In this LDS Book Review I review one of Stephen King’s earliest and best novels – the vampire horror story, “Salem’s Lot.” Printed in 1975, “Salem’s Lot” tells the story of a ragtag group of small town folk as they fight against a powerful source of true evil, the Master Vampire Kurt Barlow as he converts the town of Jerusalem’s Lot into vampires. The story contains numerous themes that stand out to a person of faith – including battling against true evil as Barlow isn’t just a vampire but he is specifically a worshipper of Satan and sacrifices at least one human child to the Lord of Flies in the book. This novel also has some powerful things to say about government and the State. So in this review I don’t just review the book I also explore what it means to compare the State to vampirism as the book does, the true meaning of religion as a cosmic force, and the conflict between God and the government. The story of “Salem’s Lot” couldn’t be a more apt metaphor for what the State does to individuals and society and what we must do to drive a stake through the heart of the State and reclaim our individuality and liberty.
Tag: Dr. Jung
The Ten Basic Principles of War Propaganda
While most people are familiar with the concept of propaganda, they actually have a very limited understanding of just what propaganda is and how it works. If pushed to provide an example they might talk about World War I posters or something akin to them, maybe even the idea that governments might lie to people. But very few have the ability to recognize what propaganda is, what makes it effective, and how it is used to manipulate them into doing what those in power want the masses to do. This article aims to correct this limitation by providing a tool that people can use to analyze the claims and actions of the State and recognize when it is using propaganda to try and mislead or exploit the people. In this article I outline ten basic principles of propaganda, explain each element, and provide examples of them in action both historically and currently. Then, recognizing when they’re being manipulated by those in power the reader will be able to resist such exploitation, refute the lies of those in power, be able to defend their liberties from the warmongers, and able to cause positive change in the world to truly establish peace for everyone living in it.
The Origins of The God-State
There are many historical works on the rise of the modern State and the origins of its power. Many of them trace the development of the modern state from the end of the Medieval all the way up through the present day, drawing attention to how particular national and global crises – mostly wars and economic collapses – have resulted in the growth of the power of the centralized state as a solution to these problems.
As with all history, understanding these facts is very important to understanding how we got to where we are today. But in answering how they all too often neglect the why things are the way they are today.
Why is it that people have turned to the State for temporal and material salvation?
Why is it that men and women lavish religious levels of adoration and faith upon the State and its operatives?
Why is it that people have given it so much power?
What about humans and the way we think has convinced us, seemingly en masse, to turn to the State for salvation?
Using the writings of eminent psychologist Dr. Carl Jung, I try here to answer these questions; I answer not how the God-State came to be, but why humans have created the God-State in the first place.
Is The Slide Into Autocracy Inevitable?
The State has been tried in every form imaginable – monarchy, oligarchy, dictatorship, republicanism, constitutional monarchy, Socialism, minarchism, democracy, etc. In every instance it has failed. In every instance it has delivered the exact opposite of what it has promised. In every instance the dream of the State has proved to be a nightmare. So why on Earth do we keep trying it? That is a question I have puzzled over for some time now because I’ve never been able to wrap my head around it. But, I’ve finally found an answer. I have found the answer to not only why we keep reverting again and again to the State in all its different forms, but I’ve also found the answer to the question of why democracy always slides in to autocracy – one man authoritarian rule. Additionally, I have discovered exactly why minarchy – such as under the U.S. Constitution as it was originally written and interpreted – also always fails and descends first into populism and finally into oligarchy or dictatorship. In short, I have found the explanation of why voluntaryism and anarchism are the only ways in which to build a functional society which allows for any form of social governance without descending either into authoritarianism and autocracy on the one hand or chaos and self-destruction on the other. And I have found these answers from an unlikely source – the writings of Dr. Carl Jung.