Mass formation works in all directions
A letter to a friend attempting to clear the fog
INTRODUCTION: For my first post of the New Year I’m publishing a letter I sent to a friend, Steve Friedman, whose pithy, astute commentaries I find consistently on the money. He asked me for my perspective on a recent article published by C.J. Hopkins. Although I normally find Dr. Mercola’s articles highly credible and well-supported by research, in this case I’m not impressed that he republished this essay, for the reasons noted below. I have edited and expanded on my original letter with additional research.
December 31, 2022
Steve: Forgive me for my long-winded reply to your question about the essay published on Dr. Mercola’s website, “The Year of the Gaslighter” by C.J. Hopkins. (NOTE: Article link in my references below.) However, as there are complex issues raised in Hopkins’ argument, I felt it deserved some space to answer that with, well, complexity, in order to do my retort justice. Because I disdain shallow arguments, and hey, because I’m a long-winded guy!
First off, it’s clear that the author is using a walloping dose of irony and sarcasm throughout, which at times causes him to lose his thread, or at least the reader. That aside, I have to say I think he’s dead wrong about Mattias Desmet being part of the Covid psy-op. Interestingly, one of the things Desmet says in his book is that no one is free of ideology of some sort, making everyone at least partially susceptible to “mass formation,” including those resisting tyranny. I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve had to send messages out to the Freedom movement countering some of its more ridiculous claims, pointing out that we too are sometimes guilty of propagating misinformation.
A good example is the idea that the Covid-19 injections were causing some kind of computer chips to form in the blood, based on nothing more than someone’s visual interpretation of the strange structures revealed by microscopy. Just today I sent out a link to an excellent Del Bigtree show where he visits Dr. Ryan Cole’s lab and examines the evidence using mass spectrometry and other forms of advanced microscopy. [1] The so-called “chips” turn out to be random, if symmetrical-looking, aggregations of cholesterol, in Dr. Cole’s view.
He also says in the hundreds of blood samples of vaccinated people he’s examined he has yet to find any clear evidence that they contain graphene oxide. Microscopic blood analysis by German scientists reveal that they do indeed contain various metals such as potassium, calcium, barium, cobalt, etc. [2] No explanation is yet known for why these metals are present in the injections. (And I am certainly not averse to the “global depopulation” explanation.) Dr. Cole suggests this may the result of the rushed manufacturing job done to get the injections out at “warp speed,” with no quality control. As he says, “We don’t know if all the syringes they used were pure stainless steel.” A recent FOIA information dump received by researcher Sasha Latypova revealed that the US Department of Defense had already established the entire consortium of medical equipment contractors before the vaccines were even in testing mode. As she says, it’s plainly ridiculous to believe that one could scale up from zero to millions of manufactured doses in just three months—unless it had all been well in place for some considerable time in advance. [3] Latypova’s evidence of DoD control of the entire process is one of the year’s greatest blockbuster revelations.[4]
More worrying by far to Dr. Cole are two things: (1) the fact that the mRNA injections cause the body to create a toxin, the spike protein, seemingly without knowing when to stop; and the fact that this is distributed throughout the body, including vital organs, even crossing the blood-brain barrier; and (2) the use of polyethylene glycol (PEG) for the lipid nanoparticles that carry the mRNA, when PEG is a known toxin with cumulative harms. Nor does Dr. Cole deny the existence of the strange amyloid-like clots found in cadavers, as he shows the viewer numerous samples he has personally retrieved from autopsies he’s performed. The explanation for these remains unclear, although Dr. Jessica Rose has written numerous articles on the possible mechanisms of this amyloid-like formation. [5] Some of her articles are far too technical for a scientific illiterate such as myself, [6] but credit her for doing open-source research while the mainstream scientific community sells us out in order to save their careers and grant money.
Desmet has responded in great detail to the criticisms levelled against him by critics such as Hopkins who claim he is part of the psy-op, yet still the rumours persist. Once again, just as with our vaccinated friends who are getting sicker and sicker yet still go for their next booster, some ideas are extremely difficult to dislodge once promulgated. Desmet is not “blaming” people for succumbing to mass formation. He is articulating a principle that is well-established in the literature on this topic, beginning with Charles McKay [7] and Gustav LeBon [8] in the 19th century, the pioneers of crowd psychology studies, through 20th century authorities on the topic such as Hannah Arendt [9] and Jacques Ellul, [10] to name only two.
By allusion, Hopkins’ argument—as popularized by the “he’s a psy-op mole” contingent—is that Desmet is doing the heavy lifting for the perpetrators of this mass crime by deflecting attention away from their responsibility. But the two sides of the coin are not mutually exclusive: Yes, on the one hand, we do have to accept personal responsibility, if nothing else so that we are doubly on our guard to avoid falling into mass psychosis; but that doesn’t have to stop us from seeking out the perpetrators of this Crime of the Century and punishing them under the law. I believe Desmet’s The Psychology of Totalitarianism is an absolutely essential read for the Covid Age and I explain why in my Substack review of the book. [11] Here are some quotes from an interview Desmet gave to dispel some of the accusations against him:
“Refusing to conform to a mass formation emerging in society is a primary ethical principle. As human beings, we should never conform or stop speaking in our own way. You should never let your voice be silenced by the voice of the group. We all have a first and foremost ethical duty to consider and articulate the honest and sincere words that emerge from within ourselves. Even if it means that we have to go against what everybody else thinks or says.”[12]
“...individuality disappears in a mass. The personal psychological system is completely sucked away and replaced by a single collective identity. It is literally as if individual self-awareness is obscured. That certainly doesn’t remove responsibility for what people do. When Sigmund Freud was asked whether someone who commits a murder driven by unconscious impulses was actually guilty of murder, he unhesitatingly replied, that we are responsible for our unconscious.”[13]
And as to placing ultimate responsibility for Covid crimes directly where it belongs—with the perpetrators of this global psy-op—Desmet says:
“It has become apparent that most global institutions believe now that there is no democratic solution for the problems that arise; whether pandemics, climate change or terrorists. For whatever reasons, they truly believe that a technocracy is the only solution. It is also apparent they’d like to reshape society according to their own ideological preferences that are presented as irrefutable. At the root of authoritarianism is always staunch, ideological motivation.”[14]
“Because it breaks primary human bonds, a totalitarian system is unsustainable and ultimately destroys itself. If the opposition, the dissidents, make the wrong choices, then they will be eliminated before the totalitarian system self-destructs. It is critical to understand that the only effective response when confronted by totalitarianism, in order to make sure that the system will destroy itself before it destroys you, is very simple — never stop speaking out and standing up for ethical human values.”[15]
Note that Hopkins in his screed admits: “It’s possible that I’m not describing it correctly. As his devoted fans have repeatedly informed me, I don’t understand the nuances of Desmet’s theory.” [16] Correct! But don’t miss the implied criticism: “his devoted fans,” as if one has to be a “fan” of someone’s work in order to see the merits of the arguments presented.
I do disagree with Desmet on one point, when he claims that only decades of ideological formation in society, not conspiracy, were responsible for the Covidian “mass formation.” It’s clear that the Deep State has been playing the “long game” for decades now in shaping public opinion. [17] For an expert’s perspective on this longstanding agenda look no further than the work of investigative journalist James Corbett. [18] The essential point here has now been confirmed by the release of the Twitter Files: that the US government (and by implication other governments) colluded with social media platforms to censor dissenting views and shape the official narrative. Of course, at the time The Psychology of Totalitarianism was published, Desmet could not have known this. Even if he suspected it, as many of us did, being a good scientist he refused to base an argument on pure speculation. As a journalist, I hold myself to a similar standard.
As I wrote in my review of Desmet’s book: “I don’t fully agree that it’s all just ideology; there’s good evidence for a command hierarchy that orchestrated the narrative globally, as for example the previously unheard-of consistency of media messaging such as “build back better,” “the new normal,” and other slogans traceable to the World Economic Forum.” [19]
Which brings us to Elon Musk. I think the best quote I’ve heard so far on Musk comes from Del Bigtree, who said, to paraphrase: “Am I grateful he’s opened up the Twitter Files for all to see, crushing the censorship regime? Absolutely! But am I going to be happy if he shows up in my neighbourhood pushing his Neuralink brain chips? Absolutely not!” [20] I also wrote an essay on Substack on this point,[21] explaining how, in fact, this is a technocrat’s wet dream, i.e. a fantasy, given that even a person who receives an organ transplant from a family member that is 99.99% identical in DNA must still remain on anti-rejection drugs for the rest of their life. So how is it these technocrats think that inserting a piece of inorganic technology is somehow going to overcome the body’s innate rejection of all foreign material? (Immunology 101 again.) This to me is great news—we can simply dismiss the fantasies of the transhumanist technocrats for what they are—utter nonsense. These are people so incapable of thinking metaphorically that they interpret science-fiction stories such as Star Trek literally, as if they were somehow prophecies of the future instead of, well, fiction. While some of it has proven true, that was never the point of these stories, as I write in Words from the Dead:
“More recent attempts at sci-fi completely miss the point that the genre is about social satire, not superhuman feats; human warmth and frailty, not dazzling technology. The self-reflective aspect of satire is entirely lost to films dominated by spectacular action and special effects sequences, for example the Star Trek reboot movies. Re-watch the original Star Trek series and movies to understand the vision of its creator Gene Roddenberry.” [22]
I fully understand and sympathize with the “wrath of God” tone in Hopkins’ commentary; given the sheer scale of the carnage—the record-shattering increases in excess mortality, the millions of lives permanently disabled by an experimental injection—he is right to be enraged. Unfortunately, such righteous rage too easily tips us into emotional reasoning, allowing untested assumptions to bleed into the mix. As Desmet says, neither side is completely free of a “mass formation” of its own. And indeed, he challenges the very idea that humans are rational in the first place. As I wrote in my review of Desmet’s book:
“Unfortunately, the cult of rationalism that overtook Western culture with the advent of the Enlightenment has resulted in science replacing God as society’s ultimate authority. John Ralston Saulwas onto this 30 years ago when he wrote his magisterial critique of the rationalist revolution, Voltaire’s Bastards. The pronouncements of scientists in this new paradigm are given the same factual and moral weight that priests were given 500 years ago, even as the cracks in the edifice become glaringly apparent...” [23]
Or, in Desmet’s own words:
“The greatest scientific minds of our era also conclude that it’s impossible to grasp the essence of reality in a rational way. The core of reality, and of every phenomenon in nature, escapes rational analysis. Complex dynamic systems reveal that every system in nature behaves like an irrational number in mathematics; without periodicity and strictly unpredictable.” [24]
All that said, is it possible, as Hopkins says, that the Twitter Files data dump is an example of what is known among intelligence agencies as a “limited hangout,” i.e., just enough truth to give it credibility, but a mere fraction of the total picture? Certainly! But just as Woodward and Bernstein did the world a huge favour by exposing President Nixon’s illegal wiretapping in the Watergate affair, journalists Matt Taibbi and Bari Weiss are clarifying the historical record in a way that cannot be contradicted. The documents leaked from the Twitter Files speak for themselves and establish a factual record of military intelligence suppression of free speech that can no longer be plausibly denied. Whatever anyone says, Elon Musk too has done society a huge favour, however bizarre his technocratic fantasies.
[1] “The Highwire’s Lab Investigation of Covid Vaccines,” Del Bigtree, December 12, 2022: https://www.bitchute.com/video/BrVlJTsYZ6x4/
[2] “Toxic, Metallic Compounds Found in All COVID Vaccine Samples Analyzed by German Scientists,” The Defender, Children’s Health Defense, August 25, 2022: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/toxic-metallic-compounds-covid-vaccines-german-scientists/
[3] Sasha Latypova, “Discussion with Sam Dube and Lara Logan (after 15 min) on DoD Vax Ownership and FDA Theatrics,” December 27, 2022:
[4] See also: “US defense dept. secretly controls COVID vaccine production process that ‘cannot be traced’: researcher,” LifeSite News, November 18, 2022: https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/us-defense-dept-secretly-controls-covid-vaccine-production-process-that-cannot-be-traced-researcher/?utm_source=digest-freedom-2022-11-22&utm_medium=email
[5] Dr. Jessica Rose, “Remember I thought myocarditis might actually be cardiac amyloidosis?” Unacceptable Jessica, Substack, November 15, 2022:
[6] Dr. Jessica Rose, “IgG4-related disease (IgG4RD) means FIBROSIS and organ destruction,” Unacceptable Jessica, Substack, December 28, 2022:
[7] Reference: Charles McKay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, first published in 1841 under the title Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraordinary_Popular_Delusions_and_the_Madness_of_Crowds
[8] Reference: Gustav LeBon, New World Encyclopedia: https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Gustave_Le_Bon#Publications
[9] Reference: Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 1951; Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/arendt/
[10] Reference: Jacques Ellul, Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Attitudes, 1965: https://ellul.org/writings/featured-books-by-ellul/#propaganda
[11] Sean Arthur Joyce, “Desmet’s Book a Beacon of Light in Dark Times,” Substack, August 1, 2022:
[12] Interview in Forum with David Marks,
[13] Interview with David Marks at Forum.
[14] Interview with David Marks at Forum.
[15] Interview with David Marks at Forum.
[16] “The Year of the Gaslighter,” C.J. Hopkins, Dr. Mercola, December 31, 2022: https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2022/12/31/the-year-of-the-gaslighter.aspx?ui=75f032fbc464ea2075731b5c3b963604f1f4571f55c4d71497eeedf9a3e9df9e&sd=20110604&cid_source=dnl&cid_medium=email&cid_content=art2ReadMore&cid=20221231_HL2&cid=DM1317346&bid=1683271220Originally published here: https://consentfactory.org/2022/12/18/the-year-of-the-gaslighter/
[17] James Corbett, “The CIA and the News Media 2.0,” November 14, 2022: https://www.corbettreport.com/ciamedia2/
[18] As just one example of Corbett’s Big Picture, long-range thinking on this topic, see: “‘The News’ is a Social Construct. It Is Used to Program You,” September 20, 2017: https://www.corbettreport.com/the-news-is-a-social-construct-it-is-used-to-program-you/
[19] Sean Arthur Joyce, “Desmet’s Book a Beacon of Light in Dark Times,” Substack, August 1, 2022:
[20] A paraphrase of Bigtree’s quote; “The Highwire’s Lab Investigation of Covid Vaccines,” Del Bigtree, December 12, 2022: https://www.bitchute.com/video/BrVlJTsYZ6x4/
[21] Sean Arthur Joyce, “Harari Gets it Wrong Part 1,” Substack, April 3, 2022:
[22] Sean Arthur Joyce, Words from the Dead: Relevant Readings in the Covid Age, “The Borg Are Coming For You,” Ekstasis Editions, 2022, p. 97.
[23] Sean Arthur Joyce, “Desmet’s Book a Beacon of Light in Dark Times,” Substack, August 1, 2022:
[24] Interview with David Marks at Forum.
Thanks very much for your kind comments on the writing and the poetry video. I'm just branching out into some paid content through Substack's annual donor program but otherwise my content is all available without a paywall.
Thanks for posting this, Art. I enjoyed reading it. Good work!