What Is A Coup Du Publique? You’re In One Right Now

A coup d’etat is when a small group of people suddenly try to take power and subjugate a nation by force.

A coup du publique is when a small group of people already in power try to further subjugate an entire population by methodically taking away whatever rights they may have left.

That global sense of unease, that nearly audible universal skincrawl taking place across the planet, that unquestionable deprivation of the right to ask questions, that which is happening right now: that is the coup du publique in action.

In a run-of-the-mill coup d’etat, it is axiomatic that the people staging the coup seize the radio station, usually even before they track down and meat hook the unfortunate Great Leader of the People and Terror of the Nation’s Enemies and President For Life and replace him with some other Grand High Dirtbag.

From Guatemala to Gabon, from Albania to Zimbabwe, from the Congo to the Congo to the Congo, taking control of the information infrastructure of a nation has historically been a key component to any successful coup.

And the loss of the capital’s main radio or television station has been a hallmark of failed coup attempts; take Gabon a few years ago which went from this to this in just a few days.

Successful coups are usually well-planned tight-knit affairs that target very specific objectives – they are not usually widespread uprisings.  Quite the opposite, in fact – for a coup to have the best chance of succeeding the public has to be kept apart and kept in the dark.

As in a natural disaster, the public is kept at home and fed only very specific information “for their safety.”  This frozen confusion allows the coup to solidify in place, and it is this sense of frozen confusion that is being promulgated by those forces currently slithering into places of power as part of the coup du publique.

In a sense, a coup is the opposite of a revolution in that it thrives not on the active involvement of the citizenry, but its passive isolation, unlike in popular uprisings and protests.

For example, besides the fact that it was over in time for dinner, that Jan. 6 participants called the next day asking if they could stop by to pick up jackets they left behind, that a significant percentage of the participants were being paid by certain government agencies to be there, that participants stood around taking pictures of statues, and that the police on scene may have allowed a large proportion of the protestors in is why the tragic stupidity of January 6 was not a coup or an insurrection or anything more than a stupid thoughtless gift to the Democrats and their deep state allies.

But what if you flip that script just a tiny bit and make sure that – before any other planning, ally recruiting, etc., is even started – you made sure to quietly, incrementally take control of the information infrastructure first?  A few years ago, that meant radio and television stations and phone company HQ – today that means the internet as it is all three in one.

And if instead of overthrowing a government, you did this to ensure a government’s survival and expansion – the public be damned.  Then you would not have a coup d’etat but a coup du publique.

And that is what is happening in real time around the world right now.  But this coup is not replacing the government – it is replacing the people.

It is replacing the right to speak with the right to be quiet.  It is replacing the right to strive with the right to be taken care of.  It is replacing the rights of the individual with the rights of the collective.

While the targeting makes them inherently different, the coup du publique still requires that the elements of a successful coup d’état be in place.

In Edward Luttwak’s extremely interesting book – “Coup D’état:  A Practical Handbook” — he outlines a series of practical necessities a successful overthrow needs.  Let’s compare that list to what is happening around the globe (note – each item will feature only a few of the countless examples):

Neutralized Opposition:  From the de-platforming of differing opinions to the use of the financial system to undercut the resources of those people and groups the coup plotters find disagreeable, this process is continuing apace globally.  China’s “credit system” is a real-world example of this. But, according to the coup plotters, it’s really not all that bad because it’s helpful to promote food safety and is not at all anti-freedom.

Media Control:  Paying directly for positive media coverage, owning media outlets – Jeff Bezos and the Washington Post – controlling what is “true”, the international “acceptable” media never stops its constant drumbeat on behalf of the coup.

Side note  – when you Google “open society media control,” all the top results are from George Soros’ own Open Society website and the first is the “media freedom” page, which claims that “The Open Society Foundations promote independent media and professional, quality journalism, especially in countries where media freedom is curtailed by those who hold political and economic power.”

The coup lesson here:  always say publicly the opposite of what you are doing privately.

Military Support:  This is, so far, a tad more oblique.  But it can be seen through the rabidly unquestioning support of the war in Ukraine, the rise of woke-think in the services, and how intertwined militaries around the world are with the pluto-corporate world that is executing the coup.  Interestingly – and most likely intentionally — the militaries themselves are in fact weakened by their support of the coup, thereby preventatively taking them out of the game if they ever want to counteract the coup.

Dedicated and Discrete Supporters Throughout Government Offices:  Not only does this encompass the infamous “deep state,” but it goes far beyond the typical bad actors at the CIA, FBI, MI-6, etc.  The number of run-of-the-mill lower-upper-middle government managers who steadfastly support the goals (for whatever reasons – careerism, fear, true belief, go along get along, etc.) far outstrips the number of workers who even question, let alone fight against, the coup in action.  Like a group of people who all separately choose to go to the same restaurant, they are already primed to be part of the effort (and have been part of the effort, see the governmental opposition to Trump’s presidency.)  And they get very annoyed when you point that out.

Speed of Implementation: This point is where the coup du publique is very far ahead of the game as the methods of communication are already under control — and the literal light speed of the internet makes the dissemination of goals, actions, reactions, battles, and bribes quite simple. While it may appear to have slowed down a bit now from the control of, well, everything imposed during the pandemic, the process is – at best – taking a slight breather after dialing the effort up to 11 during the COVID craze.

A Detailed and Logistically Feasible Organizational Action Plan:  Climate fear?  Population Fear? Election Fear?  Wrongthink fear?  Financial fear?  Food fear?  All of these specific markers of public unease are being increased to ease the “solutions” of the coup du publique and all can be found – amongst a million other terrifying websites – here.  A related key element to this plan is “nudge” behavioral science, a concept that works by applying measured, consistent pressures, rewards, and restrictions to individual and societal behaviors you can get people and entire populations to eventually buy, think, praise, and vilify what you want them to.  Oh, and also will get people to act the way you find most acceptable and convenient.

The Immediate Institutionalization of the New Government:  As with the speed of implementation, it can be argued that most of this work is already done.  For example, the World Health Organization demands unquestionable supra-national powers by defining every aspect of life as “health” related to be able to declare global emergencies – like the recent pandemic – on a whim without even having to consult any national government.  The World Economic Forum loves it while those who value freedom and real democracy are appalled.

In the halls of D.C. and the European Union, this process is, um, well, you know – fill in the many many blanks.  In fact, it is already so institutionalized that most government agencies and “non-governmental organizations” are simply waiting around, twiddling their thumbs, waiting to flip the final switch.

And, of course, the UN is getting in on the act with its new governmental anti-misinformation (for the record, misinformation does not exist) service called iVerify, on which you can ask if a new story is true.

This omni-control is occurring at every level of governance. (Governance no longer being limited to actual governments, by the way.)  For example, California has a new state hate site that, in fact, is one of the more insidious tools of the coup du publique.  Not only does the state literally seek to criminalize thought, it is encouraging the citizenry to turn one another in for non-crimes.

In tracking the downfall of East Germany’s notorious Stasi secret police, Australian reporter Anna Funder asked a former agency official why so many people – formally at least 3% of the population of the country, informally possibly up to 25% —  cooperated with the agency and informed on their neighbors.  His response was chilling:

“Well, some of them were convinced of the cause. But I think it was mainly because informers got the feeling that, doing it, they were somebody. You know, someone was listening to them for a couple hours a week, taking notes.  They felt that had it over other people.”

And that is one of the crucial elements of human nature – the simultaneously burning desire to be subsumed by a group but to still have an element of control of that group – that the forces behind the coup du publique are counting on. 

As with “racism” of late, the supply of “hate” has had to be increased to meet demand as there must be enough for the state to use against its citizens.

Globally, it started, like most coups, in secret but – upon meeting little or no organized resistance from the public the media or the government agencies whose power it seeks to usurp – it became more brazen. While it may not be happening on a single rainy night, the pieces nonetheless are locking into place across the planet.

Recently the effort has become surprisingly open in its goals and intents.  European Union regulator Thierry Breton, foreshadowing the enforcement of the Kafkaesque EU Digital Services Act, has said that Twitter will “fly by our rules” come the end of August.

“I am the regulator and have to tell them what is the law,” Breton told France24, adding that social media companies will have to immediately delete “hateful content” under the new regimen.

Guess who gets to define “hateful content?”

The EU regulations – unthinkable only a few years ago – are being called the global benchmark for how to best squelch misinformation, thoughtcrimes, differences of opinions, new ideas, complaints, discomforts, and – especially – any inconvenient truth.

This coup is not one of bullets but of butter, brains, and banishment.  It does not promise an escape from the tyranny of the past but brazenly proclaims a new tyranny, under which people will be forcibly cared for from cradle to grave.

The American Revolution revolved around individuals asserting their rights to create a new system of governance:

We the People.

The coup du publique carries a diametrically different core belief and will result in a final soul-crushing status for all humans:

You Were the People.

Thomas Buckley is the former mayor of Lake Elsinore, Cal. and a former newspaper reporter.  He currently operates a small communications and planning consultancy and can be reached directly at planbuckley@gmail.com. You can read more of his work at his Substack page.