Us vs them

Oct
1
2021
by
Lynne McTaggart
/
20
Comments

All of us are worried about what appears to be the unprecedented polarization of our societies and are looking to our governments to overcome these divisions.

What we tend to forget is that throughout history it was the governments themselves that were mainly responsible for creating an ‘us’ and demonizing the ‘thems.’

Think of the most egregious examples. Despite the abolition of slavery in 1865 by US Constitutional amendment and the passage of federal legislation supposedly protecting civil rights, ‘Jim Crow’ laws passed on the state and local level mandated the segregation of schools, public transportation, restaurants, restrooms and even drinking fountains between blacks and white.

African-Americans were largely deprived of their right to vote, thanks to a few measures requiring them to take literacy tests or provide required papers proving, for instance, proof of residence.

In Russia, after the Revolution of 1917-8, in order to expropriate privately owned land and agriculture for the Bolsheviks, Lenin labeled as ‘bloodsuckers’ small, prosperous farmers – some with only five or six acres – and decreed that these ‘kulaks’ should be hung without trial.

Later, Josef Stalin, having fanned the opposition by poorer peasants by demonizing these better off farmers, announced that the kulaks be deprived of certain privileges, such as the use of land, or the right to hire people or even use equipment.

‘The kulaks are the furious enemies of socialism,’ he announced. ‘We must repulse the kulak ideology.’

The media – then Pravda, the official newspaper of the Communist Party – participated in the demonization of the farmers, claiming that they dominated the wealthy countryside, hoarded food and were attempting to infiltrate Communist Party cells.

Under Stalin’s plan of ‘dekulakization,’ millions of small farmers and their families were murdered or deported to Siberia to work in hard labor camps.

And of course, the most infamous modern example is Germany when Adolf Hitler beguiled many Germans into believing that the enemy of Germany, responsible for German impoverishment after the First World War, was the Jew.

From 1933, national legislation deprived the vast majority of Jews of steady employment and even the right to vote.  And after war was declared in 1939, Jews were no longer allowed to enter particular areas of cities.  There were strict limits on when Jews could purchase food or supplies, they had limited access to certain stores, and they received smaller rations than their non-Jewish peers.

By 1941, Jews were not allowed to use public transportation.  Anyone older than 6 had to wear a yellow Jewish star sewn onto their clothes. By 1943, Jews no longer had the protection of German law.

We all know where all this eventually led to:  denial of rights, government seizure of property, concentration camps, mass extermination.

Each of these tragic examples began with a particular government agenda that institutionalized, via state and federal law, certain methods to keep the ‘thems’ apart from the ‘us’s.’

The US, German and Russian governments all used the ‘thems’ as scapegoats, blaming the African-Americans, the Jews and the Kulaks, respectively, for whatever ills their societies were suffering.

Each government enshrined in law curtailment of ordinary freedoms for the ‘thems,’ whether to travel, to purchase things available to other citizens or to have the ‘inalienable’ rights enshrined in that country’s constitution.

In each instance, governments used the media as an instrument to foment more hatred and prejudice among the other members of the population toward the ‘thems,’ condemning them for views and ideologies that threatened the health and prosperity of the nation.

Each government signposted the ‘thems’ with some sort of identification, whether registration cards or yellow stars to keep them apart, inferior and less equal.

Compare that with what is going on today, where countries and cities around the world are launching vaccine passports.  The purpose of these passports is to favor one sector of society and to limit the rights of others to travel to certain places, enter particular venues and possibly gain employment. Some politicians even noted that the unvaccinated shouldn’t be able to walk into a store to buy food.

Please understand: this emphatically is not a comparison between the fate of the unvaccinated and the horrific fate of the Jews during the Holocaust or the plight of African-Americans, which has gone on for centuries and continues today.

It is also not an argument for or against Covid vaccination, although it should be pointed out that overwhelming evidence now shows that each type of Covid vaccine only protects the individual at risk.  It does not stop transmission of the virus. Your getting a vaccine will not protect me – only potentially you, and only for three to six months, according to the latest evidence from Israel. There is no herd protection, only private protection (should you be at risk from dying), which means that the decision has to be individual.

But, as I say, this isn’t about the merits or not of the vaccine.

It’s a warning about where the necessity of carrying a card saying whether you are an ‘us’ or a ‘them’ can lead.

Or when the media is able to get away with spouting a government line without questioning it.  The official Communist state newspaper Pravda referred to the Kulaks as ‘hesitant allies’ of the state, and so less committed or patriotic, just as the media has labeled people ‘vaccine hesitant’ for asking perfectly reasonable questions about a brand-new and largely untested gene technology.

In announcing the development of an emergency regulation that would require companies with 100 employees or more to require staff to be vaccinated or tested weekly, President Joe Biden spoke to the 25 percent of Americans who refuse that they were ‘costing all of us,’ and ‘blocking public health.’

Discrimination doesn’t require conflict or indeed much besides the flimsiest designation of otherness.  As American psychologist Henri Taifel demonstrated in a study, when a batch of adolescent boys were told that certain others had scored the same score as they had on a computer task, they began to band together and discriminate against those who hadn’t achieved the same score.

Difference of any sort that gets emphasized is enough to create a “minimal group” and, consequently, an out group (Scientific American, 1970; 223: 96-102). All it takes is any kind of a wall, no matter how insubstantial.

Or any kind of passport.

Whether you are pro- or anti-Covid vaccine, whether you have been vaccinated or not, let's stand together against vaccine passports. We already have too many ‘thems’ in our world.

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Lynne McTaggart

Lynne McTaggart is an award-winning journalist and the author of seven books, including the worldwide international bestsellers The Power of Eight, The Field, The Intention Experiment and The Bond, all considered seminal books of the New Science and now translated into some 30 languages.

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20 comments on “Us vs them”

  1. Thanks Lynne for wrapping it up in a clear historical context.
    Let’s hope many people are able to see the real world we live in now so we can stand for humanity altogether

  2. Thank you. This is exactly what the world needs to remember. We ARE ALL ONE and unification is paramount. I woke this morning hoping to see a miracle and I think this is it. May your message be spread far and wide.

  3. Dear Lynne! Thank you for your clear and courageous statement. I am so glad to read your words about the real danger in these times (without denying the seriousness of COVID) of digging deep ditches between people. Governments and press are stressing the differences between groups rather then creating an atmosphere of a mutual Support and solidarity. We are all sitting in the same boat not knowing what direction it will take. I do understand that these times create a lot of uncertainties as we are facing phenomena at least in modern times we are not used to. I understand that these uncertainties create a lot of fear and panic. Yet they are not the wisest advisors. We need a calm view on the situation. A view where everyone can be seen. Being critical doesn’t automatically mean being selfish, irresponsible or a danger for society. It just means keeping an open mind and an open heart- for everyone! Thank You again for saying things out loud, putting injustice and undemocratic actions done in the name of public health in the focus of our attention. Let the intelligence of our hearts get the same appreciation and value as the intelligence of our minds! We indeed need no more “pass or not pass ports”- we do not need more good and bad. We need all our resources to save the world - together !

  4. Lynn, your comments are right on! I am neither for or against vaccines; I believe at risk people should get them if they desire, and convalescent (those that have recovered from COVID) should not. That said, I believe there is another reason for the vaccine that does pose a benefit to society as a whole that has to do with mutation of the virus. I am not a doctor, but am an educated citizen on SARS-CoV-2 and have come to this conclusion on my own. I gained it from a short sentence in a newspaper, so I would welcome additional research into my theory. Frankly, I hope it is not true in that I do not want to give any leverage to the pro vaccine community. So, here's my theory: I believe the vaccine prevents mutation of the virus by lessening the time it spends in a persons body. Here would be an example to support this theory:

    When a person is exposed to SARS-CoV-2 the body begins to defend itself against the intruder (virus). For a non-vaccinated person who has not previously had Covid, their body begins working to find a way to kill the virus; this takes time. For this example let's assume a healthy individual with a non-compromised immune system. Let's also assume it takes them 14 days to finally kill the virus making them no longer contagious. During this 14 day period the body is attacking the virus which causes it to fight back and mutate in an attempt to defend itself. The unfortunate byproduct is that another person infected by this individual toward the end of their contagious period now receives a slightly mutated version. If the newly infected person is also unvaccinated, it goes through the exact same process for them, and person they infect may receive a virus that is even further mutated.

    Now let's take a vaccinated person. Yes they get sick, and yes they can transmit to others, however, their body carries instructions on how to form a defense against it, which generally happens faster, leaving less time for mutation. So what this tells me is that being vaccinated slows mutation, where, unlike the flu, will hopefully leave us with only one variant (or mildly modified variant) to deal with.

    I want to again say, I am unvaccinated, despise the politics, the them vs. us mentality, and everything happening with our society on this issue. I mostly resent being kept out of events, etc. for not having a vaccine card when I have a superior defense system to a vaccinated person. And for the record, I still believe that even if my theory is true, it should be a personal choice. But like you, I feel obligated to report truth, even if it doesn't agree with my personal philosophy. If I am wrong on this I would welcome some enlightenment.

  5. Thank you for pointing out that what has been going on amounts to fascism/communism. The next step is to admit that the injection is in fact a bio-weapon.

  6. Taking your words to heart, Lynn. One omission in your summary of the "them" and "us" history is the non-mention of the colonizers and the native people of this land. We have much to healand I feel deeply that it needs to start in this country 400 pus years ago. Actually on all of turtle island.

    I agree with Gabrielle who wrote "Governments and press are stressing the differences between groups rather then creating an atmosphere of a mutual Support and solidarity."

    My prayer is that there will be a "we the people" movement where love will lead the way.

  7. Lynne - I agree 100% with your argument about discrimination against those who are "vaccine hesitant'. It will take time for some people to form their own judgements as more information that contradicts the mainstream story seeps into the public consciousness. But I am concerned that too many people cannot step back to see a gradual chipping away at civil liberties and are far too tolerant of a 'new normal'. Speaking out will help to undermine official denial of human rights and civil liberties. I applaud you for having the courage to speak out on behalf of those who find it difficult to find a platform and who know that things are not right and must be challenged.

  8. If you are in a metro and everybody are smelling bad it will work better if every one use antisudorific not just 50%. It is the respect of other that income, not what your opinion tell us. It is the same with covid vaccine, if all the hospital get full of unvaccinated people and because of that many other people could not get assistance because of them, I find that it is a lack of empathy that you are showing just because you fear that you be one over 1 million that can get counter effect of vaccine. It is the rule of many against the rule of individual. To my point of view getting sick in an hospital because a nurse or doctor are afraid of vaccine would be a pity. I would rather said that people without vaccine that affect others or go to hospitals shall pay more that other that were vaccinated, in such case motivation will be greater. Comparison of vaccine with Hitler and Jews is ridicule, vaccine is free and nobody is sent to gas chamber

  9. The French virologist Dr. Luc Montagnier (2008 Nobel Prize re: HIV) and Belgium virologist Geert Vanden Bossche share the opposite view - both claim that the vaccinated are causing the more troublesome variants.

  10. KIA KAHA (used to encourage strength or confidence.
    "kia kaha, and remember: it is better to fall on principle than to stand on lies") from New Zealand .
    Thank you Lynne - lets hope more brave souls speak out & wake up to what's really going on.
    Lets demonstrate peacefully what people power means, united in a common goal of respect of individual rights & values.

  11. Thank you Lynne for this and all the influence for good which the powerful messages around intentions promise for the healing of the world.

  12. I am reading this almost in tears, I have just removed myself from my family's WhatsApp group due to this very division in my family, I'm tired of being labelled as a conspiracy nut for voicing my concerns and wanting to keep the family safe, the divisions are deep and perpetual mockery is the main tool in social media to silence debate. Thank you Lynne for pointing out why this is happening x

  13. Yes, as humans we are all connected.

    Yet we need to be careful that our understanding of this is never used against us to
    promote the obliteration or criminalization of the unique individuality of each one of
    us that is our gift to humanity.

    Or an excuse to promote the further consolidation of power into the hands of fewer
    and fewer people, in a 'one world government'.

    We are all one - yet let us all remember to not just 'tolerate' but CELEBRATE the differences
    that make each and every one of us truly special.

  14. No matter if the governments are purposely creating the situation- us vs. them, Lynne, you and I have the power to change everything through group intention to be much better for The People.
    After the peace intention for Afghanistan, I was a little taken back at how comfortable the Islamic terrorist got after their victory of taking over yet another city and killing all those who oppose. These Islamic terrorist where very comfortable taking selfies showing: how much fun they where having riding the bumper cars, sitting in the American helicopters, and wearing the American uniforms.
    We have the POWER to make the changes in the governments that we want. We should not be going through yet another invasion of our freedoms for a few who want to keep their power over The People with the Knowledge we have of group intentions changing things quickly.
    THIS below should never be allowed to happen again. We can stop it from happening ever again through group intentions.
    Fauci has been using The People for decades for his experimental SARs viruses that he helped create. EX. from Truth Comes To Light - DR. DAVID MARTIN W/ DR. REINER FUELLMICH: “THIS, MY FRIENDS, IS THE DEFINITION OF CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY…THIS IS NOT A THEORY. THIS IS EVIDENCE... in 1999, Anthony Fauci funded research at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill… where the NIAID built an infectious replication defective coronavirus that was specifically targeted for human lung epithelium.
    In other words, we made SARS. And we patented it on April 19, 2002 before there was ever any alleged outbreak in Asia which, as you know, followed that by several months. That patent — issued as US patent 7279327 ...
    ...from 2016 until 2019, at every one of the NIAID Advisory Council board meetings, Anthony Fauci lamented the fact that he could not find a way to get people to accept the universal influenza vaccine — which is what was his favorite target he was trying to get the population to engage in this process. And what becomes very evident with Peter Daszak, Ecohealth Alliance, UNC Chapel Hill and others — and then, most specifically by March of 2019 in the amended patent filings of Moderna, we see that there is a epiphany that says ‘what if there was an accidental or intentional release of a respiratory pathogen?’. And what makes that particular phrase problematic is it is exactly recited in the book ‘A World at Risk’ which is the scenario that was put together by the World Health Organization in September of 2019.
    So, months before there’s an alleged pathogen — which says that we need to have a coordinated global experience of a respiratory pathogen release — which by September 2020 must put in place a universal capacity for public relations management, crowd control and the acceptance of a universal vaccine mandate.“
    “That was September of 2019. And the language of an intentional release of a respiratory pathogen was written into the scenario that ‘must be completed by September 2020’.”
    >>You can find stories online about the CDC in India making bioweapons in a virology lab illegally.
    Hindustan Times, New Delhi | By Sudhi Ranjan Sen (Health officials in full protective gear walk inside an isolation ward of Ernakulam Medical College in Kochi in Kerala on June 6, 2019. - MCVR carried out tests on the Nipah virus of which there was an outbreak in Kerala in 2018 and 2019, said one of the government officials cited above, asking not to be named.(AFP FILE)
    Updated on Feb 07, 2020 01:04 AM IST
    India has asked the United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to stop funding research in India without government approval after the agency appeared to have helped an under-qualified Indian laboratory to work on the Nipah virus, a pathogen that is considered a potential bio-weapon, according to officials and government documents accessed by HT.
    And then you have the incident that happened on December 10, 2019 with the Chinese man who was arrested at Boston Logan Airport who was attempting to smuggle 21 vials of biologicals on him and was headed to Wuhan University... the trial is on the DoJ website -Harvard University Professor and Two Chinese Nationals Charged in Three Separate China Related Cases.

  15. Thank you Lynne. This is a good article. It is understood best by those that are not subscribers to hypnovision. I cannot imagine being bombarded by fear messages all day. What that does to people is beyond imagination. People afraid of what they don't know, choose not to do research to understand, are fodder for this great divide. Gullible blind belief in the system. This belief that medical professionals are gods that cannot be questioned is where it all falls down. These days you can't even question what you experience if it does not fit the party line. Will we make history and pull out of this madness? Will we doom ourselves to repeat the ugly side of history? I'm praying for enlightenment for all and the creation of a world that works for everyone.

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