The Bittersweet Player – Clear your browser cache to hear the latest play list.
Chief Editor’s Note: We are happy to welcome to our crew someone to continue to help lift the weight back here at The Critical Post – Chicago. So without too much fanfare, we welcome citizen journalist Ms. Ava Fox.
She joins us in the midst of uncovering an abrasion in the national collective conscience in our nation and the world. This “abrasion” we have come to know revolves around the revelations, and we conclude irresponsibly, put forward and popularized by the noted psychic Mr. David Wilcock, who makes the claim he’s the reincarnation of the famous late 19th century writer and psychic Edgar Cayce. He has done so from his website called Divine Cosmos. It is from this claim, Mr. Wilcock has been able to successfully launch book tours to make a living and find willing participants in helping to perpetrate his theories surrounding various subjects about extra terrestrials and revisionist historical subject matters. He is also responsible for introducing his followers to wild claims surrounding the web persona of one Mr. Drake K. Bailey. Mr. Bailey is an ex Vietnam veteran, who is self admittedly, a sufferer of post traumatic stress disorder as a result of his service.
The claims of this Mr. Bailey are such, on the surface, that there is a vast conspiracy of high level military personnel within The Pentagon who are ready to take control of the US government, and remove all key officers of same. Mr. Bailey claims to be an undercover informal direct messenger of these conspirators within The Pentagon. This claim has resulted in a Facebook group called Global Voice 2012. The ad hoc group of officers administering this Facebook group are also part of seeking donations for their Blogtalk platform Internet radio station, Global Voice Radio.
There is a very real characteristic concerning this Facebook group. It has the makings of what some can reasonably construe, a cult following.
In the spirit of that we continue to offer the article series we have embarked upon.
Other articles concerning this are as follows:
“THEY” SAY THAT A COUP D’ETAT IN AMERICA IS IN THE OFFING ON OR BEFORE THE 4TH OF JULY – HOLY SMOKES
FREEDOM AND PATRIOT MOVEMENT FRAUD – IT’S A GLOBAL THING
Several dates of alleged events to happen have come and gone with no visible results in line with expectations of things to occur attached to same. Still they follow.
- Pollack
-&-
By Ava Fox – Staff reporter
Opinion – Research and Conclusion:
(TCP)CHICAGO – 6 July 2012 – In recent months there has been a phenomenon sweeping through alternative media, a wildfire fanned by a disillusioned and disaffected segment of the population, desperately attempting to get a “good bead” on their personal reality. Their movement is based in the concept of American sovereignty and informally led by an individual named one Mr. Drake K. Bailey, a self-proclaimed spokesman for the Pentagon and “insider” claiming to have knowledge of a massive takeover of the U.S. Government by sympathetic US military that will supposedly begin with the mass arrests of members of an elitist cabal, ie. the “shadow government” that actually runs the show.
Further, Mr. Bailey’s popularity saw a rapid rise with an allegedly “sound vetting” by popular noted psychic claiming to be Edgar Cayce’s reincarnation, one Mr. David Wilcock. It was after Mr. Wilcock had published Mr. Bailey’s claims by way of a recorded phone interview/transcript last March on his website Divine Cosmos, that Mr. Bailey began netting his surge.
Whether or not Mr. Bailey’s claims are legitimate are irrelevant. The fact remains that he has amassed large numbers of followers, both here and abroad, that are dedicated to his cause and have sworn to support him, and there has been costs involved. On the Global Voice Facebook Group Page, a page dedicated solely to Mr. Bailey and this “freedom movement”, various postings within the comment threads of that Facebook group have revealed that some younger folks involved in this believer/network following no longer speak to parents, spouses have threatened to move out, and Mr. Bailey’s suggestion of “stocking up on the basics” in preparation for the coming coup have compromised people on limited incomes. Some have stopped paying their bills, altogether. Still others continue to advocate for same.
According to the best of our understanding, no one has ever met Mr. Bailey face to face, yet he has managed to attain an audience of what we estimate may be around 10,000 or perhaps 15,000 followers worldwide. How is it possible for one individual to hold so much sway over a group of people that have never even seen him in person?
The answer may lie in the psychological techniques of thought reform and cult recruitment. We are not of the opinion that Mr. Bailey is using these techniques. From the complexion of the writings we have found from him in various forum post exchanges, he has attracted folks who actually think he has something to offer, and they, we guess, agree. The point being, Mr.Bailey has attracted folks as a result of the confidence he conveys in his own reasoning and the personality exemplified in his writing style, which is folksy, at best.
However, when the subject of cults or mind control is considered, most have an erroneous conception that this is only within the realm of alternative religious groups. This is not always the case. Psychologist Phillip Zimbardo, famous for his Stanford Prison experiment in which 24 men were designated either “guard” or “inmates”, defined a cult this way: “People join interesting groups that promise to fulfill their most pressing needs. They become cults when they are seen as deceptive, defective, dangerous or as opposing basic values of their society. No one ever joins a cult- they are “recruited.” Typically, these people do not know their leader has a hidden agenda that may not be revealed for months, perhaps even years later.
Blaming victims of a mind control group is an error. Common thought has it that in order to be a victim, the individual must be weak, lonely, or somehow defective in a way that is not immediately obvious. This also is a common error. Doctors, lawyers, businessmen have all been duped into believing what they viewed to be a strong central figure, giving them direction in life. Control techniques are subtle and most can not see they are being manipulated until it is too late. According to the theory of Cognitive Dissonance (Leon Featinger 1964) it is necessary to affect at least one of three aspects of a person; their behavior, thought, or emotions. Adding to this theory in 1978, Flo Conway and Jim Siegelman developed a forth aspect which is controlling the flow of information available to the victim. By limiting the information given to the victim the victim is unable to make a wholly informed decision and will, instead, defer to the group decision.
Robert Lifton, long considered to be the founding father of thought reform, has eight criteria by (which to judge a group and determine their motivations (Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism 1961) These include:
- Milieu Control, wherein speaking or acting out against the group results in verbal and emotional chastisement, while correct speaking is rewarded with praise and encouragement.
- Mystical manipulation, as the leader tells them they are part of an “elite” corp serving a heroic cause to save the world
- The leader speaks as if the group’s beliefs are founded in some sort of secret knowledge that the novice is not yet ready to be exposed to, giving only snippets of verifiable or seemingly plausible information
- The demand for purity so that people outside the group are seen as somehow tainted or wrong.
- Loaded language is used by the leader, as well as indoctrinated members, that teaches to interpret everything in a way consistent with and reaffirming of the group’s doctrine.
- Doctrine over Person asserts that the individual’s desires are secondary to the group.
- Dispensing of Existence tells the group that only members are “right” or “good” or even “saved”. Lifton goes on to say where at least six of these criteria are present in a group setting there is cause for concern.
- Cult of Confession that discovers and uses an individual’s weakness and vulnerabilities against them
- The leader speaks as if the group’s beliefs are founded in some sort of secret knowledge that the novice is not yet ready to be exposed to, giving only snippets of verifiable or seemingly plausible information.
- The demand for purity so that people outside the group are seen as somehow tainted or wrong.
- Loaded language is used by the leader, as well as indoctrinated members, that teaches to interpret everything in a way consistent with and reaffirming of the group’s doctrine.
- Doctrine over Person asserts that the individual’s desires are secondary to the group.
- Dispensing of Existence tells the group that only members are “right” or “good” or even “saved”. Lifton goes on to say where at least six of these criteria are present in a group setting there is cause for concern.
Individuals within the Global Voice group are reprimanded when speaking out against Bailey, sometimes resulting in being “booted” from the group. The hardliners believe they are part of a global movement who’s beginnings in the US will eventually spread throughout the world, ridding it of an elitist cabal, and ushering in a Golden Age of peace and prosperity.
Mr. Bailey makes claims he speaks as the chosen spokesman for The Pentagon, divulging only as much inside information as he is “allowed” to reveal in his twice-weekly radio addresses. His followers interpret his words in a way that fit the version of reality they are desperately trying to create at the personal expense of themselves, willing to sacrifice family ties and financial security in exchange for adhering to his promise of a future beyond imagination. His followers are quick to reiterate when the “event” happens, those that did not heed his advice, the naysayers and dissenters ,will suffer consequences for not being properly prepared. We conclude from the evidence seen in this group’s written threads or epitaphs, if you will, at least six of Lifton’s criteria are present within it.
In the preface to the 1958 edition of Brave New World, Aldous Huxley stated “Impersonal forces over which we have almost no control seem to be pushing us all in the direction of the Brave New World-ian nightmare; and this impersonal pushing is being consciously accelerated by representatives of commercial and political organizations who have a number of new techniques for manipulating, in the interest of some minority, the thoughts and feelings of the masses.” Victims believe they are part of something much larger than themselves, and they find a sense of security and acceptance within the group they may not find elsewhere, reinforced by other members. Emotional bonds are formed that make exiting the group sometimes difficult, if at all. The victims see other group members as their family and feel there is no wrong-doing being perpetrated.
Is Global Voice or Mr. Bailey’s group under the influence of thought reform? There are indications to believe it may be, though unwittingly to be sure. However, we are all subjected to mind control techniques every day and are not even aware of it. Mass media and commercial advertising is nothing but a form of mind control, instructing us what to buy, what to eat, who to vote for, what kind of car to drive, where to take our vacation. This type of mind control may be annoying but it is certainly not dangerous.
Destructive thought reform, however, is a different story. Is destructive thought reform or mind control being played out on the members of Mr. Bailey’s group? There are indications to believe that some members have been sucked in by brotherhood and camaraderie this group affords them. People forgoing paying their rent because they believe their sacred “event” will happen and transform our monetary base are certainly worth keeping a critical eye upon.
In the end, the facts will bear themselves out. The true believers in Mr. Drake K. Bailey will suffer much disappointment and feel betrayed, so it is hoped that these individuals have a supportive ear to turn towards and realize that not all brainwashing occurs in alternative religions. They most certainly, and one could only hope, will understand they have been duped and, regrettably, have learned the lesson of discernment the hard way.
-&-
You could put your verification ID in a
comment
Or, in its own meta tag