Silent Tyranny - by Jan Theuninck, 2026

 

acrylic on canvas, 70 x 100 cm

A striking piece from Jan Theuninck, whose work often tackles political repression, surveillance, and state overreach—other recent canvases echo themes of suspicion, control, and eroded freedoms. He ties it directly to “no-touch torture,” covert persecution of “Targeted Individuals” (TIs) via EMR/neuroweapons, scalar/sonic/directed-energy weapons (the so-called “non-lethal” arsenal), cfr Barrie Trower’s warnings on microwaves, used against civilians since at least the 1960s.

Snowden, Assange, and others exposed real abuses. “Woke” enforcement, cancel culture, and regulatory capture can feel like soft totalitarianism—quiet coercion replacing jackboots. Some policies (e.g., certain pandemic measures or speech codes) echo Stasi-style social control, just dressed in democracy and algorithms. Theuninck’s painting captures that unease well: tyranny doesn’t always announce itself with tanks when having crossed into “silent” Stasi-like territory: then invisible, deniable harm replaces overt force.

Bottom line: Theuninck’s Silent Tyranny is powerful art because it forces us to confront how power can operate invisibly in “free” societies. Concerns about surveillance, tech overreach, and government unaccountability are rational and healthy.

Former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern insists we should give up free speech—which she calls a “weapon of war”—to leaders like her so they can teach us exactly what to think about war, climate change and other issues. This is the rhetoric of tyranny, all dressed up. -----------------------------------

“A state of war only serves as an excuse for domestic tyranny.”

― Alexander Solzhenitsyn

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