Welcome. Today you get a small glimpse into the grey matter cavern that resides between my ears. The following is a work in progress and an idea/concept that has been smoldering for many, many years beneath the surface of my view of the path our great nation has been set upon. Notice that I did not say “found itself on” as that would indicate it happened by chance…by accident. I believe that to not be the case. Am I surprised? Absolutely not. Am I concerned? Yes. Otherwise, why would I be spending so much time and so much of my efforts talking, writing, and teaching about it? A burden was placed on my heart more than a quarter of a century ago that continues to weigh heavy and fuel my quest…my call. That burden: The soul and souls of America. It…they…lie in the balance.
“Educate and inform the whole mass of the people… They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.” Thomas Jefferson
There was a time that those in government saw need for an educated citizenry. Educated on all sides and from all perspectives. Now, while I do not claim to have first-hand insight or knowledge about the true intent and/or motive behind his statement, after much research, study, reflection, and reading his own words and those of so many of the other Founding Fathers, I believe he was saying that the more people who understood what was going on, how government worked, how politics worked, how freedom worked, the powers that were at play, the perils of not knowing or understanding what was at stake – namely liberty, etc…the better the chance that the greatest political experiment in the history of the world would have of succeeding. He knew. The Founders knew. If there are any doubts, simply read the Declaration of Independence. Then, the Constitution. If they do not reveal the point, I have a myriad of other titles I would be glad to share.
Where I see things today (in fact, it has been for quite some time) as it relates to the viewpoint, goals, interests, and desired outcomes of the oligarchical influence that is wielded across industry and government, which is very evident in the actions and policies of those in power, is this:
“Educating the people, teaching them to think critically, and allowing them to think for themselves will create a monster that cannot be controlled.” My quote.
Educating the citizens of the country of the process, of how government, of how politics, of how the Constitution works and ensuring they knew and understood that they, the people, and not the government, have the power would be the fly in the ointment, the rain on the parade, the snag, the bump in the road that could derail or hinder the current plan that is and had been in motion for a while.
It reminds me of a hypothetical conversation that would occur between Uncle Screwtape and his nephew Wormwood if the story was about a government official training and advising his young nephew, a young government intern/wannabe government official. If you are curious, you have to check out the book Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. It is a must read. It will definitely make you think.
Educate the people and allow them to think for themselves and a monster is created that cannot be controlled. It is such a simple statement, it seems, but one whose basis and foundation is so deep, so substantive (if understood), so nefarious, so dystopian, so imprisoning, but so prevalent and so obvious if you are able to recognize it. Moreso…if you choose to see and accept it.
So. What does this all mean? What does the oligarchical influence seek to create, cause? What is the desired outcome…the desired condition? I call it the Struthonian Syndrome (S2).More on the name and background, shortly.
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Insanity, idiocy, uneducated, lazy, misinformed and so many other descriptors of people today…of all ages. But, why is that? And, who actually bears the responsibility. Better yet…what is the cause?
Definitions are critical with premises such as this. Actually, definitions are critical with any conversation or discussion as they establish a baseline and common “lens”. Why is this important? Because everyone has a different perspective, a different set of lenses by which they view life, circumstances, events, etc…This perspective is the result of life experiences, belief systems, etc… We see it every day…everywhere. Words can have multiple definitions and understandings. Here is an example via a very basic exchange and one that I am sure all are very familiar with:
Me: “How are you today?”
You: “I’m Good. You?”
Me: “I’m Good.”
Well…what does “good” mean? There is an almost certainty that my good and your good are not the same. Our exchange, while cordial, provided absolutely zero information other than we are both…good.
As a head baseball coach for over 25 years, I found out early on that my question and answer session with my players provided as much information as the hypothetical, yet all too real, exchange provided earlier. My solution: I had my players give me a number. When I asked how they were, how their bodies felt, how their arms felt, whatever the subject of my inquiry, they had to give me a number between 1 and 10 with 1 being the absolute worst, barely breathing and on death’s doorstep, and 10 being they could not be better, stronger, and that they felt so good that at any moment a plane carrying the Avengers would land enroute to pick up my player and then head out on their collective mission to save the world…again. While I am not exactly sure what a 3, a 5, or a 7 would completely entail, I had a much better idea of how they were feeling, how their arms felt, etc…with the number they gave me as opposed to…”good.” I am going somewhere with this. I assure you.
This, by the way, what I am referring to is a practice that is not used enough…defining terms and establishing commonality. If you haven’t listened to some my previous podcasts, I encourage you to head over to www.servantwarriorpodcast.org and listen to all of them, but two in particular will help you better understand what I will be talking about here: Episode 3 – January 23, 2024, Deciphering Today’s Information Onslaught and Answering the Question of “Why” every decision has ever been made. and Episode 6 – February 1, 2024 – Controlling the Message and Senate Skewering of Social Media CEO’s. Check them out. It may even be worth a listen either before you continue or after you finish and then re-read. I have no doubt you will want to as then you will realize the incredible pot of thought-provoking gold that you have found, providing you with all kinds of gold and conversation ammo when you head out to your next neighborhood cul-de-sac party, family gathering, or school event.
I digress…
Varied perspectives create significant misunderstandings, which in no way shape or form is a bad thing. In fact, it is what our country is founded upon… “We hold these truths to be self-evident. That all men are created equal. Endowed by their Creator will certain inalienable rights that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” In other words, all people are different…but equal in their God granted natural rights based simply on being human. Rights…freedom…are granted by God the Creator. Capital C. And, according to our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution, the government’s role is to ensure and protect those right…not be the grantor of them.
I don’t want to get off task here, but I always want to ensure, as best I can, some insight into my direction, thought process, and the lens I am using to view this informational picture. As such, I’ll provide definitions all throughout.
Here are a few to start:
Insanity- doing the same thing over and again but expecting different results.
Idiocy – either not acknowledging or not knowing that every decision being made by everyone, every agency, every government official, every news outlet, etc…, is done so motivated by their own self interest.
Laziness – lack of effort to actually look into issues, background, events, policies, decisions, actions, etc…to better understand the why. Just accepting what is heard, seen, read, etc…is truth. Given the level of subjective truth, I would question whether people actually believe anything is true…other than what they experience. And even then, they may not. With AI and technology, almost anything can be manipulated – images, voices, etc… We cannot believe what we see anymore, what we hear anymore, certainly not what we read anymore. Who is at fault? With regards to subjective truth, I mean?
Now, if you have read anything I have written or listened to any of my podcasts, talks, or lessons, you will see and hear me speak often of expression and freedom of expression. This is a subject for another day as it becomes very tricky. Freedom of speech and expression exists. It is a right protected by the Consitution and another natural right granted by God. And, we are free to say whatever we choose and express our speech in whatever ways we choose. However, we are not free from the repercussions…which brings an entirely different set of understandings into play. Rule of law, its application, who is in charge, the current political and cultural climate, the “flavor of the day”, and so on…all of these play a significant role in the application of the rule of law and the law itself, policies, desires, etc… We can certainly dive into all of this some other time as it is a really fun and interesting conversation and analysis. Just know this: anytime the government gets involved in a dispute about speech and/or expression, someone’s right are going to be infringed upon. That is why an understanding of the rule of law, its application, who is in charge, the political and cultural climate, the “flavor of the day”, and so on is so important. But, back to the issue at hand…
.Uneducated – often mis-defined. Uneducated means lacking knowledge and/or understanding. It could be about a subject or just an overall lacking. People are uneducated in the way things work – government, policy, business, education, economics, etc… Some of the uneducatedness (my definition of educatedness is forthcoming) is the fault of the student (information recipients), but much of it is the purposeful actions and intention of the teachers (information deliverers). I’ll get more into that in a few.
Reality: Some of the most educated, meaning a gaining or a development of knowledge from the world of academia, are some of the most uneducated, with regards to understanding how things work, people walking on the planet. In that same light, there are way more people than one might think who have very little knowledge gained from the world of academia but who are very educated in the “how things work” realm.
I share this often with the students…and people who will listen. Every theory in academia works. Every plan, in theory, works. However, when most plans and theories have their first brush with reality, they often end in horrible failure. It’s why planned economies and socialism have never worked. Why people do what they do and want what they want cannot be planned. This is a subject for future episodes of the podcast. But…I will touch a bit on the desire of the “planners” here shortly.
Put all that together, and you get what I introduced earlier…the Struthonian Syndrome. I’ll often refer to it as S².
Before things get out of hand, I feel as though I need to provide some background into the name and into the theory.
Struthonian is a word that was invented in 1963 by Arthur Koestler, a Hungarian born author and journalist. He used it in an article he wrote in Encounter magazine that year, to describe “pundits who prefer honest self-deception to ignoble truths“. (Ignoble means: of low character, aims, etc. of low grade or quality; inferior.)
In other words, it figuratively refers to individuals who hide their head in the sand rather than face basic and/or obvious truths.
Struthonian is from the Latin struthio, an ostrich. Related to it is the standard — albeit technical — English struthious, of or like an ostrich.
According to World-Wide Words (https://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-str2.htm ) and confirmed by other sources, an ancient, rare and defunct name for the bird was struthiocamel, from Latin struthiocamelus. The Romans took it wrongly from Greek strouthokamelos, literally “sparrow camel” or, more loosely, “camel-bird” (the scientific name of the ostrich to this day is Struthio camelus).
“Another Greek name for the ostrich was megas strouthos, big sparrow or big bird. In later Latin its name became avis struthio, the struthio bird. Incidentally, ostrich also ultimately comes from avis struthio, since the v changed later to a vowel and was further mangled in its passage through Old French (much the same thing happened with French oiseau, bird, also from avis via the late Latin aucellus).” https://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-str2.htm
So…what I am talking about is my theory and assertion named the Ostrich Syndrome. Actually, better named… Struthonian Syndrome. Why? Because I like it. It is not common. And, it relates exactly to what I want it to.
Now…let me be transparent and forthright immediately out of the gate. The Struthonian Syndrome, or S2 from here on out, is not to be confused with the Ostrich Effect, which is a cognitive bias that causes people to avoid information that they perceive as potentially unpleasant…like not looking at bills because they don’t want to see how far behind on payments they are or how the statements will reveal how much in debt they are. Nor is it to be confused with what others call the Ostrich Syndrome…which is essentially defined the same as the aforementioned Ostrich Effect.
My theory and assertion, the Struthonian Syndrome (S2), and the Ostrich Effect/Ostrich Syndrome (referred to from here further as OE/OS) mentioned earlier, while similar, are quite different. One, OE/OS is a choice resulting from the personal negatives associated with the information or knowledge that is being avoided, and the other, S2, results primarily from the actions, reflecting particular intent/motives, of an information deliverer (referred to from here further as teacher) and, to a smaller extent, the choices by the information recipient (referred to from here further as student).
Time for more definitions:
Student – recipient of information or information recipient
Teacher – deliverer of the information or information deliverer
Note: I use the terms student and teacher from the simple standpoint that they provide a common understanding. Teachers teach and students learn. Teachers are sources of information and deliver such information with the goal and intention to educate those who receive the information, students, and for those who receive the information to use it in gaining an understanding or level of knowledge about a particular subject. All of this is done with a desired outcome as the goal. That goal being, the student, or recipient of the information, will believe the information, be influenced by the information, and will use the information in manner in which it was delivered.
Educatedness – the level of actual understanding and/or education on how business, politics, government, economics, information manipulation, etc… overall life and reality actually work.
O.E./O.S. – Ostrich Effect/Ostrich Syndrome: defined as provided earlier – a cognitive bias that causes people to avoid information that they perceive as potentially unpleasant.
Struthonian Syndrome (S2)– as defined by me. See definition below.
Struthonian Syndrome (S2) can manifest itself in two ways. Information being delivered is manipulated to the extent that the recipient of information (student):
- Cannot discern neither fact from fiction nor the response desired by the information deliverer (teacher) so as to display behavior that shows the student believe what the teacher wants the student to believe and thus provides a response that reflects a level of uneducatedness because it appears like the student has their head in the sand and oblivious to the reality of what is actually going on.
- The student, while having a high level of educatedness, becomes discouraged in their pursuit of the reality that is occurring and is worn down enough so as to eventually succumbs to the desired response of the teacher because the student reaches the point that either they feel their efforts have no impact on the outcome or thought process of other students or the information is manipulated to the point that the student falls into the description provided in number 1.
I will get into more details as we go, but here is the basic differentiator: while essentially both have to do ultimately with the decisions of the student, OE/OS deals with how a student chooses to deal with the reality of the information received, Struthonian Syndrome (S2) is the outcome resulting more from the information being delivered and the impact that information has on the choices being made and actions being taken. Bottom line: One is a denial of actual reality and the other results in actions (choices) either based on what is believed to be reality and/or the eventual wearing down leading to a lack desire to try to discern or to impact/influence.
Another MAJOR distinction and point to share before moving forward: while it may seem that Struthonian Syndrome (S2) is a theory that removes accountability and responsibility from the information recipient (student) and places it on the information deliverer (teacher), Struthonian Syndrome (S2) results from actually using the information to make choices/decisions and/or the actions of the student reflect usage of the information. OE/OS is solely about the choices of the student to NOT use the information as it would create an acknowledgment of a true reality that exists.
If you are a reader of scholarly articles and research, you may see a similarity to my Struthonian Syndrome (S2) theory and Informational Manipulation Theory. Here is the difference: Informational Manipulation is what I describe when providing the causes of S2. In other words, Informational Manipulation is a cause of Struthonian Syndrome (S2).
“Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past.” George Orwell from his novel, “1984”.
While this might fire up a whole bunch of folks and get me into a bit of hot water, an objective and critical look at facts and history will support my assertion. That assertion is, people in power desire a mass outbreak of Struthonian Syndrome (S2).
As the global community becomes smaller and smaller due to technology. People have a desire to know what is going on everywhere. The only way to get that information is to be online. Traditional cable news and or informational outlets cannot provide real time information.
TRUTH: Perspectives and positions are created, established, furthered, etc… when information collides with understanding.
The level of understanding a student has will determine the level of influence, and/or effectiveness (effectiveness = the desired reaction or response of the student (information recipient) that is/was achieved) the teacher (information deliverer) attained.
The following equations are certainly well known amongst the oligarchical influencers:
↑Understanding of Student = ↓Effectiveness of Teacher
↓Understanding of Student = ↑Effectiveness of Teacher
The greater the level of understanding, the less influence will be had, less effective (↓Effectiveness).
Subsequently, the lower the level of understanding, the more influence will be had, more effective (↑Effectiveness).
The fear of the government, power holders, etc…is a citizenry with a high level of educatedness. Let’s look at some evidence:
It is why students are taught what to say, what to do, and are rewarded with a grade that serves as a key to open the doors of higher learning…higher levels of being taught what to say, what to do. Challenge what is being shared by the teacher, and the student is penalized with a low grade. Low grades mean little advancement, little opportunity. Higher grades, the opposite.
If a student is incapable of achieving higher grades, the student is relegated to the lower end of the life spectrum where reliance on another, sometimes even the teacher, becomes their only means of survival.
Students who have a higher level of understanding and who challenge the teacher and/or the information, other means are attempted to restrain the students’ advancement.
With regards to advanced courses, all one has to do is look at the curriculums and then juxtapose the curriculum with the ideological slants of academia, K12 – “higher learning” institutions. The desired goal is clear.
In the book, the Naked Communist by Cleon Skoussen, published back in 1962, he provides 45 goals of the communist ideology. Within those 43, ideological subversion and attaining the means to manipulate information can clearly be seen. Below was taken from the Congressional Record, January 10, 1963, delivered to the US House of Representatives by the Honorable Mr. A.S. Herlong, Jr. of Florida, on the goals of the Communist Party:
EXTENSION OF REMARKS OF HON. A. S. HERLONG, JR. OF FLORIDA IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Thursday, January 10, 1963.
Mr. HERLONG: Mr. Speaker, Mrs. Patricia Nordman of De Land, Fla., is an ardent and articulate opponent of communism, and until recently published the De Land Courier, which she dedicated to the purpose of alerting the public to the dangers of communism in America. At Mrs. Nordman’s request, I include in the RECORD, under unanimous consent, the following “Current Communist Goals,” which she identifies as an excerpt from “The Naked Communist,” by Cleon Skousen: [From “The Naked Communist,” by Cleon Skousen] CURRENT COMMUNIST GOALS:
1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.
2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.
3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament by the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.
4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.
5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites.
6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination.
7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N.
8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev’s promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the U.N.
9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress.
10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N.
11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up ‘as a one-world government with its own Independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.)
12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party.
13. Do away with all loyalty oaths.
14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office. 15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.
16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.
17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers’ associations. Put the party line in textbooks.
18. Gain control of all student newspapers.
19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.
20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions.
21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures.
22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to “eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms.”
23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. “Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art.”
24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them “censorship” and a violation of free speech and free press.
25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.
26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity, as “normal, natural, healthy.” 27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with “social” religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a “religious crutch.”
28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression n the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of “separation of church and state.”
29. Discredit the America Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.
30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the “common man.”
31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the “big picture.” Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.
32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture-education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.
33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.
34. Eliminate the House Committee on UnAmerican Activities.
35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI.
36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.
37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business.
38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand or treat.
39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.
40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.
41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.
42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use united force to solve economic, political or social problems.
43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.
44. Internationalize the Panama Canal.
45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction over nations and Individuals alike.
It is very difficult to ignore the glaring “prophesies” that have come to pass. If I may, let me bring to your attention some of the goals in particular: 6, 11-13, 15-32, and 36-45…with a major emphasis on #40. More on those in coming posts and podcasts.
Context, insight, discernment, wisdom, etc… all come from the intersection of knowledge, understanding, and experience.
Consider social media. Platforms residing and running on a base of algorithms that provide desired content at a level that comes just to the edge of satisfying the student and then offers up a bit more of this and a bit more of that…all keeping the student fixated on content that neither increases educatedness nor provides any substantive benefit other than momentarily meeting the instant want and desire of the student but, and this is where the darkness enters, also meeting the want and desire of the teacher…which is to distract and influence. Reminder of the equations:
↑Understanding of Student = ↓Effectiveness of Teacher
↓Understanding of Student = ↑Effectiveness of Teacher
Essentially all empirical data, surveys, man-on-the-street interviews, and more, regarding where Generations Y and Z, and far too many of the Gen X’ers I must say, get their news/information reveal that social media is their primary source. Additionally, the same groups have admitted that they know and capitulate to the fact that the overwhelming percentage of what is shared online is either completely false or is at such a level of misinformation that it can only be deemed tabloid’esque. In other words, it is like everyone getting their news from the National Enquirer, Star, Weekly World News, etc… If those examples dated me, perhaps Babylon Bee would be a more up-to-date example. By the way, if you have not seen Babylon Bee, you are missing out. Sorry. Back to it.
If the overwhelming amount of information that is disseminated through the informational onslaught that is deployed 24/7/365 is not factual, the question HAS to be: How do members of Gen Y and Gen Z develop a foundational belief system that they can use to decipher fact from fiction…and even the level of truth that exists in the facts?
The answer: they cannot.
Truth: If you control the message, you control…EVERYTHING.
Hence… Struthonian Syndrome (S2).
Before you leave, scroll back up and take one more look at the definition of Struthonian Syndrome (S2). You will want to keep it fresh in the mind as you navigate your way through the minefield of information and messaging you will be exposed to once you leave here. But, I hope you will return often…if only to see what else has popped into the grey matter.
By the way, we have only scratched the surface as I have shared only the tip of the Struthonian Syndrome iceberg. More to come. Stay tuned. Until next time, keep it Real, Radical, Relentless, and Relevant.
Searcy, out.
Jeff Searcy 