More proof about the IQ of a mob being half that of the dumbest member.
Edward Bernays wrote a little book in 1928 called "Propaganda". It was read and implemented by Josef Goebbels, Joseph Stalin, and every teller of "the great lie" since then. This includes the modern advertising industry, academia, and every government. Get the attention of the masses, make your BS seem popular and the "right" thing to do, and much of the herd will stampede in any given direction. Not only is individual thought or research not required, it is not allowed.
Back in the day of 1948, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., Associate Professor of History at Harvard recognized an important basic fact:
The Fascists, for example, were not conservative in any very meaningful sense. They did not wish to preserve the existing order, or even to turn back the clock to some more stable century. They purposefully planned to transform the existing order into a new and all-absorbing authoritarianism, based upon the energies and frustrations of modern industrialism. The Fascists, in a meaningful sense, were revolutionaries. Yet their totalitarian ideal hardly fitted into the pattern of the Left, which had been the traditional home of greater freedoms and more generous aspirations. So, after boggling and uncertainty, they were assigned positions on the far Right.
…
In certain basic respects - a totalitarian state structure, a single party, a leader, a secret police, a hatred of political, cultural and intellectual freedom - fascism and communism are clearly more like each other than they are like anything in between.
Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., Associate Professor of History at Harvard New York Times Magazine, Sunday, April 4, 1948
Even back then the good professor had to tie himself up into knots to explain this away – trying to assert a theory of someone else that the political spectrum is a ‘circle.’ Others have tried to claim it’s a horseshoe or fishhook or even a random line that ties everything together.
When in the end it’s a simply matter that the collectivist authoritarians on the left and the pro-freedom patriots protecting individual liberty on the right, despite the incessant propaganda barrage of the left.
The ‘Bookworm’ laid it all out perfectly in this post:
What’s the real story behind Right Wing and Left Wing in America?
On the left is absolutist, totalitarian government, something with which we are all familiar. It exists under many names – monarchy, socialism, communism, democratic socialism, fascism, theocracy, etc. – but it always plays out the same: maximum government control; minimum individual liberty.
Meanwhile, on the right side of the continuum is the political system that has limited government and maximum individual liberty. At its extreme, it’s anarchy. Otherwise, it’s . . . well, it’s really only the American experiment. Everywhere else in the world, government control is the standard.
“Political tags — such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth — are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire. The former are idealists acting from highest motives for the greatest good of the greatest number. The latter are surly curmudgeons, suspicious and lacking in altruism. But they are more comfortable neighbors than the other sort.”
Yeah, mine too, and thanks for that. He was my first introduction to libertarian principles when I was too young to know what that meant. Starship Troopers, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Time Enough For Love, Friday, and all the rest.
More proof about the IQ of a mob being half that of the dumbest member.
Edward Bernays wrote a little book in 1928 called "Propaganda". It was read and implemented by Josef Goebbels, Joseph Stalin, and every teller of "the great lie" since then. This includes the modern advertising industry, academia, and every government. Get the attention of the masses, make your BS seem popular and the "right" thing to do, and much of the herd will stampede in any given direction. Not only is individual thought or research not required, it is not allowed.
Back in the day of 1948, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., Associate Professor of History at Harvard recognized an important basic fact:
The Fascists, for example, were not conservative in any very meaningful sense. They did not wish to preserve the existing order, or even to turn back the clock to some more stable century. They purposefully planned to transform the existing order into a new and all-absorbing authoritarianism, based upon the energies and frustrations of modern industrialism. The Fascists, in a meaningful sense, were revolutionaries. Yet their totalitarian ideal hardly fitted into the pattern of the Left, which had been the traditional home of greater freedoms and more generous aspirations. So, after boggling and uncertainty, they were assigned positions on the far Right.
…
In certain basic respects - a totalitarian state structure, a single party, a leader, a secret police, a hatred of political, cultural and intellectual freedom - fascism and communism are clearly more like each other than they are like anything in between.
Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., Associate Professor of History at Harvard New York Times Magazine, Sunday, April 4, 1948
https://archive.ph/tg0AZ
Even back then the good professor had to tie himself up into knots to explain this away – trying to assert a theory of someone else that the political spectrum is a ‘circle.’ Others have tried to claim it’s a horseshoe or fishhook or even a random line that ties everything together.
When in the end it’s a simply matter that the collectivist authoritarians on the left and the pro-freedom patriots protecting individual liberty on the right, despite the incessant propaganda barrage of the left.
The ‘Bookworm’ laid it all out perfectly in this post:
What’s the real story behind Right Wing and Left Wing in America?
https://www.bookwormroom.com/2019/11/24/whats-the-real-story-behind-right-wing-and-left-wing-in-america/
…
On the left is absolutist, totalitarian government, something with which we are all familiar. It exists under many names – monarchy, socialism, communism, democratic socialism, fascism, theocracy, etc. – but it always plays out the same: maximum government control; minimum individual liberty.
Meanwhile, on the right side of the continuum is the political system that has limited government and maximum individual liberty. At its extreme, it’s anarchy. Otherwise, it’s . . . well, it’s really only the American experiment. Everywhere else in the world, government control is the standard.
Political continuum
https://archive.ph/PC7Xf
“Political tags — such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth — are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire. The former are idealists acting from highest motives for the greatest good of the greatest number. The latter are surly curmudgeons, suspicious and lacking in altruism. But they are more comfortable neighbors than the other sort.”
― Robert A. Heinlein
That’s always been one of my favourite quotes – it distinctly separates the two sides of the political spectrum perfectly.
The Trump is Hitler thing has gotten really, really old. Besides everyone knows he’s the antichrist. 😂
Heh!
Knowing them, they would probably say he’s both.
Yeah, mine too, and thanks for that. He was my first introduction to libertarian principles when I was too young to know what that meant. Starship Troopers, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Time Enough For Love, Friday, and all the rest.