Preface to a Farewell
Over the course of the last 3 and years, my Pressenza articles have been primarily concerned with two things: 1) shedding a light on the incredibly dangerous, ideologically driven perpetual war-path that the US has been and is still on so far in the 21st century, and 2) to help people see how both major political parties and our entire mainstream news media in the US have been taken over, hijacked by this war-project over the course of the last 15 years, arguably longer. The result has been, when it comes to matters of war, what myself and others have called a Uniparty, which you canread about here.
Whatever Ive gotten right or wrong has occurred at the service of an attempt by myself and a sizable collection of other people all over the world to somehow put a stop to the current culture of constant war (that profits no one except a handful of exorbitantly wealthy people) that weve all been hurled into and living in over the course of the last 25 years.
With that caveat as introduction, what youre about to read is, frankly, my final attempt (of this kind) to get you to, as the great Jimi Hendrix once said, come on across to me.
The Couples Therapists Conundrum
Imagine for a moment that youre a couples therapist and a time is approaching when youll be asked to write up and present an evaluation of what youve observed about a particular couple during a three year period. Then imagine that, over the course of this three year period, instead of spending time listening to both members of the couple, you only spent time with and listened to one of the two people in the couple. Rather than listening to the second member of the pair, you relied solely on reports from the member you already knew to form your opinions of the part of the couple you've never met. Do you think, considering the aforementioned circumstances, that youd be able to produce a fair assessment of the couples marital situation?
Crossing Over Into The Forbidden Zone
By the time the current phase of the war in Ukraine broke out at the end of February of 2022, I had already begun to form an opinion about the conflict and its cause that was out of line with the narrative that the mainstream Western media was presenting. I wrote an article detailing this opinion that was published by Pressenza on March 4, 2022 which you can view atthis link. The article received a lot of feedback ranging from negative to hesitantly curious. There were also some very positive responses from people, some of whom continue to read my writings to this day.
The feedback I got was both challenging and encouraging. During the month that followed the publication of the article it became clear to me that if I was going to continue reporting on this subject honestly I was going to have to venture out of my somewhat comfortable zone of mostly progressive Western left-wing and liberal go-to sources with a few Western right-wing sources peppered in for good measure. I was going to have to actually meet and listen to the member of the married couple that Id never (really) met yet. This would be different from reading interpretations and descriptions, favorable and/or unfavorable, about the other half of the couple that were put together by the member of the couple I already knew. In other words, relying solely on sources that are ultimately traceable to a Western-run and funded inception point, things like Wikipedia, Reddit and other Western oligarch-owned fact checking, reputation making sources and news outlets was out of the question. If I was going to really gather information emanating from outside the Western media bubble, I knew I had to go into what most well known Yankee celebrity pundits, academics and all other appropriately canonized status quo arbiters of Western opinion believe to be the lions den. In short, I knew I was going to have to cross into The Forbidden Zone.
In the spring of 2022, I did a pretty deep dive into the online world of news sources that report on wars and war related matters from perspectives that differ from the Western narrative. I looked at news from the political left, right and center that was published and recorded by South American, Chinese, African, Eastern European and Indian sources. After comparing and contrasting quite different points of view over the course of many months I can say that, although aspects of my socio-political worldview have changed, my basic human values havent changed at all. Im still a pro-democracy Humanist who studies and practices active non-violence and Im still a student of nonduality (as my Pressenza profile notes and has always noted). The difference is that my current perspective is informed as much now by sources from what is referred to as the Global South as it is by sources from the Western sphere.
Camping Outside the Safe Zone
All told, Ive spent over three years listening to both members of the married couple in therapy. Obviously this metaphor has its limits and Im aware of the fact that theres really nothing I can write that can describe for you what it feels like to have gone into the forbidden zone and to have set up a sort of second camp there for three years. In fact, there are moments when I wish I hadnt ventured outside of our little Western information bubble. From a certain point of view it was easier before I undertook my little online pilgrimage. Having said that, if I were actually given the choice theres no way Id go back to where I was before I took this plunge.
Think About It
Youve watched 2 and decades go by without a single pause in a series of perpetual wars, proxy wars and illegal invasions by the US. Youve watched the separation and concentration of wealth grow in the hands of super-wealthy oligarchs (like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk) who will most likely be trillionaires by 2030, as the rest of the US falls further into debt, into deepersocio-economic problems and despair.You know, unless you live under a rock, that the electoral system in the US was hijacked by the Citizens United Act in 2010. You also know or at least suspect, that both halves of the so-called left and right wing mainstream Western news media havent been giving you the full story for years now.
Really think about and feel into what Im saying here. Forget about proving me wrong or thinking you're an exception, just for a moment. Doesnt it seem like the US has been going further and further off the rails with each passing year, no matter whos in office over the last 25 years?
The Maniacs in Washington
Look at what the Trump administration is already doing in the Middle East, just 5 and months into their new term in office. Theyre doing the same thing the last 3 other presidents were doing there - wrecking it and killing thousands of innocent people in the name of spreading neoliberal democracy and placating Israel. Except this time the neocon maniacs in the Trump administration, people like Lindsey Graham, Marco Rubio and the apocalyptic Christian Zionist US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, seem to have thoroughly captured Trumps usually fleeting attention in recent weeks. Theyre now pushing him to (officially) start a war with Iran, to re-up on the utterly hopeless, devastatingly sad Ukraine proxy war with Russia and to eventually pivot toward a war with China. Mike Huckabee has said that he believes God has called him to nuke Iran.(1) Lets hope that Trump remembers that the lions share of his base elected him expecting an end and not an acceleration of the seemingly endless US wars in the 21st Century.
The Sun Rises in the West and Sets in the West
The New York Times, Esquire, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, FOX News, The Daily Telegraph, CNN, Time Magazine, MSNBC, BBC, The Wall Street Journal, Axios, The Atlantic, Reuters, The Associated Press, Jordan Peterson, Bill Maher, Sam Harris, Ann Coulter, Ben Shapiro, Stephen Colbert, Glenn Beck, etc.. These corporate conglomerates, military industrial complex media hubs, house pundits and thinkers, whether most folks realize it or not, however different from each other they may seem on the surface, all operate within the same set of parameters, within a narrative range that has left you frustrated, bewildered and lost.
The oligarch-owned mainstream corporate press and the aforementioned popular pundits have kept your attention largely on secondary issues and scapegoats, things like Russiagate and particular personalities (you know who they are) rather than anything that has to do with actually delving into what really underlies and drives world events and wars.
Dont get me wrong, Im not advocating that you give up watching and reading Western news and information sources. I read and look at some of the aforementioned sources myself. What Im saying is that if ones information intake doesnt extend beyond the Western safe zone then one is getting, at best, half of the story, at best half of the picture.
Maybe Better That You Stay on the Rides, in the Amusement Park?
All of this might seem like one big hypothetical question but its actually not. Not quite. Maybe you sincerely want to stay where youre at now, informationally speaking? Maybe you authentically dont have it in you to look beyond the walls of the relatively small Western information bubble youve half-knowingly been ensconced in for decades and that you half-believe covers the gamut of existing world perspectives, from right to left and from east to west?
If this were the case you probably wouldnt have read this far in this article. If it is the case though, then it might be best to forget about crossing over into the forbidden zone. Youd most likely quit at the first sign of cognitive dissonance anyway. Better to remain safe, where it's clean. Better that you stay on the rides, listening to the lilting loop of amusement park jingles you know so well. After all, you were fortunate enough not to be born in one of the dirty dangerous areas. You're an American. Youre a European. Youre a Brit. And youre a darned good person to boot! Why would you go scurrying around in the forbidden zone, where they speak of dangerous and dirty things? Why change course now when everything is going so well for you? Better that you stay safe. Why get your trousers mussed?
Are You Experienced?
Im going to leave you with a group of pathways that can help you get started on your new journey, if you decide to take it. If youre interested, give a good look and/or listen to the following links in the order and at the time that most suits your needs. Ive narrowed the pathway down to a group of 11 very accessible sources. If what you see and hear at these links seems interesting to you then subscribe (for free) to the channels that the links are from or take note of the speaker and follow that speaker on youtube or on whatever other online pathway you prefer.
*Fairly soon youre going to come to the realization, if you havent already, that the so-called mainstream Western news media, for left to right, is not your friend. The links Ive included below will help you when this realization really hits. Fully incorporating alternative media into your diet, youre going to soon find out if you take the plunge, is the only way to get at any semblance of the truth.
I have done my very best to reach you. The rest is in your capable hands.
Until we meet again, farewell and be well!
The Following is a List of Well Known Youtube Channels and People that Present an Alternative to the US/Western War News Narrative:
1-The Duran Channel - One of the most prominent and reliable geopoliticalpodcasts/youtube channelsin the world today.
2- The New Atlas with Brian Berletic - Brian is one of the most knowledgeable and consistently enlightening war reporters onyoutube.
3- Jeffrey Sachs - This clip features Jeffrey Sachs, who is in my view, one of the greatest sources of geopolitical information out there today. This particular clip containsseminal information. The Channel that the clip appears on I am not familiar with.
4-Al Jazeera News- A good source of alternative news and information.
5- MOATS with George Galloway - Galloway is a political progressive and hes a member of theWorkers Partyin the UK. He is also a very entertaining and informative talk show host.
6-Glenn Greenwald- Glenn is one of the very best journalists living on planet Earth today. Hands down:
7- The Jamarl Thomas Show - Jamarl is a great interviewer and one of the premier presenters of alternative points of view onyoutube. **This particular clip is for advanced students.
8- Colonel Douglas McGregor and the youtube channel Judging Freedom - McGregor is the worlds top military expert, in my opinion and in the opinion of many others.Judging Freedomis a youtube show that has excellent guests.
9-Neutrality Studies- A very good Swiss program that isnt bound by the Western narrative.
10-Dialogue Works- An excellent source of fresh opinions featuring guests from all over the world
11-Mark Lesseraux at Pressenza- At the following link you can access all of my articles at Pressenza:
CITATIONS:
1-https://truthout.org/articles/huckabee-suggests-trump-should-nuke-iran-follow-guidance-from-heaven/
Mark Lesseraux
