Something educational that might bear on CK

This is a distillation of Noam Chomsky's Ten Strategies of Manipulation. Which I think Carli may wind up using at the end of Carli's Kills in order to get away with murder. Granted, she's out for revenge and the system of justice failed her, miserably, but vigilante justice? People tend to frown on that.

But here it is...

1. The strategy of distraction -- The primary element of social control is the strategy of distraction, which is to divert public attention from important issues and changes determined by the political and economic elites, by the technique of flood or flooding continuous distractions and insignificant information. Distraction strategy is also essential to prevent the public interest in the essential knowledge in the areas of science, economics, psychology, neurobiology and cybernetics. "Maintaining public attention diverted away from the real social problems, captivated by matters of no real importance. Keep the public busy, busy, busy, no time to think, back to farm and other animals." (quote from text "Silent Weapons for Quiet War"). Think Kardashians mattering more than the KKK.

2. Create problems, then offer solutions -- This method is also called "problem-reaction-solution." It creates a problem, a "situation" referred to in order to cause some reaction in the audience, so this is the principal of the steps that you want to accept. For example: let it unfold (and intensify) urban violence, or arrange for bloody attacks in order that the public accepts the applicant's security laws and policies to the detriment of freedom. Or: create an economic crisis to accept as a necessary evil the retreat of social rights and the dismantling of public services. Bill Clinton's Welfare Reform in the mid-1990s.

3. The gradual strategy -- Acceptance to an unacceptable degree, just apply it gradually, like eyedrops, for consecutive years. That is how the radically new socioeconomic conditions (neoliberalism) were imposed during the 1980s and 1990s:  the minimal state  privatization  precariousness  flexibility  massive unemployment  wages  and do not guarantee a decent income Changes that would have brought about a revolution if they had been applied all at once. Reference the refusal to increase the minimum wage until the only way to do it with any meaning is to more than double it, and that's just too much.

4. The strategy of deferring -- Another way to accept an unpopular decision is to present it as "painful and necessary", gaining public acceptance now for future application. It is easier to accept a future sacrifice instead of immediate slaughter.  First, because the effort is not used immediately.  Then, because the public, masses, always has the tendency to naively expect that "everything will be better tomorrow," and that the sacrifice required may be avoided. This gives the public more time to get used to the idea of change and accept it with resignation when the time comes. Massive tax cuts to the rich will pay for themselves, but help to people is way overpriced.

5. Go to the public as a little child -- Most of the advertising to the general public uses speech, argument and particularly children's intonations, often close to weakness, as if the viewer were a little child or a mentally deficient. The harder one tries to deceive the viewer's look, the more it tends to adopt an infantilizing tone. Why? "If one goes to a person as if they had the maturity of someone 12 years of age, or less, then, because of suggestion, they tend, with a certain probability, to have a response or reaction also devoid of a critical sense beyond that a person 12 years or younger." (see "Silent Weapons for Quiet War") As in...Keep It Simple, Stupid. To the max.

 6. Use the emotional side more than the reflective -- Making use of the emotional aspect is a classic technique for causing a short circuit on rational analysis, and finally to the critical sensibility of the individual. Furthermore, the use of emotional register is to open the door to the unconscious, for implantation or grafting on of ideas, desires, fears and anxieties, compulsions, or to induce behaviors ... "Why should billionaires pay more in taxes when they give us jobs?" Never mind that they don't pay enough to live on.

7. Keep the public in ignorance and mediocrity -- Making the public incapable of understanding the technologies and methods used to control and enslave. "The quality of education given to the lower social classes must be as poor and mediocre as possible, so that the gap of ignorance it plans between the lower classes and upper classes is and remains impossible to cross for the lower classes." (See "Silent Weapons for Quiet War") See #7's response.

8. To encourage the public to be complacent with mediocrity -- Promote the public to believe that it is fashionable to be stupid, vulgar and uneducated... "This is the best we can do, and never mind we promised you more. We had to make compromises."

9. Self-blame strengthen -- To let individual blame themself for their misfortune, because of the failure of their intelligence, their abilities, or their efforts. So, instead of rebelling against the economic system, the individual is self-defeating and guilty, which creates a depression, one of whose effects is to inhibit action. And, without action, there is no revolution! "If you don't like your job's wage, get a better one. Oh, wait, don't do that before you make me my soy milk latte exactly right so I don't scream at you."

10. Getting to know the individuals better than they know themselves -- Over the past 50 years, advances of accelerated science have generated a growing gap between public knowledge and that owned and operated by dominant elites. Thanks to biology, neurobiology and applied psychology, the "system" has enjoyed a sophisticated understanding of human beings, both physically and psychologically. The system has become better acquainted with the common man than he is with himself. This means that, in most cases, the system exerts greater control and great power over individuals, greater than that of individuals over themselves.    All those stupid little quizzes and tests on Facebook, for cryin' out loud.

Of course, this list also applies to today's political situation...which I finally have accepted is completely out of control, thanks to the weakness of Democrats. At the end of 2022, we will probably cease to be a democracy and, instead, will officially be an oligarchy. And this is how our elites got us to this point.

Needless to say, I'm something of a cynic...which is why I'm letting someone kill people with impunity in my next book.

And making fun of it.