Have you
ever asked yourself, ‘am I crazy?’ If you have ever asked yourself that,
you’re not crazy. You’re most likely being gaslighted. Gaslighting is a form of psychological abuse aimed at controlling a person by altering reality to the point where the person will doubt their own sanity.
The
term “gaslighting” comes from a 1930’s play called Gas Light. The main
character in the play literally tries to drive his wife crazy by
gradually dimming the gas-powered lights in their home. When she notices
the lights dimming, her husband not only denies that the lights are
dimming, he convinces her that she is imagining it to the point where
she questions her own sanity.
We are living in a perpetual state of gaslighting. The reality that we are being told by the media is at complete odds with what we are seeing with our own two eyes.
And when we question the false reality that we are being presented, or
we claim that what we see is that actual reality, we are vilified as
racist or bigots or just plain crazy. You’re not racist. You’re not
crazy. You’re being gaslighted.
New York State has twice as many
deaths from Covid-19 than any other state, and New York has accounted
for one fifth of all Covid-19 deaths, but we are told that New York
Governor Andrew Cuomo has handled the pandemic better than any other
governor. But if we support policies of Governors whose states had only a
fraction of the infections and deaths as New York, we’re called
anti-science and want people to die. So, we ask ourselves, am I crazy?
No, you’re being gaslighted.
We see mobs of people looting
stores, smashing windows, setting cars on fire and burning down
buildings, but we are told that these demonstrations are peaceful
protests. And when we call this destruction of our cities, riots, we are
called racists. So, we ask ourselves, am I crazy? No, you’re being
gaslighted.
We see the major problem destroying many inner-cities
is crime; murder, gang violence, drug dealing, drive-by shootings,
armed robbery, but we are told that it is not crime, but the police that
are the problem in the inner-cities. We are told we must defund the
police and remove law enforcement from crime-riddled cities to make them
safer. But if we advocate for more policing in cities overrun by crime,
we are accused of being white supremacists and racists. So, we ask
ourselves, am I crazy? No, you’re being gaslighted.
The United
States of America accepts more immigrants than any other country in the
world. The vast majority of the immigrants are “people of color”, and
these immigrants are enjoying freedom and economic opportunity not
available to them in their country of origin, but we are told that the
United States is the most racist and oppressive country on the planet,
and if we disagree, we are called racist and xenophobic. So, we ask
ourselves, am I crazy? No, you’re being gaslighted.
Capitalist
countries are the most prosperous countries in the world. The standard
of living is the highest in capitalist countries. We see more poor
people move up the economic ladder to the middle and even the wealthy
class through their effort and ability in capitalist countries than any
other economic system in the world, but we are told capitalism is an
oppressive system designed to keep people down. So, we ask ourselves, am
I crazy? No, you’re being gaslighted.
Communist countries killed
over 100 million people in the 20th century. Communist countries strip
their citizens of basic human rights, dictate every aspect of their
lives, treat their citizens like slaves, and drive their economies into
the ground, but we are told that Communism is the fairest, most
equitable, freest and most prosperous economic system in the world. So,
we ask ourselves, am I crazy? No, you’re being gaslighted.
The
most egregious example of gaslighting is the concept of “white
fragility”. You spend your life trying to be a good person, trying to
treat people fairly and with respect. You disavow racism and bigotry in
all its forms. You judge people solely on the content of their character
and not by the color of their skin. You don’t discriminate based on
race or ethnicity. But you are told you are a racist, not because of
something you did or said, but solely because of the color of your skin.
You know instinctively that charging someone with racism because of
their skin color is itself racist. You know that you are not racist, so
you defend yourself and your character, but you are told that your
defense of yourself is proof of your racism. So, we ask ourselves, am I
crazy? No, you’re being gaslighted.
Gaslighting has become one of
the most pervasive and destructive tactics in American politics. It is
the exact opposite of what our political system was meant to be. It
deals in lies and psychological coercion, and not the truth and
intellectual discourse. If you ever ask yourself if you’re crazy, you
are not. Crazy people aren’t sane enough to ask themselves if they’re
crazy. So, trust yourself, believe what’s in your heart. Trust our eyes
over what we are told. Never listen to the people who tell you that you
are crazy, because you are not, you’re being gaslighted.
