Notes
“Notice how he said the word "narrative' three times? That's how empire managers talk to each other, because that's how they think about everything.
“This is because empire managers are always acutely aware of something that normal human beings are not: that real power comes from manipulating the stories -- narratives -- that people tell themselves about their reality.
“They understand that humans are storytelling animals whose inner lives are typically dominated by mental narratives about what's happening, so if you can control those narratives, you can control the humans.
“They understand that power is controlling what happens, but true power is controlling what people think about what happens.
“They understand that whoever controls the narrative controls the world.”
“That's why when Romney and Blinken are talking to each other about why people are so upset at Israel, it never even occurs to them to discuss how Israel's public image is being hurt by its own actions, or to suggest that it could improve that image by simply ceasing to behave in a monstrous way. All they talk about is "the narrative" of what Israel is doing, and how people having the ability to share ideas and information with each other online makes that narrative harder to control.
“So while normal people are looking at the bloodshed and horror in Gaza and screaming it needs to stop at the top of our lungs, our rulers are hearing us and thinking, Oh no, we need to find a way to get them to stop believing that narrative and get them to believe another one.
'“That's what we're seeing with all the attempts to stomp out free speech both at demonstrations and online. They understand that if they lose control of the narrative, they won't be able to deploy their armies anymore.
“So please don't make the mistake of thinking your attempts to disrupt their narrative control aren't working. Don't let anyone tell you your protests don't make a difference or your dissident speech poses no threat to the powerful. If what you're doing wasn't working. empire managers wouldn't be losing their minds right now.”
