Submitted by Jeff Thomas via Doug Casey's International Man blog [5],
Currently, a clever young man, Mark Dice is producing a series of videos in which he approaches strangers in public places in the US and asks them to sign a prepared petition that he is holding. Invariably, Mark behaves in a polite, congenial manner and makes a clear effort to appear as harmless as possible. However, the subjects of his petitions are the antithesis of his demeanour.
The subject of a Dice petition may be the repeal of the Second Amendment to the Constitution, a move to assure that old people are exterminated under Obamacare, or, as in the attached video, to ask potential petition signers to support Karl Marx as the next president of the US.
In each video, Mark's approach is the same. He chooses a large, open public space, dresses casually and hands his clipboard to someone who is passing and politely asks for his signature in support of a concept that is ludicrous. He does this with a straight face and always behaves pleasantly. Once the passer-by has taken the clipboard and is looking for the place to sign, Mark describes details (again, in a pleasant manner) of what is being proposed, such as,
"We're just gathering signatures to show support for Obama and his communist agenda, so we're gonna get Karl Marx on the 2016 ballot and continue the Marxist takeover."
Invariably, the prospective signers seem not to take in the significance of what Mark is saying. They seem to be focused more on where they are supposed to sign. No matter how many horrific details Mark offers the signers to provoke them to think about what they are signing, nothing seems to sink in.
Of course, we recognise that the video may contain only those people who were actually empty-headed enough to sign, and, surely, there were others who refused. However, this does not alter the fact that so many people simply "go along," seemingly oblivious to what they are signing.
Surely, for any reader of this publication, these videos will be both entertaining and exasperating, as they demonstrate the stupidity and complacency of so many people.
However, if we look a little deeper, what we see in the videos is even more revealing—to the point that we might consider that the "sheeple" we are observing are not simply buffoons; they pose a threat to our personal future.
Looking back into history, we see a parallel in Germany. In the late 1940s, many Germans were interviewed as to how it had been possible for Hitler to effect his extreme policies. They were asked how they could have sat by whilst the atrocities occurred. The Germans interviewed stated vaguely that they were not aware of the atrocities. When they were pointedly asked about seeing the Jews being dragged off and thrown on trains, or asked about the smell from the smokestacks at the concentration camps, the interviewees would shrug their shoulders and say that they had not realised the significance of what was happening.
At that time, Americans were rightfully outraged that the German people could have been so callous, so unobservant, or so dim-witted as to have been unaware of what was happening around them. Surely, at some point, the German people should have said, "That's enough. This is wrong and must stop."
And the Americans were correct, although it is also true that, having won the war, it was easy for them to criticise, as they had not been the people who had been under the thumb of an over-reaching fascist government.
Today, of course, the shoe is on the other foot. The US is tragically, but assuredly, the home of a fascist over-reaching government. On a very regular basis, Americans are subjected to new measures of control that they should feel are beyond the pale and are to be rejected. However, just as in Nazi Germany in the 1930s, the threat from the government towards those who do not comply is developing in lockstep with the increasing controls.
If we were to imagine a Mark Dice in Germany in late 1930s Berlin, stopping people in a friendly way to ask for their signatures on a petition that, say, called for the extermination of Jews, they might well have signed, finding it easier to "go along" than to question the validity of the idea being proposed.
The reason? Well, at some point in the destruction of a democracy, a mild fear sets in the minds of a people that all will not turn out well. At that point, many begin to shut down. Their ability to react to outrageous developments fades into a state of numbness. It no longer matters how irrational the proposal may be, it is simply accepted on the face of it, as it is easier to "go along" than to question. It is also less distressing.
If we watch the video that is attached, we may shake our heads that the petition signers do not react to the idea that a dead man (Karl Marx) is running for president. Neither do they react to the suggestion that they show support for Obama's "communist agenda." Neither do they react to the suggestion of a full communist takeover.
This does not necessarily mean that the petition signers are incredibly stupid. What it means is that they have chosen to tune out. It is best not to think. The petitioner is pleasant, and it does not pay to contest the issues in question. It is easier to simply sign.
At some point in the future, interviewers may ask Americans, "How could you just sit by whilst the atrocities occurred?" Americans may shrug their shoulders and say that they were not really aware of what was happening. If and when this comes to pass, will they be lying? Possibly not. It may be that those who had simply "tuned out" were no longer cognizant of the meaning of events around them and were functioning as automatons—servants of the American Reich.
It is sadly true that the signing of a Mark Dice petition is a mere symptom of a greater concern—the conversion of the American people from a once-proud culture of self-determination, to a lesser species of cooperative sheeple.
For the observer, it suggests that the US has passed the point of no return; that this may end as it has historically—in a period of warfare abroad and subjugation at home.
The warning signs are becoming more numerous with each passing day.
The choice for Americans today is whether to wait and see whether history repeats or whether to plan to be elsewhere before the deterioration advances further.