Compliant, uninformed MAGA sheep can't get enough of it. I see it every day on this board. Be sure and complain about the source in another failed effort to discredit the message.
"Train and socialize": Expert on linguistic anthropology explains how Trump is warping MAGA minds
I am truly worried. Fascist-totalitarian leaders present and represent themselves as the only ones who can restore the purported "historical purity" of the state, which might be seen as having been defiled by a supposed invasion of outsiders, and by the ideas and actions of liberal elites, who bring corruption and immorality to the nation's real original values—a view dramatized by Trump in his initial campaign speech, in which he referred to Mexican immigrants people that "have a lot of problems, and they're bringing those problems to us." Once large segments of the population buy into the autocrat's rhetoric, the situation is ripe for a takeover of their minds and hearts. The rise of neofascism and pseudo-populism today is connected to the spread of a false belief system activated by the autocrat's strategic, clever rhetoric, which is perceived as a language that speaks directly to everyone, unlike the talk of elites or academics.
What makes their appeals effective, in my view, is the fact that their discourses are coded with meaning below the threshold of consciousness, where the belief system can be manipulated for ideological purposes. An example is the age-old idea that there is a cabal behind the scenes that is controlling the world. So, the populist leader emerges as the one who will defeat the cabal, called the "deep state", made up of the usual suspects (such as liberals). Using such coded language reinforces the mind control that autocrats aim to exercise. Calling a group "animals" or "parasites", over and over, eventually becomes part of the belief system, and accepted as true, as the work of Berkeley cognitive scientist George Lakoff has shown consistently.
Metaphors are powerful because they "switch on" existing circuits in the brain by linking together salient images and ideas, as for example linking a certain group to pests. The more these circuits are activated the more hardwired they become. Research shows that people under the influence of "big lies" develop more rigid neural pathways, showing signs of difficulty in rethinking situations. As it is almost impossible to turn the switch off, this means that when we accept a big lie or a conspiracy theory, it can reshape our perception of reality without us being aware of it. By being exposed to hate metaphors, for instance, we may develop hostile feelings towards specific groups. After a while the negative image of the group metamorphizes in the imagination into that of a parasitic organism that lives at the other's expense. It was a powerful nefarious strategy that the Nazis used constantly in their antisemitic propaganda.
"Train and socialize": Expert on linguistic anthropology explains how Trump is warping MAGA minds
I am truly worried. Fascist-totalitarian leaders present and represent themselves as the only ones who can restore the purported "historical purity" of the state, which might be seen as having been defiled by a supposed invasion of outsiders, and by the ideas and actions of liberal elites, who bring corruption and immorality to the nation's real original values—a view dramatized by Trump in his initial campaign speech, in which he referred to Mexican immigrants people that "have a lot of problems, and they're bringing those problems to us." Once large segments of the population buy into the autocrat's rhetoric, the situation is ripe for a takeover of their minds and hearts. The rise of neofascism and pseudo-populism today is connected to the spread of a false belief system activated by the autocrat's strategic, clever rhetoric, which is perceived as a language that speaks directly to everyone, unlike the talk of elites or academics.
What makes their appeals effective, in my view, is the fact that their discourses are coded with meaning below the threshold of consciousness, where the belief system can be manipulated for ideological purposes. An example is the age-old idea that there is a cabal behind the scenes that is controlling the world. So, the populist leader emerges as the one who will defeat the cabal, called the "deep state", made up of the usual suspects (such as liberals). Using such coded language reinforces the mind control that autocrats aim to exercise. Calling a group "animals" or "parasites", over and over, eventually becomes part of the belief system, and accepted as true, as the work of Berkeley cognitive scientist George Lakoff has shown consistently.
Metaphors are powerful because they "switch on" existing circuits in the brain by linking together salient images and ideas, as for example linking a certain group to pests. The more these circuits are activated the more hardwired they become. Research shows that people under the influence of "big lies" develop more rigid neural pathways, showing signs of difficulty in rethinking situations. As it is almost impossible to turn the switch off, this means that when we accept a big lie or a conspiracy theory, it can reshape our perception of reality without us being aware of it. By being exposed to hate metaphors, for instance, we may develop hostile feelings towards specific groups. After a while the negative image of the group metamorphizes in the imagination into that of a parasitic organism that lives at the other's expense. It was a powerful nefarious strategy that the Nazis used constantly in their antisemitic propaganda.
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