- 14 Posts
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MrSmiley@lemmy.zipto politics @lemmy.world•Virginia Democrats call for Republican John Reid to exit lieutenant governor race in Nazi porn scandal10·1 day ago“The masses have never thirsted after truth… . Whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master; whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always their victim.”
The Crowd, Le Bon
Propaganda must be continuous and lasting—continuous in that it must not leave any gaps, but must fill the citizen’s whole day and all his days; lasting in that it must function over a very long period of time.’ Propaganda tends to make the individual live in a separate world; he must not have outside points of reference. He must not be allowed a moment of meditation or reflection in which to see himself vis-a-vis the propagandist, as happens when the propaganda is not continuous.
Propaganda, Ellul
Words and symbols have no real meaning to these people. They are more like mantras, or incantations, to elicit conditioned feelings and demonstrate whether one belongs to the group or not. Fascist has no emotional meaning tied to the term, it’s just a meaningless noise “the others” make.
Oh… a joke, yes, ha ha.
That speaks more to your ideological fantasy than anything else.
In the chapter “The Rise of Factions,” Walter describes how aspiring autocrats cultivated racial and ethnic resentments that culminated in brutal ethnic violence in the former Yugoslavia and in Rwanda. In “The Dark Consequence of Losing Status,” she describes how a sudden change in the power of a specific ethnic group can be more inflammatory than a sustained structural imbalance.
https://www.americamagazine.org/arts-culture/2022/10/13/review-walter-jacobs-civil-war-243912/
MrSmiley@lemmy.zipto politics @lemmy.world•Trump Publishes Enemies List To White House Website, And It’s Just Democrats Speaking The Truth5·2 days agoFascism is a tool his Dark Enlightenment financial backers adopted, Trump is just a vehicle for dismantling democracy and Balkanizing America so their mythical utopia can rise like a phoenix from the ashes of destruction. Trump will be scapegoated and discarded once he has served his purpose.
Reading Luke Kemp’s Goliath’s Curse has a statement referencing Barbara Walter’s How Civil Wars Start And How to Stop Them: A dominant ethnic group losing status within a country is the single best predictor of civil war today.
MrSmiley@lemmy.zipto politics @lemmy.world•JD Vance Trivializes Jewish History by Referring to ICE Criticism as 'Blood Libel' — But Reveals What this Admin Thinks of Jews1·2 days agoIt is a mechanism that can be used as a propaganda technique. Although this is closer to milieu control, Vance is using the terminology to signal his affinity to a particular segment of ice.
MrSmiley@lemmy.zipto politics @lemmy.world•The simple reason Americans have the right to call their president a ‘fascist’6·3 days agoThey do in so far as understanding motives and anticipating actions, it’s like any science, you want to be as accurate and precise as possible to avoid errors in making decisions.
His narcissistic personality disorder and deteriorating mental condition leaves him increasingly vulnerable to manipulation by advisors. The fascist elements within the party are prone to factionalization without competent leadership, these elements are a legitimate threat to his rule. It’s beneficial to know that while these parties all share a version of a palingenetic myth, the utopian visions differ considerably after America’s destruction, which can be used as a wedge to promote infighting and schisms between them.
For instance, the Dark Enlightenment oligarchs and JD Vance are working to scapegoat and get rid of Trump, (see mimetic theory of desire). Normal conservatives would be put off by the idea and their public support would wane, and the MAGA diehards possibly turn rabid to defend Dear Leader against Trump’s financial backers.
Edit:
Or push stories equating Trump/MAGA with Marxism/communism to sow division among the pure capitalist conservative types against his agenda.
https://fortune.com/2025/08/12/maga-marxist-maoist-trump-assault-free-market-capitalism-socialism/
MrSmiley@lemmy.zipto politics @lemmy.world•The simple reason Americans have the right to call their president a ‘fascist’291·3 days agoYes, but for the sake of accuracy the president is a vulgar conventionalist and parafascist. Factions within the Republican party, such as the Christian nationalists, meet academic definitions of fascism but Trump has no ideology. He uses fascism as a tool to gain more wealth and power, he’s not a “true believer” like many of his followers.
Vulgar conventionalism is … that the life according to nature is the preserve of a small minority, of the natural elite, of those who are truly men and not [born] to be slaves. To be more precise, the summit of happiness is the life of the tyrant, of the man who has successfully committed the greatest crime by subordinating the city as a whole to his private good and who can afford to drop the appearance of justice or legality.
Natural Right and History, Leo Strauss.
para-fascism – a form of authoritarian and ultra-nationalist conservatism which adopts the external trappings of fascism while rejecting its call for genuine social and ethical revolution (see pp. 120–4)
Nature of Fascism, R Griffin
MrSmiley@lemmy.zipto politics @lemmy.world•Trump to attend gathering of top generals, upending last-minute plans1·5 days agoVance was handpicked by the dark enlightenment to destroy America for their neofeudal utopia, grinding undesirables into biofuel and enslaving the rest.
MrSmiley@lemmy.zipto politics @lemmy.world•Democrats Are in Crisis. Eat-the-Rich Populism Is the Only Answer.14·6 days agoDemocrats have been discussing strategy since their loss in November. They’ve come up with use populist rhetoric for elections but stick to neoliberal policy.
MrSmiley@lemmy.zipOPto Videos@lemmy.world•Every Propaganda Technique Explained in 11 Minutes4·6 days agoYou’re misremembering, the video covered gaslighting.
While the connection may not ultimately matter scientifically, it matters ideologically. This modern day Lysenkoism emerging in America is a common feature of totalitarianism, and it will permeate throughout all sciences.
Incredible as some of these aberrations may appear, we must yet be on our guard not to dismiss them as mere accidental by-products which have nothing to do with the essential character of a planned or totalitarian system. They are not. They are a direct result of that same desire to see everything directed by a “unitary conception of the whole,” of the need to uphold at all costs the views in the service of which people are asked to make constant sacrifices, and of the general idea that the knowledge and beliefs of the people are an instrument to be used for a single purpose. Once science has to serve, not truth, but the interests of a class, a community, or a state, the sole task of argument and discussion is to vindicate and to spread still further the beliefs by which the whole life of the community is directed. As the Nazi minister of justice has explained, the question which every new scientific theory must ask itself is: “Do I serve National Socialism for the greatest benefit of all?”
The word “truth” itself ceases to have its old meaning. It describes no longer something to be found, with the individual conscience as the sole arbiter of whether in any particular instance the evidence (or the standing of those proclaiming it) warrants a belief; it becomes something to be laid down by authority, something which has to be believed in the interest of the unity of the organized effort and which may have to be altered as the exigencies of this organized effort require it.
The Road to Serfdom, F. A. Hayek
MrSmiley@lemmy.zipOPtoPolitical Memes@lemmy.world•Mike Judges 6:9 - And the stupids inherited the earth, and the wise were left to weep.16·7 days agoThe introduction may be confusing but it wasn’t advocating for eugenics, the movie intro can be viewed as dumb people raise their kids to be dumb, not that intelligence was passed down genetically. And you are correct, religion and power need uneducated people to maintain hegemony.
MrSmiley@lemmy.zipto Technology@lemmy.world•Trump says TikTok should be tweaked to become “100% MAGA”English51·8 days agoAfter repetitive exposure to this propaganda (repetition priming), the people were beginning to believe and stand up for what each respective government had been flashing before their eyes, without them even knowing it.
https://sites.psu.edu/psych256sp18003/2018/03/04/h/
The fact of being exposed to propaganda and misinformation, repeatedly and continuously, has a psychological affect over time.
The individual must not be allowed to recover, to collect himself, to remain untouched by propaganda during any relatively long period, for propaganda is not the touch of the magic wand. It is based on slow, constant impregnation. It creates convictions and compliance through imperceptible influences that are effective only by continuous repetition. It must create a complete environment for the individual, one from which he never emerges.
Propaganda, Jacques Ellul
MrSmiley@lemmy.zipto News@lemmy.world•GOP lawmaker calls for Dem congresswoman to be executed for urging Trump protests73·9 days agoRepublican rhetoric follows Le Bon’s The Crowd method: Affirmation, Repetition and Contagion.
First they espouse an idea or belief (ex. Radical Left are violent animals). The crowd accepts these statements as true, regardless of reality.
Then blast it on repeat through every medium so it becomes internalized in their minds.
Finally, the contagion phase, where the crowd is spurned to action, whether it is getting out to vote, storming the capital or going door to door murdering “The Enemy Within.”
It’s not difficult to see what the fascist intent is behind the extreme violent rhetoric.
MrSmiley@lemmy.zipto No Stupid Questions@lemmy.world•So...how the fuck do I trust *anything*?2·9 days agodeleted by creator
Under the Dark Enlightenment philosophy adopted by Trump’s financial backers, they do indeed plan the destruction of the US.