I get Family Constellations and Internal Family Systems mixed up, but from the little I know about IFS I think it would be an interesting tool to use for staying grounded right now in the wake of an authoritarian takeover. Yes, another psychological operation is underway in 2025. When something sews fear and confusion that is a good indicator that mind control is in play.
2020-2022 was another example of this. Fear and confusion was definitely sown then and people were manipulated into not questioning government orders, following along with unscientific regulations and questionable medical experiments.
People were manipulated into making choices they otherwise would not have. People were manipulated into bullying the heck out of people who didn't go along. No, I didn't go along with it and was prepared to be jobless and homeless. It was a very stressful several years.
No, I did not vote for the current man in the oval office. I wrote, "I do not consent!" on my ballot when I went to vote. However, despite my distaste for the orange man, I was so relieved when his opponent did not win. I didn't expect to feel so relieved! It felt like my dirty secret.
Then I had lunch with a new friend one day. Neither of us had gotten the shots. We confessed our relief in regard to the election outcome. Together we realized it was because the previous Administration had felt so oppressive to us with the mandates and just the really awful things and lies that were told about us.
So the coup of American democracy started before 2025.
It even started before 2017. The demolition of democracy started in at least the early 2000's. Joe did some significant damage to democracy in 2020-2024. Now the current man in the white house is stepping on the accelerator of destruction while people cheer him on not realizing what they are supporting. Just like progressive liberal friends who did not know the agenda they were truly supporting in 2021.
Jen, I hear that those years were deeply stressful for you—and I can feel the weight of what it must’ve been like to feel so isolated and under pressure for the choices you made. I don’t share your interpretation of what happened during 2020–2022, but I do believe many of us—on all sides—were acting from a place of fear, confusion, and deep uncertainty.
From my perspective, a lot of people made hard decisions in an effort to protect themselves and others, not because they were blindly manipulated. For me, it wasn’t about obedience—it was about collective care in a moment of crisis. That doesn’t mean institutions didn’t get things wrong or that everything was handled well. But I don’t see a mind control operation—I see a global trauma event that exposed our vulnerabilities and left a lot of people hurting.
I really believe we need better ways to talk across these divides—especially when there’s real pain underneath. I’m open to being in that kind of conversation if you are.
Thanks, Sascha. I am open to that kind of conversation too. I don't believe that the directives that originated from higher levels of government leadership in 2020-2022 were rooted in concern about protecting ourselves or others. Compassion was weaponized. Good caring people did feel like they were making a decision for the greater good, for community care. But ultimately, this was what they were programed to believe. People who chose not to go with the prescription were demonized. This wasn't about the government making mistakes and trying to do their best with the best of intentions.
I think Paul Leederste expresses it well, "What the pandemic was was the apex of unloving behavior and unloving belief systems manifesting at a peak and hitting the world all at once. And so when the pandemic hit, it slammed the world with fear and fear led to all kinds of psycho emotional destructive experiences.
So guilt tripping became incredibly high and shaming people, accusing people, humiliating people, blaming people. People were told if you don’t take the vaccine you are murdering people. Then there were people having tremendously painful regrets making a decision they then regretted later. Massive resentment was occurring so these are all kinds of emotional stresses that just started to flood humanity across the world.
Ultimatums if you don’t sacrifice your integrity. If you don’t sacrifice your truth I will remove my love from you. You will never see your kids again. You will lose your best friend. You will lose your mother. You will lose your son. Whatever it might be. The pandemic led to broken relationships, broken marriages, broken families. All sorts of stress. The amount of childhood suicides grew. The amount of domestic violence went off the charts. The amount of addictions, went off the charts. Everything grew because the real problem was the psycho emotional impact of the pandemic and all the unloving and stressful interactions that went on."
Thanks for sharing this, Jen. I can feel how much pain and disconnection you’re naming—both personally and collectively. The psychological toll of the past few years has been immense, and I think it’s really important to be able to talk openly about the harm that’s been done, especially when it comes to ruptured relationships, trust, and integrity.
Reading your words, I realize how important it is for me to hear your perspective. During those early years of the pandemic, I was living in Oakland, surrounded by people who were masking, isolating, and doing everything they could to stay safe. My doctor friends were exhausted and terrified, and the dominant narrative in my world was all about collective care and following the science. I didn’t understand—didn’t even hear—a lot of the other perspectives at the time. And I definitely didn’t grasp the emotional and relational devastation that so many people were experiencing from a different angle.
I still don’t believe the vaccines were as dangerous as some make them out to be—the science behind those claims often feels sketchy to me—but I’ve also started to see how quickly compassion was weaponized and how dissent was demonized. Reading Doppelganger by Naomi Klein helped open my eyes to some of the contradictions, and following “Naomi World” on Substack… well, it pushed me even further into the complexity. It’s disorienting to realize how many people felt totally abandoned, shamed, or punished just for holding a different truth.
From an IFS lens, I see how protectors were activated everywhere—on every side. People were scared. People were trying to do the right thing. And a lot of people got hurt. Maybe now we have a chance to witness the parts of us that are still carrying that pain—and to come back into relationship, not by demanding agreement, but by listening deeply and holding the grief together.
Thanks again for being open to the conversation. Let’s keep going.
Thank you for giving me a little bit of your own context during the pandemic. It helps me to know what you were experiencing to better understand your perspective.
I was in Western North Carolina during the pandemic. I supported people with disabilities during the entire time. I never stopped working. I was an essential worker. I was right out in it all.
My job was to keep the people I supported safe as well as to keep life feeling as normal as possible for them. My job was even to keep things joyful and fun. We were doing all the things like masking and distancing.
No one around me got sick and no one I know in the community died. No one I know in any of my work or social circles got sick until after the vaccine roll out. My protector self came out because I was afraid people would rush to take an experimental vaccine that could have unknown short term and long term negative effects. That is really not an unrealistic fear. Truly there is so much solid but censored science to support my concerns. But our government colluded with big tech to censor anything that went against the narrative and even censored the vaccine injured who were sharing their stories! There are lawsuits around this now.
I was definitely in a minority in my decision not to get the shots. But I pretty much never voiced my concerns because no one seemed curious or interested in a different perspective. People did seem interested in bullying and shaming people who did not want to participate in the program though. I was bullied out of one of my jobs a few months before the mandates would have pushed me out. As I said, I was prepared to be homeless and jobless. "Unvaccinated need not apply!" for jobs or housing. That was truly the climate we were living in.
There is a documentary "Follow the Silenced" that just won Best of Fest and Best Director at the recent Santa Monica Film Festival. It is a documentary that "gives voice to those vaccine-injured and silenced during the COVID era. Featuring exclusive recorded calls with FDA’s Dr. Peter Marks and CDC officials, the film reveals the hidden cost of government censorship." Follow the Science was a repeated catch phrase during the pandemic, but I think we need to look more closely at the "science" and the state of science today.
Thanks for continuing the conversation. It is helping me feel less silenced.
Thank you so much for sharing all of this—it really helps me understand where you’re coming from. I can feel how deeply you cared for the people you were supporting during the pandemic, and how much integrity and responsibility you brought to your work. It’s clear you made choices based on what you believed would protect others, and I really want to honor that.
I also really hear the pain around feeling silenced, isolated, and even bullied for your stance. That kind of social pressure—especially in an already heightened and confusing time—can be traumatic in itself. I’m sorry you had to experience that.
At the same time, I want to be honest that I’m wrestling with how we navigate the divide you’re pointing to around “the science.” I think it’s really important to acknowledge that science is a process, not a fixed truth—and that it’s always shaped by power, politics, and access. And yet, I also worry about the consequences of fully discounting a massive, collaborative global effort—imperfect as it was—that likely saved millions of lives.
The challenge for me is how we hold space for nuanced critique of institutions and power while still trusting in the collective pursuit of knowledge. I want to find a way to talk across these differences without reinforcing the binary of “truth-teller” vs. “sheep.” Because the truth is, we’ve all been scared. We’ve all made decisions under pressure. And we’ve all lost something.
I don’t have an easy answer. But I really appreciate your willingness to engage, and I want to keep finding ways to stay in relationship even when it’s hard. That feels like one of the most important things we can do right now.
As someone deeply affected by events in the USA and Middle East I, too, believe we need better ways to talk across the divide. I have seen the traumas people have suffered as a result of war and displacement when traveling through Lebanon. I have also seen enemies become friends. I see a world enduring more trauma than ever before and I see leaders reacting in fear. Now is the time for community more than ever. We need to be able to talk with one another
Yes! All so very clear, important, and true. Thank you!
I get Family Constellations and Internal Family Systems mixed up, but from the little I know about IFS I think it would be an interesting tool to use for staying grounded right now in the wake of an authoritarian takeover. Yes, another psychological operation is underway in 2025. When something sews fear and confusion that is a good indicator that mind control is in play.
2020-2022 was another example of this. Fear and confusion was definitely sown then and people were manipulated into not questioning government orders, following along with unscientific regulations and questionable medical experiments.
People were manipulated into making choices they otherwise would not have. People were manipulated into bullying the heck out of people who didn't go along. No, I didn't go along with it and was prepared to be jobless and homeless. It was a very stressful several years.
No, I did not vote for the current man in the oval office. I wrote, "I do not consent!" on my ballot when I went to vote. However, despite my distaste for the orange man, I was so relieved when his opponent did not win. I didn't expect to feel so relieved! It felt like my dirty secret.
Then I had lunch with a new friend one day. Neither of us had gotten the shots. We confessed our relief in regard to the election outcome. Together we realized it was because the previous Administration had felt so oppressive to us with the mandates and just the really awful things and lies that were told about us.
So the coup of American democracy started before 2025.
It even started before 2017. The demolition of democracy started in at least the early 2000's. Joe did some significant damage to democracy in 2020-2024. Now the current man in the white house is stepping on the accelerator of destruction while people cheer him on not realizing what they are supporting. Just like progressive liberal friends who did not know the agenda they were truly supporting in 2021.
Jen, I hear that those years were deeply stressful for you—and I can feel the weight of what it must’ve been like to feel so isolated and under pressure for the choices you made. I don’t share your interpretation of what happened during 2020–2022, but I do believe many of us—on all sides—were acting from a place of fear, confusion, and deep uncertainty.
From my perspective, a lot of people made hard decisions in an effort to protect themselves and others, not because they were blindly manipulated. For me, it wasn’t about obedience—it was about collective care in a moment of crisis. That doesn’t mean institutions didn’t get things wrong or that everything was handled well. But I don’t see a mind control operation—I see a global trauma event that exposed our vulnerabilities and left a lot of people hurting.
I really believe we need better ways to talk across these divides—especially when there’s real pain underneath. I’m open to being in that kind of conversation if you are.
Thanks, Sascha. I am open to that kind of conversation too. I don't believe that the directives that originated from higher levels of government leadership in 2020-2022 were rooted in concern about protecting ourselves or others. Compassion was weaponized. Good caring people did feel like they were making a decision for the greater good, for community care. But ultimately, this was what they were programed to believe. People who chose not to go with the prescription were demonized. This wasn't about the government making mistakes and trying to do their best with the best of intentions.
I think Paul Leederste expresses it well, "What the pandemic was was the apex of unloving behavior and unloving belief systems manifesting at a peak and hitting the world all at once. And so when the pandemic hit, it slammed the world with fear and fear led to all kinds of psycho emotional destructive experiences.
So guilt tripping became incredibly high and shaming people, accusing people, humiliating people, blaming people. People were told if you don’t take the vaccine you are murdering people. Then there were people having tremendously painful regrets making a decision they then regretted later. Massive resentment was occurring so these are all kinds of emotional stresses that just started to flood humanity across the world.
Ultimatums if you don’t sacrifice your integrity. If you don’t sacrifice your truth I will remove my love from you. You will never see your kids again. You will lose your best friend. You will lose your mother. You will lose your son. Whatever it might be. The pandemic led to broken relationships, broken marriages, broken families. All sorts of stress. The amount of childhood suicides grew. The amount of domestic violence went off the charts. The amount of addictions, went off the charts. Everything grew because the real problem was the psycho emotional impact of the pandemic and all the unloving and stressful interactions that went on."
Thanks for sharing this, Jen. I can feel how much pain and disconnection you’re naming—both personally and collectively. The psychological toll of the past few years has been immense, and I think it’s really important to be able to talk openly about the harm that’s been done, especially when it comes to ruptured relationships, trust, and integrity.
Reading your words, I realize how important it is for me to hear your perspective. During those early years of the pandemic, I was living in Oakland, surrounded by people who were masking, isolating, and doing everything they could to stay safe. My doctor friends were exhausted and terrified, and the dominant narrative in my world was all about collective care and following the science. I didn’t understand—didn’t even hear—a lot of the other perspectives at the time. And I definitely didn’t grasp the emotional and relational devastation that so many people were experiencing from a different angle.
I still don’t believe the vaccines were as dangerous as some make them out to be—the science behind those claims often feels sketchy to me—but I’ve also started to see how quickly compassion was weaponized and how dissent was demonized. Reading Doppelganger by Naomi Klein helped open my eyes to some of the contradictions, and following “Naomi World” on Substack… well, it pushed me even further into the complexity. It’s disorienting to realize how many people felt totally abandoned, shamed, or punished just for holding a different truth.
From an IFS lens, I see how protectors were activated everywhere—on every side. People were scared. People were trying to do the right thing. And a lot of people got hurt. Maybe now we have a chance to witness the parts of us that are still carrying that pain—and to come back into relationship, not by demanding agreement, but by listening deeply and holding the grief together.
Thanks again for being open to the conversation. Let’s keep going.
Hi Sascha,
Thank you for giving me a little bit of your own context during the pandemic. It helps me to know what you were experiencing to better understand your perspective.
I was in Western North Carolina during the pandemic. I supported people with disabilities during the entire time. I never stopped working. I was an essential worker. I was right out in it all.
My job was to keep the people I supported safe as well as to keep life feeling as normal as possible for them. My job was even to keep things joyful and fun. We were doing all the things like masking and distancing.
No one around me got sick and no one I know in the community died. No one I know in any of my work or social circles got sick until after the vaccine roll out. My protector self came out because I was afraid people would rush to take an experimental vaccine that could have unknown short term and long term negative effects. That is really not an unrealistic fear. Truly there is so much solid but censored science to support my concerns. But our government colluded with big tech to censor anything that went against the narrative and even censored the vaccine injured who were sharing their stories! There are lawsuits around this now.
I was definitely in a minority in my decision not to get the shots. But I pretty much never voiced my concerns because no one seemed curious or interested in a different perspective. People did seem interested in bullying and shaming people who did not want to participate in the program though. I was bullied out of one of my jobs a few months before the mandates would have pushed me out. As I said, I was prepared to be homeless and jobless. "Unvaccinated need not apply!" for jobs or housing. That was truly the climate we were living in.
There is a documentary "Follow the Silenced" that just won Best of Fest and Best Director at the recent Santa Monica Film Festival. It is a documentary that "gives voice to those vaccine-injured and silenced during the COVID era. Featuring exclusive recorded calls with FDA’s Dr. Peter Marks and CDC officials, the film reveals the hidden cost of government censorship." Follow the Science was a repeated catch phrase during the pandemic, but I think we need to look more closely at the "science" and the state of science today.
Thanks for continuing the conversation. It is helping me feel less silenced.
Hi Jen,
Thank you so much for sharing all of this—it really helps me understand where you’re coming from. I can feel how deeply you cared for the people you were supporting during the pandemic, and how much integrity and responsibility you brought to your work. It’s clear you made choices based on what you believed would protect others, and I really want to honor that.
I also really hear the pain around feeling silenced, isolated, and even bullied for your stance. That kind of social pressure—especially in an already heightened and confusing time—can be traumatic in itself. I’m sorry you had to experience that.
At the same time, I want to be honest that I’m wrestling with how we navigate the divide you’re pointing to around “the science.” I think it’s really important to acknowledge that science is a process, not a fixed truth—and that it’s always shaped by power, politics, and access. And yet, I also worry about the consequences of fully discounting a massive, collaborative global effort—imperfect as it was—that likely saved millions of lives.
The challenge for me is how we hold space for nuanced critique of institutions and power while still trusting in the collective pursuit of knowledge. I want to find a way to talk across these differences without reinforcing the binary of “truth-teller” vs. “sheep.” Because the truth is, we’ve all been scared. We’ve all made decisions under pressure. And we’ve all lost something.
I don’t have an easy answer. But I really appreciate your willingness to engage, and I want to keep finding ways to stay in relationship even when it’s hard. That feels like one of the most important things we can do right now.
With care,
Sascha
As someone deeply affected by events in the USA and Middle East I, too, believe we need better ways to talk across the divide. I have seen the traumas people have suffered as a result of war and displacement when traveling through Lebanon. I have also seen enemies become friends. I see a world enduring more trauma than ever before and I see leaders reacting in fear. Now is the time for community more than ever. We need to be able to talk with one another