In my opinion the most effective political branding effort was done by the Russian Communists just after the fall of the Tsar. They called themselves the Bolsheviks (the Majority) even though they were not. But they eventually killed enough of their opponents to get there.
The second best has been pulled off by the progressives in the modern west. Progress towards what, exactly? And what will you do to get there? Will we like either the side effects or the actual end-state? None of those questions are important once you have established that you are for CHANGE and PROGRESS. Who wouldn't be for that?
How about “Violence Against Women Act”? The names implies that it is in favor of violence against women. It’s not called “Stop Violence Against Women Act”.
The actual law actually goes far beyond the scope of just women. But by putting “Women” in the name, now you get accused of being a misogynist if you don’t support it.
What's been weird to realise is that intellectuals are so feelings-led. But the advantage they have is sophisticated rhetoric, so crazy stuff can be presented as reason, logic & such.
I forgot all about GI parties. Thanks for the flashback. :)
I think a lot of educated people fail to think about implementation of their ideas. When I was first exposed to social justice ideas, I remember thinking "how is this implemented and once implemented how does this help?" It never made sense to me. I think people aren't thinking even one step into the future much less multiple steps. Once it makes them feel good or righteous, they stop thinking.
I've also thought that any potential law should be vetted by a group of people good at gaming the system. Let them hardened it so it's more likely to do what it's supposed to do.
I have said in the past that if legislation is called the Peace and Justice Act of 2023 I am reflexively opposed to it. I would know there was something dangerous about it. You are correct that these names are not accidental, they are manipulative in exactly this way.
In Don Quixote it states: “As the old proverb goes behind the cross lurks the devil.” Modern translation, four centuries later, he that holds himself out as the protector of a marginalized group is the most extreme dark triad offender. Their delusions of grandeur and cognitive distortions are just luxury beliefs passed down from corporate boardrooms. Great read. I love the William Shirer quote.
This linguistic game almost provides a shield to so many organizations from antifa, to maga, to BLM. I've been in multiple conversations where someone raised a criticism towards (state positively named organization here) and they were met with similar objections as you stated. "How can you be against [this thing]?" We have many who are so deeply ingrained into an ideology that is attractive to them that they don't know by what lengths they'll go to defend it. Having written that, it makes me wonder if I have such a dedication like that 😬
Interesting article. My mom grew up in Germany during the 30s /40s. Toward the end of her life , she reflected upon those days. She recalled listening to Goebbels when she was young. It was a endless stream of propaganda and political correctness. Impossible to escape. People who questioned were shamed. Sometimes even beat up. They were fined or lost their job. A bit like today where a lack of diversity in thinking is disapproved. Not really too different than todays woke political correctness where some ideals are twisted for gain.
It's the absolute worst. (Ex. Gadde when questioned about shadow banning vs limiting speech...I wasn't using that definition at the time) Intellectuals actually believe It is okay to create and own new definitions to protect their nonsense. People either fall for it or welcome it and both are numbskulls.
I think it is also interesting that in this moment we have so many institutions either exchanging words for others that are less offensive, or banning them altogether... Clearly then, people do understand the value in words
Very interesting. I have had an issue for most of my life with direct eye contact with others when having to think when speaking. I would look away to think and then I could come back to eye contact after collecting my thoughts into speech. But too much eye contact with another face would result in my brain overstimulated in reading the face and disrupting my other cognitive performance. I have overcome most of this today, but still have the self-awareness to see that language and human interaction connect to deeper cognitive and psychological functions. I think to some degree latching onto accepted memes backed by certain language a person attains a level of psychological comfort even if the memes are batshit crazy. Basically the person no longer has to do the thinking work.
Mythology has been adopted through history and much of it is batshit crazy. It just makes it easier than having to process critically and to vet original thoughts. Then there is neural adaption. At some point that new exposure to a feeling from a meme - however absurd - becomes a new normal. Humans are corruptible by language, I think, because they are fundamentally lazy and or prone to seek psychological comfort over the work of critical thinking.
Conformity is a fascinating phenomenon in social contexts. Doesn’t conformity ultimately shape culture? It’s the best explanation I can find as to why every middle-aged middle class woman started wearing lululemon yoga pants on the regular.
Can the acceptance of blatant propaganda be pinned down to conformity for the sake of status?
Brilliant ! This is such a shareable newsletter issue. We need to be alert to the actual content rather than the title or label, nice choice of examples to share. Great observation and excellently written, great work!
What I can't rap my head around is: what the hell happened to unbiased journalism and news casts. Have they all drunk from the MIC/corporations coolaid. Don't these "smart??"/well educated folks see where this path is taking us. Trumpists at least we're aware enough not to drink of this coolaid.
It Would be Nice to Live in a World Where College-Educated Adults Had the Ability to Think Beyond Words
The East German name for the Berlin Wall was Antifascistischer Schutzwall, the anti-fascist protection wall.
Hi Rob,
In my opinion the most effective political branding effort was done by the Russian Communists just after the fall of the Tsar. They called themselves the Bolsheviks (the Majority) even though they were not. But they eventually killed enough of their opponents to get there.
The second best has been pulled off by the progressives in the modern west. Progress towards what, exactly? And what will you do to get there? Will we like either the side effects or the actual end-state? None of those questions are important once you have established that you are for CHANGE and PROGRESS. Who wouldn't be for that?
How about “Violence Against Women Act”? The names implies that it is in favor of violence against women. It’s not called “Stop Violence Against Women Act”.
The actual law actually goes far beyond the scope of just women. But by putting “Women” in the name, now you get accused of being a misogynist if you don’t support it.
What's been weird to realise is that intellectuals are so feelings-led. But the advantage they have is sophisticated rhetoric, so crazy stuff can be presented as reason, logic & such.
I forgot all about GI parties. Thanks for the flashback. :)
I think a lot of educated people fail to think about implementation of their ideas. When I was first exposed to social justice ideas, I remember thinking "how is this implemented and once implemented how does this help?" It never made sense to me. I think people aren't thinking even one step into the future much less multiple steps. Once it makes them feel good or righteous, they stop thinking.
I've also thought that any potential law should be vetted by a group of people good at gaming the system. Let them hardened it so it's more likely to do what it's supposed to do.
I have said in the past that if legislation is called the Peace and Justice Act of 2023 I am reflexively opposed to it. I would know there was something dangerous about it. You are correct that these names are not accidental, they are manipulative in exactly this way.
In Don Quixote it states: “As the old proverb goes behind the cross lurks the devil.” Modern translation, four centuries later, he that holds himself out as the protector of a marginalized group is the most extreme dark triad offender. Their delusions of grandeur and cognitive distortions are just luxury beliefs passed down from corporate boardrooms. Great read. I love the William Shirer quote.
This linguistic game almost provides a shield to so many organizations from antifa, to maga, to BLM. I've been in multiple conversations where someone raised a criticism towards (state positively named organization here) and they were met with similar objections as you stated. "How can you be against [this thing]?" We have many who are so deeply ingrained into an ideology that is attractive to them that they don't know by what lengths they'll go to defend it. Having written that, it makes me wonder if I have such a dedication like that 😬
Interesting article. My mom grew up in Germany during the 30s /40s. Toward the end of her life , she reflected upon those days. She recalled listening to Goebbels when she was young. It was a endless stream of propaganda and political correctness. Impossible to escape. People who questioned were shamed. Sometimes even beat up. They were fined or lost their job. A bit like today where a lack of diversity in thinking is disapproved. Not really too different than todays woke political correctness where some ideals are twisted for gain.
It's the absolute worst. (Ex. Gadde when questioned about shadow banning vs limiting speech...I wasn't using that definition at the time) Intellectuals actually believe It is okay to create and own new definitions to protect their nonsense. People either fall for it or welcome it and both are numbskulls.
I needed this for my files. Thank you! In Canada, the population loves these nice sounding words. SOS! 🇨🇦
I think it is also interesting that in this moment we have so many institutions either exchanging words for others that are less offensive, or banning them altogether... Clearly then, people do understand the value in words
Very interesting. I have had an issue for most of my life with direct eye contact with others when having to think when speaking. I would look away to think and then I could come back to eye contact after collecting my thoughts into speech. But too much eye contact with another face would result in my brain overstimulated in reading the face and disrupting my other cognitive performance. I have overcome most of this today, but still have the self-awareness to see that language and human interaction connect to deeper cognitive and psychological functions. I think to some degree latching onto accepted memes backed by certain language a person attains a level of psychological comfort even if the memes are batshit crazy. Basically the person no longer has to do the thinking work.
Mythology has been adopted through history and much of it is batshit crazy. It just makes it easier than having to process critically and to vet original thoughts. Then there is neural adaption. At some point that new exposure to a feeling from a meme - however absurd - becomes a new normal. Humans are corruptible by language, I think, because they are fundamentally lazy and or prone to seek psychological comfort over the work of critical thinking.
Conformity is a fascinating phenomenon in social contexts. Doesn’t conformity ultimately shape culture? It’s the best explanation I can find as to why every middle-aged middle class woman started wearing lululemon yoga pants on the regular.
Can the acceptance of blatant propaganda be pinned down to conformity for the sake of status?
Brilliant ! This is such a shareable newsletter issue. We need to be alert to the actual content rather than the title or label, nice choice of examples to share. Great observation and excellently written, great work!
What I can't rap my head around is: what the hell happened to unbiased journalism and news casts. Have they all drunk from the MIC/corporations coolaid. Don't these "smart??"/well educated folks see where this path is taking us. Trumpists at least we're aware enough not to drink of this coolaid.
Cheers