Posters of Protest

More than a bit of fun

Well, yes they’re designed to be fun, but the messages are also deadly serious.

All of these posters are available in high resolution for free download. Using this link,

https://drjohncampbell.co.uk

So far, most of the pictures have been taken by Simon (my photographer friend) who has generously placed them into the public domain. There is also a link on my Substack that will take you directly to the site where you can download them altogether or one at a time. Feel free to download them, and maybe get one or two printed for your wall.

The idea to follow the evidence or following the argument goes all the way back to Socrates (Greece, 470 BC). More recently it was popularised by C.S. Lewis.

The point here is that we may not necessarily like where the evidence leads. We may be surprised or incredulous as to where the evidence leads. Never the less we must accept the evidence if we are to live consistently with external reality. This idea is not unique to a particular field of endeavour, evidence may take different forms. Science is one form of evidence, but there are others.

The following are variations on the theme. All of the pathways of thought that these pictures lead us along are in reality stretches of the Roman wall that runs east to west, close to border between England and Scotland.

In Cumbria we have plenty of sheep, and they seemed to be a good source of allegorical imagery. This one has turned around to check something out, the others however are fully focused on the task in hand, backs turned, heads down.

The next few posters of course come from cogito, ergo sum, I think, therefore I am. This goes back to 1637 when the idea was first published by French philosopher Rene Descartes.

Today, we get so many people telling us what to think, dictating to us, basically bossing us around, controlling our lives. So many aspects of our lives are controlled by external forces, extending down to the level of an individual’s thought. How many individuals and vested interest groups tell us what to think, what to believe, what is acceptable and what is not.

Governments give us some information, but hold a lot more back. Individuals and organisations condescend to give us the benefit of their wisdom, which is not really open to rational argument or debate. Main stream (legacy) media censor the content they want us to consume. Perhaps worse still, they force feed us with material that does not reflect reality, but rather what they would like to engineer as a future reality. By presenting the abnormal, they start the process of us thinking that it is actually normal. This represents a cynical process of propaganda, manipulation and is a form of social engineering.

Big tech has algorithms, and increasing uses artificial intelligence, to censor the content we produce or are even allowed to view. Breaches in their rules can result in strikes and bans, forcing individuals into a deserted wasteland, leper colonies of the mind where mixing with decent people is not allowed.

It was these observations that gave rise to this satirical poster, that I would quite like to think for myself actually, with your gracious permission of course ….

This picture of of the neolithic Ring of Brodgar in Orkney. The antiquity of the stones suggests people have been thinking and designing for themselves for thousands of years, humans are actually very intelligent, when we are allowed to be. The version below is of the River Eden that flows through Carlisle. Sometimes we need to think through the mist, but we can get clarity in the end.

The next poster lament the lack of transparency from organisations and governments. Governments should simply give us the facts then we can make up our own minds. These pictures are of the Churchill barriers in Orkney, constructed to prevent the passage of unseen underwater vessels that were most dangerous.

I guess this poster speaks for itself. There are known unknowns and unknown unknowns.

The following series are dictates from the Ministry of Truth.

The Ministry of Truth (Minitrue), It was an enormous pyramidal structure of

glittering white concrete, soaring up, terrace after terrace, 300 metres into the

air. From where Winston stood it was just possible to read, picked out on its

white face in elegant lettering, the three slogans of the Party:

WAR IS PEACE

FREEDOM IS SLAVERY

IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

The Ministry of Truth contained, it was said, three thousand rooms above

ground level, and corresponding ramifications below. The Ministry of Truth, concerned itself with news, entertainment, education, and the fine arts. (George Orwell, 1984, written in 1948)

The next three are about money and corruption. Very often following the money can lead to the origins of all sorts of things.

This next picture was taken on our community health project in Uganda. The claim is self-evidently true.

It’s always good to bring light into dark places. I think we also have an obligation to expose things done in darkness, at least if they threaten the common good, as many vested interests do.

I’m reminded of the role of the Watchman, to say nothing is complicity.

when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people, then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head.

But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.’

(Ezekiel 33)

More to come and of course, suggestions welcome.