One of the points that George Orwell makes in 1984 is that one of the best ways to keep control of a population is to have them involved in a perpetual war. The continual fear of destruction drives people to believe anything their leaders tell them. In Oceania (the fictional state where 1984 is set), the Party's leadership continually riles up the people with daily propaganda (the Two Minutes Hate) and rallies (Hate Week) to focus the people's attention on the "enemies" of the Party.
It works, and not just in the book. One of my largest frustrations with the Republican Party under Trump (although the roots go farther back) has been this continual notion that America is "under attack." The rhetoric used is one that associates any problem with warfare or battle. Everything is a "call to arms" with suggestions that their "enemies" be "destroyed" before they can ruin the "American way of life." It's prevalent in nearly any "conservative" media source.
Don't get me wrong, the far Left does this too. What's disturbing is how the far Right has become such a dominant force, continually creating false flags for their followers to rally around. The sudden war on Critical Race Theory is a perfect example. Far Right demagogues started claiming that CRT was being pushed in schools and telling white children to be ashamed of being white. As I stated in an earlier post, this is a massive misrepresentation of what CRT is or does, but like rabid lemmings, easily manipulated members of our population rose up to this call to arms and started making rash and irresponsible demands to combat a problem that does not truly exist.
This isn't a new tactic. Republicans under Trump are involved in wars against people who are going to ... let in illegal immigrants, remove Christmas, take away their guns, and create "socialist" systems (except--ironically--in Alaska the truly socialist payment from the Permanent Fund Dividend which these same people claim is a right). It's one war after another.
I suppose that the Republicans under Trump have to do this. If they focused their attention on real issues, they might realize how deeply they've been duped. Worse, if they discovered the truth behind one lie, it might make them question the entire series of lies that they've been sold.
It works, and not just in the book. One of my largest frustrations with the Republican Party under Trump (although the roots go farther back) has been this continual notion that America is "under attack." The rhetoric used is one that associates any problem with warfare or battle. Everything is a "call to arms" with suggestions that their "enemies" be "destroyed" before they can ruin the "American way of life." It's prevalent in nearly any "conservative" media source.
Don't get me wrong, the far Left does this too. What's disturbing is how the far Right has become such a dominant force, continually creating false flags for their followers to rally around. The sudden war on Critical Race Theory is a perfect example. Far Right demagogues started claiming that CRT was being pushed in schools and telling white children to be ashamed of being white. As I stated in an earlier post, this is a massive misrepresentation of what CRT is or does, but like rabid lemmings, easily manipulated members of our population rose up to this call to arms and started making rash and irresponsible demands to combat a problem that does not truly exist.
This isn't a new tactic. Republicans under Trump are involved in wars against people who are going to ... let in illegal immigrants, remove Christmas, take away their guns, and create "socialist" systems (except--ironically--in Alaska the truly socialist payment from the Permanent Fund Dividend which these same people claim is a right). It's one war after another.
I suppose that the Republicans under Trump have to do this. If they focused their attention on real issues, they might realize how deeply they've been duped. Worse, if they discovered the truth behind one lie, it might make them question the entire series of lies that they've been sold.
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