The Anointed And De-Platforming (Why Google, Facebook, Twitter And YouTube Are Starting To Suck): Part Five

As I’m sure you know, some researchers recently examined the studies on meat and health and concluded there’s little to no evidence meat causes heart disease or cancer. Nina Teicholz wrote about the study and the reaction in the Los Angeles Times:

The red meat studies used one such review system, known as GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluations). In properly prioritizing clinical trials over observational research, GRADE necessarily pushed epidemiology off its pedestal, and this caused the GRADE team of 40-plus researchers from more than 10 countries to conclude that reducing your intake of meat is very unlikely to make you healthier.

The nutrition establishment went ballistic. Even before publication of the Annals papers, 14 heavyweights in the field signed a letter demanding a preemptive “retraction” of the review. All the signers were members of a group called the True Health Initiative that advocates for a plant-based diet.

Well, of course they went ballistic. That’s what The Anointed do when people dare to disagree with them. I’ve mentioned before that whenever I need a perfect example of The Anointed in action, Dr. David Katz is happy to oblige. Here’s a recent tweet from Katz:

He’s cheering the vegan wackos at PCRM for asking the federal government to shut down scientific debate. Just take a moment to wrap your head around that.

Scientists disagree with each other all the time. That’s how it’s supposed to be. That’s how science advances. The researchers who produced the meat won’t kill you study aren’t accused of faking their data. They’ve simply reached a conclusion the vegan wackos don’t like. So PCRM is demanding the Annals of Internal Medicine be forced to retract the study. Here’s a direct quote from the petition:

AIM’s advertisement does far more than cause financial harm—it also promotes physical harm to those who follow its dangerous advice. The Physicians Committee therefore requests that FTC permanently prohibit AIM from disseminating, or causing the dissemination of, the advertisement at issue and require AIM to issue a public retraction of and corrective statement regarding the advertisement.

Anyone who’s looked at the studies on meat and health knows the conclusions are all over the place, as I recounted in this post. If Katz and the PCRM don’t know that, they’re scientific illiterates. I’m pretty sure they’re not scientific illiterates (although the failed NuVal system designed by Katz ranked sugar-laden soy milk as far healthier than a chicken breast), which means when they say there’s overwhelming evidence that meat causes disease, they’re just flat-out lying.

How do they justify lying about known facts and trying to silence other researchers who point out those known facts? Simple: by adopting the postmodernist mindset I’ve been writing about in this series of posts. According to postmodernists:

• There is no objective reality.
• Reason and logic are irrelevant.
• Feelings are more important than reason.
• Language is not a tool we use to discern the truth; it’s a weapon to be wielded.
• It’s perfectly acceptable to label those who disagree with you as racists, sexists, etc. – the charges need not be true, merely effective.
• In the hands of the “bad” people, free speech can cause actual harm.
• To restore “true freedom,” freedom of speech must be withdrawn from those who support the oppressors, even unwittingly.

If you’re a supposed scientist but believe people shouldn’t kill animals to eat them, adopting the postmodernist philosophy must be quite liberating. You no longer have to deal with those annoying facts. You no longer have to consider studies showing that eating meat doesn’t cause heart disease or cancer. Because if you feeeeeel that eating meat is wrong, then by gosh, it’s wrong … and any lies you have to tell or any accusations you have to make to scare people away from meat are now perfectly acceptable. After all, you’re saving the oppressed animals – and if that requires silencing the people who disagree with you, well, that’s okay. The greater good is at stake.

For another example of the mindset at work, here’s a tweet by Kevin Bass, a big fan of the “cholesterol kills!” theory:

Goodness. I was under the impression that diet and health science was far from settled, with doctors and PhDs disagreeing with each other all the time. But apparently Kevin Bass (and only Kevin Bass) is so gifted and brilliant, so familiar with all the research and all its implications, he is 100 percent certain that his opinion on the matter is 100 percent correct – and anyone who disagrees with him should be charged with a felony and tossed in prison.

Yes, I’m sure that’s how science advances — and by demanding censorship and prison terms for those who disagree with him, Bass has proven himself a very good scientist indeed.

Like many people infected with the postmodernist mindset, Bass isn’t exactly a paragon of consistency. He likes to remind people in his tweets that by gosh, he has a degree in this field, and those of us who don’t have no business arguing with him. We must bow down before the degree.

So it was interesting when I found myself debating him on censorship and whether Facebook banning a low-carb diet group is simply a matter of “editorial focus.” (Facebook, of course, has no “editorial focus.” There are groups for vegans, carnivores, Jews, Catholics, atheists, Republicans, Democrats, libertarians, communists, etc., etc. They have no more of an “editorial focus” than the bookstore on Amazon.)

I reminded Bass my degree is in journalism, which included studying topics like censorship and editorial focus. So by continuing to argue with me, he was violating his own rule about bowing down before people with degrees. I paraphrased one of his own tweets, something to effect that the opinions he forms based on Google searches don’t equal my degree.

He responded by blocking me. That’s what happens when you confront postmodernists with arguments they can’t answer.

Here’s Bass proving he’s a major Basshole by tweeting a reaction to the news that Dr. Berry’s house was damaged by fire:

Once again, I was under the impression the “Cholesterol Kills!” theory was far from proven. Quite a few people, myself included, have had “high” cholesterol for decades, yet show zero calcium on a coronary calcium test.  But Kevin Bass is 100 percent sure he’s 100 percent correct that cholesterol causes heart disease, and anyone who disagrees is causing people to die … so it’s good if that person’s house burns.

But that’s typical of the postmodern cancel culture. If you disagree with me, you are automatically an evil person, you deserve any bad thing that happens to you, and you deserve to be silenced. Only the opinions I agree with should be allowed in any public forum.

The subjectivist philosophers who taught that logic isn’t relevant and feelings matter more than reason didn’t create illogical people who are immune to facts, of course. They’ve always been around. More than 2,000 years ago, Aristotle explained that some people make decisions based on reason and logic, while others make decisions based on emotions.

What the subjectivists did was convince people that making decisions about what is and isn’t real based on feeeeelings is correct. The postmodernists then took that ball and ran with it, providing a rationale for assuming anyone who disagrees with you is evil and must be silenced – because if that’s what you feeeeel, it must be true.

Back in the day, universities served as a bulwark against such childish thinking by demanding mental rigor from their students. Then the postmodernists invaded the universities. Now childish thinking is encouraged by many professors. It’s a “different way of knowing,” ya see.

If you spend any time debating issues on social media (or in real life), you’re going to run into more and more of these people. Given everything we’ve covered in this series of posts, I’d suggest keeping a few things in mind when dealing with people infected by postmodernism and the cancel culture:

Logic, facts and reason will bounce off their heads like little rubber bullets.

Sure, cite the facts. Make the logical argument. Just remember that you’re dealing with people who aren’t the least bit persuaded by logic or evidence. Yes, they’ll occasionally cite a study or whatever, but don’t expect them to analyze it logically or even understand it. They’re not citing the study as part of a logical argument. They’re simply firing a weapon. If you point out a huge flaw in the study, or point out that the study actually negates their argument, they don’t care. That just means the weapon misfired. They’ll drop it and pick up another one.

If need be, they will simply make @#$% up.

Debate a postmodernist, and they’ll throw out all kinds of “facts” that simply aren’t true. Again, we’re talking about people who don’t believe in objective reality and who view words as weapons, not tools to discern the truth. So don’t be surprised when they tell you hundreds of studies have shown that meat causes colon cancer! If you challenge the “facts” – say, asking them for some kind of evidence – they’ll probably ignore the challenge and attempt to change the argument.

Sooner or later, they will start insisting you’re an evil person.

Dennis Prager wrote a column in which he opined that people adopt radical-left positions because it makes them feel morally superior while excusing them from dealing with hard realities. I agree.  It’s easy-peasy to give a speech excoriating adults for not dealing with climate change to your satisfaction … without having to deal with the reality that we cannot possibly get rid of fossil fuels (yet) without crashing the world’s economies. It’s easy-peasy to support Free Health Care and Free College For All! … without having to explain how a country already running trillion-dollar deficits will pay for the “free” stuff. It’s easy-peasy to insist that people shouldn’t eat meat because innocent animals are killed … without having to deal with the reality that countless critters are killed to raise crops.

Because postmodernists feel free to jettison reason and ignore those little annoyances called “facts,” they can simply adopt a position that feeeeels morally superior, then assume anyone who doesn’t support the position must be evil … as opposed to being a realist.

So don’t be surprised when you make what you think is a logical, realistic argument, only to have your debate opponent announce that you’re obviously a racist, sexist, animal-murderer, planet-killer, tool of the big bad meat industry, or whatever. That’s the Alinsky strategy at work: if you can’t debate your opponent on the facts, change the argument by calling him a racist instead.

Don’t be offended, and don’t get sucked in. The label actually has nothing to do with anything you said or any position you’ve taken. Trust me, the postmodernist decided you’re an evil person before the debate even began. They don’t care about facts, and the childish belief in their own moral superiority is all they really have.

Which leads to …

If you’re feeling mischievous, you can have a helluva lot of fun by forgoing logic and reason and arguing exactly like they do.

I admit it: I do this now and then, just to watch a postmodernist’s head explode. Remember, you’re dealing with people whose belief system is based entirely on a feeeeling of moral superiority. You’ll never come up with a logical argument to shake that belief. You’ll never convince the postmodernist you’re not an evil person, just someone who deals with reality and facts.

So don’t bother. Don’t go on defense – that’s what they expect. Instead, go on offense and explain why the postmodernist’s position makes him a bad person. You don’t have to actually believe the postmodernist is a bad person, you understand. You just have to take that position for the fun of it. Then stand back and watch the meltdown.

For example: I’ve had vegans tell me that by eating meat, I’m contributing to global warming — and I’m animal murderer too. I reply that by eating soybean burgers, they’re responsible for countless critters being killed in soybean fields that require chemical fertilizers that are ruining the planet, then those soybean burgers are trucked all over the country in gas-guzzling trucks, thus contributing to global warming and further ruining the planet.

That part is factual. Then we move to the fun part, which would be something like …

Man, I can’t believe the way you vegans are okay with killing all those poor critters in the farm fields and ruining the planet just so you can feel good about yourself by eating a soybean burger. You should be ashamed of yourself. You clearly don’t care about animals or the environment like I do.

BOOM! The head explodes.

If you choose to borrow my method, just keep hammering home how evil the postmodernist’s behavior or position is. Don’t relent. Ignore any protestations or offers of evidence that no, no, no, the postmodernist is a Good Person. Do what they do: keep insisting they’re horrible people. Sooner or later (probably sooner) you’ll be blocked. Consider that a victory in a fun little game and go on with your day.

Unfortunately, it’s not a game to scientists who’ve been hounded out of their jobs for disputing the postmodernist narrative. For my final post in this series, we’ll look at a book that deals with that subject.

Since this series dealt with the postmodernist beliefs inspired by the subjectivist philosophers — and I happened to have my two best friends in town for a visit while writing it — we quickly whipped up our version of The Philosophers Song by Monty Python.