41–50 of 184 posts
I have no reason to believe they ever stopped trying. They have probably tried other ways; mayhaps even more succesful but we are not authorized to know whether they did... because appaerently it's super important that their actions are secret "to protect democracy"? (or something like that)
I have no reason to believe they ever stopped trying. They have probably tried other ways; mayhaps even more succesful but we are not authorized to know whether they did... because appaerently it's super important that their actions are secret "to protect democracy"? (or something like that)
One way to preserve democracy is to have an informational advantage over your adversaries, by any means necessary.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That massive blind spot may be preferable to the problems their actions cause.
Preferable in what way? Clearly the CIA has sinned and will likely continue to do so, but how can we evaluate an agency whose job by definition is either totally unseen (Espionage) or only reported on years after the fact (i.e. no one cares about the terrorist attacks that don't happen)
Without that belief, what we get instead, is vigilantism (either within the institution, or outside of it.) Preferable to that, is well-accountable and ethically mutual reflection which brings out the best, and roots out the worst in the participants. That is never impossible, as long as we presume accountability beyond immediate verifiability. As Christ said: "for there is nothing hidden which will not be brought to light."
In horror tales of every institution (or individual) is the requirement to self-assess and demand better for oneself. If the CIA has entirely slipped its moorings, it is subject to the countervailing forces which would enlighten its enemies to its demise.
What is more hopeful, is that only various activities have gone rogue. Regardless, only God knows entirely the state of affairs. God does respond. So with love, and a whole lot of grace, we'll see a brighter future for everyone involved.
I have had to think about the CIA more than I would like to admit. There are some wounds in my life related to the evil of perceived unaccountability - and the perceived unaccountability was my own.
When it comes to someone being harmed by a government institution that has the same problem, especially when it has done much to consciously avoid accountability, the result is only worse for those who have chosen to participate. I no longer worry about what is not known. I worry only about what will, and it most certainly will, become known.
And we are at our best when there is mutually painful self-reflection on the roles we as individuals and collectives play in bringing one another to harm. When we would prefer to bring one another to safety, we are delivered the means to do so, Inshallah. God willing.
There is no mind control program. It's just bahavioral biology, psychology and advertising. Calling it mind control is like saying I can control a person because I can get them to show up to a certain grocery store if I give them a coupon.
Interestingly enough, Sidney Gottlieb was my great uncle's college roommate at the University of Wisconsin, and they later reconnected after the war and became lifelong best friends. Apparently they both went there after colleges on the east coast started putting quotas on Jews. There is an interesting article about their relationship here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/magazine/20... Unfortunately…
I have no reason to believe they ever stopped trying. They have probably tried other ways; mayhaps even more succesful but we are not authorized to know whether they did... because appaerently it's super important that their actions are secret "to protect democracy"? (or something like that)
One way to preserve democracy is to have an informational advantage over your adversaries, by any means necessary.
I have no reason to believe they ever stopped trying. They have probably tried other ways; mayhaps even more succesful but we are not authorized to know whether they did... because appaerently it's super important that their actions are secret "to protect democracy"? (or something like that)
One way to preserve democracy is to have an informational advantage over your adversaries, by any means necessary.
> I think it creates a much fuller and more perplexing picture of a person who lived such different sides of his life. In the long run, in the cosmic sense, I think you can say that commitment to a cause always gives you the justification for immoral acts. And patriotism is among the most seductive of those causes because it posits the nation as a value that's so transcendent that anything done in its service is virt…
Perhaps the CIA's hope was to brainwash American pilots, not deprogram them. From what I understand, cult deprogramming is often a weird mirror of cult programming, using many of the same methods, with deprogramming organizations sometimes becoming cult-like themselves. That one could be confused or disguised as the other doesn't surprise me.