It will come from individuals choosing truth over comfort...
===
Much of what ails us is comfort. Processed foods, driving everywhere, not taking the stairs, binge-watching Netflix, immersing into endless feeds. Your comfort zone will destroy you.
I would argue part of the need to believe Trump, Vance, Musk or whoever will save us is a similar impulse. It is more comfortable than the reality, which is we must save ourselves. That starts small, local, personal. It is also not glamorous. Building a real community never is. Most of it is mundane and boring. Checking in on neighbours, is a simple example. Nothing dramatic.
But appointing saviours who will kick ass is glamorous. It is appealing to watch, like Vance's speech to Europe's elite. But the change has to happen from the bottom up.
One argument I would make in the defence of people looking for right-wing saviours is lunatics have been in charge for so long and so dismantled all that we are people have become exhausted with the relentless bad news, so they will take any good news they can. But I agree we must be vigilant.
"But the critical question isn’t just what’s being torn down, but what’s being built in its place."
Well put! That's the key, right now.
And yes, the craving for certainty is a big trap. A huge yawning pit ready to swallow ya! But it's not hard to retrain oneself to stop lusting after certainty. Just do it! :-) It'a such a burden off one's back... whew...
Warning about the desire for certainty here is preaching to the choir. Getting much of the public to overcome their unease with uncertainty will never happen. That Western society flourished like no society before once it adopted Christianity, and lost its way as Christianity declined is not a coincidence. The vast majority need a smart, well-intentioned charismatic leader, or better is a benevolent dogma since that can last longer than a man. We need more clear-thinkers but that's not enough without an effective dogma for the rest. They're sheeple and they ain't changing.
Your statement "But the critical question isn’t just what’s being torn down, but what’s being built in its place." is exactly where my mind is focused. The King of the Hill changes every four to eight years, but members of the House and Senate, along with the Deep State, remain essentially the same. I am hopeful that many understand we cannot blindly trust anyone at this juncture. Critical thinking is more important than ever in this nation. 🙏🏻 My faith is what keeps me strong. God will provide wisdom and insight, for He is ultimately in control. 🙏🏻
I would argue the permanent bureaucracy is the threat. The technocratic managerial future they imagine is their ideal. 15-minute cities, digital IDs, CDBCs etc.
None of it is fixable because we shouldn't want to be controlled at all. That is the real worry. Most think like slaves and simply want a more benign master rather than genuine liberty.
Agreed. I want no government - local, state or federal - controlling my life, beyond implementing only what is their purview according to the Constitution. Ideally, our whole government needs to be torn down and replaced with one that is structured according to our founding documents.
If USAID was serious about providing humanitarian aid, it would give the money to the foreign government of the people that they seem to be concerned about. This way, although they may not approve of that government’s policies, they at least respected their independence. However, by USAID giving the money to NGO’s (non-governmental organizations) they have BOTH no respect for that government’s policies, AND no respect for their independence. It's a fight for independence.
I know a lot of people abroad who are very angry about the US subverting their countries with this "aid." Time to defund it for good (perhaps with some few small exceptions) and rethink.
Josh, This is a superb complement to your first piece and really the two need to be read together for maximum value. But most of the world has many distractions and telling everyone to "think for themselves at all times" is likely to land with a thud for most people. But you seem to be moving toward some kind of "here is what you do to assess where you are" framework that I think might have value broadly if distilled enough. These two essays are among the most interesting "in the stratosphere" pieces I have read in a long time. Bravo.
Yep, these pieces were written as a pairing - though hadn't considered the 2nd until I got feedback on the first.
You're absolutely right that telling folks to "think for themselves" without some kind of framework falls flat for most. I'm definitely working toward something more practical - even if it's just a set of mental tools to use day-to-day. It's tricky territory though. How do you create a guide for navigating manipulation without that guide itself becoming another form of manipulation :-)
What's wild is how hard it is to maintain this perspective consistently. I catch myself falling into binary thinking all the time, even while writing about avoiding binary thinking! I suppose the human brain loves shortcuts. I might start the next one where this one left off... the only thing i know is that i don't know anything.
I always appreciate you engaging at this level. It makes me want to keep refining these ideas into something more we can all use. For real, the encouragement means a lot.
You're doing a great job, Joshua. I for one have moved my thinking into broader pattern recognition because of it. It's so easy to get caught in the hoopla of lies exposed and yay! we're winning! and forget the historical flow of patterns. The ruling elite, for want of a better term, have played this game for generations, as you point out with the Venetians. Discerning truth amid the noise is perhaps the most difficult task at hand. What is true one minute can be false the next. The underlying truth of loving coexistence could be the only constant.
I'd argue the needle is moving closer to the truth, at least in terms of what has happened. Mike Benz perhaps rightly points out that USAID (or "the blob" of foreign interference) has been unaccountable for 50+ years. Would you disagree?
We are merely at the end of the beginning, barely. We see that the proverbial butterfly has flapped its wings. There is no guarantee a tornado will be generated due to the flapping. We re not even sure about that butterfly will survive another day. "Don't let your guard down" in this article is an understatement.
The approach outlined here is about as good as it gets within a mental or intellectual framework. It is well informed, balanced and perspicuous and driven by an evident concern for truth.
As good as it gets, but not good enough. No mind-driven analysis can ever be good enough because it shares by its very nature in the system of binaries it attempts to criticise. For the mind inevitably sees the world in terms of paired opposites such as desirable/undesirable, fearful/reassuring, and so on.
The mind is a tool, effective when subordinated to the deeper place within us which knows with an altogether different kind of assurance because it is not a plaything of the binaries. But the busy tool overrides that deeper knowing, supplanting it with its own fretful uncertainties. Which means that the mind can never really resolve anything, yet perversely that very inability to come to a resolution keeps it going indefinitely, as though around the next corner things might finally become clear. But it's a labyrinth, and so on it goes.
More than anything else we need to quieten down and listen in to that deeper place. The mind is the sorcerer's apprentice. Only the return of the inner Master can resolve the mess it creates.
Re: timing of actions to reorganize USAID and to cut USAID budget funding flows.
As someone who has watched US policymaking wrt development assistance since the early 1990s, I see nothing unusual about the timing of these actions. USAID spending has grown significantly since 2000 - and many Americans and assuredly most Republicans are happy to see foreign assistance cut. Cutting assistance was part of the Trump platform, as part of his overall commitment to reduce govt spending and head off a financial crisis of spiraling indebtedness.
Also very importantly, USAID budget is a large pool of funds with very little oversight, which have historically been used for all kinds of stupid and destructive initiatives including the many color revolutions the USG has undertaken abroad. Presumably one of the things that made stopping USAID funding flows such an urgent priority was the fact that the funds were supporting the propagandizing activities undertaken thru media outlets and apparently *some of these media assets (like OCCRP) participated in efforts targeting Trump himself*. Trump would have to be a fool to allow funding to flow to these operations even one minute longer than necessary.
From Public: "A new investigation by Public shows that OCCRP played a significant role in developing the narrative that Trump and his associates had ties to Russian banking and Russian money laundering..." https://www.public.news/p/usaid-drove-trump-russia-collusion
April, thanks for sharing your valuable perspective. The connection between USAID funding and operations targeting Trump himself (like OCCRP's role in Russia collusion narratives) certainly could explain the urgency behind these actions. That would make perfect sense.
This raises an interesting question though - why weren't these issues addressed during Trump's first term? If these funding mechanisms were being used against him then, what prevented action? Perhaps institutional resistance was stronger, or the full scope of these operations wasn't yet understood. Maybe the first term focused on identifying these systems while the second term had the knowledge and positioning to actually dismantle them? I suspect we may never know.
Equally as importantly, your points about USAID's growth, lack of oversight, and use for color revolutions align with the pattern of using humanitarian cover for other agendas. While reducing government spending and preventing financial crisis are straightforward explanations, they don't preclude the deeper implications of how these funds were used to shape perception globally.
Either way, I appreciate you adding this dimension to the conversation. It's a great reminder that practical political motivations can coexist with larger patterns of institutional manipulation.
Wrt the specific case of OCCRP's contribution's to one attack on Trump - I think they only figured it out after then end of Trump's first term. Recall that particular attack came in December 2019 - where a faux whistleblower used an OCCRP dossier to build a case for impeachment. Undoubtedly it took awhile to figure out OCCRP's role, and then to figure out that USAID staff had considerable influence over OCCRP's staffing and workprogram planning. They might not have known even about the USAID funding until they got their hands on USAID activity management data after Trump was inaugurated the second time.
I appreciate your deductive reasoning here - the timeline you've laid out makes sense. Following the trail from OCCRP's role in the impeachment attempt back to USAID funding would indeed require substantial investigation, especially with institutional barriers in place.
This specific example beautifully illustrates the larger point: these influence operations are designed to maintain plausible deniability through layers of separation. When we finally see the connections between funding sources and operational outcomes, the pattern becomes undeniable.
While I'm encouraged by these revelations, my larger concern remains consistent: we must hold current leadership to the same standards we demanded of previous administrations. The principles of transparency, constitutional limits, and skepticism toward concentrated power shouldn't depend on who holds office.
The challenge isn't just exposing yesterday's manipulation systems, but remaining vigilant about what might replace them. In some ways, your example helps make that case even stronger.
'Power is being exposed AND new forms of control may be emerging'. Exactly, and I'm glad you cite the great Whitney Webb's work.
Most are aware of the Chinese 'everything' app weChat: the ''Musk' entity (whoever they are) has partnered X with Visa in the last few days, Ellison/Oracle's StarGate initiative will build on decades of US authority's usage. Various Israeli companies have processed and interrogated US telephony for years now, and there are many other strands rapidly coalescing into a now very visible potential control network.
The NSA built vast data centers well over a decade ago capturing everything in the 'everything is beta' kindergarten colored Google web 2.0 era.
With AI accelerating at incredible speed, all the pieces are in place for a technocratic autocracy, with only the US constitution in the way, Europe seems almost set up to welcome this but on their own terms.
I'd love to see a new book like Misha Glenny's 2008 'McMafia: A Journey Through the Global Criminal Underworld' demonstrating the new networks....Webb does a good job of detailing much of this but has been more focused on Epstein et al.
A dystopian take could be that, just as the Perestroika Russia era briefly exposed freedom of expression that was later tracked and noted STASI style by the authorities, that our digital record footprint of thoughts and opinions will be used against us.
The essence of Western liberalism is free speech and freedom of expression...long may that survive...
Via Perplexity for context: the US control grid infrastructure is not a 'new' thing and is growing fast:
//
The NSA began construction on its massive data center in Utah on January 6, 201115. This facility, known as the Utah Data Center or "Bumblehive," was a groundbreaking project for the National Security Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The construction of this $1.2 billion facility marked a significant expansion of the NSA's data collection and storage capabilities13.
Key points about the Utah Data Center:
Location: Camp W.G. Williams National Guard Post near Bluffdale, Utah15.
Size: Approximately 1 million square feet, with 100,000 square feet dedicated to data center space5.
Cost: Initially estimated at $1.2 billion, but later reports suggest the total cost reached $1.5-2 billion15.
Completion: The facility was completed in May 2014, despite some delays due to electrical problems5.
It's important to note that while the Utah Data Center is one of the most prominent NSA data facilities, it is not the only one. The NSA has been expanding its data center capabilities over time to support its global monitoring and data processing operations6.
As of February 2025, the NSA continues to invest in its data center infrastructure. Recent developments include:
A planned expansion of the NSA/CSS Texas Cryptologic Center, with a budget request of $347 million for fiscal year 20257.
Ongoing construction of the NSAW East Campus Building #5 at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland7.
These ongoing projects demonstrate the NSA's continued commitment to expanding and modernizing its data center capabilities to meet evolving national security needs.
Interesting. Like all that really made the effort to search and analyze the anatomy of power in the past 1000 plus years (at minimum, in this iteration of "power") you, the author, also found that "all roads lead to Venice" (before that it was Rome). The principles do not change, just a question when someone makes the discovery. Thank you for your writing.
I especially value your ‘Engineering Reality’ trilogy and learned new things about behavioral engineers and their benefactors during the post WW1 Tavistock days, which I’ve shared widely.
With your latest you ask the salient question 'How does one create a guide for navigating manipulation without that guide itself becoming another form of manipulation?'
I am aware of an existing guide already working very well over the longer term, albeit from unlikely quarters, that may be a suitable model to adapt.
Please allow me to explain.
While it's certainly a complex issue to evaluate the roles each of the six US Presidents this century have exerted on the world, and the West in particular, what you are documenting is the system has not changed despite their input, and it indeed continues to produce the unpalatable results that it's designed to. As it must.
Hence (y)our justifiable concerns about 'The Pattern Beneath' and who of our leadership and administrative class might be benign and trustworthy.
To which the reply must be they’ll be known by their deeds, as actions speak louder than words.
During the same quarter century where the West has undeniably slid further into Al Capone's soup kitchen, another nation has resurrected itself from the total societal and economic collapse and depression that befell it post the 1990’s USSR disintegration.
Today, Russia stands resurrected and prominent on the international stage, as a world power again.
Despite the West’s best efforts, she’s tirelessly adapted and driven change that’s lifted her people from abject poverty into the leading edge of the 21st century, by every measure we use to quantify the quality of life of a nation, it's people's health and well being.
How this happened is both simple and complex, understandingly however, not everyone welcomed Prime Minister / President Putin and his leadership.
Just as many are repulsed by President Trump today.
The new Russian leadership moved consciously to sort their oligarchic class after the Yeltsin / West gangster years of the 90’s, into those who would willingly align with the democratically elected government and contribute in the best interests of the nation, while making life difficult and encouraging the relocation of those who had other agendas.
It was successful and that emigrant oligarchic class now resides predominantly in London, New York and Tel Aviv where their predatory ethic continues to prey on western citizenry in familiar ways.
Further, we in the West have been subjected to this brand of oligarchical influence peddling for over a century now, according to Whitney Webb’s two volumes of ‘One Nation Under Blackmail, the sordid union between intelligence and organised crime that gave rise to Jeffery Epstein’.
So much so that many consider it normal. It’s not!
Al Capone is small bananas when one grasps the magnitude of all things vice peddling cartels have achieved in the corporate, political and military arenas from within the USA democratic hologram.
If we are to survive the coming economic and societal turmoil in the West, we will identify and learn to trust our loyal oligarchs in the same way Russians do today.
It’s my view our battle of Titans has broken out into the public sphere and is well underway, clearly aligning in two (main) groups. The one centered around President Trump and the other embodied by the World Federation of Advertisers, the ADL, DNC et al and their ilk from the predominantly European elite populated WEF and City of London.
You may recall that a gargantuan hidden hand swung into action with the aim of galvanising support to bankrupt Twitter / X after Mr Musk’s acquisition.
I am certain that the more we can grasp the Phoenix of Russia rising, the easier it will be for us to adapt their vision of regaining control over our shared destiny.
Alex Krainer wrote the twice banned book ‘Grand Deception’ which is a story of integrity and faith in fair and reasonable people who exist at the highest levels of society in Russia, and certainly in the USA and wider West too.
Apparently all we need to prosper is a better class of government and oligarchy, dedicated to the national interest, and the ability to keep them honest.
Excellent! Very interesting that you bring up origin of the DOGE name, especially that the modern empire has it's roots in Venice.
Quote: "Most people caught in today's news cycles and social media feeds rarely pause to consider whether these parallels suggest deeper historical echoes - perhaps even ancient banking dynasties"
"Patterns repeat, and power rarely relinquishes control - it simply shifts form."
Confirmation of your above statements are confirmed by Paolo Sarpi:
Quoting Robert D. Ingraham, The Modern Anglo-Dutch Empire: Its Origins, Evolution, and Anti-Human Outlook:
Sarpi was the acknowledged intellectual leader of the Giovani faction, and it was Sarpi’s views which would determine the strategic policies of Venice until years after his death.
Sarpi’s most invaluable contribution to continued oligarchical rule is his understanding that “mental chains” are more effective then armies in enforcing human servitude.
Sarpi knew that there was no saving the old mechanisms of social control. In order to preserve oligarchical rule he formulated a threefold strategy:
1) Develop a new science of radical materialism, known as empiricism, and demand that all scientific investigation utilize this empirical method;
2) Use the “discoveries” of this new empirical science, to falsely claim for himself and his associates the laurels for overturning the dictatorship of Aristotelianism
3) Utilize sympathetic networks and individuals, to spread this new empirical science from one corner of Europe to another, until it was hegemonic everywhere.
It will come from individuals choosing truth over comfort...
===
Much of what ails us is comfort. Processed foods, driving everywhere, not taking the stairs, binge-watching Netflix, immersing into endless feeds. Your comfort zone will destroy you.
I would argue part of the need to believe Trump, Vance, Musk or whoever will save us is a similar impulse. It is more comfortable than the reality, which is we must save ourselves. That starts small, local, personal. It is also not glamorous. Building a real community never is. Most of it is mundane and boring. Checking in on neighbours, is a simple example. Nothing dramatic.
But appointing saviours who will kick ass is glamorous. It is appealing to watch, like Vance's speech to Europe's elite. But the change has to happen from the bottom up.
One argument I would make in the defence of people looking for right-wing saviours is lunatics have been in charge for so long and so dismantled all that we are people have become exhausted with the relentless bad news, so they will take any good news they can. But I agree we must be vigilant.
Perfectly said: "The war isn't left vs right - it's about preserving human sovereignty in an age of engineered reality."
Yes, yes and more yes!!! :)
"But the critical question isn’t just what’s being torn down, but what’s being built in its place."
Well put! That's the key, right now.
And yes, the craving for certainty is a big trap. A huge yawning pit ready to swallow ya! But it's not hard to retrain oneself to stop lusting after certainty. Just do it! :-) It'a such a burden off one's back... whew...
Warning about the desire for certainty here is preaching to the choir. Getting much of the public to overcome their unease with uncertainty will never happen. That Western society flourished like no society before once it adopted Christianity, and lost its way as Christianity declined is not a coincidence. The vast majority need a smart, well-intentioned charismatic leader, or better is a benevolent dogma since that can last longer than a man. We need more clear-thinkers but that's not enough without an effective dogma for the rest. They're sheeple and they ain't changing.
Your statement "But the critical question isn’t just what’s being torn down, but what’s being built in its place." is exactly where my mind is focused. The King of the Hill changes every four to eight years, but members of the House and Senate, along with the Deep State, remain essentially the same. I am hopeful that many understand we cannot blindly trust anyone at this juncture. Critical thinking is more important than ever in this nation. 🙏🏻 My faith is what keeps me strong. God will provide wisdom and insight, for He is ultimately in control. 🙏🏻
I would argue the permanent bureaucracy is the threat. The technocratic managerial future they imagine is their ideal. 15-minute cities, digital IDs, CDBCs etc.
None of it is fixable because we shouldn't want to be controlled at all. That is the real worry. Most think like slaves and simply want a more benign master rather than genuine liberty.
Agreed. I want no government - local, state or federal - controlling my life, beyond implementing only what is their purview according to the Constitution. Ideally, our whole government needs to be torn down and replaced with one that is structured according to our founding documents.
Great thinking and writing. Thank you so much.
If USAID was serious about providing humanitarian aid, it would give the money to the foreign government of the people that they seem to be concerned about. This way, although they may not approve of that government’s policies, they at least respected their independence. However, by USAID giving the money to NGO’s (non-governmental organizations) they have BOTH no respect for that government’s policies, AND no respect for their independence. It's a fight for independence.
Good points and totally agree with reg. the poultry gene therapies and the anti-semitism non free speech developments and non-reactions.
And reg. foreign aid, you might want to forward tour friend this article:
https://ronpaulinstitute.org/foreign-aid-isnt/
Maybe it would indeed be better for everyone to stop it completely.
I know a lot of people abroad who are very angry about the US subverting their countries with this "aid." Time to defund it for good (perhaps with some few small exceptions) and rethink.
No exceptions. No one is paying taxes to send to foreigners. That is what charity is for.
I am cool with that. But then, give them a bit of time to reconfigure. If they are genuine.
I wouldn't even do that. Almost none of it is used for anything worthwhile.
Josh, This is a superb complement to your first piece and really the two need to be read together for maximum value. But most of the world has many distractions and telling everyone to "think for themselves at all times" is likely to land with a thud for most people. But you seem to be moving toward some kind of "here is what you do to assess where you are" framework that I think might have value broadly if distilled enough. These two essays are among the most interesting "in the stratosphere" pieces I have read in a long time. Bravo.
Yep, these pieces were written as a pairing - though hadn't considered the 2nd until I got feedback on the first.
You're absolutely right that telling folks to "think for themselves" without some kind of framework falls flat for most. I'm definitely working toward something more practical - even if it's just a set of mental tools to use day-to-day. It's tricky territory though. How do you create a guide for navigating manipulation without that guide itself becoming another form of manipulation :-)
What's wild is how hard it is to maintain this perspective consistently. I catch myself falling into binary thinking all the time, even while writing about avoiding binary thinking! I suppose the human brain loves shortcuts. I might start the next one where this one left off... the only thing i know is that i don't know anything.
I always appreciate you engaging at this level. It makes me want to keep refining these ideas into something more we can all use. For real, the encouragement means a lot.
You're doing a great job, Joshua. I for one have moved my thinking into broader pattern recognition because of it. It's so easy to get caught in the hoopla of lies exposed and yay! we're winning! and forget the historical flow of patterns. The ruling elite, for want of a better term, have played this game for generations, as you point out with the Venetians. Discerning truth amid the noise is perhaps the most difficult task at hand. What is true one minute can be false the next. The underlying truth of loving coexistence could be the only constant.
Swapping one government for another is still government.
I'd argue the needle is moving closer to the truth, at least in terms of what has happened. Mike Benz perhaps rightly points out that USAID (or "the blob" of foreign interference) has been unaccountable for 50+ years. Would you disagree?
No, I would not disagree. The truth is the only thing worth fighting for. But what's being built in place is where my comment was aimed at.
We are merely at the end of the beginning, barely. We see that the proverbial butterfly has flapped its wings. There is no guarantee a tornado will be generated due to the flapping. We re not even sure about that butterfly will survive another day. "Don't let your guard down" in this article is an understatement.
🎯
The approach outlined here is about as good as it gets within a mental or intellectual framework. It is well informed, balanced and perspicuous and driven by an evident concern for truth.
As good as it gets, but not good enough. No mind-driven analysis can ever be good enough because it shares by its very nature in the system of binaries it attempts to criticise. For the mind inevitably sees the world in terms of paired opposites such as desirable/undesirable, fearful/reassuring, and so on.
The mind is a tool, effective when subordinated to the deeper place within us which knows with an altogether different kind of assurance because it is not a plaything of the binaries. But the busy tool overrides that deeper knowing, supplanting it with its own fretful uncertainties. Which means that the mind can never really resolve anything, yet perversely that very inability to come to a resolution keeps it going indefinitely, as though around the next corner things might finally become clear. But it's a labyrinth, and so on it goes.
More than anything else we need to quieten down and listen in to that deeper place. The mind is the sorcerer's apprentice. Only the return of the inner Master can resolve the mess it creates.
Re: timing of actions to reorganize USAID and to cut USAID budget funding flows.
As someone who has watched US policymaking wrt development assistance since the early 1990s, I see nothing unusual about the timing of these actions. USAID spending has grown significantly since 2000 - and many Americans and assuredly most Republicans are happy to see foreign assistance cut. Cutting assistance was part of the Trump platform, as part of his overall commitment to reduce govt spending and head off a financial crisis of spiraling indebtedness.
Also very importantly, USAID budget is a large pool of funds with very little oversight, which have historically been used for all kinds of stupid and destructive initiatives including the many color revolutions the USG has undertaken abroad. Presumably one of the things that made stopping USAID funding flows such an urgent priority was the fact that the funds were supporting the propagandizing activities undertaken thru media outlets and apparently *some of these media assets (like OCCRP) participated in efforts targeting Trump himself*. Trump would have to be a fool to allow funding to flow to these operations even one minute longer than necessary.
From Public: "A new investigation by Public shows that OCCRP played a significant role in developing the narrative that Trump and his associates had ties to Russian banking and Russian money laundering..." https://www.public.news/p/usaid-drove-trump-russia-collusion
April, thanks for sharing your valuable perspective. The connection between USAID funding and operations targeting Trump himself (like OCCRP's role in Russia collusion narratives) certainly could explain the urgency behind these actions. That would make perfect sense.
This raises an interesting question though - why weren't these issues addressed during Trump's first term? If these funding mechanisms were being used against him then, what prevented action? Perhaps institutional resistance was stronger, or the full scope of these operations wasn't yet understood. Maybe the first term focused on identifying these systems while the second term had the knowledge and positioning to actually dismantle them? I suspect we may never know.
Equally as importantly, your points about USAID's growth, lack of oversight, and use for color revolutions align with the pattern of using humanitarian cover for other agendas. While reducing government spending and preventing financial crisis are straightforward explanations, they don't preclude the deeper implications of how these funds were used to shape perception globally.
Either way, I appreciate you adding this dimension to the conversation. It's a great reminder that practical political motivations can coexist with larger patterns of institutional manipulation.
Wrt the specific case of OCCRP's contribution's to one attack on Trump - I think they only figured it out after then end of Trump's first term. Recall that particular attack came in December 2019 - where a faux whistleblower used an OCCRP dossier to build a case for impeachment. Undoubtedly it took awhile to figure out OCCRP's role, and then to figure out that USAID staff had considerable influence over OCCRP's staffing and workprogram planning. They might not have known even about the USAID funding until they got their hands on USAID activity management data after Trump was inaugurated the second time.
I appreciate your deductive reasoning here - the timeline you've laid out makes sense. Following the trail from OCCRP's role in the impeachment attempt back to USAID funding would indeed require substantial investigation, especially with institutional barriers in place.
This specific example beautifully illustrates the larger point: these influence operations are designed to maintain plausible deniability through layers of separation. When we finally see the connections between funding sources and operational outcomes, the pattern becomes undeniable.
While I'm encouraged by these revelations, my larger concern remains consistent: we must hold current leadership to the same standards we demanded of previous administrations. The principles of transparency, constitutional limits, and skepticism toward concentrated power shouldn't depend on who holds office.
The challenge isn't just exposing yesterday's manipulation systems, but remaining vigilant about what might replace them. In some ways, your example helps make that case even stronger.
'Power is being exposed AND new forms of control may be emerging'. Exactly, and I'm glad you cite the great Whitney Webb's work.
Most are aware of the Chinese 'everything' app weChat: the ''Musk' entity (whoever they are) has partnered X with Visa in the last few days, Ellison/Oracle's StarGate initiative will build on decades of US authority's usage. Various Israeli companies have processed and interrogated US telephony for years now, and there are many other strands rapidly coalescing into a now very visible potential control network.
The NSA built vast data centers well over a decade ago capturing everything in the 'everything is beta' kindergarten colored Google web 2.0 era.
https://www.wired.com/2012/03/ff-nsadatacenter/
With AI accelerating at incredible speed, all the pieces are in place for a technocratic autocracy, with only the US constitution in the way, Europe seems almost set up to welcome this but on their own terms.
I'd love to see a new book like Misha Glenny's 2008 'McMafia: A Journey Through the Global Criminal Underworld' demonstrating the new networks....Webb does a good job of detailing much of this but has been more focused on Epstein et al.
A dystopian take could be that, just as the Perestroika Russia era briefly exposed freedom of expression that was later tracked and noted STASI style by the authorities, that our digital record footprint of thoughts and opinions will be used against us.
The essence of Western liberalism is free speech and freedom of expression...long may that survive...
Via Perplexity for context: the US control grid infrastructure is not a 'new' thing and is growing fast:
//
The NSA began construction on its massive data center in Utah on January 6, 201115. This facility, known as the Utah Data Center or "Bumblehive," was a groundbreaking project for the National Security Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The construction of this $1.2 billion facility marked a significant expansion of the NSA's data collection and storage capabilities13.
Key points about the Utah Data Center:
Location: Camp W.G. Williams National Guard Post near Bluffdale, Utah15.
Size: Approximately 1 million square feet, with 100,000 square feet dedicated to data center space5.
Cost: Initially estimated at $1.2 billion, but later reports suggest the total cost reached $1.5-2 billion15.
Completion: The facility was completed in May 2014, despite some delays due to electrical problems5.
It's important to note that while the Utah Data Center is one of the most prominent NSA data facilities, it is not the only one. The NSA has been expanding its data center capabilities over time to support its global monitoring and data processing operations6.
As of February 2025, the NSA continues to invest in its data center infrastructure. Recent developments include:
A planned expansion of the NSA/CSS Texas Cryptologic Center, with a budget request of $347 million for fiscal year 20257.
Ongoing construction of the NSAW East Campus Building #5 at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland7.
These ongoing projects demonstrate the NSA's continued commitment to expanding and modernizing its data center capabilities to meet evolving national security needs.
Interesting. Like all that really made the effort to search and analyze the anatomy of power in the past 1000 plus years (at minimum, in this iteration of "power") you, the author, also found that "all roads lead to Venice" (before that it was Rome). The principles do not change, just a question when someone makes the discovery. Thank you for your writing.
Hi Joshua
Thanks for your great work.
I especially value your ‘Engineering Reality’ trilogy and learned new things about behavioral engineers and their benefactors during the post WW1 Tavistock days, which I’ve shared widely.
With your latest you ask the salient question 'How does one create a guide for navigating manipulation without that guide itself becoming another form of manipulation?'
I am aware of an existing guide already working very well over the longer term, albeit from unlikely quarters, that may be a suitable model to adapt.
Please allow me to explain.
While it's certainly a complex issue to evaluate the roles each of the six US Presidents this century have exerted on the world, and the West in particular, what you are documenting is the system has not changed despite their input, and it indeed continues to produce the unpalatable results that it's designed to. As it must.
Hence (y)our justifiable concerns about 'The Pattern Beneath' and who of our leadership and administrative class might be benign and trustworthy.
To which the reply must be they’ll be known by their deeds, as actions speak louder than words.
During the same quarter century where the West has undeniably slid further into Al Capone's soup kitchen, another nation has resurrected itself from the total societal and economic collapse and depression that befell it post the 1990’s USSR disintegration.
New York Magazine ‘The Money Plane’
https://books.google.co.nz/books?ct=result&dq=republic%20new%20york%20corporation%20%20%20russia%20banknotes&ei=362GTYPDA-rG0QHy6cm_CA&hl=en&id=0OICAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA24&oi=book_result&ots=ZAF51fiAnn&pg=PA24&redir_esc=y&sa=X&sig=ik79DI3nEl3rQ3ZaYknGLCra4TE&source=bl#v=onepage&q=republic%20new%20york%20corporation%20%20%20russia%20banknotes&f=false
Today, Russia stands resurrected and prominent on the international stage, as a world power again.
Despite the West’s best efforts, she’s tirelessly adapted and driven change that’s lifted her people from abject poverty into the leading edge of the 21st century, by every measure we use to quantify the quality of life of a nation, it's people's health and well being.
How this happened is both simple and complex, understandingly however, not everyone welcomed Prime Minister / President Putin and his leadership.
Just as many are repulsed by President Trump today.
https://archive.org/details/magnitsky-act-movie
The new Russian leadership moved consciously to sort their oligarchic class after the Yeltsin / West gangster years of the 90’s, into those who would willingly align with the democratically elected government and contribute in the best interests of the nation, while making life difficult and encouraging the relocation of those who had other agendas.
It was successful and that emigrant oligarchic class now resides predominantly in London, New York and Tel Aviv where their predatory ethic continues to prey on western citizenry in familiar ways.
Further, we in the West have been subjected to this brand of oligarchical influence peddling for over a century now, according to Whitney Webb’s two volumes of ‘One Nation Under Blackmail, the sordid union between intelligence and organised crime that gave rise to Jeffery Epstein’.
So much so that many consider it normal. It’s not!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61955761-one-nation-under-blackmail
Al Capone is small bananas when one grasps the magnitude of all things vice peddling cartels have achieved in the corporate, political and military arenas from within the USA democratic hologram.
If we are to survive the coming economic and societal turmoil in the West, we will identify and learn to trust our loyal oligarchs in the same way Russians do today.
It’s my view our battle of Titans has broken out into the public sphere and is well underway, clearly aligning in two (main) groups. The one centered around President Trump and the other embodied by the World Federation of Advertisers, the ADL, DNC et al and their ilk from the predominantly European elite populated WEF and City of London.
You may recall that a gargantuan hidden hand swung into action with the aim of galvanising support to bankrupt Twitter / X after Mr Musk’s acquisition.
That for me was the gauntlet thrown moment.
https://www.adl.org/resources/news/jonathan-greenblatts-remarks-world-federation-advertisers
I am certain that the more we can grasp the Phoenix of Russia rising, the easier it will be for us to adapt their vision of regaining control over our shared destiny.
Alex Krainer wrote the twice banned book ‘Grand Deception’ which is a story of integrity and faith in fair and reasonable people who exist at the highest levels of society in Russia, and certainly in the USA and wider West too.
https://thenakedhedgie.com/2018/09/18/why-i-wrote-grand-deception/
Grand Deception – the book.
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ui=2&ik=a1e3a8667f&attid=0.1&permmsgid=msg-a:r980463839639967967&th=194c4ea4527023e4&view=att&disp=safe&realattid=f_m6n4aglv0&zw
Excellent insight into why ‘the human brain loves shortcuts’.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thinking%2C_Fast_and_Slow
Apparently all we need to prosper is a better class of government and oligarchy, dedicated to the national interest, and the ability to keep them honest.
All the best
Wildsilver
Excellent! Very interesting that you bring up origin of the DOGE name, especially that the modern empire has it's roots in Venice.
Quote: "Most people caught in today's news cycles and social media feeds rarely pause to consider whether these parallels suggest deeper historical echoes - perhaps even ancient banking dynasties"
"Patterns repeat, and power rarely relinquishes control - it simply shifts form."
Confirmation of your above statements are confirmed by Paolo Sarpi:
Quoting Robert D. Ingraham, The Modern Anglo-Dutch Empire: Its Origins, Evolution, and Anti-Human Outlook:
Sarpi was the acknowledged intellectual leader of the Giovani faction, and it was Sarpi’s views which would determine the strategic policies of Venice until years after his death.
Sarpi’s most invaluable contribution to continued oligarchical rule is his understanding that “mental chains” are more effective then armies in enforcing human servitude.
Sarpi knew that there was no saving the old mechanisms of social control. In order to preserve oligarchical rule he formulated a threefold strategy:
1) Develop a new science of radical materialism, known as empiricism, and demand that all scientific investigation utilize this empirical method;
2) Use the “discoveries” of this new empirical science, to falsely claim for himself and his associates the laurels for overturning the dictatorship of Aristotelianism
3) Utilize sympathetic networks and individuals, to spread this new empirical science from one corner of Europe to another, until it was hegemonic everywhere.