I wonder how far back it goes? What was the equivalent of the secret police in Athens?
The other question is: how were these bastards dealt with by dissident movements that actually succeeded? I'm thinking a large part of it is just popular awareness that they exist and they're awful. General social disgust goes a long way. Then again we've known the FBI goes after dissidents since the 70s and they're still at it, so that can't be the whole enchilada.
Don't know if you'll see this, but I'm enjoying your writing immensely. I especially like the idea that thought can be freest in authoritarian societies because what people think doesn't matter so much. But I'd like to inject something into your analysis, the role of propaganda. It's role is similar to the secret police, except it works on an explicitly psychological level, which can be more secret than the secret police. You raise very interesting ways of looking at things.
I won't deny that the police won't use propaganda, but in the west, anyway, they have been independent tactiacal groups. Using WWI as an example, the elites established the Creel commission, using public relations tactics, to bring American mass political opinion to align with their own pro-war stance. The Esionage Act, which could be regarded as a police action, followed that effort, as a stick to mop up dissenters like Eugene Debs for whom the propganda carrot failed.
At least since 1880 or so, the British and American newspapers had already been using psychological techniques to shape public opinion. The London Times sent out a team to Ukraine to investigate inflammatory reports by British Jewish roganizations of pogroms in Odessa (which it seems were Greco-Jewish street fights) in the 1880's, and American advertisers were persuading middle class families to buy pianos.
These operations were largely psychological, and ran below the radar of consciousness, unlike the secret police who rely on terror to enhance thheir effectiveness.
MAGA hasn't been shut down - there have been many attempts by Deep State actors to subvert MAGA but they've fallen flat, largely because MAGA is not a political party - it's a movement.
I wonder how far back it goes? What was the equivalent of the secret police in Athens?
The other question is: how were these bastards dealt with by dissident movements that actually succeeded? I'm thinking a large part of it is just popular awareness that they exist and they're awful. General social disgust goes a long way. Then again we've known the FBI goes after dissidents since the 70s and they're still at it, so that can't be the whole enchilada.
Don't know if you'll see this, but I'm enjoying your writing immensely. I especially like the idea that thought can be freest in authoritarian societies because what people think doesn't matter so much. But I'd like to inject something into your analysis, the role of propaganda. It's role is similar to the secret police, except it works on an explicitly psychological level, which can be more secret than the secret police. You raise very interesting ways of looking at things.
Well the secret police creates the propaganda. Its one of their most powerful tools.
I won't deny that the police won't use propaganda, but in the west, anyway, they have been independent tactiacal groups. Using WWI as an example, the elites established the Creel commission, using public relations tactics, to bring American mass political opinion to align with their own pro-war stance. The Esionage Act, which could be regarded as a police action, followed that effort, as a stick to mop up dissenters like Eugene Debs for whom the propganda carrot failed.
At least since 1880 or so, the British and American newspapers had already been using psychological techniques to shape public opinion. The London Times sent out a team to Ukraine to investigate inflammatory reports by British Jewish roganizations of pogroms in Odessa (which it seems were Greco-Jewish street fights) in the 1880's, and American advertisers were persuading middle class families to buy pianos.
These operations were largely psychological, and ran below the radar of consciousness, unlike the secret police who rely on terror to enhance thheir effectiveness.
Hmmm, the old piano mafia, eh?
becoming immune to infiltration would be nice
MAGA hasn't been shut down - there have been many attempts by Deep State actors to subvert MAGA but they've fallen flat, largely because MAGA is not a political party - it's a movement.