CATEGORY: #Cults(Amendment Seven)
The next tier down in the hashtag stack, required for the successful forensic analysis of communications, and thus propaganda, indoctrination and coercion, we can go on to the complex techniques which often enable the above and below categories.
While these can be identified as ‘cultic’ tools they are proven by academicians and researchers globally to be the stock-in-trade of the psychopath or totalitarian.
You need to look at the communication, situation or entity in question and decide whether any of the tools of the cult are in place.
These will be found to be prevalent more and more in today’s environments as the lockstep of groupthink marches across autonomy.
The tools of the cult are implemented in complex ways to enable cultic adherence and thus mind control to effect the above stratagem in application as strategies of personal coercion , we find while once only prevalent in cults, they are now in use in #Politics #Academia, the #MainstreamMedia, the #CultureIndustry , #SocialMedia and #BigTech in service of the indoctrination of the pseudo liberalism of Globalisation promoting a spurious illusion of #Diversity, in order to control, distract and mobilise the masses, and single out #thoughtcrime, especially on #SocialMedia in the remote cult of pseudo-liberalism and ‘diversity’ enabled by the lockstep of the mediascape and academia, policed by an army of #PoliticalCorrectness adherents.
This has had the result of creating an #echochamber, in society; a #safespace which is a closed #feedbackloop.
Indeed it would appear that much of society has taken on the qualities of the cult.
These tactics include:
1.#LoveBombing
Love bombing is an attempt to influence a person by demonstrations of attention and affection. It can be used in different ways and can be used for either a positive or negative purpose.
Members of the Unification Church of the United States (who coined the expression) use it to convey a genuine expression of friendship, fellowship, interest, or concern.[1] Psychologists have identified love bombing as a possible part of a cycle of abuse and have warned against it. Critics of cults use the phrase with the implication that the “love” is feigned and that the practice is psychological manipulation in order to create a feeling of unity within the group against a society perceived as hostile.[2] In 2011 clinical psychologist Oliver James advocated love bombing in his book Love Bombing: Reset Your Child’s Emotional Thermostat, as a means for parents to rectify emotional problems in their children.
The expression “love bombing” was coined by members of the Unification Church of the United States in the 1970s and was also used by members of the Family International.
[…]
Anthropology professor Geri-Ann Galanti writes:
A basic human need is for self-esteem…. Basically [love bombing] consists of giving someone a lot of positive attention.
Psychology professor Margaret Singer popularized awareness of the concept. In her 1996 book, Cults in Our Midst, she writes:
As soon as any interest is shown by the recruits, they may be love bombed by the recruiter or other cult members. This process of feigning friendship and interest in the recruit was originally associated with one of the early youth cults, but soon it was taken up by a number of groups as part of their program for luring people in. Love bombing is a coordinated effort, usually under the direction of leadership, that involves long-term members’ flooding recruits and newer members with flattery, verbal seduction, affectionate but usually nonsexual touching, and lots of attention to their every remark. Love bombing – or the offer of instant companionship – is a deceptive ploy accounting for many successful recruitment drives.
[…]
The expression has also been used to describe the tactics used by pimps and gang members to control their victims, as well as to describe the behavior of an abusive narcissist who tries to win the confidence of a victim. Modern social media can intensify the effect of love bombing since it enables the abuser with nearly constant contact and communication with the victim.
One of the signs of love bombing in the start of a relationship is much attention in short time, and pressure for very rapid commitment. It is often the first sign of narcissism, and if successful turns to control and degradation. Psychologist Dale Archer identifies “The Phases of Love Bombing: Idealization, Devaluation, Discard (Repeat).” He advises: “Stop, Look, and Listen” to avoid love bombing and to break off contact with the abuser, if possible, and seek support from family and friends.
Wikipedia [Verified by Propaganda Watchdog Team] Retrieved 02/07 2019
2.#TraumaBonding
The term describes “the misuse of fear, excitement, sexual feelings, and sexual physiology to entangle another person.” A simpler and more encompassing definition is that traumatic bonding is: “a strong emotional attachment between an abused person and his or her abuser, formed as a result of the cycle of violence.” Patrick Carnes
Trauma bonding is loyalty to a person who is destructive. While the idea of bonding tends to bring up connotations of something good and beneficial, trauma bonds are unhealthy. According to Patrick Carnes, in his book, Betrayal Bonds, there are a number of signs that a person is involved in an unhealthy bond with a partner or other significant person. Here are some thoughts to consider determining if you are in a trauma bond with someone:
There is a constant pattern of nonperformance, yet you continue to believe promises to the contrary.
Others seem disturbed by something that has happened to you or was said to you, and you are not.
You feel stuck because the other person keeps doing destructive things, but you believe there is nothing you can do about it.
You try to change the person into becoming less destructive by trying to get them to stop an addiction or become a non-abuser.
You keep having repetitive, damaging fights with this person that nobody wins.
You seem unable to detach from someone even though you can’t trust them or really don’t even like them.
When you try to leave this person you find yourself missing them to the point of longing that is so awful that you believe it is going to destroy you.
Usually trauma bonds occur in relationships involving inconsistent reinforcement, such as those with addicts and alcoholics or in domestic violence situations. Dysfunctional marriages also cause trauma bonds because there is always a time when things seem to be “normal.” Other types of relationships involving trauma bonds include cult-like religious organizations, kidnapping and hostage situations, those involving child abuse or incest, and unhealthy work environments.
3.#InformationControl
Dictators know that information management is a critical part of controlling a population. They typically achieve this by managing the media so all that people see on the news is what the dictator wants them to see. Groups also use information control.
Isolation
A common method of controlling information is to completely remove the person (or even the group) from any outside sources of information. They cannot control the media, so they remove themselves from it. Extreme groups lock themselves away in isolated buildings. They move to the country. They even move to other countries.Another form of isolation is to demonize anything that is not approved by the group. People are forbidden to read banned texts or talk to people who might contradict what the group wants them to believe.
Information and education
When the person and the group are isolated from other influences, then information that supports the intended values and beliefs may be offered. In the information vacuum that is created by the isolation, people will grasp at whatever is offered them.Managing the media
Controlling the information that is presented to people controls what they perceive as being normal. If one source of information presents something to a person, then they will consider it as being possible. If all information from all sources a person receives is consistent, then this will be taken as being true.The media (newspapers, television, magazines, etc.) is generally considered to be neutral and consequently trustworthy. Managing what appears to be neutral and trustworthy sources can lead to powerful messages being transmitted that all move the person into the desired direction.
Managing the education system
When you control what is being taught, then you have a direct line into their beliefs and values. This is even more true for children. The Jesuits were famous for the saying ‘Give me the child and I will give you the man’.Running formal education sessions, where the person studies key texts and listens to the great and the wise sets up a teacher-learner dynamic with the teach as being all-knowing and the learner being subservient and accepting the teacher’s truths.
Spies and informants
One way that groups maintain control is to keep a very close watch on any dissent within the group. This is typically done through a system of outright spying and a system where informing on one another is considered normal practice, whereby any form of secrecy is framed as selfishness (even though the group leader has many).Particularly when people are punished for keeping secrets, gossiping or showing any form or disagreement with the group and its leaders, they will hold back any such actions – and even the thoughts behind them. Groups can thus become highly conforming, but with an undercurrent of fear and repression.
Individuals may also be spied upon and information gathered about them before they join the group, and this used to help persuade them to join. Financial information is particularly interesting, especially if the group is planning to strip them of their assets.
Redefinition of truth
When outside information has been removed, then the leaders of the group can define truth as whatever they want it to be. Values can be defined such that good and bad are presented asWhen people do not know what to do, they look to other people. Group leaders can thus put people into confusing situations where the people do not know what to do, and hence look to the leaders for guidance.
http://changingminds.org/techniques/conversion/information_control.htm Retrieved 02/07 2019
4.#MysticalManipulation
Mystical Manipulation is one of the most powerful of Robert Lifton’s Eight Criteria for Thought Reform. Instead of social pressures or cognitive trickery, mystical manipulation relies on the deeper, often overlooked phenomenon of awe – the overwhelming feeling of powerful fervor created by an extraordinary event.
Awe can be produced many ways: through amazement at extreme beauty, through a deep connection with the vastness of the universe or splendor of nature, or even the physical “high” experienced through release of endorphins or taking a mind-altering drug. Any time we have a “peak experience” which is unique, we feel awe.
Mystical manipulation is the creation of that awe for the purpose of undue influence, and happens when someone else has manufactured, manipulated, or otherwise rigged the circumstances to force the experience of awe, in order to connect the “high” feeling to something they – and only they – can provide.
Miraculous Author By Editorial Staff on December 13th, 2017 Exploitative Techniques, Fervor, Manipulative Groups, Manipulation Retrieved 02/07 2019
5.#InfluenceviaIdentificationandExample
6.#InfluenceviaEmotionNotIntellect
7.#MeaningforExistence
8.#ManipulationofMotives
9.#CreationofSocialRewards
10.#MetingoutSocialPunishments
11.#NonAcceptance
12.#RidiculeandRejection
13.#GivingUpOnesSenseofSelf
14.#UnstatedRules
15.#ProgrammedResponsetoDiscreditingArguments (aka #ThoughtTerminatingCliche re: Lifton)
16.#DehumanisingLabels (#AdHominem)
17.#PopPsychology
18.#TalkingJargon
19.#SharedCognitiveLandscape
20.#ControlOverIndividualsTime
21.#CreateSenseofPowerlessness
22. #OccultOwnership
23. #TargettingDestabilisedRecruits
Targeting Destabilized People for Recruitment
Most who join cults are average, everyday people from functional families. They have no mental health issues, no paranoias, no particular gullibility.
Researchers have observed that most people are recruited to cults during unstable times in their lives. For this reason, cults often intentionally target people who have recently lost a loved one, is suffering from loneliness or depression, is transitions (career changes, lost job, moving to a new city, breakup or divorce), or is undergoing spiritual confusion.
The most common age groups for cult conversion are teenagers and college aged young adults. Their place in the natural development cycle often leaves them on uncertain ground. Most young people are seeking meaning and identity, while inventing themselves as autonomous from their parents.
Idealistic people are especially easy to convert. Appeals to deeply held principles can entice a new convert, even if the organization doesn’t, in fact, follow those principles.
Groups sometimes even have their own loaded language for people who are “Ready”. “Raw meat” in Scientology and the less degrading “golden investigator” for soon-to-be Mormons.
http://www.rationalrevelation.com/tr/destab.html Retrieved 02/07 2019