Blowback
Was American great?
You will notice that I have published various posts critical of AltMedia writers, notably Professor Jiang, Larry Johnson & Crew, and also Simplicius, previously with regard to his use of misleading OSINT and MSM reports about Venezuela and the Ukraine.
My recent article referencing Dr.Bob on Simplicius got a lot of blowback, as though I was somehow betraying the Cause, as if we were in a war against the Evil Empire and I was collaborating with the Enemy.
But it is not that simple.
We are at war with more than just an Empire but with a civilization, too. We are at war with the ideas and beliefs behind the cruelty and chaos of modern life. We are fighting a lot of wars at the same time - -social, economic, technological, spiritual, and political as well as military.
And all these wars overlap.
There IS black and white, of course. But also many shades of gray and it is not always easy to figure things out.
Also, the “enemy” might very well be us, you and me.
So, if we want to a better world, we have to work together to understand the world more deeply and why and how things happen as they do.
That does not mean just agreeing with the “opinion leaders”, the media mavens with the most followers in the Alt Media. They surely have great power to influence their followers — but, at the same time, they are influenced by that power and can make mistakes.
I know a lot about mistakes, having made most of the mistakes that a human being could make.
In this situation, we need honest discussion rather than, “oh yeah, you’re right, yay!” We need to have our ideas and perceptions challenged . We need what used to be called “dialectic”.
Dr Bob didn’t like Simplicius’ article on Kitsch. Now, Dr Bob and my ideas are not identical: we have different perspectives. I am rather more academic and research-oriented— so I waded in with my own point of view, drawing on a diverse background as a media professional.
So I have a point of view. Dr. Bob has his. And S has his. That does not necessarily mean, of course, that I or Dr. Bob are necessary completely right — nor that S. is totally wrong.
So I have written Simplicius and invited him to read my article and rebut it.
If he does that I will publish it without comment. I can be wrong, as we all know. Dr. Bob can be wrong. If so, let Simplicius correct us.
He has 79,000 subscribers. That’s power.
Larry Johnson’ Sonar 21 gets 1.26 million monthly visits. He as power, too.
He hasn’t answered my email about my last article on him….LOL.
Guess he’s busy.
Dr. George.
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To be honest, I was also somewhat put off by the accumulation of explicitly mentioning other analysts, authors, and personalities by name in such a negative way in your articles. I am not fundamentally uncritical toward content when it comes to an author's image and popularity. Either something meets with my approval, or I arrive at a differing view on other points. But you don't need to engage in ad hominem attacks. Simply quote from a source and refute it with your own arguments. That is sufficient.
Simplicius used to comment on (the departed blog) Seker as Nighthawk. He had great operational analysis of military operations in detail and with great timeliness. I was among his earliest substack subscribers. As he has moved to a publish or perish mentality the overall quality has declined. I'm happy for his success but pine for the fiords, I mean the older, more insightful material.