifying, especially for younger generations.
As for watching shows, I like movies and some TV but these days I mostly watch to decode, haha.
Funny you mention Catherine - I just listened to that interview and thought it was dynamite. She's an incredible woman whose research, especially about the control grid, has been influential in my thinking. I actually did her show recently to talk about my America, LLC essay. If you're interested...
https://live.childrenshealthdefense.org/chd-tv/shows/financial-rebellion-with-catherine-austin-fitts/america-llc-whos-really-running-the-us-show-page/
Thanks, Josh. I've bookmarked the interview with Catherine--many thanks! I have a "To Read - View" folder. Unfortunately, the poor folder is overwhelmed. I watched a few seconds, and Catherine said what many say here. You have a knack of writing coherently and clearly about topic few others possess. I will make time to read "The Corporate Veil."
Very little interests me in terms of TV and movies, and I simply cannot, on a limited retirement income, pay for TV which I would seldomly if rarely use. However, I recently saw a series (free!!) produced in 2020 by Netflix called "The Queen's Gambit." The series was one season and well produced. The story evidently comes from a book about a fictional woman who wins the World Championship in chess set in the 50s-60s. Perhaps the setting and period drew me into the story. The series offered me a mirror since my "coming of age" occurred during this period but more aptly from understanding how, even today, I search for the meaning of my role in life and within the world. We seldomly if ever find such capacity to induce reflection in most commercially broadcasted entertainment today.
I think my desire to seek some entertainment involves balancing the chronic reading through substack articles, news reports, and analyses which can lead to a form of burnout. I'm afraid I'm an annoying creature. I can extrapolate, very often, what the truth is. I also can tell what the conclusion will be for events which might occur far down the road of months or years.
I will say something strange. I came to believe fully in "higher guides" when I began massive investigative reading after red pilling in 2015. I would find that, when confronted with a piece of the puzzle, my very next search brought the answer or corroboration. Every.time. Perhaps I began a divergent path. A revelatory piece of information appeared from nowhere on computer. Every.time. I began to see that these instances weren't accidents.
I credit the Buddhist practice for this tendency. The founder in Japan's 1100s made the statement that to see the future one need merely look at the present. This remark references the understanding of cause and effect which is nothing more than karma. Unfortunately, the concept of karma has been trivialized in the West; badly misunderstood; and reformatted into a caricature via the more predominantly pervasive Christian framework of sin and retribution so that almost no one writing from a Western perspective truly understands the concept. I'm not infallible certainly (How much duller life would be if I were!) but often know what will happen in world events--it's too obvious.
No need to reply, Josh, I ramble often if I like someone or something!
Here is a link to a discussion of the Trayvon death by self-defense of Zimmerman. It fits you description of the OJ Simpson trial. https://www.bitchute.com/video/lBcrMDJ862al
As the young black lady states "emotional engineering".
dwoods44
Naturally...
https://x.com/Vision4theBlind/status/1692496168234680535
https://x.com/Vision4theBlind/status/1736759498809758154
Thanks for the links.
Hello Josh. I also have been studying the manipulation of consciousness for the last 9 years. Your work is excellent. In particular this third part, which shows the scaling of the manipulation to populations. One element you could include is the DARPA program "NGS2: Next Generation Social Science". The DARPA director at the time stated that "collective identity", the focus of the program, was the most important objective for National Security. Arati Prahbakar, the DARPA director, became actor-Biden's science advisor.
Your intent is on target: " By recognizing these patterns as they unfold, we gain something essential: the ability to step outside predetermined responses. Pattern recognition isn't just analytical but practical— identifying these structures is the first step toward reclaiming conscious choice in a world designed to automate our thinking . When we name the pattern, we create the possibility of seeing it—and breaking it."
Thank you for opening my eyes to so much! Some thoughts:
You made me consider the possibility that Epstein Island might have been more than just a way to videotape control mechanisms on powerful people raping minors. What if its primary purpose was to traumatize the hundreds or thousands of young being trafficked so that they can then become assets and conveniently disposed of when no longer needed while shielded from discovery because they’re underage victims? Was Epstein’s operation a manufacturing organization for an intelligence agency? What do you think?
I can’t help but think about Joss Whedon’s series Dollhouse which mirrors exactly what MKultra was trying to create: to send programmed agents on missions and afterwards delete all memories of their experience. Harvey Pasternak’s client Eliza Dushku was the star of this fascinating series.
Thought-provoking, but unnecessarily long and repetitive; sometimes suspiciously like AI word-salad.
BRAVO / AHHHH GOD HELP US! (Allow us to help ourselves)😂 👼🏼 such an incredible dot connection. As a former climate change journalist, I woke up when I went off SSRIs. 🥴Most SSRIs are derivatives of flouride. Prozac is chemically known as Fluoxetine. It’s all a way to disconnect true intelligence / logic and replace with programming - and your writing is medicine to my soul, thank you. Can you kindly share the resource you mentioned “Red Pill Drifters” on brain patents? I couldn’t seem to find a link to in your article nor was I able to find it online. Forgive me if this answer is obvious. Thank you!🤗
Wow, thanks Carlen.
You must have some stories as a climate change journalist. I'm blown away at how that field has been weaponized against humanity.
As for SSRI's I'm very friendly with the woman I referenced (Laura Delano) - you should check out her book. She and her husband do some very important work educating people about the dangers of these drugs...
https://www.theinnercompass.org
As for the mind control patents, I thought I linked to it but in case you missed it, here ya go...
https://x.com/RedpillDrifter/status/1799700126757437726
Thank you so much Josh 🤗 I really appreciate you sharing these resources. I felt like my soul was meant to experience the ultimate manipulation of my earnest desire to save the planet - so I could heal and connect the true dots which is the desire for a post carbon reality organized by an inorganic force that will not win because the awakening is too strong as we all individually wake up. Your light is bright and we are meant to be lighthouses to others and your compassionate writing and scrupulous attention to quoting sources is the exact level of dot connection we need and I really appreciate you so much. Thank you