"The first principle is that everyone is scared," said
Mike. "The second principle is that everyone hates."
Wondering what drives our politics these days? Read Eugene
Burdick's powerful 1956 novel, The Ninth Wave. “A prescient and still
relevant story,” opined one critic. The opening quotations come from the book’s
lead character, Mike Freesmith, who harnessed the power of fear and hate to
control an election.
Today, big money and big data have taken these principles to new
heights to manipulate and control voters to enhance their political power.
"Everybody worries about something," Mike said. "Up
in an office on the top floor of the Golden State Building, we've got a
research staff picking out every group, every locality, every organization
that's got something to worry about."
Operations today are much more sophisticated as algorithms mine
the Internet and social media for gigabytes of data on individual voters; fear
and hate messages are tested through blogs, emails and texts and responses
measured; and incessant telephone and email surveys gather and analyze opinions
on a daily basis.
"They exploit decades of behavioral science research into the
flawed, often irrational ways human beings make decisions to subtly 'nudge'
us—without our noticing it—toward one candidate," reported Newsweek in
June.
In the book, once people's worries were identified and
characterized into broad categories, "I tell them what to be scared
of," Mike said. "It's as simple as that."
Nowadays, once the operators hone effective messages,
dissemination begins through sponsored radio and TV talk shows, blogs, social networks,
and advertising. The dissemination goals are to tell people what to fear and to
stir up hateful emotions.
The real purpose behind these machinations, however, is to get
large blocks of people to rely on the message moguls as trustworthy, real authorities.
"There is one thing the masses know," said Mike,
"real authority. And a real authority is someone who can satisfy their
desire to hate and their fear. A good authority works the two of them together.
"He plays 'em like they're an organ," Mike continued.
"He sits at the console and gives 'em what he thinks they need; a little
fear today, a little hate tomorrow."
The organmeisters today don't speak directly to the masses, but
communicate by multiple means through the vast message operations they fund and
control.
One diabolical technique described by Burdick thrives today --
pick out something people have, then persuade them someone is trying to take it
away.
"Try and take something away from people and all of a sudden
that's the thing they want," Mike said.
Consider the various freedom movements. Those behind them have
convinced blocks of people that government is trying to take away some freedom.
As a result, more and more Americans now alternatively fear and hate
government.
Once most Americans took pride in our unique Constitution and the
representative form of government it empowers, a "government of the
people, by the people, and for the people." The powerful manipulators who
utilize Burdick's "fear + hate = power" formula have turned cherished
government into the enemy.
Beware of fear and hate.
Pray for all hurricane victims.
Crawford is syndicated columnist from Meridian (crawfolk@gmail.com)
6 comments:
What does this even mean? Who is Bill Crawford and how did he get to a point where people allegedly care about his opinions?
And -- love the blog KF -- why does he have a platform on JJ?
Dude seems like a goofball to me.
Obviously this has worked in all types of elections, advertising and the like from the beginning of time.
4:01 PM
What about the post, do you not "understand"? It all makes perfect sense to those of whom I have discussed it.
4:01 pm Mr. Crawford has probably picked a fictional book as the many non-fiction books based on scientific research do not simplify the reality enough.
For decades, it has been understood that the average voter comprehends at a 5th grade level, that negative campaigns are more successful than positive issue based campaigns, and that fear prompts people to give money to and to work on a campaign.
It's been understood that voters will respond more positively to those who you see as the person you wish you were like ...attractive, successful, popular with others in your identified group and happy with themselves. You will respond better to tall people than to short ones. A nice smile and sense of humor is a magnet as well.
Spiro Agnew's attack on " effete intellectuals" was based on research showing that resentment of " smart " people was common and that it was extremely strong in the South. Such an attack would aid the " southern strategy". Southerners resented that they were seen as less educated and not as smart.
Lee Atwater and Karl Rove early on used the research and Noquist and Abramoff took it to a new level with their " take no prisoners" approach. Infiltrating culturally important organizations that influence others is key. It was noted how important churches were to the Civil Rights movement.
Now, neuroscientists can accurately predict how you would vote simply by showing you photos while your brain is scanned. It's about images that attract or repulse you.
Political messages can program ( and could re-program) your neural pathways. While your left brain is logical and stores information, that information is fed to your right brain which prioritizes the information you receive.
So, misinformation and scare tactics succeeds in reinforcing your fears and hatred and causing you to reject information that doesn't fit your fears and hatred. In short, you believe what you want to believe no matter how many facts to the contrary you receive.
And, social scientists have long known that the way to overthrow a government begins with causing the masses to distrust intellectuals, their sources of news , their governmental systems, their legal system and division within the populace.
Over and over in history, all one needs is a charismatic figure, 30% of a population where the other 70% is divided, and a message of fear and blame to become a dictator or tyrant.
While YOU don't read the research, those who seek power directly or through their charismatic puppet do. The trick for those behind the scenes is to do what Goebbels and his admirers couldn't, keep the puppet's ear so he doesn't become a one man show who no longer listens to advisors.
History has focused on demonizing the tyrants...Hitler, Stalin and the Il Jungs most recently. But, social scientists and psychologist go back through human history and ask "how did these villains rise to power?". They ask "what institutional, socio-economic and cultural conditions existed and who supported these villains and why?" . They also ask " what conditions exist during prosperous , successful societies?"
Sadly, our wealth is in the hands of a few, our governmental and social systems are failing, our middle class is decimated, and we see many of our fellow citizens as the enemy. National disasters only add to that toxic brew. We are in a perfect storms of bad conditions and it's our inability to look at our own human weaknesses and inability to be objective and logical rather than emotional that is at the heart of it.
At 9/10/17 8:24 AM
The buck is spot on. The rest of your post is well, what it is...
1:31
I think you meant "the book", otherwise I agree.
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