Michele, so happy to see you here, and thank you for that beautiful comment! Wendell Berry has been a hero of mine for decades. He has always pushed against the propaganda with his down-to-earth, farmerly common sense. His words are more relevant today than ever before. And yes to foiling the script by doing things that don’t compute!
Wow, Margaret. I just read this as per your link. For a start, MDWA is on my list for tonight! But you really captured the essence of not just the movie thematic but the sixties zeitgeist, the last burst of the human being, as Andre put it. I remember John & Yoko's War is Over so clearly and their Bed-In. My God, what happened to us? The starburst of creativity in that era, including the 70s, was such an outpouring of love and humanity and the essential need for personal freedom. I grew up during that time and, coincidentally, spent many summers of my youth at Findhorn as my brother and his wife were some of the originals there.
You've not only captured that spirit but included so many reinforcements of basic human rights, dignity and autonomy, such as Solzhenitsyn, Berry, the prosaic Le Boétie and the inimitable CJ Hopkins (whom I love for sheer force of satire).
As you point out in your central theme, ultimately it's our choice. War is over, if we want it. The question that remains, irritating like a burr, do we really want it?
How delightful to hear you will be watching/watched MDWA! I suspect it will take on an entirely new dimension of meaning in light of the last two years.
Wow, fascinating to hear about your connection to Findhorn. I wonder if your brother and his wife ever crossed paths with Andre!
So glad you enjoyed the references! “inimitable” is a good descriptor for CJ. His black and brilliant humor has been a lifejacket in these tempestuous times.
Powerful closing question (love the burr simile). I can say with conviction that you, I, and others fighting for liberty, life, and truth certainly do. The rest, not so much so—hence my mission to awaken the sleeping before tyranny triumphs.
Jul 4, 2022·edited Jul 4, 2022Liked by Margaret Anna Alice
“My Dinner with Andre:” now there is a fascinating movie and book. I can’t remember which I encountered first, but it was my dear husband (before we were married) who first introduced me to both in the early 80s. I seem to think I saw the movie first on our local PBS station, and I was so enthralled that I bought the book, which I read cover to cover, over and over again. If I had to compare myself with either character, it would be Wallace Shawn, the simple and pragmatic personality who gets what Andre is talking about, but who in many ways is still asleep. Andre, on the other hand, blew my mind with his insights and experiences. Much food for thought in his ideas and in the passing of the years, especially the last two, have awakened me to them. And Wendell Berry I had heard of, but never read any of his poetry. Thank you for a great article!
Thank you, Lizzy_D! I cannot believe I did not know there was a book! We have the script, but are you saying there is a book that’s different from the script?
I have long wanted to get in touch with Andre to see if he realizes his predictions are coming true. I hope he is awake to what is occurring and hasn’t been menticided in the intervening years!
Yes, sorry, that’s what I meant: the movie in book form. I’ll have to find my copy - it’s in the house somewhere (LOL) - but it is the exact dialogue that is in the movie. I was very glad to have it, as I could reread passages more thoroughly to understand better. In the days before VHS/DVD, it was a Godsend.
Please let us know if you ever get in touch with Andre. I would love to know myself what his thoughts are and I, too, hope he has not been corrupted by current events.
“We live in almost Old Testament times, with plagues and insane kings,” says Gregory. “It’s crucial that we look at those things critically but also try to feel hope and joy. The grief isn’t the whole story.”
This is an excellent post, Margaret. So many gems. The "Dinner With Andre" scene is, of course, chilling. I left the NYC area in 2020 and fled to the country. I don't ever want to return. I love Wendell Berry but have never seen that poem, so thank you. It still boggles my mind how people complied and how masks and jabs became normalized so quickly—the terms they used - lockdown, social distancing, etc.--no one seemed to bat an eye. I am forever grateful that I saw what was happening and would not/could not comply. "They can turn the whole world into an open-air prison." "The Covidian Cult" was a great discussion. Thank you.
I personally think Gates is a psycopath who has been enabled by the media and those who have sold their souls. Margarets poem is so poignant and true. I remember at the beginning of covid I saw a letter Dr Lawry wrote to Anthony Hill asking why he redacted his approval to the use of Ivermecin for treatment. It disappeared quickly. Tess is a beautiful soul.
Jan 2, 2023·edited Jan 3, 2023Liked by Margaret Anna Alice
The short video clip regarding New Yorkers living in their own prison built by the 'inmates' (New York residents) is a very good example of how Covid & Vax LOVERS believe they can't survive without these disciplines being of paramount importance in their limited, shallow and desperate lives.
You still see masked-up elderly couples in supermarkets as though to abandon the 'uniform' would be to tempt fate of perhaps even commit suicide! They've drank the 'cool-ade'! I'm 77 years old!
Can anybody offer me an acceptable reason why Pfizer, & other deadly injection purveyors, still enjoy IMMUNITY FROM LIABILITY? No LIABILITY for any adverse consequence of the use of their poorly designed and unacceptable, non-existent quality controlled poisons - (called VACCINES)? It's a deadly nonsense!
COMMON SENSE must be reinstated with full moral and ethical RESPONSIBILITY and LIABILITY for their useless but DEADLY DEPOPULATION MEDICINES!
I have long been wanting to reach out to Andre to see if he realizes how prophetic his words were, but I fear being disappointed. Still, I would love to interview him if I can ever find the time.
Thank you, Mathew, and I appreciate your taking the time to read it given your weighty responsibilities! I am intrigued to learn about the top-secret project you’re working on—looking forward to the big reveal 🍿
I am physically ill waiting for permission. If there were a corner of the world I could run away to and post it all from there, I might. But there isn't.
Oh man, now I am even more intrigued! Please take good care of yourself and make sure you are taking the necessary precautions to protect yourself and your family. Not to sound overly dramatic, but you are taking on psychopathic entities and need to be cautious.
I have an intuition that you’re working with a certain courageous individual who has come to the forefront of this data battle over the past few weeks. No need to confirm/deny, but I’ll be curious to see if I’m right when the time comes.
Sadly, this Justice Douglas basically started it all in the 70’s - he truly is this quote by him. The darkness of extreme liberal thinking - he was greatly influential in the Miranda decision which has both it’s good parts & bad. Not sure if he actually stated as he was going blind & still sitting on the highest court - that he would want to know how Justice Rehnquist was voting & he would vote the opposite. Appalling, if true.
While I acknowledge this quote to have truth to it - I now absolutely am disgusted with Justice Douglas & many of his abominable decisions (in my rear view mirror now looking back & seeing what has now transpired).
It’s a journey of mine from indoctrination in left-leaning ideology to now fully embracing the great mercy, grace, love & truth of Jesus Christ and realizing the depravity of all - including this Justice. I am fully swayed & embrace the Greatest Emancipator of all with full freedom
of my individual self-will to God alone. He will be my guide even unto death at the hands of those who seek our demise. Romans 8:38,39.
I personally think Gates is a psycopath who money/success has corrupted. He is enabled by the media and others who have sold their souls. Margaret sees so clearly what has and is happening to the world. At the beginning of the pandemic I was fortunate to see an article where Dr Tess Lawry asked why Ivermecin was not being used when it had been approved. That set alarm bells ringing for me. Could not find article later.
Well, you better shake a leg. He's 88 and he had been giving out interviews from time to time. One recent in the Provincetown paper which leads me to think he's gay and retired to the cape.
Yes, I am worried that I will or have already waited too late. I did that with Oliver Sacks and Eavan Boland, the latter of whom is my favorite poet and who graciously agreed to an interview the second time I met her (she even remembered my name from our meeting around 15 years prior).
The Covid war cannot be over until a father figure declares it is over. The last father figure we had was Ronald Reagan and he is not going to be resurrected! We are lost because we do not have a father figure!
I see your point, Thomas, but I respectfully disagree :-) I think people’s dependence on leaders is what needs to change—once people realize they’ve had the power all along, they can break their chains and be liberated from the illusion that they needed others to free them.
Would you believe that if President Biden declared Covid gone that there would not be dancing in the streets? That will not happen because political control is power! Can’t find a definition of menticide. You must have a very large dictionary!
Oh yes, I would believe it 🤦♀️ A polling research firm actually told him to take the win for it until midterms (see the memo in this piece: https://margaretannaalice.substack.com/p/letter-to-us-legislators-defundthethoughtpolice), which he did in his speech a few days after that while Ukraine came in to take its place, but they’re not yet ready to let it go—the ring of power is too tempting.
Haha re: “menticide”—I believe Joost Meerloo coined it in “Rape of the Mind,” which is a must-read!
I loved this post and also, especially, the Wendll Berrey poem. I heard Heather Heying read it on the Darkhorse podcast. I very much appreciate your writing as well as the comments you leave on other substack posts.
Delighted to hear that, Amking, and thank you for your kind words!
I do love Wendell Berry, and that poem has been a touchstone for me for decades.
I saw Heather’s post where she mentioned reading it on the Darkhorse podcast. We subscribe to each other’s blogs, but she signed up to mine after this post, so I don’t think she’s seen it yet. I really need to reach out to her as we have so many overlapping passions.
Aww, thanks, The Ignorant, and delighted to welcome you here! So glad you appreciated the poem. Wendell Berry is a treasure, and his words are more relevant now than ever before.
How nice to read your lovely note, B. D., and glad you appreciated it! I have tremendous gratitude to OffGuardian for being the first to publish my work as well as for their rigorous commitment to truth-telling, science, and verifiable facts.
I really really love this post--so much here. Thank-you. And I esp love the Wendell berry poem--been a fan of his for many years.
So, friends, every day do something that won’t compute...
Michele, so happy to see you here, and thank you for that beautiful comment! Wendell Berry has been a hero of mine for decades. He has always pushed against the propaganda with his down-to-earth, farmerly common sense. His words are more relevant today than ever before. And yes to foiling the script by doing things that don’t compute!
Wow, Margaret. I just read this as per your link. For a start, MDWA is on my list for tonight! But you really captured the essence of not just the movie thematic but the sixties zeitgeist, the last burst of the human being, as Andre put it. I remember John & Yoko's War is Over so clearly and their Bed-In. My God, what happened to us? The starburst of creativity in that era, including the 70s, was such an outpouring of love and humanity and the essential need for personal freedom. I grew up during that time and, coincidentally, spent many summers of my youth at Findhorn as my brother and his wife were some of the originals there.
You've not only captured that spirit but included so many reinforcements of basic human rights, dignity and autonomy, such as Solzhenitsyn, Berry, the prosaic Le Boétie and the inimitable CJ Hopkins (whom I love for sheer force of satire).
As you point out in your central theme, ultimately it's our choice. War is over, if we want it. The question that remains, irritating like a burr, do we really want it?
How delightful to hear you will be watching/watched MDWA! I suspect it will take on an entirely new dimension of meaning in light of the last two years.
Wow, fascinating to hear about your connection to Findhorn. I wonder if your brother and his wife ever crossed paths with Andre!
So glad you enjoyed the references! “inimitable” is a good descriptor for CJ. His black and brilliant humor has been a lifejacket in these tempestuous times.
Powerful closing question (love the burr simile). I can say with conviction that you, I, and others fighting for liberty, life, and truth certainly do. The rest, not so much so—hence my mission to awaken the sleeping before tyranny triumphs.
And boy, are you on that mission!! Will report back re MDWA.
Haha, thanks, Navyo, and I’m looking forward to getting to experience MDWA vicariously through you as it’s been ages since I’ve seen it!
“My Dinner with Andre:” now there is a fascinating movie and book. I can’t remember which I encountered first, but it was my dear husband (before we were married) who first introduced me to both in the early 80s. I seem to think I saw the movie first on our local PBS station, and I was so enthralled that I bought the book, which I read cover to cover, over and over again. If I had to compare myself with either character, it would be Wallace Shawn, the simple and pragmatic personality who gets what Andre is talking about, but who in many ways is still asleep. Andre, on the other hand, blew my mind with his insights and experiences. Much food for thought in his ideas and in the passing of the years, especially the last two, have awakened me to them. And Wendell Berry I had heard of, but never read any of his poetry. Thank you for a great article!
Thank you, Lizzy_D! I cannot believe I did not know there was a book! We have the script, but are you saying there is a book that’s different from the script?
I have long wanted to get in touch with Andre to see if he realizes his predictions are coming true. I hope he is awake to what is occurring and hasn’t been menticided in the intervening years!
Yes, sorry, that’s what I meant: the movie in book form. I’ll have to find my copy - it’s in the house somewhere (LOL) - but it is the exact dialogue that is in the movie. I was very glad to have it, as I could reread passages more thoroughly to understand better. In the days before VHS/DVD, it was a Godsend.
Please let us know if you ever get in touch with Andre. I would love to know myself what his thoughts are and I, too, hope he has not been corrupted by current events.
Oh perfect, that’s what I thought but was just making sure I didn’t miss some other treasure :-)
I do hope I can connect with Andre before it’s too late!
I found a quote in this September 2020 article (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/29/t-magazine/andre-gregory-painter.html) that makes me worry he had fallen for the narrative at the time, but it also appears he was still more balanced than the true believers:
“We live in almost Old Testament times, with plagues and insane kings,” says Gregory. “It’s crucial that we look at those things critically but also try to feel hope and joy. The grief isn’t the whole story.”
This is an excellent post, Margaret. So many gems. The "Dinner With Andre" scene is, of course, chilling. I left the NYC area in 2020 and fled to the country. I don't ever want to return. I love Wendell Berry but have never seen that poem, so thank you. It still boggles my mind how people complied and how masks and jabs became normalized so quickly—the terms they used - lockdown, social distancing, etc.--no one seemed to bat an eye. I am forever grateful that I saw what was happening and would not/could not comply. "They can turn the whole world into an open-air prison." "The Covidian Cult" was a great discussion. Thank you.
I personally think Gates is a psycopath who has been enabled by the media and those who have sold their souls. Margarets poem is so poignant and true. I remember at the beginning of covid I saw a letter Dr Lawry wrote to Anthony Hill asking why he redacted his approval to the use of Ivermecin for treatment. It disappeared quickly. Tess is a beautiful soul.
The short video clip regarding New Yorkers living in their own prison built by the 'inmates' (New York residents) is a very good example of how Covid & Vax LOVERS believe they can't survive without these disciplines being of paramount importance in their limited, shallow and desperate lives.
You still see masked-up elderly couples in supermarkets as though to abandon the 'uniform' would be to tempt fate of perhaps even commit suicide! They've drank the 'cool-ade'! I'm 77 years old!
Can anybody offer me an acceptable reason why Pfizer, & other deadly injection purveyors, still enjoy IMMUNITY FROM LIABILITY? No LIABILITY for any adverse consequence of the use of their poorly designed and unacceptable, non-existent quality controlled poisons - (called VACCINES)? It's a deadly nonsense!
COMMON SENSE must be reinstated with full moral and ethical RESPONSIBILITY and LIABILITY for their useless but DEADLY DEPOPULATION MEDICINES!
Mick from Hooe (UK) Unjabbed to live longer!
#MakePharmaLiable (https://margaretannaalice.substack.com/p/letter-to-senator-ron-johnson)
Andre here, Andre there. Soon we'll have Dinner with Andre everywhere.
😆 Lovely to see you here, Gerard!
I have long been wanting to reach out to Andre to see if he realizes how prophetic his words were, but I fear being disappointed. Still, I would love to interview him if I can ever find the time.
Excellent essay.
Thank you, Mathew, and I appreciate your taking the time to read it given your weighty responsibilities! I am intrigued to learn about the top-secret project you’re working on—looking forward to the big reveal 🍿
I am physically ill waiting for permission. If there were a corner of the world I could run away to and post it all from there, I might. But there isn't.
Oh man, now I am even more intrigued! Please take good care of yourself and make sure you are taking the necessary precautions to protect yourself and your family. Not to sound overly dramatic, but you are taking on psychopathic entities and need to be cautious.
I have an intuition that you’re working with a certain courageous individual who has come to the forefront of this data battle over the past few weeks. No need to confirm/deny, but I’ll be curious to see if I’m right when the time comes.
Sadly, this Justice Douglas basically started it all in the 70’s - he truly is this quote by him. The darkness of extreme liberal thinking - he was greatly influential in the Miranda decision which has both it’s good parts & bad. Not sure if he actually stated as he was going blind & still sitting on the highest court - that he would want to know how Justice Rehnquist was voting & he would vote the opposite. Appalling, if true.
While I acknowledge this quote to have truth to it - I now absolutely am disgusted with Justice Douglas & many of his abominable decisions (in my rear view mirror now looking back & seeing what has now transpired).
It’s a journey of mine from indoctrination in left-leaning ideology to now fully embracing the great mercy, grace, love & truth of Jesus Christ and realizing the depravity of all - including this Justice. I am fully swayed & embrace the Greatest Emancipator of all with full freedom
of my individual self-will to God alone. He will be my guide even unto death at the hands of those who seek our demise. Romans 8:38,39.
I personally think Gates is a psycopath who money/success has corrupted. He is enabled by the media and others who have sold their souls. Margaret sees so clearly what has and is happening to the world. At the beginning of the pandemic I was fortunate to see an article where Dr Tess Lawry asked why Ivermecin was not being used when it had been approved. That set alarm bells ringing for me. Could not find article later.
Well, you better shake a leg. He's 88 and he had been giving out interviews from time to time. One recent in the Provincetown paper which leads me to think he's gay and retired to the cape.
https://provincetownindependent.org/arts-minds/2020/12/10/this-is-not-an-interview-with-andre-gregory/
https://archive.ph/thw0u
two years back but he was promoting his non-memoir memoir.
Yes, I am worried that I will or have already waited too late. I did that with Oliver Sacks and Eavan Boland, the latter of whom is my favorite poet and who graciously agreed to an interview the second time I met her (she even remembered my name from our meeting around 15 years prior).
The Covid war cannot be over until a father figure declares it is over. The last father figure we had was Ronald Reagan and he is not going to be resurrected! We are lost because we do not have a father figure!
I see your point, Thomas, but I respectfully disagree :-) I think people’s dependence on leaders is what needs to change—once people realize they’ve had the power all along, they can break their chains and be liberated from the illusion that they needed others to free them.
Not when they have brainwashed!
We are dealing with sophisticated psychological mind control. It started with seatbelts!
Oh, I know that, hence my 12-step recovery program for menticide:
• “Letter to the Menticided: A 12-Step Recovery Program” (https://margaretannaalice.substack.com/p/letter-to-the-menticided-a-12-step)
Would you believe that if President Biden declared Covid gone that there would not be dancing in the streets? That will not happen because political control is power! Can’t find a definition of menticide. You must have a very large dictionary!
Oh yes, I would believe it 🤦♀️ A polling research firm actually told him to take the win for it until midterms (see the memo in this piece: https://margaretannaalice.substack.com/p/letter-to-us-legislators-defundthethoughtpolice), which he did in his speech a few days after that while Ukraine came in to take its place, but they’re not yet ready to let it go—the ring of power is too tempting.
Haha re: “menticide”—I believe Joost Meerloo coined it in “Rape of the Mind,” which is a must-read!
I loved this post and also, especially, the Wendll Berrey poem. I heard Heather Heying read it on the Darkhorse podcast. I very much appreciate your writing as well as the comments you leave on other substack posts.
Delighted to hear that, Amking, and thank you for your kind words!
I do love Wendell Berry, and that poem has been a touchstone for me for decades.
I saw Heather’s post where she mentioned reading it on the Darkhorse podcast. We subscribe to each other’s blogs, but she signed up to mine after this post, so I don’t think she’s seen it yet. I really need to reach out to her as we have so many overlapping passions.
Excellent work! The poem is sublime.
Aww, thanks, The Ignorant, and delighted to welcome you here! So glad you appreciated the poem. Wendell Berry is a treasure, and his words are more relevant now than ever before.
Great work. Thank you for contributing to OffGuardian.
How nice to read your lovely note, B. D., and glad you appreciated it! I have tremendous gratitude to OffGuardian for being the first to publish my work as well as for their rigorous commitment to truth-telling, science, and verifiable facts.
And thank you, Mensch59, for your ever-thoughtful comments and support!