“Finally, it must be clear that it is our business not to supply reality but to invent allusions to the conceivable which cannot be presented.”[1]
Jean-Francois Lyotard’s essay on Post-modernism was originally published in 1979, yet his words are a clarion call to what we are seeing today. Post-modernism, the fashionable philosophy of our time, is not about truth, but about creating narratives, or stories in which the rest of humanity must conform.
It is about transforming their delusion through such narratives to speak forth a new “reality.”
And this is why so many political leaders can lie, Lie, LIE, and few seem to care or call them to account. It is why Karine Jean-Pierre can stand at the press podium and utter the most ludicrous falsehoods imaginable, and do it with a straight face. It creates the rationale that George Floyd is a saint, while Donald Trump is a villain. It is why January 6thwas an “insurrection,” while the “Summer of Love” in 2020 was a “mostly peaceful protest.” And let us not forget the COVID narratives, with masks, social distancing and the outright lie that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine released to the public was FDA-approved.[2]
Thus, the manufactured narrative becomes their new reality, based purely on their emotions. And when governments accept a given narrative, they demand that others must conform under the threat of force.[3]
Post-modernism, as a philosophical construct, infiltrated academia almost 100 years ago. Nearly everyone with some degree of higher education have been influenced by it and often don’t even realize it. Even people lacking higher education have been transformed.
I can’t describe how many times I have sat down with Bible-believing Christians to explain clear concepts in the Scripture, only to have them argue back that a narrative they picked up from some seminary, college, or even a beloved pastor, is really the truth (as an aside, most “end-times” theology is one such narrative). I have encountered the same with fellow historians, and have even seen senior military leaders succumb to the most stupid ideas imaginable because it’s a narrative they wish to believe.
Under post-modernism, not only is history distorted, but even current events fall victim to the emotional delusion. It is why we kept hearing the narrative that Ukraine was defeating the Russian army. Only recently, as true reality became too obvious, has that narrative begun to unravel. Yet, even then we still get delusional mantras from some.[4]
Post-modern narratives become a new faith, a faith based on non-reality and wishful thinking. Many Americans are now what Eric Hoffer called true believers. As Hoffer noted, “The inability or unwillingness to see things as they are promotes both gullibility and charlatanism.”[5] It can be argued that for some, the delusion is more palatable than reality, and hence why people accept it.
But I would submit that in many cases, especially among people with power and authority, they really believe the delusion they peddle. This becomes the most frightening aspect of it all.
Russ Rodgers has several books published on Amazon.
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[1] The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge. Jean-Francois Lyotard, Minneapolis: University of Minneapolis Press, 1984, p. 81.
[2] See the letter of RADM Denise Hinton, Deputy Surgeon General of the United States, to Ms. Elisa Harkins, 23 August 2021. In particular, see footnote 8 where RADM Hinton explains that the Pfizer vaccine released to the public was “legally distinct” from Comirnaty, which was FDA approved but not released to the public. The obvious reason for this bait and switch was to protect Pfizer from lawsuits.
[3] Lyotard, op cit, pp 63-64.
[4] See “Putin may be about to Lose Crimea,” by Tom Sharpe. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/06/11/putin-russia-crimea-kerch-land-bridge-supply-route-logistic/
[5] The True Believer. Eric Hoffer, New York: Harper & Row, 1966, p79.
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