Propaganda and absolute power


“…Well you don’t have to go to off-Broadway
To see something plain absurd
Everybody’s crying mercy
When they don’t know the meaning of the word…”
—Mose Allison
Everybody’s Crying Mercy

“The sick individual finds himself at home with all other similarly sick individuals. The whole culture is geared to this kind of pathology. The result is that the average individual does not experience the separateness and isolation the fully schizophrenic person feels. He feels at ease among those who suffer from the same deformation; in fact, it is the fully sane person who feels isolated in the insane society — and he may suffer so much from the incapacity to communicate that it is he who may become psychotic. In the context of this study the crucial question is whether the hypothesis of a quasi-autistic or of low-grade schizophrenic disturbance would help us to explain some of the violence spreading today.”
—Eric Fromm
The Anatomy of Human
Destructiveness, p. 395


“…There has been a revolution, then, but a silent one. It has taken place with such stealth, and so gradually, that people have become accustomed to it little by little. I am reminded of the famous Chinese executioner whose ambition it was to be able to cut off a head so that the victim would not realize what had happened. For years he worked on his skill, and one day he cut off a head so perfectly that the victim said: “Well, when are you going to do it?” The executioner gave a beatific smile and said: “Just kindly nod.”
—Kenneth Minogue
How Civilizations Fall1

On 11/2/2018, MLive ran an article titled, “West Michigan Judge Suspended after Sexual Harassment Allegations,” by Michael Kransz.2 The article states in part that, “…Newaygo County Chief Probate Judge Graydon W. Dimkoff said he was informed Monday morning, Oct. 29, he was suspended and accused of sexual harassment. The 71-year-old judge denies the accusation. Newaygo County Chief Judge Robert D. Springstead wrote in a Nov. 1 [2018] administrative order that Dimkoff’s suspension came after receiving ‘complaints of sexual harassment and misconduct.’...Springstead did not describe the nature of the allegations and had no further comment...Dimkoff said, ‘...I asked what the allegation was. They would not tell me.’ They also did not ask him about it, he said...Just like a case in his courtroom, Dimkoff said he wants to know the allegations against him so he can present a defense. ‘I feel I’m going to be maligned here at the very end of my career...’” The article notes that he is scheduled for retirement on 1/1/2019.