Your Thoughts Are Being Controlled
George Orwell was right, though his timing was off. Thought control had occurred before his novel, 1984, was published. It’s still occurring.
Right now.
The U.S. government, has been attempting, and partly succeeding, to control our thoughts for years. We do nothing, and this is where our inaction is taking us:
“You asked me once, said O’Brien, “what was in Room 101…The thing that is in Room 101 is the worst thing in the world…rats.” (Orwell, 1949, p. 283)
“We have beaten you, Winston…You have been kicked and flogged and insulted, you have screamed with pain, you have rolled on the floor in your own blood and vomit. You have whimpered for mercy, you have betrayed everybody and everything. Can you think of a single degradation that has not happened to you?
“Winston had stopped weeping, though the tears were still oozing out of his eyes. He looked up at O’Brien.
“I have not betrayed Julia,” he said.
O’Brien looked down at him thoughtfully. “No,” he said, “no; that is perfectly true. You have not betrayed Julia.” (Orwell, 1949, p. 273)
“O’Brien picked up the cage and brought it across to the nearer table. He set it down carefully on the baize cloth…the cage with the rats was not two meters away from him [Winston]. They were enormous rats.” (Orwell, 1949, pp. 284-285)
“The rat,” said O’Brien, “is carnivorous…They show astonishing intelligence in knowing when a human being is helpless…O’Brien moved the cage nearer. It was less than a meter from Winston’s face.” (Orwell, 1949, p. 285)
“The cage was nearer; it was closing in…Suddenly the foul musty odor of the brutes struck his nostrils.” (Orwell, 1949, p. 286)
The cage “was closing on his [Winston’s] face…he was shouting frantically over and over: Do it to Julia!” (Orwell, 1949, p. 286)
You don’t see anything wrong. You see no evidence of Big Brother’s menacing eyes. You see no Room 101, no rat cage. So you think you’re safe. There’s no danger that the government and its close friend, big business, will imprison you and try to control your thoughts—yet.
But you’re not safe.
Are Your Thoughts Being Controlled?
We influence each other’s thoughts every moment of every day. We have done so since the beginning of the human race. I speak to you, which influences your thoughts, which influences your feelings. So you smile, which influences my feelings, which further influences my thoughts, which help determine my next response to you. And around and around our feelings, thoughts—and behaviors—have gone and will go forever. Thought influence is universal, reciprocal, and morally neutral. It’s just how we humans operate. But are our thoughts being controlled?
Thought control is a type of thought influence. Here’s a dual definition of thought control compiled from some of the most prominent dictionaries:
1. Governmental thought control: the practice by a government of attempting to prevent independent ideas from competing in the people’s minds with the official ideology and policies, e.g. propaganda.
2. Thought control in general: the subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) use by powerful people or corporations of techniques designed to affect people’s ideas, beliefs, and attitudes.
In an article on Orwell’s 1984 (Zimbardo, 2005), psychologist Philip G. Zimbardo discussed thought control, although he called it state-sponsored terrorism. “State-sponsored terrorism,” he wrote, “is organized top-down by clandestine groups that are logistically or operationally supported by a nation in power against those who are perceived as threats to national security.”
He wrote, “Imagine further that this terrifying Enemy is not some external force emanating from a foreign nation, but it is your own Government, it is The Party of your Government. How do you resist becoming a brainwashed, gut-cleansed slave of such a system?”
Yes, your thoughts are being controlled. Mine too. And everyone’s. Call it whatever you want. Disinformation. Myths. Propaganda. Brainwashing. Publicity. Hype. The news. Indoctrination. Or how about just “lies”? The catchy phrases you see on social media can be brilliant, but most are thought-control attempts. We are headed for an Orwellian world riddled with telescreens controlling our thoughts night and day.
The History Of Thought Control
1. The formation of groups
The first humans experienced the birth of wisdom. A wisdom so powerful that it has been passed down through the ages and continues to influence our thoughts to this day. A wisdom so transcendent that it inspired the first human couple, for the first time, to stick together against all odds, and to pass this love down through the generations. (Feiler, 2017) These independent thoughts constitute thought influence, the trustworthy knowledge we pass down through the generations.
But as humans formed groups they passed something else down as well:
1. Black vs. White thinking. “Either you’re a moderate or a liberal, a liberal or a Republican. You can’t be both.”
2. “It’s either Good or Bad.” Either you’re a good or a bad person. Either you do good or bad things. You can’t be or do both.
3. “It’s Us vs. Them.” Either you’re with my political party or your political party. You absolutely must choose.
2. The formation of democratic republics and political parties
Political thinking began. “Us vs. them” became “allies vs. enemies.” We began to think our countries’ leaders were the good ones and those who led other countries not-so-good. So, we think countries that don’t think like us must be our enemies.
Not necessarily so. Why not ally ourselves with people, groups, and countries who disagree with us? Everyone would benefit. But no, we think we must fight “bad” people. Black and white thinking prevails.
3. The development of social media
The average social media post increases the effects of thought control— exponentially—because social media platforms are rigged. Tiny bots zip around the net obeying the dictates of algorithms. AI is programmed to rile us up, which necessitates spreading outrageous black-and-white thoughts specifically designed to make us mad at the “other, bad” party and pass sensible posts by.
Say it how you will. Almost everything on the internet is an attempt at thought influence, but multitudes of those thought-influence attempts are thought-control attempts—by design.
Applying this to politics, the internet tricks us into believing that the entire United States is locked into some kind of war between Democrats and Republicans. Not so. You and I hold moderate, common-sense, views. The vast majority of U.S. citizens hold moderate, common-sense, views.
So, forget the social media’s Black-and-White, Good vs. Bad, Us vs. Them thinking. From the traditional or social media, just get the facts. Then you can sort them out for yourself.
How do you resist becoming a “brainwashed, gut-cleansed slave of the system?”
Especially considering the plan is already in the works.
Zimbardo’s question refers to thought-control in general, but there is a specific thought-control strategy being formed right now. This plan, initiated sixty years ago, is designed to hopelessly bend and distort the United States democratic system until the government has taken complete and thorough control over our guts and brains, until our leaders serve the will of a minority instead of the will of most of us.
But you can’t see the label from inside the bottle. Hanwen (fictional), a high-level Chinese official who escaped to the United States, sees the whole picture. Arzu, his wife, also sees the United States from outside the frame. When you read, in Article 2, about their struggle to resist the U.S. government’s attempts at thought control you will learn the answer to Zimbardo’s question.
Coming Soon: Totalitarianism: Forced Labor and Forced Thoughts
Dr. Jean M. Bradt [BROT]
info@jeanbradt.com