In politics, manipulation also has the objective of subduing majorities to meet electoral goals, spread messages or simply gain political capital over other competing forces.
Two parties intervene in this exchange of signals, symbols, content, signs, messages; one of them is the beneficiary, exploiter, abusive, controlling and the other acts as a recipient, used, passive, submissive. The first meets its objectives, the second is the instrument with which such goals are met.
Abuse, excesses, lies, submission, distortion of reality, are schemes and tools frequently used to manipulate the masses. It is about creating an emotional state that even allows conditioning, submission and/or dependence in a way in which society renounces reasoning, critical thinking, dissent, supervisory capacity and even common sense.
Media, channels, social networks, speeches, interviews, followers, dramatic representations, content, events, simulation, propaganda work in coordination to make citizens stop being in contact with objective reality and immerse themselves in a state of immobility, deception, banality, indolence and inertia without the ability to react and – in this way – “normalize”, accept or resign themselves to the lack of security, government errors, corruption, inflation and serious social problems.
Some of the most frequently used techniques for political manipulation include:
- Populist devotion. Demonstrations of “love”, dedication, commitment to the “people”, people must be made to feel that they are the center of the universe, everything with them, nothing without them, always first, preferred, revered to the point of corniness.
Carrying and the waste of scenes of “affection” between the people and their handlers become part of the daily portrait, there is that fervor, it is felt, it is demonstrated, it is recorded, flowers, letters, poetry, boxes of chocolates (pensions, support, cards, electoral payrolls) and they are free.
Every occasion must be part of those “demonstrations” of praise, exaltation, recognition, promises kept, achievements that show that the people are one, their leader is also unique, they are one for the other, their magnetic relationship is an unbreakable bond (sarcasm, mockery, flattery, laughter).
This devotion pays dividends and is combined with rejection, divisionism, a permanent state of confrontation with opponents, indolence, indifference.
Figures are hidden, altered, data and information disappear, without transparency or institutions, citizens can do little to know the objective reality of the state of things.
The land of fantasy, idyll, romance with messianic foundations gives rise to the greatest distortion that makes it easier to impose taxes, plunder public finances, plunge into impunity and corruption, accelerating social deterioration.
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- The profitability of victimization and incompetence. Creating “threats” is a formula for manipulation, blaming someone for the bad things that happen, referring to ghosts, extending the state of emergency because “the adversaries” are lurking there are part of the tactics to manipulate.
Labeling the “bad” ones, displaying them, vilifying them, verbally attacking them is part of the political manipulator’s boasting. It serves to nullify opposition, resistance or oversight, on the one hand.
Furthermore, it offers the opportunity to pretend to be “good”, a victim, a character in constant immolation and sacrifice who earns little, who does not steal and who, because he is naive or generous, is always the target of criticism. His mistakes are also “normalized”.
The harsh reality is that abuses can go unnoticed, that everyone, including the “good people,” are part of an entire corrupt social system where tolerance and indolence are passed on without demanding or demanding accountability.
- Denial, deviation, distraction. If you have reached paradise where everything belongs to the “people” there is nothing bad, nothing can be wrong, nothing happens, everything is fine, if someone steals or lies they always answer that it is not true, repeat and repeat.
There is always a tournament, a contest, a news item to divert the audiences’ attention to. First control the media, what is spread and what is not. Pay attention to what is viral and do not ask about reforms or changes in laws, more taxes, projects that do not work, waste, fallacies or loss of public resources. There is nothing about politics that interests you.
Second, control the actors, without opposition nothing happens. The subject powers are divergence, without limitations without reflection, with a ruined education, training of adepts, the divergence is annulled.
A bad government result is always profitable, ineptitude is always paid for by the “client population”; The serious failures of unqualified personnel in key positions make it easier to get more from the taxpayer, while there are paid support groups, the opponents will not reach the numbers at the polls.
This is democracy, verbiage, demagoguery, underlying propaganda, no objectivity or results, manipulating is part of the mission, the exchange format that facilitates the control of the masses, simple, concrete, crude, realistic.
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