Persons moderately informed have a vague idea of what the « deep state » means. Of course, we do not see the « deep state », but only evidence of its impacts. We discern contours through the actions of its agents – imbalances, arbitrariness, dislocations, extrapolations, logical leaps.
One cannot rely entirely on deductive reasoning (top-down logic) or inductive logic (bottom-up), because in a world ofgovernmental secrecy, “fake news” and “fake law”, our very premises are uncertain. We can try inductive reasoning and base ourselves on our own observations and other empirical data, but we must acknowledge that our sample is woefully incomplete.
Some persons tend to dismiss narratives about the “deep state” as a kind of « conspiracy theory ». Out of sight, out of mind. We perceive the day to day functioning of our institutions as a normal routine operation, more or less following the “laws” of the marketplace or the anonymous forces of nature, not visualizing that the deep state can very well influence and manage these forces. What is the “deep state” then? We can recognize it on the faces of our corporate boardrooms.
Closer to our skins is our social environment, the pervasive Zeitgeist with the daily indoctrination by the corporate media, television, movies, even comic-books, which ably combine « fake news » with the suppression of crucial facts, and advance the subliminal message that we are «the good guys» and that our governments’ actions are not only « legal » but also legitimate, noble and honourable.
Our media engages in what some may consider “benevolent brainwashing”, in fact, well-calculated hot-and-cold onslaughts, sometimes «fear mongering» against foreign « enemies », horror stories about natural disasters and pandemics, speculation over their origins — alternating with the dissemination of trivial «feel good» stories. As long as most of the population gets panem et circensis (Juvenalis), we pose no danger to the deep state.
The result of the constant indoctrination is that public opinion is homologated. Independent thinkers feel isolated and the phenomenon of self-censorship gradually sets in, because most people want to «belong» to a «majority». Groupthink is safe. Only few dare to be «odd man out». Thus, we accept the lies that are fed to us by the media — because it is the easiest way to deal with the monstrosities that our governments are perpetrating throughout the world. Mundus vult decipi. The world wants to be deceived.
The “deep state” ably creates unreality, manages our perception of facts and context through a compliant corporate media. There is an unholy alliance consisting of the “deep state” – media – intelligence services – generalized surveillance – private sector censorship through Bigtech. You might call it an axis of evil. There is an incestuous relationship between the deep state and the think tanks and academics that produce deep-state-friendly scenarios for us to consume. It is ironic that we are actually paying for our own indoctrination, since our tax dollars are used to finance the whole apparatus, research and development into more effective tools of control, generalized surveillance of our every move.
Is there an escape from the “deep state” and its many scams? Will voting Democratic or Republican get us out of it? No, because both parties serve the deep state – the corporations and the military-industrial-financial complex. Does this remind us of the ending of Orwell’s 1984?
We remember that Winston was psychologically broken by the horror of the rats in room 101, and he even abandoned his only love, Julia, denouncing her so that she be tortured instead of him. Yes, Winston is released from the Ministry of Love and now leads a meaningless dehumanized life. When once he encounters Julia again, she admits that she too had betrayed him. Their human relationship, there values were extinguished. Orwell’s novel closes with Winston looking at an image of Big Brother. There he experiences a curious sense of victory, because now he loves Big Brother. Resistance did not triumph, but the crushing force of the deep state.
What can we do? Surrender? No. While we still can, we must demand transparency and accountability from our elected officials. There are plenty of good people out there. Not all politicians and journalists are consciously part of the “deep state” – they are individuals like us, caught in the well-oiled machinery. We must resolutely push back against the lies of the corporate media, against the tyranny of political correctness and the conformism of our peers. We must use the democratic tools at our disposal and exercise our civil rights at the municipal and local level first, before we can tackle challenges at the federal and international levels. We must pro-actively seek and impart information on all issues, educate our children and our friends. We must demand from our governments respect for the existing “rules-based international order” — the UN Charter. We must demand true democracy, regular consultations, genuine choices, participation in the conduct of public affairs, referenda, people power. We must demand disarmament for development and proper funding of the Sustainable Development Goals. Pushback against Orwellian newspeak and the ongoing destruction of language. We must refuse to retreat into self-censorship.