American Denialism: Why The Vast Majority of Americans Prefer Lies Over Truth

Toynbee, Arnold J. “The Trend of International Affairs Since the War.” International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs 1931-1939), vol. 10, no. 6, [Royal Institute of International Affairs, Wiley], 1931, pp. 803–26, https://doi.org/10.2307/3015848.

Rockefeller, David. Memoirs. Random House Trade, 2003.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Q&A discussion at Texas A&M University, Wiley Lecture Series, College Station, Texas, April 15, 2019.

Letter to Col. Edward Mandell House (21 November 1933); as quoted in F.D.R.: His Personal Letters, 1928-1945, edited by Elliott Roosevelt (New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1950), pg. 373.​

Kennedy, J. F. (April 27, 1961). The president and the press: Address before the American Newspaper Publishers Association, April 27, 1961. | JFK Library. Retrieved October 24, 2021, from https://www.jfklibrary.org/archives/other-resources/john-f-kennedy-speeches/american-newspaper-publishers-association-19610427.

Roosevelt, T. (1912, August). Sound recordings of Theodore Roosevelt's voice  :  articles and essays  :  Theodore Roosevelt: His life and times on film  :  digital collections  :  library of Congress. The Library of Congress. Retrieved October 27, 2021, from https://www.loc.gov/collections/theodore-roosevelt-films/articles-and-essays/sound-recordings-of-theodore-roosevelts-voice/.

Hoover, J. E. (1956, August). The Elks Magazine 1956-08C. Scribd. Retrieved October 27, 2021, from https://www.scribd.com/document/473273936/Thez-ELKS-Magazine-1956-08C.

https://www.jfklibrary.org/archives/other-resources/john-f-kennedy-speeches/american-newspaper-publishers-association-19610427 THE PRESIDENT AND THE PRESS: ADDRESS BEFORE THE AMERICAN NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION, APRIL 27, 1961

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Denialism. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved October 27, 2021, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/denialism#:~:text=%3A%20the%20practice%20of%20denying%20the,favour%20of%20make%2Dbelieve.%E2%80%94.

Wikimedia Foundation. (2021, September 24). Denialism. Wikipedia. Retrieved October 27, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denialism.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cC2c4NaDeZw&list=TLGGyX4piwqMJdIyNzEwMjAyMQ&t=6s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9szoJrn1Ug&list=TLGG5mQVJOf-pa8yNzEwMjAyMQ

"I will merely repeat that we are at present working, discreetly but with all our might, to wrest this mysterious political force called sovereignty out of the clutches of the local national states of our world. And all the time we are denying with our lips what we are doing with our hands."

The extent to which many Americans have gone in attempts to avoid reality is truly astonishing. It absolutely boggles the mind when one analyzes some of the things we as humans do at times, in order to ignore certain truths with which we would rather not face.

Denial is considered one of the most primitive human psychological defenses, which typically manifests when an individual is faced with unpleasant and uncomfortable information they may not be psychologically equipped to handle.

Especially when dealing with information which conflicts with a person's personal beliefs, opinions, or worldview. Such an experience can understandably leave a person with overwhelming feelings of fear, anxiety, guilt, shame, and a plethora of other negative and uncomfortable feelings that most people these days would rather not be bothered with.

When a person finds themselves in such a situation, they often insist, despite overwhelming and irrefutable evidence, that the fact of the matter can not possibly be true. This becomes particularly troublesome, when the individual has no particular knowledge about whatever facts they are confronted with, but are speaking solely from personal belief, which often times has no connection whatsoever to reality.

While small doses of denial can actually be beneficial by insulating one's self from psychological trauma, long-term denial is unhealthy and not a coping mechanism to rely on in everyday life. The ego defense mechanisms are natural and normal, but they are disproportionate to the use and frequency of neuroses that develop, such as anxiety, phobias, obsessions, and hysteria.

“People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own souls."

― Carl Jung

Merriam Webster's online dictionary defines denialism as "the practice of denying the existence, truth, or validity of something despite proof or strong evidence that it is real, true, or valid."

According to Wikipedia, "denialism is a person's choice to deny reality as a way to avoid a psychologically uncomfortable truth. Denialism is an essentially irrational action that withholds the validation of a historical experience or event, when a person refuses to accept an empirically verifiable reality."

Other articles online with similar titles usually relate the term 'denialism' with things such as those who deny the holocaust, climate change deniers, and so on. I, however, intend to discuss an aspect of denial which seems to trouble me the most these days and that has been occurring for at least the last century, as far as I can document.

Over the years, there have been many people in positions of prominence who have had these moments of truth in which they make particular statements when among their own peers, or in publications which likely wont be read by the public, which typically go against popular consensus and often times even against previous public statements. All of which is still available in the public domain and often times even part of the historical record.

Even with all of that considered, most people still cant seem to accept it as fact and will even attempt to rationalize around it or dismiss it out of hand entirely. Rather, they make excuses for the individual such as they "misspoke" or that they didn't really mean what they said, or some other fucking bullshit along those lines. Whatever it takes to make themselves feel better and put themselves at ease by avoiding thinking about the implications associated with that information actually being true. Allow me to provide you with a few examples.

The reason why his statement is significant is because he is outright admitting to something of which most people will be labeled a "conspiracy theorist" for even bringing this fact up in conversation. Why? Because most people don't want to admit to themselves that there are people in positions of power who have their own interests in mind, which may not align to the interest of the people or the government.

It would appear that the vast majority of the human population literally can not grasp the concept that people who lack the ability to empathize with others, are literally in control and make all the important decisions about what goes on this world.

And what's more, people refuse to even entertain the possibility that those same individuals would not tell the public the truth, even when many of them have a proven track record of lying through their teeth.

I'll give you another great example from the world renown historian and member of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (RIIA), Arnold J. Toynbee. The following passage is documented in 'International Affairs' which is the official publication of the RIIA, Volume 10 number 6 from 1931 on pages 803-826. Toynbee stated, in part:

"There does exist, and has existed for a generation, an international Anglophile network which operates, to some extent, in the way the radical Right believes the Communists act. In fact, this network, which we may identify as the Round Table Groups, has no aversion to cooperating with the Communists, or any other groups, and frequently does so.

I know of the operations of this network because I have studied it for twenty years and was permitted for two years, in the early 1960's, to examine its papers and secret records. I have no aversion to it or to most of its aims and have, for much of my life, been close to it and to many of its instruments.

I have objected, both in the past and recently, to a few of its policies... but in general my chief difference of opinion is that it wishes to remain unknown, and I believe its role in history is significant enough to be known."

I'll give you even more examples, particularly involving the "secret cabal working against the interests of the United States" as Mr. Rockefeller admitted being apart of.

In November of 2017, a particular billionaire by the name of Chamath Palihapitiya, gave a talk at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. In his talk, Palihapitiya stated something that most people would consider to be a "conspiracy theory", yet here you've got one of "them", from among the top one-tenth of one percent of the world, telling graduate students at a prestigious university:

"Look, here's the thing. There's about a hundred and fifty people who run the world. Anyone who wants to go into politics, they're all fucking puppets, okay? There are a hundred and fifty, and they're all men, that run the world, period, full stop. They control most of the important assets, they control the money flows. And these are not the tech entrepreneurs. Now, they are going to get rolled over, over the next 5 to 10 years, by the people who are really underneath pulling the strings. And when you get behind the curtain and see how that world works, what you realize is, it is unfairly set sup for them and their progeny... That's the truth!

And all the time they are denying with their lips what they are doing with their hands. Toynbee has proudly and explicitly stated that in order for them to successfully carryout their interests and agendas, that they need to lie about it. And who do you think that they are lying to? To the public, of course.

And since that particular elite organization has plans they wish to carry out that go against the best interest of the public, they know that their greatest chance of success is to do it without the knowledge of the public. And so they don't give it a second thought to lie to those who are not on a "need to know" basis.

Let me give you a more recent example. On April 15th 2019 at Texas A & M University, Secretary of State and former CIA director Mike Pompeo made the following statement on camera, which you can see for yourself just below the quote:

"But in terms of how you think about problem sets, I – when I was a cadet, what’s the first – what’s the cadet motto at West Point? You will not lie, cheat, or steal, or tolerate those who do. I was the CIA director. We lied, we cheated, we stole. (Laughter.) It’s – it was like – we had entire training courses. It reminds you of the glory of the American experiment."

"Since I entered politics, I have chiefly had men’s views confided to me privately. Some of the biggest men in the United States, in the field of commerce and manufacture, are afraid of somebody, are afraid of something. They know that there is a power somewhere so organized, so subtle, so watchful, so interlocked, so complete, so pervasive, that they had better not speak above their breath when they speak in condemnation of it."

"The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society."

Easily one of the most important and significant people of all time who you've likely never even heard of is a man by the name of Edward Bernays. Bernays, the nephew of Sigmund Freud and known as the "Father of Public Relations", summed it up quite nicely in his 1928 book 'Propaganda' when he wrote:

Don't want to take the word of a young billionaire? That's fine. How about the word of former US presidents, such as Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D Roosevelt, and JFK? Let us start with Theodore Roosevelt. In 1912, Roosevelt made several recordings while campaigning and which still exist today online through the Library of Congress website. Included in these recordings is one titled "The Progressive Covenant With The People" in which the former US presidents states:

“The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it...

And there is very grave danger that an announced need for increased security will be seized upon by those anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment. That I do not intend to permit to the extent that it is in my control.

And no official of my Administration, whether his rank is high or low, civilian or military, should interpret my words here tonight as an excuse to censor the news, to stifle dissent, to cover up our mistakes or to withhold from the press and the public the facts they deserve to know...

Our way of life is under attack. Those who make themselves our enemy are advancing around the globe. The survival of our friends is in danger. And yet no war has been declared, no borders have been crossed by marching troops, no missiles have been fired...

For we are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily on covert means for expanding its sphere of influence--on infiltration instead of invasion, on subversion instead of elections, on intimidation instead of free choice, on guerrillas by night instead of armies by day.

It is a system which has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit, highly efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific and political operations. Its preparations are concealed, not published. Its mistakes are buried, not headlined. Its dissenters are silenced, not praised. No expenditure is questioned, no rumor is printed, no secret is revealed.”

Not only do they admit to lying, but they do so jokingly, as if it's no big deal. And that's because it isn't a big deal to them. Especially Mike Pompeo describes it as if its a prerequisite for being CIA director and it may as well be. It doesn't seem to be a secret among the elite type and political class of folk and those in government. But for whatever reason, the vast majority of the American population still scoff at the idea and refuse to believe that such a thing could ever occur.

Even when it has been admitted to, publicly, by the very people doing the lying and deceiving, someone such as myself would be called a conspiracy theorist and ignored for even bringing up such a topic of conversation. That is exactly what I mean by American Denialism.

"Political parties exist to secure responsible government and to execute the will of the people. From these great staffs, both of the old parties have ganged aside. Instead of instruments to promote the general welfare they have become the tools of corrupt interests which use them in martialling [sic] to serve their selfish purposes. Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. To destroy this invisible government, to befoul this unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of statesmanship"

“The real truth of the matter is, as you and I know, that a financial element in the larger centers has owned the Government ever since the days of Andrew Jackson."

It doesn't get much more clear than that folks. Based on those quotes alone, which is documented historical fact, it would seem that I am the one who should assign the "conspiracy theorist" or similar derogatory label onto others, who still believe in the old outdated pipe dream theory that never was, known as "democracy" or a so called democratic republic. Nothing could be further from the truth. Again, you don't need to take my word for it. I'll let former US president Woodrow Wilson explain it from 'The New Freedom' in 1913:

“The individual is handicapped by coming face to face with a conspiracy so monstrous he cannot believe it exists. The American mind simply has not come to a realization of the evil which has been introduced into our midst.”

Or how about former US president John F Kennedy, who in April of 1961 gave an address to the American Newspaper Publishers Association, in which he stated:

Teddy Roosevelt has also been quoted as saying:

Another great example and one of my personal favorites is from Georgetown University professor, political scientist, and historian, Carroll Quigley, who on page 950 of his book 'Tragedy and Hope' wrote:

I could keep on going, but hopefully by now have gotten my point across, using nothing but documented historical facts, all of which have been cited and sourced. And I encourage readers to check my sources and verify for yourselves. While everything you just read up to this point can not be disputed, the closing paragraphs that follow, with the exception of one documented historical quote, is only my opinion. The reason I point that out is because so many people these days have a hard time differentiating between fact and opinion or personal beliefs.

So perhaps next time you feel the need to call someone a conspiracy theorist, you will think twice before doing so. Because while so many of you are trying your hardest to disconnect from reality and isolate yourself from the ugly truths this world has to offer, people like myself are immersed in study in hopes to learn from the past so that the rest of humanity is not doomed to repeat it.

Things will only get worse the more we ignore them. And perhaps you wont have to deal with the hell the future of America has in store, but your kids and your grandkids certainly will. I have come across those who are willfully ignorant and claim they do it in order that their kids have a good future.

But that's exactly the opposite of what will happen, with so many people denying reality. It is an excuse, a cop out. It has nothing to do with doing what's best for their kids future, because if that truly was the case, then those same people wouldn't purposely continue kicking the can down the road for their children's generation to have to deal with.

They do it for their own personal happiness and comfort, but use their kids as an excuse as to why they help to perpetuate the collective American ignorance that is so prevalent today. Stop kidding yourselves.

I can only hope for the best in that writing this article might help to raise awareness and create resistance to the grim authoritarian type future that is currently coming to fruition, but based on the level of denialism among the American populace, I will certainly not be holding my breath.

I leave you with a quote from former FBI Director J Edgar Hoover, who wasn't exactly the most righteous or moral character, but who clearly understood the extent to which denial has embedded itself in the collective American psyche, when in the August 1956 edition of Elks Magazine he wrote:

Sources:

Well, I certainly couldn't agree more. I thank you for taking the time to read this and if you enjoyed it or learned something from it, then be sure to share it anywhere you see fit. Until next time.....

-Aaron M. Farrar, 2022, Politically Awakened

“For more than a century, ideological extremists, at either end of the political spectrum, have seized upon well-publicized incidents, such as my encounter with Castro, to attack the Rockefeller family for the inordinate influence they claim we wield over American political and economic institutions. Some even believe we are part of a secret cabal, working against the best interests of the United States, characterizing my family and me as 'internationalists,' and of conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure - one world, if you will. If that's the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of it."

Moving forward, in his 2004 autobiography 'Memoirs', David Rockefeller wrote:

To give you an idea of the magnitude of the power and influence wielded by Edward Bernays, I will give a few brief examples. According to his Wikipedia page, "Bernays was named one of the 100 most influential Americans of the 20th century by Life magazine. His best-known campaigns include a 1929 effort to promote female smoking by branding cigarettes as feminist "Torches of Freedom", and his work for the United Fruit Company in the 1950s, connected with the CIA-orchestrated overthrow of the democratically elected Guatemalan government in 1954. He worked for dozens of major American corporations including Procter & Gamble and General Electric, and for government agencies, politicians, and non-profit organizations.