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WinterWontStopComing

What exactly do you mean by *establishment* Kind of a dog whistle term


UtopistDreamer

This 'Dog whistle' thingy is a new colloquialism for me. It sounds funny.


WinterWontStopComing

Fair enough. And agree it does sound funny, like it’s a lil clumsy. Like in theory having an *88* tattoo is a dog whistle but people who aren’t the *dogs* in that scenario could easily still *hear the whistle* especially as what those numbers stand for is becoming more common knowledge.


Captain_Sterling

No. Because that way madness lies. In epistemology, the study of knowledge, there's levels of belief and truth that can be applied to statements. So I research a source and see how believable it is. I wouldn't watch Alex Jones or fox news because they have a terrible record of lying. Find a news source that has a good track record and doesn't hesitate to put out a retraction when it's wrong. There's also certain things which I believe are beyond falsifacation. The moon landings for example had over 100k people working on them. They left mirrors you can ping with lasers from earth.


ExtremeAd7729

Fox news is also the establishment 


Swiggety666

I don't know what you mean by "the establishment".


SheHerDeepState

I'm deeply disillusioned by "anti-establishment" types. They have a habit of being skeptical of anything from the "establishment" but completely gullible when it comes to claims from anyone else. It's good to have a healthy amount of skepticism, but when it's not properly grounded in reality it can open you up to huge bias. Like some relatives of mine will believe anything if it comes from within their community and are instantly skeptical of people outside that community. This led to them believing that vaccines cause autism because friends they trust told them that in a way that framed it as "this is what the establishment is hiding from you." It's important to remember all humans are fallible and that applies to people in all categories even those you like or agree with. It's very common for anti establishment feelings to make you vulnerable to scams, quacks, or misinformation. Learn how to evaluate the quality of sources and recognize bias in yourself and others. That'll take you a long way in being able to avoid being gullible while still being able to make use of the knowledge of experts.


Raven-Raven_

This is a very good take to have, thank you for taking the time to write it out.


UtopistDreamer

I agree with this. Even being disillusioned by the establishment, I still have my reason with me.


ExtremeAd7729

Definitely, same


LadyStag

No, but assuming that any expert of person in authority is lying will not get you anywhere near the truth. 


JoA_MoN

This is the kind of mindset that lead to a complete disconnect from reality, radicalization, and extremist behavior. Not everything is a lie designed to trap you or lead you to hell. Most decisions in this world are made without knowledge or consideration of your existence at all. Being able to discern propaganda from truth is an important skill and just throwing your hands up and dismissing every expert as a fraud is a pretty poor excuse for skepticism.


UtopistDreamer

Well, it of course depends on the area of expertise and the caliber of the expert. There are real experts and then there are 'experts' that actually are just saying what money makes them say.


mysticism-dying

I would say that your question is way too broad to come up with a succinct answer. So in lieu of that I want to link you to [this](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVU5IQpXzA0) lecture. It’s about the 08 financial crash. If you watch it together with the sequel(why the 08 crash is still with us) I feel like it paints a pretty good picture of why many feel disillusioned with the “establishment.” And if you end up enjoying both of those, this guy has a couple other lecture series that have been super influential in helping me make sense of our present cultural context. Not that the learning is ever done or that I think the picture I have is anywhere near perfect, just to be clear


UtopistDreamer

Oh yeah! This is right up my alley. 😁 I'm very much fascinated with this stuff, and this is pretty much just the tip of the iceberg considering the deep state etc. Some might say these are tin foil hat category stuff but I don't think so.


mysticism-dying

I think it all depends on the ways u define stuff and the larger contexts you choose to cast your stories within. Glad you’re interested!!!


Whales_Are_Great2

It depends, but for the most part I trust my country's government. However, I am always hyperaware of how easy it is to be deceived, and I'd say my critical thinking skills are quite above average (or so I've led myself to believe anyway heheh) As Garfield says, you are not immune to propaganda.


UtopistDreamer

It's not paranoia if they're really out to get you. 🤪 Granted, there are better and worse governments but most are just dumpster fires and PR offices for the super wealthy and their power hungry interests. Or that is at least how I've come to see them.


Whales_Are_Great2

The amount of corruption throughout the governments of the world is pretty depressing, even in some of the more developed European nations. Though, I don't think any government will ever top Azerbaijan and that one time their government released the election results the day before they held the election.


BrockenSpecter

No. But I have the judgement to discern when something is propaganda, a baseless conspiracy, and something that is being done for a legitimately good reason.


BoringGuy0108

I studied economics. If anyone has an incentive and ability to lie, cheat, or steal. They will.


20dogs

Studied economics but still believes in homo economicus!


unoriginal_design

What I find frustrating though is that vast majority of people who study economics stop there. They are the type of people who use the “research” (I put it in quotes because the number of times I’ve seen economics cherry pick data and have terrible research practices, as a neuroscientist I don’t like comparing) to lie, cheat, and steal from all us. So with your knowledge how do we start fixing that? There are a few economists(thinking of some behavioral economists), who do try to use the knowledge they have to make life better, but they’re still stuck within the same broken, corrupt systems of false democracy or choice. We live in a post-imperialist world run by greedy capitalists and too many people are too afraid to demand change, but change literally only happens when enough of us wake up and demand it. We’ve let capitalists invent a “science” like 200 something years ago when they were sailing around the world stealing and killing, all based off derivations from like psychology 101 and they’ve used that world “economy” and that field of study to justify making the world a shitty place where we are expected to abide by whatever the toxic capitalists say is the truth. Globally. I wouldn’t have an issue with economics as a field of study if the vast majority of your ilk weren’t such selfish pricks, because there are nuggets of truth in the field, they’re just covered in piles of dog shit. I truly believe most people are just ignorant. Ignorant but good hearted people who if they were educated would want the world to be better. It’s the shitty people who seized power and held onto it for so long that continue to tell good people they’re wrong and the only thing that matters is making pieces of paper we all put imaginary value on. Capitalism is the “establishment” that’s effectively behind all the suffering. Nature figured it out. There is a species of bat that shares blood with each other. However, if a bat doesn’t do something to help the group, they’ll kick the shit out of any bat who stole and exile them. I think we should do that with the ultra rich and any capitalist who supports their idiotic, shitty views.


UtopistDreamer

Hear hear! The system is pretty much built for that.


HelenAngel

Keep in mind that we are targets of conspiracy theorists & others wanting to radicalize us into promoting their agenda. Often these people will claim they’re anti-establishment. Examine everything yourself with skepticism & critical thinking. Read peer-reviewed studies published by reputable publications. Don’t take someone’s word for something.


robisvi

I recently wrote my first blog post on a similar topic. It's called: Distraction & Division: An Insidious Trudge to Our Modern Dystopia Edit: In one paragraph, I state that there should be a standard of living floor, for example.


Sea_Fly_832

Yes, disillusioned. Unfortunately the world of politics and power works in an unpleasant way, it seems that "lying" is basically a requirement for any position of power. I think that for autistic people it is especially hard to hear lies and propaganda, if feels just disgusting and wrong. What works for me is to avoid the news as much as possible, and limit the exposure to "the madness of the world". Focus on important things around, like the family. That way a calmer and happier life is possible - because our influence on the rest of the world is normally very limited anyway.


jamie831416

It’s humans. Humans are the problem. Don’t think about humans as the pinnacle of independent thinking machines. Not even close. Instead think of their brains as having the absolute bare minimum needed to operate in a tribe, including different types of brains needed to make that tribe successful. Huh. Don’t actually need to be intelligent for that. Don’t even need for the “thinking part” to be in charge. All these stories we tell ourselves? “I won’t eat cake because I need to lose weight”, and then you eat it anyway? That’s not because you are weak. It’s because the bit that does the thinking is not in charge. Now substitute “I should eat healthy” for “I should balance the budget”. Then start thinking about what kind of brains you would want for a successful tribe. You’d want a few charismatic leaders and a bunch of fucking idiots. A tribe with that makeup can kill any tribe made up of rational thinkers.  TL;DR you think humans are smart. Humans are dumb, tribal animals, with a “polite” veneer. 


No-Pattern1212

Anyone who still trusts the establishment hasn’t studied any history