# You live long enough, you learn a lot!



## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

My kids and grandkids say I'm older than dirt! I disagree--I just a well-aged teenager. But, along the way, I've have managed to learn quite a few things having lived from the Korean war, through Viet Nam, Kennedy, Nixon, Clinton, Iraq,.... and now the stuff going on nowadays.

One of the things that was real common during the Cold War was the idea of brainwashing. You don't hear much about it nowadays because it a) works,  the term is too strong, too politically incorrect. Now we use more polite terminology such as advertising, news, op-eds....all terms that sanitize the concept. China, Russia, North Korea, etc., all make daily use of it. And there are a lot of people who say it doesn't work (then why so much advertising?)

So, for sh**s and Giggles, I am reposting some of the techniques used in brainwashing. Any of these sound familiar?

1) Isolation -- The first tactic to be used in brainwashing is typically to isolate the victim away from their friends and family. The reason for doing this is so that the victim only has the manipulator to talk to, to get their information and ideas from, and they do not have to worry about any third party coming in and questioning what's going on.

2) Attacks on self-esteem--Now that the victim has been isolated, he or she has to be broken down so that the manipulation can start rebuilding them in the image they desire. A person can only be brainwashed if their manipulator is in a superior position to them. These attacks could be in the form of ridiculing or mocking the victim, or intimidation. [Inducing fear is a commonly used method of attacking a person's self-esteem.]

3) Mental abuse--Another way a manipulator will try and brainwash their victims is by mentally torturing them. They could tell the victims lies and then embarrass them with the truth in front of others, or they could bully their victims by badgering them and not allowing them any personal space.

4) Only allowing contact with other brainwashed members--
By only allowing contact with those who are already brainwashed, the manipulator is creating a situation whereby peer pressure comes into play. Everybody wants to be liked and accepted, especially if they are the new member of the group. Adhering and promoting what the other members are saying and doing means that they will be accepted.

5) Us vs. Them--Again, this is all about being accepted into a group, and the best group as well. By saying that there is an Us and a Them, the manipulator is immediately offering the victim the chance to choose which group they want to belong to. Their goal is now to achieve absolute obedience and loyalty.

Ralph


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

The trouble with describing this is many people hear it with their own lens of interpretation. The nutbars hear this and are convinced it's normal media that's trying to brain wash them out of this little secret truth alt media saviour they're hooked on. Really nutty left folks read this and shake their finger that corporate propaganda has brainwashed the masses for years. Of course even mainstream media has been a battle ground for political control since the start of newspapers, probably earlier.

Meanwhile Russia and China are laughing at a few bucks of endless internet trolling has formed vast swaths of distrust of media and government because in their countries they control the media and messages tightly and are much less susceptible to the reverse tactics.


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