“The Milgram Shock Experiment, conducted by Stanley Milgram in the 1960s, tested obedience to authority. Participants were instructed to administer increasingly severe electric shocks to another person, who was actually an actor, as they answered questions incorrectly. Despite hearing the actor’s screams, most participants continued administering shocks, demonstrating the powerful influence of authority figures on behaviour.” From Simply Psychology Org.
A “Milgram” is a term, taken from the Stanley Milgram experiments, used to describe citizens who dutifully follow the direction of authority without question.
We saw this behavior take over whole societies during the Covid 19 Pandemic when everyday citizens, descendants of the pilgrims or early settlers, became the enforcers of government directives within their communities.
In the minds of these people, at the time, questioning authority was forbidden. They lashed out and friends and family who were failing to wear masks, to social distance or to obey the litany of tyrannical rules imposed by power drunk politicians.
It was amazing to see intelligent people crush friendships and family connections with their brutish demand on adherence to rules.
We are three years down the road now and many of these relationships have not been repaired, either because the targets of the “milgrams” are too bruised, or because the “milgrams” themselves still stand by their actions.
Even as we now learn that so many of the Government directives were not based on any science at all, many decisions based on polling and not on medical guidance, and many claims about things like vaccines were bald faced lies, many of the milgrams stand firm.
When we look back, we needed citizens to stand up to Government and refuse, to demonstrate their constitutional right to civil disobedience, to force their Government to behave better.
Perhaps the biggest culprits were the journalists. They failed to challenge government at all. In fact, they lied to support government narratives. A classic case was a huge demonstration in the Melbourne CBD. The organizers organised a Helicopter with a Television camera and streamed the event through Facebook. The enormous crowds choked up much of the Melbourne CBD. There had to be at least 150,000 people there, probably more, yet the television news reported that only 10,000 attended.
It was incredible to see how effective the fear campaigns were. In 2023, the State Government in Victoria, who had been globally famous for their brutal and unwarranted treatment of their citizens, were elected back to power.
I write about this to shine a bright light on the “Milgram Mindset”. It is pervasive and enduring. And it affects way too many people. For any society this is dangerous as a tyrannical government should be opposed. They are the representatives of the people and when they fail to do their job, citizens have the right to stand up and protest.
During the pandemic, I refused the “vaccination” because it never felt right to me. Personal immunity and natural immunity were not just being ignored as a pathway to wellbeing, they were being derided as inadequate. Further, I had watched the actions of Anthony Fauci during the AIDS response and knew he was not a good person.
Further, I decided that I was going to travel more than 5km to visit my son and his family. This ran into trouble when the godmother of my Grandson threatened to report me to the authorities. I was disappointed but found it amusing. I counseled my son to stay wide on it and not give it too much attention.
So, let’s turn our attention to Climate politics. If you listen to some politicians, you might think the earth is doomed. The terrifying climate alarmism is beyond a joke now, and citizens are lining up to enforce the narrative.
Science that cannot be questioned is dogma. That is about as far away from science as one can get.
We started out with terms like Global Warming and greenhouse effect, which are shaky arguments at best, and we have arrived at the simple term “Climate Change”.
Atmospheric carbon levels have certainly risen marginally in the past 50 years. Along with that, the earth is 15% greener, as carbon is plant food. It seems that, as populations grow, the atmosphere is adapting to provide for enhanced food production.
Along the way, theories have been presented that the earth is warming, and the warming will create catastrophic weather changes. It is true that temperatures are rising slightly, but the stretch to cataclysmic weather changes is an outrageous stretch. Some people may die from higher temperatures, but in the same vein, less people will die from extreme cold.
The reality is that if we look back over documented data for hundreds or even thousands of years, temperatures have been in a constant state of variation, as have atmospheric carbon levels.
Most people are shocked to learn that carbon makes up less than one 25th of 1%.
There are things to consider. Temperatures can rise from solar activity. They can also rise due to geothermal heat warming the oceans from beneath, a widely accepted cause of current temperature rises. Further, the temperature measurement points, originally located outside cities, have now been consumed by urban sprawl, now surrounded by concrete and bitumen.
Further, climate scientists across the world contest the validity of the climate models being used to predict future weather and temperature trends. The sheer volume of variables that must be considered make the development of reliable models almost impossible.
But, as is often the case, opportunistic politicians grab onto a narrative that suits their agendas and begin to promote them as truth.
As Judith Curry, Climate Scientist and Author said, “When you combine science with science you get science. When you combine politics with politics you get politics. And when you combine science with politics you get politics.”
So here we stand. People in authority, governments and their supportive media are presenting the terrifying prediction that the climate is changing and bringing profound dangers to our horizons. They back it up with claims like “97% of scientists agree”, one of the blackest lies of our time.
And the Milgrams line up to stand as the volunteer gestapo for the fist shaking politicians. It has become so intense that even opposition political parties are reticent to stand for what they believe and speak against the “climate alarmism”. Their silence gives the claims legitimacy.
As an old friend and senior political official said to me, “It has never been about the environment. It is about the politics of the environment.”
Good people have been seduced by a frightening narrative and are now lining up to shame, cajole and browbeat anyone they can to fall into step with what they believe to be true.
I sit and wonder what it will take to inspire people to re-embrace the spirit and energy of the American Pilgrims, or the Australian Colonial settlers, people who lived their lives, trusting their own instincts and gut feel, and standing strong against tyrants.
I reach to you and ask that you conduct your life in a way where you will have no regret. Treat other people with respect and give them space to have their own opinions, to question ideas, to challenge science and authority, and honor the fact that they bring alternative perspectives that ensure every subject is fully explored.
When someone says something that you do not believe is true, try asking them why they believe that. Your open-ended conversation, driven by curiosity and interest, might leave both of you learning things. And your friendship is less likely to be threatened.
And when we are confronted by a Milgram, we can have compassion for them. They are fearful of authority and are degrading themselves to the status of subservient. Talk to them. Ask them questions. Why is that? Oh, ok, and why is that? Soon they arrive in the zone of “I don’t know!” the place where new learning can begin.