EP 026 The Extremism of Questioning Authority: The Conspiracy of When Skepticism Becomes a Threat

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Beneath the headlines.

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Behind the timelines, there is a
story no one wants you to find.

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Welcome to some unapproved thinking, where
forgotten truths, buried patterns, and

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invisible systems rise to the surface.

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You weren't crazy, you were just early.

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Let's begin.

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There was a time when questioning
power was called patriotism,

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when skepticism was civic duty.

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When asking who benefits.

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Was how democracy worked.

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I remember the exact moment I
realized something had flipped.

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I was sitting in a coffee shop overhearing
a conversation at the next table.

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A woman was telling her friend,
she'd stopped asking certain

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questions at work, not because
she'd found answers, but because

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asking them had become problematic.

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The questions themselves
had become the problem.

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That's when it hit me.

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Somewhere along the way, the same
questions that built this country

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got reclassified as threats to it.

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The same skepticism that once protected
democracy became evidence of extremism.

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When did thinking for yourself
become more dangerous than the

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policies you're thinking about?

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When did asking basic questions
about power become a form of

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violence against the state?

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When did the burden of proof
shift from those making claims

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to those questioning them?

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Tonight we ask what happens when
the people in power decide that

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questioning them is extremism.

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This is some unapproved thinking.

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Now back to the show.

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We live in an age where information
moves faster than verification.

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Where narratives solidify before
facts can catch up, where questioning

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official explanations can get you
labeled as dangerous, potentially

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as dangerous as the very threats
those explanations claim to address.

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I've watched this transformation from the
inside, from corporate boardrooms, where

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we'd craft narratives for big brands,
watching how easily language could be

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shaped, twisted, made to serve interests
that had nothing to do with truth.

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Back then I thought I
was just doing marketing.

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I didn't realize I was watching the
blueprint for something much bigger.

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The post pandemic world
accelerated a troubling trend.

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The redefinition of extremism
from violent action to disruptive

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thought, questioning motives became
questioning legitimacy, questioning

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outcomes became questioning reality.

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Asking who benefits became
a sign of radicalization

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rather than rational inquiry.

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The speed and uniformity of this
shift across governments, media,

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platforms, and institutions suggests
coordination rather than coincidence.

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The same people who once celebrated
skeptical thinking as essential to

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democracy now treat it as a threat
to stability when the questions

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themselves become the problem.

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When curiosity gets classified as
conspiracy, when thinking for yourself

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gets labeled as extremism, you're not
witnessing the protection of democracy.

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You're witnessing.

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Its systematic dismantling.

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Let me walk you through how
questioning authority became more

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dangerous than the authority itself.

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Because this didn't happen overnight.

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It happened gradually.

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Crisis by crisis.

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Each emergency, creating new
opportunities to redefine what

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counts as acceptable thought.

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I've watched this
transformation from the inside.

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The language shift was subtle,
but systematic extremism stopped

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meaning violent action and started
meaning disruptive thought.

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Questioning motives became
questioning legitimacy.

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Questioning outcomes
became questioning reality.

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The definition expanded until almost
any critique of official narratives

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could land you on a spectrum of threat.

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What makes this suspicious isn't just
the shift itself, it's the speed and

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uniformity across different institutions.

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Governments, media platforms, academic
institutions, corporate policies, they

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all moved simultaneously toward treating
skepticism as a form of extremism.

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That level of coordination
doesn't happen organically.

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Here's how the framework operates
in practice, you question the

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effectiveness of a policy.

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They tell.

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You're questioning the science
you question the science they tell

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you you're questioning expertise.

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You question expertise, they tell you
you're questioning reality itself.

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Each step moves you further along the
extremism spectrum without you ever

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advocating for violence or illegal action.

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The beauty of this system is that it
exploits people's deepest fear not being

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wrong, but being labeled the label.

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Extremist carries social stigma.

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That implies danger,
irrationality, moral failure.

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So people self-censor
soften their questions.

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Stop asking them publicly.

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The system becomes
self-enforcing through fear.

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The accusation itself
becomes the punishment.

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You don't need to prove
someone is actually extreme.

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You just need to successfully
label them as such.

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The label does the work of
discrediting without requiring

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evidence of actual extremist behavior.

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But here's what's most telling
about this whole operation.

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The same institutions redefining extremism
to include questioning are the ones

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whose credibility has been systematically
destroyed by their own failures.

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Trust in media, government expert
institutions has collapsed, but instead

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of rebuilding credibility through
transparency and accountability,

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they chose to criminalize the
skepticism their failures created.

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When institutions lose legitimacy through
their own actions, they have two choices.

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Reform themselves or redefine
criticism as extremism.

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Guess which one they chose?

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The pattern reveals itself when
you look at who gets labeled

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extreme and who doesn't?

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Questioning certain narratives
makes you a dangerous extremist.

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Questioning other narratives
makes you a brave truth teller.

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The difference isn't
the act of questioning.

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It's whose interests your questions serve
or threaten when asking Who benefits.

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Becomes more dangerous than
the policies that benefit them.

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You're not living in a democracy.

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You're living in a system where power
protects itself by criminalizing

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the questions that could expose it.

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This pattern of criminalizing dissent
by redefining it as extremism isn't new.

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Many have spent years tracing how failing
institutions use the same strategy to

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protect themselves from accountability,
and the playbook is remarkably consistent.

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The Soviet Union perfected this technique.

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Citizens who questioned party policies
weren't treated as political opponents.

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They were diagnosed with mental illness.

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Sluggish schizophrenia became
the official explanation for why

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someone would oppose the obviously
correct policies of the state.

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The dissent itself was evidence
of the mental disorder.

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Brilliant.

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If you think about it, I mean,
after all, you can't argue with

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a medical diagnosis, can you?

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Nazi Germany used similar methods
before resorting to violence.

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Critics of the regime weren't just wrong.

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They were diseased, degenerate
threats to social health.

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The questioning itself became evidence
of moral and mental deficiency that

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justified exclusion from normal society.

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McCarthyism in America followed the same
pattern, questioning certain foreign

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policies or economic arrangements.

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Wasn't political disagreement.

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It was evidence of un-American thinking
that threatened national security.

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The questions themselves
became proof of disloyalty.

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The church's response to scientific
inquiry during the medieval period

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provides another parallel questioning.

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Religious explanations for
natural phenomena wasn't

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intellectual disagreement.

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It was heresy that
threatened the social order.

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The act of questioning
established truth was treated

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as a form of spiritual violence.

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I've seen this pattern in my own lifetime.

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The response to anti-war movements during
Vietnam followed this script questioning.

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The war wasn't patriotic descent.

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It was giving aid and
comfort to the enemy.

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The questions themselves were
treated as if they were acts

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of treason More recently.

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After nine 11, questioning certain
aspects of the official narrative or the

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policies that followed wasn't legitimate
inquiry, it was conspiracy theorizing that

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threatened the overall national unity.

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This pattern keeps
repeating because it works.

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The strategy serves multiple purposes.

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It discredits the critics without
addressing their criticisms.

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It creates social pressure for others to
avoid similar questions, and it allows.

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Institutions to maintain their authority
without having to justify their actions.

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Understanding this history
helps explain why questioning

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authority has been redefined as
extremism in our current moment.

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It's not because the questions are
actually extreme, it's because the

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institutions being questioned cannot or
will not provide satisfactory answers.

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Now let me show you the mechanics
of how questioning gets criminalized

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because once you see this pattern,
you'll recognize it everywhere.

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The pattern always begins with crisis.

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Creating opportunities for redefinition
real or manufactured emergencies provide

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justification for expanding the definition
of threats to include nonviolent dissent.

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Each crisis leaves behind new authorities
and new restrictions that become

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the baseline for the next expansion.

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Then there is the language evolution
that follows very predictable stages.

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At first, extremism means violent action.

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That seems fair, right?

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Then it gets modified to
include incitement to violence.

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Then it gets modified again
to include spreading ideas

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that might lead to violence.

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Finally, there will be
yet another modification.

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So that it includes questioning
narratives that authorities claim are

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essential for preventing violence.

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The expansion gets justified by connecting
dots that may not actually connect.

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If questioning a policy could
theoretically lead to distrust, and

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distrust could theoretically lead to
unrest, and unrest could theoretically

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lead to violence, then questioning the
policy becomes a form of violence itself.

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It's guilt by theoretical
association, you know.

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The beauty of this whole damn silly
ass system is its flexibility.

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The definition of extremism can
be expanded or contracted based

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solely upon political needs.

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Questions that were acceptable to ask
just yesterday can become extreme today

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if they threaten the wrong interests.

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The same act of questioning can be
patriotic or extremist depending on who's

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doing the asking and who's doing labeling
and the the enforcement mechanism.

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It relies on social and economic pressure
rather than actual legal punishment.

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You don't get arrested for
asking questions, nope.

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Instead, you get de platformed
demonetized, professionally

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marginalized or socially ostracized.

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The punishment is real, but
it's distributed across multiple

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institutions in ways that make it
seem organic rather than coordinated.

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And one of the most insidious aspects
is how the system makes people

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complicit in their own censorship.

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When the social costs of questioning
become high enough, people will stop

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asking questions, not because they're
legally prohibited, but because they

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just can't afford the consequences.

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But here's where it gets
really sophisticated.

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Expertise gets weaponized against inquiry
question, a policy they tell you to trust.

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The experts question the experts.

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They tell you you're not
qualified to have an opinion.

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Point out that experts have
been wrong before they tell you.

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You're undermining the
entire concept of expertise.

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This creates a closed loop where
questioning becomes impossible without

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being labeled as anti-intellectual,
anti-science, or anti expert.

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Sound familiar.

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The credentials he says with air quotes
become more important than the arguments,

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and the arguments become irrelevant if
you don't have the right credentials.

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There really appears to be
coordination across institutions

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giving us a peak at the, the
systematic nature of the operation.

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When governments, media platforms,
academic institutions, and corporate

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policies all shift simultaneously
toward treating skepticism as extremism,

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you are witnessing a coordinated
implementation of a strategy that

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someone somewhere mapped out.

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Giving us a pattern that suggests that
criminalizing questions isn't a response

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to actual extremism, but rather it is a
preemptive strike against accountability.

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When institutions know they can't justify
their actions under scrutiny, they

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make the very scrutiny itself a crime.

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Now, as always, not everyone
has accepted this redefinition

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of questioning into extremism.

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Around the world, individuals and
institutions continue to choose

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intellectual courage over social
safety, and their resistance reveals

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both the scope of the pressure
and the possibility of resistance.

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Some journalists continued
investigating despite being labeled

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as spreaders of misinformation or even
being called conspiracy theorists.

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They understood that their job
was to ask these potentially

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uncomfortable questions, not to coddle
or protect institutional comfort.

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Their work faced systematic
marginalization, but they persisted

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anyway because they believe
democracy requires and will continue

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to require skeptical inquiry.

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There are academic researchers out
there who maintain a healthy scientific

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skepticism despite pressure to
conform to institutional narratives.

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They ask questions about data
methodologies and conclusions, even

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when those questions were labeled
as dangerous or even irresponsible

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for some their careers suffered,
but at least their integrity.

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Remains intact.

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Legal advocates defended the right
to question authority even when

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that questioning was unpopular
or politically inconvenient.

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They understand that the right
to civil dissent is fundamental

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to a democratic society, and they
fought to protect that, right?

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Even when it was exercised in ways
they personally disagreed with.

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Even some politicians continued
asking uncomfortable questions despite

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being labeled as extremists by their
colleagues as well as the media.

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They recognized that their job was
to represent their constituents

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concerns not to protect institutional
narratives from scrutiny.

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Citizens have formed independent research
networks and alternative information

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sources when mainstream channels
became unreliable or compromised.

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They are creating spaces where
questions could be asked and

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evidence could be examined without
fear of being labeled as extremist.

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International observers from
countries with experience of

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00:14:26,850 --> 00:14:30,960
authoritarian control recognize the
patterns and have warned about the

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dangers of criminalizing dissent.

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They understand al to well that
the redefinition of extremism is

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often the first step toward more
comprehensive suppression of opposition.

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Whistleblowers continued
exposing institutional failures

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despite facing severe personal
and professional consequences.

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Why?

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Like you, they understand that
accountability requires people willing

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to ask questions and reveal uncomfortable
truths regardless of the personal cost.

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But as always, the most important
resistance continues to come from

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ordinary people like you and I who
refuse to stop asking questions despite

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social pressure and professional risks.

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We understand that democracy dies
when the citizens stop holding their

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institutions accountable, and they
chose civic duty over social acceptance.

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All these outliers show us that
the criminalization of questioning

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isn't inevitable or necessary.

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Every person who continues asking
uncomfortable questions, every

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00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:31,320
institution that protects intellectual
freedom, every community that values

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skeptical inquiry helps maintain
space for democratic accountability.

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Look, I believe that understanding
how questioning gets criminalized

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00:15:40,920 --> 00:15:45,180
changes everything about how you
evaluate institutional responses

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to criticism and how you protect
your own intellectual freedom.

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So remember when institutions respond
to criticism by attacking the character

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of critics rather than addressing
their arguments, you are witnessing

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the criminalization strategy in action.

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Real confidence in institutional
legitimacy welcomes scrutiny.

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00:16:05,520 --> 00:16:08,550
Defensive responses that focus
on labeling rather than answering

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reveal institutional weakness.

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00:16:10,560 --> 00:16:14,910
The phrase trust the experts should
be a glaring red flag, especially

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00:16:15,330 --> 00:16:18,660
when it's used to shut down
inquiry rather than encourage it.

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Real expertise welcomes questions
and can explain its reasoning.

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00:16:23,070 --> 00:16:25,770
Fake expertise hides behind
credentials and demands.

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Unquestioning acceptance, social
pressure, brought to bear.

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00:16:30,570 --> 00:16:33,630
The goal of avoiding certain
questions becomes recognizable

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as a form of soft censorship.

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When asking legitimate questions
about institutional performance

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becomes socially costly, you're
experiencing the enforcement

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mechanism of intellectual control.

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Again, as I have mentioned many times
on this podcast, pattern recognition

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00:16:50,310 --> 00:16:54,690
becomes more important than individual
issue analysis when the same techniques

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for criminalizing dissent appear
across different decades, different

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00:16:58,140 --> 00:16:59,370
institutions, and different issues.

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Recognizing the pattern helps you
understand what's happening, even

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when the specific details vary.

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The value of independent information
sources becomes even more important

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00:17:09,390 --> 00:17:14,250
when the mainstream channels clearly
participate in criminalizing questions.

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Maintaining access to alternative
perspectives becomes essential for

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00:17:18,030 --> 00:17:21,925
your intellectual freedom when dominant
institutions work to suppress descent.

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00:17:22,605 --> 00:17:26,055
Most importantly, you realize that
your right to question authority

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is not just a personal freedom.

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It is your civic responsibility.

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Democracy depends on citizens who are
willing to look around openly, curiously,

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00:17:34,965 --> 00:17:39,315
investigate, ask uncomfortable questions,
and demand accountability from the very

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00:17:39,315 --> 00:17:40,905
institutions that claim to serve them.

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The goal isn't to become a reflexive
contrarian who questions every

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00:17:44,715 --> 00:17:45,885
single thing that's out there.

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The goal is to maintain the intellectual
freedom to question anything, especially

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when that questioning is actively
being discouraged or criminalized.

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00:17:53,834 --> 00:17:56,235
They turned the very questions
that were once used to build

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00:17:56,235 --> 00:17:58,665
democracy into threats against it.

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00:17:59,235 --> 00:18:03,524
Skepticism became sedition
inquiry, became extremism.

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Thinking for yourself became a
form of violence against the state.

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I've watched this transformation
from corporate conference

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00:18:10,140 --> 00:18:11,220
room to political gathering.

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00:18:11,220 --> 00:18:15,390
Halls seen how the same techniques
we used to sell products got scaled

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00:18:15,390 --> 00:18:17,550
up to sell entire worldviews.

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00:18:17,850 --> 00:18:21,660
The playbook is ancient, but
the application is modern.

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00:18:21,990 --> 00:18:24,390
The same techniques
used by failing empires.

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00:18:24,510 --> 00:18:28,290
Corrupt churches and totalitarian
states are now being deployed by

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00:18:28,290 --> 00:18:31,975
institutions that claim to protect
democracy while effectively chiseling

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00:18:31,975 --> 00:18:33,215
away at its very foundations.

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When institutions lose legitimacy
through their own failures, they

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00:18:37,545 --> 00:18:41,595
have two choices reform themselves
or criminalize the criticism.

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00:18:42,075 --> 00:18:44,625
Seems many have chosen criminalization.

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00:18:44,835 --> 00:18:48,165
They chose to make the questions
more dangerous than the problems.

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00:18:48,165 --> 00:18:49,785
The questions try to expose.

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00:18:50,175 --> 00:18:54,675
When asking who benefits becomes more
dangerous than the policies that benefit

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00:18:54,675 --> 00:18:58,215
them when questioning motives gets
you labeled as a threat to society.

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00:18:58,485 --> 00:19:01,605
When thinking for yourself requires
more courage than following orders,

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00:19:01,845 --> 00:19:03,645
you're not living in a free society.

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00:19:03,975 --> 00:19:05,715
You are living in a managed one.

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00:19:06,045 --> 00:19:09,405
The real extremism is not in
the questions being asked.

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00:19:10,500 --> 00:19:16,725
It is in the system that criminalizes
the act of questioning violence is not in

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00:19:16,725 --> 00:19:19,275
the skepticism, it's in the suppression.

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00:19:19,635 --> 00:19:23,355
Of that skepticism, the threat
to democracy is not coming from

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00:19:23,355 --> 00:19:28,125
citizens who ask those uncomfortable
questions to me, it is coming from

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00:19:28,125 --> 00:19:32,085
institutions that cannot or will not
damn well answer those questions.

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00:19:32,445 --> 00:19:35,925
They're trying to get you to believe that
questioning authority is now extremism.

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00:19:36,555 --> 00:19:40,965
But the truth, my dear friends, is
that not questioning authority is the

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real extremism you see in a democracy.

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00:19:43,365 --> 00:19:45,015
Skepticism isn't sedition.

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It's citizenship.

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00:19:46,695 --> 00:19:50,865
As you know, the official story is
rarely the whole story and the story

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00:19:50,865 --> 00:19:55,695
of how questioning became extremism is
still being written and rewritten again

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00:19:55,695 --> 00:19:59,745
and again by the very people who hope
you will stop asking questions long

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00:19:59,745 --> 00:20:01,245
enough for them to finish writing it.

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00:20:01,545 --> 00:20:06,525
Keep asking, keep questioning,
and of course, keep thinking for

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00:20:06,525 --> 00:20:12,525
yourself because the moment you
stop democracy stops with you.

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00:20:12,825 --> 00:20:13,365
Tracy.

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00:20:14,355 --> 00:20:17,235
If this story didn't sit
right with you, good.

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You are not here to be comforted.

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00:20:19,574 --> 00:20:22,095
You are here to see what others overlook.

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00:20:22,514 --> 00:20:25,064
Thanks for exploring
some unapproved thinking.

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00:20:25,544 --> 00:20:28,965
Learn more@someunapprovedthinking.com.

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00:20:29,504 --> 00:20:31,274
New episodes, drop weekly.

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00:20:31,695 --> 00:20:37,455
Subscribe, share, and keep questioning
because the pattern's still playing out.

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00:20:37,875 --> 00:20:39,669
And next time we're going deeper.