Where Are The Enlighteners?

“The subject of this book is not war, although war overshadows it. Its real subject is the sinking of the individual soul into the abyss of the mass soul. And this, to my mind, is a much more decisive phenomenon for the future of humanity than the temporary supremacy of one nation or another.” Romain Rolland, Prologue to “Clerambault, or One Against All. The History of a Free Conscience during the War”, 1920.

The elitescum have thrown a double-six here. First we have two years of pathological fear followed by the present pathological anger. Both come wrapped in the flag of unwavering obedience.

Rolland was a pacifist and anti-war writer, but what does such a posture mean in the midst of an actual war? In an essay after World War I, he cited Spinoza: "For Peace is not mere absence of war, but it is a virtue that springs from force of character."

The physical war is a manifestation of the failure of independent minds to free the spirits of those more easily swayed by propaganda. War does not happen in isolation; it has a prelude and an encore. It happens in the minds of individuals before a single shot is fired in anger - or opportunism. It also continues after the last official shot as the reckonings unravel.

Thus peace is not the mere absence of war - as sleep is not the mere absence of being awake - but is the fruit of a mind directed towards transcending the human condition; a mind that perceives states that are both higher and deeper. It is imperative to demostrate the case that violence is also a form of ignorance and stupidity - violence is a mental disease.

The esoteric literature is filled with examples where peace and harmony are consequences of expanded perceptions, hence they are not moral choices as there is no choice whatsoever in being humane when it is the natural state of being human. That peace is usually spoken about as an intellectual or moral choice is just proof of how fragile and brittle it is - one news item away from crumbling completely.

Returning to the source of the quote at the top, the author, Dr. Rudolf Hänsel, urges the deep need for "intellectual enlighteners".

People’s reason will no longer capitulate to public opinion only when there will be enough enlightened people who will be able to take away from the broad masses of people those individual and collective prejudices that are the ideological background of humanity’s catastrophes.

However,

In my opinion, intellectual enlighteners and free spirits often delude themselves. They usually write for like-minded colleagues; they do not reach the vast majority of fellow citizens. Nevertheless, they are indispensable.

This is an issue of effective articulation, not just between peers but outwards towards the general public. As has been discussed before, rational discourse cannot beat propaganda. The rational consequence is that the enlighteners need to develop triggers that break the entrancement.

Indeed, he himself admits that he has not found a mass cure for mass psychosis, but rather that independence and freedom are won one person at a time.

There are mathematical models of this behaviour; the creation of bubbles exists as both a financial and social phenomenon. The models show that such lockstep behaviour can be avoided, but only if there are enough independent minds that not only avoid following the herd but also manifest their dissent. Unfortunately, that number is quite high; from memory is about 10-15% - and that assumes they are not silenced.

It thus remains a deep problem that so much of humanity is locked into mass obedience. We are left with a paradox in which humans might obey a command to be free! So many believe they are on the side of freedom and democracy yet just cannot see the true tyranny. Strikes me that the "Just do it!" mantra has been the perfect embedded command! We need a new one. But, like bicycle stabilisers, that would be an illusion of freedom.