For much of the last year, there has been a notion of ‘choice’ spread throughout society when discussing the COVID-19 vaccine. The public have been told on numerous occasions that they have a choice as to whether or not they wish to take the vaccine. That is what it should have been – a personal choice made by each individual in weighing up the risks and benefit to their own selves. But this “choice” that has been discussed in the public eye is not all it is cooked up to be.  

That which is being presented to the people is not actually a real choice. Rather, it is the illusion of choice. It is a psychological ruse used by those who seek a particular outcome to force it to come to fruition. When implemented, it tricks an individual into thinking they are making a conscious choice, one which they have come to on their own terms and merits. What they do not realise is that this ‘choice’ has already been made for them; they are just playing catch-up with those who have decided it. It is a highly manipulative trick used to create a false sense of free will in a human being. It has been used by totalitarian regimes time and time again to subdue their citizens, and it is being used right now by governments around the world, including those in Australia, to force increases in vaccination uptake. 

But the illusion only remains intact so long as one does not see through it. The red flags have been there all along. Remember when Scott Morrison said they would not be making the vaccine mandatory? A few months later the goalposts began to shift – now only those in certain ‘high-risk’ industries would be mandated to take the vaccine if they wished to keep their jobs. Then, ever so slowly, they shifted again, and vaccine mandates began to expand to further industries. Now, if you so much as want to participate in society, you are compelled to have the jab. 

The tactics used here are again psychological. Each time, the government says something they know they will not adhere to. They do this to lull the public into a false sense of security. Then, sometime later, they change the narrative again, altering it just enough to make it seem plausible that there is nothing to be concerned about, nothing sinister at play. They repeat this several times, each new lie further advancing their true intentions. By the time people are just starting to catch on to one false flag, they plant another, not giving the public enough time to process it so that they will just as easily fall for the next falsehood. It is psychological warfare. 

The issue at hand is one that demands a change in the public mindset. It requires people to think for themselves, to analyse what is in front of them and consider them in the context of the past. It requires critical thinking skills. But over time, people have been so dumbed down, not only by government but by public institutions, to the point where they lack the capacity to undertake such a task. The education system in particular has taught students not to think for themselves, but rather to believe what those in positions of authority tell them without question. They will only believe something so long as it comes from the mouth of the government or bureaucrats or scientists, even if they are blatantly lying.  

The problem society faces is not just one of government, but one of mass psychosis. This is a state in which the society has become deluded by fear and incessant government propaganda, to the point where they will now only believe what the government tells them and refuse to listen to reason. The government has induced waves of fear and panic, each wave staggered by a period of some relief, before a newer, stronger wave is inflicted. 

In the case of COVID-19, governments have thrust their people in and out of lockdowns, creating fear, allowing the tide to flow, and then, in time, stemming it for a brief period, providing the public with the illusion of relief, before whipping up an even greater wave of fear and reimposing lockdowns and more heavy-handed restrictions. 

This pattern creates a situation where the public are in a constant state of fear; they are not given enough time to recover between waves, and so remain disturbed and become worn down to the point where it is easier to instill greater fear in the next wave, making it easier for those in power to implement harsher restrictions on society. The end goal: totalitarian rule.  

In our case, the mass psychosis is totalitarian in nature. It is built upon the foundation of fear, most of which is irrational. Delusions maintain its form, eliciting a childlike obedience in those afflicted by this mental epidemic. They degrade to a point of moral inferiority, where they become erratic, emotional, and unreasonable. They are unable to fully ascertain what is occurring, because they cannot step outside the sphere of their own minds to observe the deterioration of their rationality.  

Those in power take advantage of what they have created. Alongside the waves of fear they manufacture, fear that drives the now mentally and psychologically weak population into a panic due to threats that may be real or indeed fabricated, the ruling class are able to get away with lying to the public. They can spout nonsensical information, make claims which are contradictory to something they have previously claimed, or just outright lie.

The public believe what they say to be true because it is easier to accept emotional rhetoric than to use logic and reason to discern fact from fiction. No less, in the time they would be looking for a counter-argument to those made by those in positions of authority, they are assaulted with another lie. Isolation also makes individuals far more susceptible to delusion, making it an easier task to condition them. 

After a time, the masses wish for nothing more than to return to normality, something that has become increasingly evident in the era of COVID-19. This is where the totalitarians can capitalize on their efforts. They offer the people a way out, but in order to obtain it, the now psychologically regressed public must relinquish their freedom and capacity to be self-reliable individuals, essentially becoming completely dependent on the government. Tragically, we are seeing this exact circumstance occurring at this very instant in time. 

It is a devastatingly cruel method of obtaining power. The question is – can it be reversed? The short answer is yes, but not without significant effort by those who are not disillusioned. If those of us who are currently being segregated (that is, the unvaccinated) and those of us who are horrified with the tactics of the ruling class and the state of society band together, we can create a parallel society that does not thrive on fear and delusion, but rather cohesiveness and individualism, on freedom and liberty, on logic and reason, on reality and hope. 

We may make some headway by continuing to make light of those in power and poke fun at them to the point of ridicule so that they are made to look less threatening and their authority becomes weakened. That is a decent start. But we must also build a competing social construct to rival theirs and power it forward to overtake their own. It might mean only engaging in commerce with those businesses and individuals who are not supportive of discrimination based on vaccination status, leaving behind those who allow this segregation to prosper. Over time, more people, more businesses, more parts of society will begin to realise that they are better off in a world free of the chains of government overreach and control.  

The illusion can only survive so long as one allows it to.  

Before we take back control from the government, we have to take back control of our own minds.  

Joel Agius is an independent writer. If you would like to read more of his work, you can do so at JJ’s Outlook.