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A friend of mine posted the following, originally by a man named Seth Abrams. I think it is very enlightening. For those of us who've been wondering WHY the Magats deny reality right in front of them - this is a way of changing our perceptions about the problem and it frames the phenomenon we find ourselves confronting. Changes and clarifies how to interact.
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Yes, including the Trump adult children who are, for the most part, just as repulsive as their father...but part of me does have a drop of compassion for them. Imagine growing up in such a materially-endowed (yet emotionally/morally-bankrupted/corrupted) environment? Such unified familial adoration for such superficial values and such mercurial, unimpeded bullying behavior by their father. I had higher hopes for Tiffany but she has turned out to be just like the rest.
Still, each had many choices all along the way. Most thinking adults do not reflexively and wholesale assume every single value/perspective handed down to them by their parents/family/social environment. If we have a brain and half a spine, we pick and choose: those perspectives/values worth keeping and those worth rejecting...and then finding our OWN meaningful path and values in life. There is something truly arrested and sad about the Trump kids: they are like desperate squawking clones of their father, utterly subservient to his raging narcissism, sinking to any low level of behavior in order to merit an absent-minded pat on the head by their psycho Dad....
Whatever light and beauty they may have had as children was knocked out once and for all long ago...
I feel that the Trump children are too afraid of losing their inheritances, even if maybe Ivanka thinks what her father is doing is wrong -- so as long as he is alive, they will all be parroting whatever messages would be most pleasing to him. In the meantime, they are weaving their own karma in doing so, and by the time they receive their inheritances, they will also be so ingrained in this way of acting and thinking that it will become habitual for them. Cognitive dissonance is very painful to live with for very long. And the highly public nature of their messaging now will make it much harder for them to change course later on -- I mean, for one thing, they have lost all credibility with anyone who is not a Trump supporter.
So true. Their future inheritance may be uppermost in their minds... although they have undoubtedly learned a few lessons about "the pliability of truth" and "the use of cruelty" from dear old Dad...Ironically, after DT's enormous debts come due in a few years, if he doesn't find a way to pay them off, there may not be much of an inheritance left for them to pick over... and I doubt any of them (the boys in particular) have it in them to make anything of themselves without enormous money behind them. They seem like an unusually mediocre lot.
On the other hand, Rupert Murdoch's youngest son, James, has dared to diverge from the family's conservative views. I have to say: I admire his far more liberal views as well as his moral gumption...That's something you don't see everyday from the ultra-rich crowd...
Wow, thanks Laura. This is both fascinating and terrifying. Beginning to sound like a SciFi movie. The Digital/Cyber Age is becoming far more complex and is creating threats that we never could have dreamt of in a simpler time...
@laura-f, thank you for sharing such an important message from your friend. It is very disturbing that there is such a slippery slope between recreational on-line multiplayer gaming and cosplay, and alternate reality games developed for malicious purposes. ?
It's a bit tangential, perhaps, but I just love the title of this thread. I follow the I Ching more closely than I do pretty much any other mystical oracle simply because it is less about trying to decipher "what's going to happen" and more about reminding me to be centered and focused on my own responses -- ultimately, after all, it doesn't really matter what is going on "out there" as much as it matters what happens in my own heart -- things can be great, but if my response is not full of love and light for all, well, I've failed then, haven't I? And the reverse, of course, is also true.
So, anyway, back to my original tangent, before my tangential tangent derails us altogether...
Nothing can ever get to its absolute worst without, by definition, opening the door to a fun-filled bounceback to being better. There's every reason in the world to mourn when awful things happen, but it shouldn't prevent us from remembering that awful things are followed by good things. Yin flows to Yang, flows to Yin, flows to Yang. We're unraveling. Which means... we're about to turn.
I've got my tub full of popcorn, ready to watch the next act of this movie. It's quite likely to be as fun as the last one was disconcerting.
My entertainment of the day was seeing that DT just named a branch of the military (Guardians) after a comic book(Guardians of the galaxy)
May his last act of office be to create an elite team of "Power" Rangers armed with giant interconnecting robots that look like dinosaurs to fight the evil* space witch who lives on the moon.
I suspect even if he did this, many of the MAGA folks wouldn't question his "genius" or stability. After all, if America doesn't fight that space witch, who will. She's an illegal alien too. The horror of it all!
On the flip side, perhaps "Rita Repulsa / Goldar 2024!" It think it would still be better than some of the alternatives.
*I know many folks on this forum don't believe in evil, so feel free to call her a mischievous and misunderstood space witch. ?
OMG you just turned the last 4 years of the US Presidency into a episode of Power Rangers......and it didn't feel like a stretch at all. No wonder Trump is always wearing that face paint. He wants to be the Orange Power Ranger.
I tried to imagine Trump as a Power Ranger, but I got stuck in the imagery of Trump in a skin tight orange Ranger outfit (currently dunking my head in a tub of brain bleach to rid myself of the image, but it isn't working.)
I then tried to imagine Trump doing any of the stunts and/or martial art moves that the Power Rangers did. But I couldn't, given his inability to walk down a ramp unaided.
The best he can do is throw toilet paper rolls and hope they knock people out. Also, if he was in a interconnecting robot (I think they were called "Zords" in the original series), he would be too busy honking a horn as though he was driving a transfer truck down the road.
Actually, has there ever been an Orange Ranger (sorry, it has been decades since I saw any of the Power Ranger shows)? I hope there was, or Trump will try to take it over as his own creation.
I'm too old to have watched it myself, but from my days babysitting and then with my own kids, I dont remember an orange one. I did go to high school with the actor who played the Red Ranger(Jason Faunt), though.
Inject the brain bleach. I heard injecting it works better.
Now you have me thinking of Trump as the horn honking truck driver "Im rich biotch" guy from Chappelle Show.
My entertainment of the day was seeing that DT just named a branch of the military (Guardians) after a comic book(Guardians of the galaxy)
May his last act of office be to create an elite team of "Power" Rangers armed with giant interconnecting robots that look like dinosaurs to fight the evil* space witch who lives on the moon.
I suspect even if he did this, many of the MAGA folks wouldn't question his "genius" or stability. After all, if America doesn't fight that space witch, who will. She's an illegal alien too. The horror of it all!
On the flip side, perhaps "Rita Repulsa / Goldar 2024!" It think it would still be better than some of the alternatives.
*I know many folks on this forum don't believe in evil, so feel free to call her a mischievous and misunderstood space witch. ?
Lol. Maybe poor Rita Repulsa is just another soul playing her role in an Alternate Reality Game within another Alternate Reality Game, so far removed from Ultimate Reality that she can't even remember it anymore...
❤
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A friend of mine posted the following, originally by a man named Seth Abrams. I think it is very enlightening. For those of us who've been wondering WHY the Magats deny reality right in front of them - this is a way of changing our perceptions about the problem and it frames the phenomenon we find ourselves confronting. Changes and clarifies how to interact.QAnon is an ARG (Alternate Reality Game). It was set up that way and is managed that way. QAnoners are playing an ARG and refuse to stop
I think this might be from Seth Abramson. He has written three books about the Trump era. I’ve been following him on Twitter since I first joined in 2017. It’s been interesting to see him evolve. He is a Harvard-educated lawyer and has a background in journalism. He teaches at University of New Hampshire. His interests lie in experimental writing which I find sort of interesting, as well.
Anyhow, he is unique in how he has analyzed the phenomena surrounding the Trump cult. His conclusions about Trump reflect his understanding and curation of investigative journalism worldwide. He takes what journalists have found not just here in the U.S. but from the UK and elsewhere. His work is kind of a clearing house of what various journalists have been able to uncover about the corruption that is the Trump admin. He has been unfairly criticized for this unconventional approach to his political analyses.
This idea about QAnon being an ARG. Wow. I think that theory makes some sense right down to its name. I think that if that’s true, there are lots of QAnon folks who have no idea they’re players in an ARG. I would be surprised if Trump himself were a witting participant.
MAGATs are gullible by their nature, so I could see that they’re buying into the conspiracy theories surrounding QAnon easily. I think that fuels the ARG even more. This seems to me to be more like a facet of the Cult rather than its driver. I think that QAnon are along for the ride and manipulating what they can which just makes this all the more of a morass of darkness and chaos for the rest of us to try and set right.
That’s all very disturbing. I am familiar with alternate realities from fiction and from gaming. I played some online role playing games about 25 to 30 years ago when they were text-based and more about writing than the graphics. But I got to know some hardcore gamers, and I can see how this idea of ARG could work the way Seth describes. It sounds bonkers, and it is— but while I don’t believe people can actually create an alternate realty and make it real, I think there are people who believe it is possible and would propel it forward. So much of what is online can feel like it’s reality. Just look at how the notion of fake news has been used purposefully and weaponized. It’s nuts. And it’s scary.
I hadn’t seen this post on Twitter. I’ve been avoiding getting sucked in to the political back and forth lately. Thanks for posting it. If nothing else, it’s food for thought.
Anyone else follow Seth, have experience with ARGs or LARP or have any thoughts on this?
Abramson - yes, you are correct - I misspelled the name.
As for your additional insights - yes, absolutely.
I don't think there ever was an orange Power Ranger. I got sucked into the series back in the mid-90s. I was flipping through channels one day after work or school. It was so campy that I couldn't stop watching. ;-) I've mostly lost track of the series the past decade or two, but I think the show is still going.
Yes, the giant robots were called Zords. I believe the wannabe orange Ranger's Zord might be a golf cart. ;-)
On the question of sending light to people like DT;
I have to admit that he is in my prayers every night before I meditate. I send "light and love" (among other things) to my siblings, children, grandchildren, and former wife. To DT, on the other hand, I pray that he receives wisdom. (I don't see any indication that my prayers are being answered yet or maybe it's just that he is ignoring them or that people like me are being overwhelmed by those who are praying for him to continue on his current path.)
I completely agree with the idea that people like DT are here as teachers. Look at all of the dark parts of our society that are being brought to the daylight. It will take years for us as a nation to process these difficult lessons but I have faith that, over time, they will be understood and we will be a better country for the experience.
@paul-w I appreciate and affirm your practice of praying for Donald Trump.
As Jeanne has reminded us many times, we are lightworkers. We are called to shine before others and expose what hides in the darkness, bringing it into the light.
Here are some scriptures that remind us, too. When we send light to those who are oppressed by darkness, I believe we are doing sacred work. We want all to know the light of life and hope.
“The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.”
“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.”
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
“For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.”
“So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” “
“Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.”
“And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.”
It can’t get any worse for T when Pat Robertson who loved him and prayed for T to win the election is now saying that he lives in alternative reality.
"With all his talent, and the ability to raise money and draw large crowds, the President still lives in an alternate reality," Robertson said Monday on "The 700 Club." "He really does. People say, 'Well he lies about this, that and the other.' But he isn't lying. To him, that's the truth."
He also said T should not run for 2024 that it would be a mistake that Nikki Haley should.