The Collective
Brain of a Society—Victimization and Envy
“It would appear, Old Guy, that we are going to continue our
discussion of how the brains of individuals can be influenced and combined into
the collective brain of a society.
This can lead to the society or nation doing things that turn out to be
quite destructive.”
“You’ve got it, Julie, as usual. One of the most powerful tools to influence the collective
thinking of a society is to convince the people that they have become
victims. Victimization has
been the basis for revolutions for millennia. A new leader comes along, inspires the populace to arise,
the revolution puts the new leader in power, and the people become victims of
the new leader. Existing examples
are Cuba and Venezuela.”
“As suggested by one of our editors, a compelling
example from the 20th Century was the rise of Hitler. We didn’t mention it in our previous
posting, but the onerous stipulations in the Treaty of
Versailles, ending World War I, primed the German people for the ascent of
Adolf Hitler. Most
Germans were humiliated and horrified by the treaty - disgusted at being made
to take the blame for the entire war and having to pay reparations to Britain
and France. ‘Hitler spoke in
a charismatic style that impressed the German people. He blamed outsiders for
causing problems in the nation. He argued that if pure Germans known as Aryans
controlled the destiny of Germany, it would return to greatness. Hitler placed the blame for many
of Germany’s problems on one group: the Jews.’ “
“As our
history books tell us, Julie, Hitler and the Nazi party took over Germany in
1933; and World War II was the result.
Its horrors were the final product of victimization. It is hard to believe that
victimization and its cousin, envy, are still used as political tools in modern
democratic nations. Let’s consider
an example. Assume you are
watching a presentation on TV. You
initially believe the presenter is being forthright, but you need to resolve an
element of skepticism before accepting his message. How might you proceed?”
“As you
have taught me, Professor, I would try to evaluate both the presenter and his
message. First, the presenter,
assuming it is a man: If his nose
is long and made of wood, I would conclude that the presenter is Pinocchio, and
that he is a habitual liar. If so,
I would reach for the remote immediately.
Next, I would listen for a moment.
If he uses the word ‘folks,’ he thinks he is superior and is talking
down to me. On that basis, I would
conclude that he is a demagogue, a political leader who gains power by arousing
the emotions, passions, and prejudices of his listeners. If the bloke passes my veracity and
character tests, I next determine if what he is saying is reasonable.”
“Wow,
Julie! You’ve already exercised
more judgment than most people—even a lot of Americans. Let’s suppose that the speaker is
talking about a seemingly benign current issue, ‘the one percent.’ How would you judge his message?”
“You know
better than to call that issue benign, Old Guy. Even without listening to the whole talk, I would
extrapolate it to its ultimate end point, envy and class warfare. And class warfare brings chaos, a
destroyed economy, and a dictatorship with a new ‘one percent’—the dictator (or
wannabe) and his supporting oligarchs.”
“So what
would be your evaluation of the overall presentation?”
“The
speaker is a demagogue who is trying to fill his listeners’ brains with
propaganda.”
“Excellent,
cher étudiante. Your grade is ‘A.’ It would have been ‘A+’ if instead of
propaganda you had said ‘b--- s---.’ “
Kaizen
Curmudgeon
Link to posting from blog archives:
Volunteering—the Seniors’ Raison D’être—1/07/10.
http://kaizencurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2010/01/volunteering-seniors-raison-detre.html
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