"In effect, the human being should be considered the priority in a political war. And conceived as the military target ... the human being has his most critical point in his mind. Once the mind has been reached, the 'political animal' has been defeated without necessarily receiving bullets." -taken from (declassified) US Central Intelligence Agency training Manual.
The above dictum has always been used in the ‘Psychological Operations’ by the Power to control the Mass. Once you control the brain of a man, he just remains as good as a pumpkin. So in the psychological warfare to enslave the brain, “Change” and “Fear” have been the best known weapons..
“Change” is the best strategy exploited by politicians to create mass hysteria to come to power at the helm of the state while “Fear” has been always used as a lethal weapon to bring the mass into submission so that one can elongate one's stay at the helm of power. While “Change” is used by the power to control ‘our mass’, “Fear” is used with same effectiveness to control the brain of those that lie out of ‘our mass’.
“Change” leads to hopefulness in the mass that makes them see the ray of light breaking in the eastern sky at dawn. Expectation of better time starts to be foreseen at the horizon. It brings about a trance of atmosphere where the mass begins to sail high, expecting a better time to come. This very “Change” can be a potent weapon in twisting the minds because most people are not happy with their lives or the state of their country and so 'change' can seem to be a very good idea. 'Yeah, that's right, we need change!'
At the core of this, is to orchestrate a show of candidature, the focus of everything you hope for, believe in and want to change. This is why it has always been crucial not to specify and detail what 'hope, 'change' and 'believe' means. It is an eyewash to leave the ‘string’ loose enough for the mass to imagine the paradise.
'I am whatever you want me to be, for I am just a projection of you. And I got a big smile, see!' There is no more powerful way of manipulating people than to tell them what they want to hear and to keep shut about anything that they wouldn't like to hear. These salesmen that are polished and glazed from both sides in different schemes, are trained to pick up in general conversation what their target likes and dislikes and to respond accordingly in the way to only show the glazed side that suits the buyer. The technique is simply to tell the potential buyer, what you have gleaned, is what they want to be hear.
The punch tag of “Change” has been used again and again over the century in all democracy to rise to power, government after government. It has also led to mass uprising by the opposition to muster in a new order. It has always been a trump card that has been used again and again and yet again, by shrewd politicians to the utter dismay of the hopeful mass, to be yet again exploited.
On the other hand “Fear” leads to hopelessness in the mass that makes them see the western sky where the light is going down the horizon and darkness setting in to engulf them. It brings a gloom in the atmosphere and hence the mass is ready to give in all that is theirs to someone who can prevent the night to set in. “Fear” leaves little room for logic or moral platitudes - it demands simplistic responses to otherwise complex problems.
Fear is categorized into two, not so well demarcated boundaries, the fear of ‘seen’ and the fear of ‘unseen’. Fear of ‘unseen’ has the same effect on the mass that “change” has, but in a negative sense, for people are not aware what lurks in the dark. In modern time, ‘terrorism’ has been the catch word to instill “Fear”. The countries that have hardly seen any act of ‘terrorism’ (fear of unseen) are more fearful than the ones for whom it has been an on and off affair (fear of seen).
Governments have used this as a bludgeon to control the mass. Under the guise of this “fear” they have clung on to power again and again, or have passed on legislation and amendments which could not have been acceptable by the mass under normal circumstances. This “fear” propaganda helps power to take control over the liberty and rights of the mass and thus stop any voice from arising on any unacceptable policies.
Fascism usually thrives on “Change” and “Fear”. It makes entry into the society on hope of “Change” which gradually metamorphosed by the power into “Fear of unseen” before rising its head as total “Fear”. In its true sense, it is not just a police state imposed by a tiny hierarchy. It might end up like that, but first it is brought to power by a mass movement from within the people who have no understanding of what the 'change', ‘hope' and 'believe' that they are being offered really means. Also this machinery is oiled and created by fuelling the fire of “Fear”, the fear of unforeseen.
